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The Duggars: In the Media and TLC

Null 302

By Null 302
in Counting On

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As a reminder, the site's Politics Policy remains in effect.  Yes, Jim Bob is apparently running for office again. That does not make it an acceptable topic of conversation in here - unless for some mysterious reason, TLC brings the show back and it is discussed on there. Even then, it would be limited to how it was discussed on the show.

If you have any questions, please PM the mods, @SCARLETT45 and myself.

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Mollie

Mollie

5 hours ago, Churchhoney said:

Yep. As I thought. Here's the big Oz announcement: Duggars Down Under!!!

https://iblp.org.au/

They're going to "share insights" and "fellowship" at the family conference. No way JB is paying for any of this. No way he has any insights, either. 

https://iblp.org.au/event/duggars-down-under/

"Come and meet some of the Duggar Family (16 of them) as they join us Down Under. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, along with 14 of their children, will be sharing some of their insights into family life and homeschooling. The time of sharing will be followed by an afternoon tea for all to enjoy, while spending time fellowshipping  with the Duggars and other families."

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cmr2014
cmr2014

I was thinking about this and the idea that the girls weren't "harmed" and weren't "damaged goods" which led me to realize that ALL of the Duggar children are "damaged goods" and I think that's becomi

Churchhoney
Churchhoney

They put themselves on tv and have proclaimed over and over and over and over again that their way of life is the way to ensure that your children are totally safe from every evil of the world, and in

WhitneyWhit
WhitneyWhit

I don't know where to post this but I fucking met Michelle Duggar. Let me set the scene. So my cousin is getting married and we were at a shop looking at dresses here in Kentucky when the Duggars marc

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Churchhoney

Churchhoney

40 minutes ago, Mollie said:

https://iblp.org.au/event/duggars-down-under/

"Come and meet some of the Duggar Family (16 of them) as they join us Down Under. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, along with 14 of their children, will be sharing some of their insights into family life and homeschooling. The time of sharing will be followed by an afternoon tea for all to enjoy, while spending time fellowshipping  with the Duggars and other families."

I wonder to what degree the Aussie IBLPers follow the whole Gothard program. I haven't looked very carefully but in a quick scan I didn't see any particular reference on the Australian website to the Wisdumb-Booklet aspects of this, the ATI stuff. Looked as if it was focused on the behavioral stuff instead, the "basic life principles to stop your children from becoming their own people" parts. 

So, for example -- how many really want to hear insights about homeschooling that simply doesn't allow for the possibility that a kid could go on to college -- or tech school -- or anything, including working for people who aren't the kid's blood relations......

I'd be kind of surprised if many of them even know that that's the actual Gothard ideal. And if they don't, I'd think they might be kind of surprised by the "homeschooling insights" the Dummars "provide" -- and not in a "good surprise" way, either. 

Probably wishful thinking on my part, though, I suppose. The Duggs will probably be the toast of Melbourne before it's all over.

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bigskygirl

bigskygirl

18 minutes ago, Arwen Evenstar said:

Duggars Down Under sent my mind there as well. Pity none of the married males in the family will ever go there to try to please their wives.

Hand me the extra strength brain bleach please before my brain turns to mush. Must try to get image out of my mind. Double, triple eeewwwww!!!

kokapetl

kokapetl

1 hour ago, Mollie said:

https://iblp.org.au/event/duggars-down-under/

"Come and meet some of the Duggar Family (16 of them) as they join us Down Under. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, along with 14 of their children, will be sharing some of their insights into family life and homeschooling. The time of sharing will be followed by an afternoon tea for all to enjoy, while spending time fellowshipping  with the Duggars and other families."

I’m sure Jackson and Josie will provide the audience with lots of insight. 

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LilJen

LilJen

6 hours ago, Churchhoney said:

Yep. As I thought. Here's the big Oz announcement: Duggars Down Under!!!

https://iblp.org.au/

They're going to "share insights" and "fellowship" at the family conference. No way JB is paying for any of this. No way he has any insights, either. 

For FOUR HOURS of "insights" ATI/GothardLand is willing to fly 14 Duggars to Australia?? Maybe the REAL secret of the Duggars is how *they* have gotten the Gothardite HQ to drink *their* Kool-Aid and fly them around the world!

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kokapetl

kokapetl

(edited)
32 minutes ago, lookeyloo said:

Well Australia is a big country, but, if I could get a glimpse of them with little effort and no $$ expended I would give it a go!!  Just because.

I’m in Perth, so it’s a 3h 30m 2721km flight. $400 return economy. I hate economy though. gofundme the $3000 for business class. 

And I guess I gotta get a haircut and buy some khakis. And car rental. And lace front wig and fake beard. I don’t want to be recognizable in photos. 

Edited by Kokapetl
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GeeGolly

GeeGolly

35 minutes ago, Kokapetl said:

I’m in Perth, so it’s a 3h 30m 2721km flight. $400 return economy. I hate economy though. gofundme the $3000 for business class. 

And I guess I gotta get a haircut and buy some khakis. And car rental. And lace front wig and fake beard. I don’t want to be recognizable in photos. 

Koka go as a female. Easy-peasy: jean skirt, flip-flops, modest shirt and long haired wig. Just look shyly at your toes and no one will figure you out. Take lots of pictures for us!

Get Jana's phone number!

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Gweilo

Gweilo

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(edited)

Oh Dear Lord. I live in Melbourne, and the fact that the Duggars will be 40 mins away from my house is still too close for comfort.

Some thoughts:

It'll be farking hot in Melb in January, and basically everyone will be getting around in shorts and singlets. They won't know where to look. If they try to turn up in floor length jean skirts, or leggings and t-shirts under dresses, they'll die of heatstroke. They don't seem to take sun protection seriously either, and a hat and sunscreen in summer is compulsory.

Australians swear casually a fair bit. They're going to hear a lot of "bloody" and "shit" just dropped casually into conversations.

Australia's pretty live-and-let-live when it comes to religion. You do you, I'll do me. This overt Christianity is going to be met with lots of bemused incredulity.

The funniest thing: The town where the conference is being held - Lilydale, is on the outskirts of Melbourne suburbia. It's not that interesting, but it IS the gateway town to our Wine region (The Yarra Valley). If they say to anyone, "oh, we're going to Lilydale", the FIRST response is going to be "Ooh, are you having a day at the wineries in the Yarra Valley?!? I recommend x, y and z, their wines are great!" Like, that's just what Lilydale is known for - there's wine everywhere and all around! So it's hilarious that a bunch of sanctimonious non-drinkers are spending their time surrounded by wine. If you're going to try and convert people to your non-drinking, non-fun, please stop spending romantic weekends with your boyfriend in the Yarra Valley and instead get married at 18 and have 40000 children ideology, probably best not to do it in the WINE REGION.

My best friend works at the Melbourne Museum. If the Duggars turn up there, I'll tell her to take them straight to the "Evolution" gallery, and explain about evolution and DNA in detail.

Edited by Gweilo
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MonicaM

MonicaM

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If I lived in Australia and it was close, I might go for laughs, but in order to protect our marriage, I would never allow Mr. M to attend.  Fortunately Michelle gave up her bikini, but with her history of unintentionally breaking up marriages, why take a chance.  It will be hot and she might accidentally show a bit too much of her arms, or her kneecaps.  My screams of "Nike, Nike, NIke!!!" might not be enough to distract Mr. M and the next thing you know, we could end up in divorce court.

Hope the Australian audience has been properly warned!!!!

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lulu69

lulu69

3 hours ago, BitterApple said:

Good Lord, those flights must cost a fortune. 

They probably have to fly from Arkansas to Dallas to LA to Australia. Multiply that by 16 and you probably could've sent a kid to college for what that trip cost. 

Who's dumb enough to foot the bill for these yahoos? 

Oh please Lord, let it not be TLC!

I can see it now, a 'very special' 2 hr episode not to be missed  - "Duggars Down Under".

Akkkkk

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Churchhoney

Churchhoney

1 hour ago, lulu69 said:

Oh please Lord, let it not be TLC!

I can see it now, a 'very special' 2 hr episode not to be missed  - "Duggars Down Under".

Akkkkk

I can't imagine that TLC would do it. Not after all these years of totally hiding the Gothard connection. I doubt that the Duggs will be in Oz for much longer than the conference. So if TLC wanted to film them they'd have to film that. And they're not going to reveal a cult connection. not after hiding it all this time. They know Americans in general don't like cults any better than anybody else does. And since they've already done an Australia show with the Vuolos, I don't see why they'd do another one. Especially since the only "very special" aspect of this trip would be the IBLP conference, which they absolutely will not show. .... Well, except for about six Duggars falling over of heat stroke all at the same time that is, as @Gweilo mentioned ... That could be "very special" all right. If it were the right Duggars. I cringe to think of the young girls and their damn leggings under long skirts and their double shirting. 

I'm sure IBLP is paying for it. They've been pushing hard on Australia for awhile because they have at least a foothold there, unlike most other places. They sent the Bates down and so on. The Duggars are just more of the push, I would think. They might be expected to be a bigger draw. And to have 12 of the kids there for a fundie audience, including both sweet little girls and mid-20-somethings who are still obediently doing family chores for their parents -- I'm sure they hope that that will be very enticing to Australia's more control-mad parents. 

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ChocolateAddict

ChocolateAddict

23 hours ago, Marigold said:

What a bizarre trip.

Very expensive and does anyone give a shit about them in Australia? 

In one word: No. 

We've got enough weirdos without bringing the Duggars here.  

It's not just that event, they are also speaking at the Annual Family Conference which starts the day after (14-17 Jan) and the Student Conference (18-19 Jan).  The conference paper says that "Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar" are the keynote speakers for both.  It's not cheap either, ATI Families are free but Associate Families are $130, Guest Families are $200 and Individual Guests are $90.  

The description for Jim Bob and Michelle is nauseating. 

"Raising 19 children is a big challenge; raising them for over 10 years while on reality TV is an even greater challenge.  Trusting in the Lord for their family is something that Jim Bob and Michelle have definitely experienced, both privately and publicly. The Duggars humbly share their joys and trials, desiring to minister to other families who desire God's best, even when their lives take unexpected turns.  Jim Bob and Michelle's message is still the same: trust in the Lord"

Out of the 4 keynote speakers, only 1 is actually from Australia.  The others are from Texas and Illinois (Joe Norvell and Robert Bath if those names mean anything). Apparently last year they had 220 people attend across both conferences.  All things considered, that is pretty tiny.  We get more people to our end-of-season soccer club event. 

Plus they have some serious competition with the 15,000 nutty Brethren who go even further than the Duggars.  The Brethren shut themselves off completely from the world with no TVs, radios and computers only allowed for business purposes and cannot be used to access the internet.  All media is sinful and the only news is from approved channels.  Children can only attend Brethren schools and cannot go onto higher education.  They will not accept food or drink which is not prepared and served by a fellow Brethren and will not vote.  Most recently, they were hauled up in front of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse which revealed a pervasive culture of child abuse and cover ups (http://www.smh.com.au/good-weekend/tony-mccorkell-reveals-secrets-of-the-wealthy-christian-sect-exclusive-brethren-20160429-goi6lc.html) 

If ATI are trying to lockdown the patriarchal, extreme purity and withdrawal from worldly influences market, they'll have to do a lot better than some washed up reality TV stars whose show is only on a barely watched pay TV channel. It might draw in the existing believers but it won't get anyone else. On the plus side, they'll get to add an extra 16 people to their attendance!  That is, if they don't drop of heatstroke because it's predicted to be another hot 40+ degree summer. 

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Celia Rubenstein

Celia Rubenstein

11 hours ago, Mollie said:

will be sharing some of their insights into family life and homeschooling.

 

9 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Seriously????

Well .... someone has to inform Australians about how essential it is to build separate wings in their houses for their boys and girls with the parents' room in the middle to serve as a barrier to prevent any little perverts they might be harboring from creeping around at night. Not everyone knows that.  

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Temperance

Temperance

I can't see TLC filming for many reasons. The most likely way I could see this footage making it to TLC is if somebody found someone to court and started courting. Even then most likely JB or Michelle or one of the kids would film it and sell to TLC. But on the other hand they would to be sure this courtship was going to pan out.

I have never heard of the other speakers. Since they live in faraway states, it's probable the Duggars don't know 'em either. One of them (Texas) is a young associate pastor and I was able to google his church. I notice his church's website doesn't mention Gothard or IBLP for that matter. Is this normal? 

One more weird thing usually your biggest speaker/s goes last at conference, but it appears the Duggars go first. 

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floridamom

floridamom

Why would TLC film this at all? It says the parents and 14 of their kids...the UNMARRIED ones and Tyler are going. Counting On was supposed to be about Jill and Jessa, the MARRIED ones. No reason to film this circus attraction. Jim Bob and Michelle have nothing NEW to say. It's the same old cliches'  for them. 

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Churchhoney

Churchhoney

(edited)
5 hours ago, Temperance said:

 

 I notice his church's website doesn't mention Gothard or IBLP for that matter. Is this normal? 

 

Yeah, it's totally normal. 

Gothard and IBLP have never been tied to churches or denominations, for multiple reasons, I think. Gothard's "teachings" are entirely idiosyncratic so they don't align at all with those of any particular church or denomination, so the churches don't want the link -- Plus even churches where a lot of people are involved likely don't want to advertise that any of their members or leaders are in what many have always considered to be a cult (bad for church business -- get 'em in the door before they find this out...gradually).

And for Gothard, of course, it's much better for business to not affiliate with any particular church or denomination because then you can pick up suckers anywhere. .... And you don't need to reassure them that they're not abandoning their own church/faith by joining up with Gothard. Gothardland is a life-improvement system all on its own that is compatible with your brand of Christianity, whatever it is, but an enhancement for you personally -- that's pretty much the line, I think... I've heard of people coming on groups of Gothardites in churches of all kinds. 

So -- better for business at both ends for no link to be made. 

Edited by Churchhoney
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EVS

EVS

13 hours ago, ChocolateAddict said:

 

Out of the 4 keynote speakers, only 1 is actually from Australia.  The others are from Texas and Illinois (Joe Norvell and Robert Bath if those names mean anything). Apparently last year they had 220 people attend across both conferences.  All things considered, that is pretty tiny.  We get more people to our end-of-season soccer club event. 

In their world, isn’t that only 10-12 families?

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EVS

EVS

(edited)
16 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

Koka go as a female. Easy-peasy: jean skirt, flip-flops, modest shirt and long haired wig. Just look shyly at your toes and no one will figure you out. Take lots of pictures for us!

Get Jana's phone number!

 

16 hours ago, Kokapetl said:

I’m 6’3”. That might arouse suspicion. 

I still think you should go disguised as a female just to freak them out. They would probably think you are an evil transgender waiting to follow a lost girl into the women’s bathroom.  

Edited by EVS
My proofreading skills suck.
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bythelake

bythelake

I wonder who chooses which family goes on these speaking engagements? The Bates clan is further up  the Gothard chain than the Duggars, and are less tainted (that we know of) by scandal, yet we don't see them on many, if any call to Jesus trips. They present themselves much better than the Duggars, they're more attractive, personable, well-scrubbed, and still deep into the Kool-Aid.

 Maybe TLC will be filming it and air it as a special. The Duggars still have enough of an audience to bring in money, and publicity for themselves, Gothard and TLC. 

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Temperance

Temperance

3 hours ago, Churchhoney said:

Yeah, it's totally normal. 

Gothard and IBLP have never been tied to churches or denominations, for multiple reasons, I think. Gothard's "teachings" are entirely idiosyncratic so they don't align at all with those of any particular church or denomination, so the churches don't want the link -- Plus even churches where a lot of people are involved likely don't want to advertise that any of their members or leaders are in what many have always considered to be a cult (bad for church business -- get 'em in the door before they find this out...gradually).

And for Gothard, of course, it's much better for business to not affiliate with any particular church or denomination because then you can pick up suckers anywhere. .... And you don't need to reassure them that they're not abandoning their own church/faith by joining up with Gothard. Gothardland is a life-improvement system all on its own that is compatible with your brand of Christianity, whatever it is, but an enhancement for you personally -- that's pretty much the line, I think... I've heard of people coming on groups of Gothardites in churches of all kinds. 

So -- better for business at both ends for no link to be made. 

Except this church is a Baptist church. It's not  a Gothard/IBLP church. 

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Churchhoney

Churchhoney

1 hour ago, bythelake said:

I wonder who chooses which family goes on these speaking engagements? The Bates clan is further up  the Gothard chain than the Duggars, and are less tainted (that we know of) by scandal, yet we don't see them on many, if any call to Jesus trips. They present themselves much better than the Duggars, they're more attractive, personable, well-scrubbed, and still deep into the Kool-Aid.

 Maybe TLC will be filming it and air it as a special. The Duggars still have enough of an audience to bring in money, and publicity for themselves, Gothard and TLC. 

Gil and Kelly did speak at the Australia family conference, though  -- sometime in the last couple years. So they've already tried bringing in more low-key, "substantive" people to the Oz shows, and they don't want to bring them back again right away, so let's throw spaghetti at the wall in this tottering enterprise and see what sticks. 

I don't think the choice has anything much to do with who's higher up in Gothard hierarchy. Seems to me that this is clearly about sales -- bring in somebody who's ostensibly famous and has the "wow look at all those kids" factor and the "cute kids" factor and the highly-visible-on-tv factor (since the Duggs' tv career has a lot more visibility, especially internationally, than the Bateses) -- and hope that gins up interest in Oz so you can bring in more paying customers there. 

I can't imagine that the choice was made for any purposes other than desperation advertising. When you have an annual family conference in a country of 25 million people and only pull in 220-some attendees (among a crowd that probably has some big families in it) you're looking at an enterprise that needs to be goosed hard to try to stop it from it becoming completely comatose, I would think!

And I'd be shocked, astonished and completely gobsmacked if TLC aired this!  After knocking themselves out to obscure the Gothard connection on tv for all these years, I just can't see either TLC or the Duggs changing their minds about that now. Especially now that the Gothard lawsuit exists -- his enterprises have even more poison attached to them today than they did 10 years ago, and both TLC and the Duggars lied-by-omission about the connection then, for the most part. 

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Churchhoney

Churchhoney

(edited)
23 minutes ago, Temperance said:

Except this church is a Baptist church. It's not  a Gothard/IBLP church. 

Okay, I'm confused.

There is no such thing as a Gothard/IBLP church! So the guy can't be a minister in a Gothard church, even if he'd like to be.

A Gothardy minister might belong to any Protestant group -- his Gothardism is separate. Gothardism isn't a church -- it's a Christianized self-help cult based on one guy's ideas that doesn't align itself with any specific Christian denomination or church but advertises itself as compatible with a Christian life generally. 

And as far as I know, no churches or denominations at all have ever wanted to openly advertise that they had people in them who were Gothardites, especially the ministers.

What happens is -- you have a church... in this case a Baptist church.... and maybe one or more of its ministers also does the Gothard group. But, also as far as I know, that's literally never announced by a church.

Gothard and his followers portray his self-help ideas as being compatible with Christianity, but they're also dead weird and are seen by many many people as being quite contradictory to many Protestant theologies, in their details, not to mention cultish. So I think pretty much nobody would write on their church webpage -- We're Baptist and we do IBLP! They're Baptist. And the IBLP stuff is done behind the scenes because plenty of Baptists see IBLP as a cult with some beliefs that are utterly contradictory to Baptist beliefs. 

Edited by Churchhoney
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As a reminder, the site's Politics Policy remains in effect.  Yes, Jim Bob is apparently running for office again. That does not make it an acceptable topic of conversation in here - unless for some mysterious reason, TLC brings the show back and it is discussed on there. Even then, it would be limited to how it was discussed on the show.

If you have any questions, please PM the mods, @SCARLETT45 and myself.

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