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Josh & Anna Smuggar: A Series of Unfortunate Events


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(edited)
10 minutes ago, Albanyguy said:

I notice he didn’t list his stint with the FRC, the only actual paying job he ever had. And who the hell puts his wedding picture on a professional resume!

I think the LinkedIn is very old. Look at the photo. I'm pretty sure it was written and posted around the time the Smuggars were married, which was also around the time the series started. That would have been around the time being a "reality" star became Smuggar's full-time job. 

Edited by Heathen
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1 hour ago, Heathen said:

I think the LinkedIn is very old. Look at the photo. I'm pretty sure it was written and posted around the time the Smuggars were married, which was also around the time the series started. That would have been around the time being a "reality" star became Smuggar's full-time job. 

I agree. I remember looking at Josh's LinkedIn page a long time ago - and I don't think it's changed since then. 

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(edited)
2 hours ago, Heathen said:

I think the LinkedIn is very old. Look at the photo. I'm pretty sure it was written and posted around the time the Smuggars were married, which was also around the time the series started. That would have been around the time being a "reality" star became Smuggar's full-time job. 

Yeah, it's very old. But I love it that he's never had anything else on it -- after his very  pretentious start in professional life as a video producer and political consultant way, back. when. 

That's what he and his parents and the members of their church that they convinced thought Josh would be. He'd start with those pretentious things as a teen and then go up up up....Because he;'s the firstborn of and thus especially blessed by the God of JB and Meeechelle. And he's gonna rule the world. That's what they thought. 

And look what's happened since.....

They really should seriously rethink their view of themselves, their cult, all their beliefs and their childrearing. But it looks like they never will. 

Edited by Churchhoney
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3 hours ago, Albanyguy said:

I notice he didn’t list his stint with the FRC, the only actual paying job he ever had. And who the hell puts his wedding picture on a professional resume!

That is truly bizarre 

1 hour ago, Churchhoney said:

Yeah, it's very old. But I love it that he's never had anything else on it -- after his very  pretentious start in professional life as a video producer and political consultant way, back. when. 

That's what he and his parents and the members of their church that they convinced thought Josh would be. He'd start with those pretentious things as a teen and then go up up up....Because he;'s the firstborn of and thus especially blessed by the God of JB and Meeechelle. And he's gonna rule the world. That's what they thought. 

And look what's happened since.....

They really should seriously rethink their view of themselves, their cult, all their beliefs and their childrearing. But it looks like they never will. 

These cult families are full of sheltered, uneducated 20 year olds claiming to be “counselors” and “consultants.”

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On 7/19/2021 at 8:32 AM, WinnieWinkle said:

She's probably eligible now if you consider Josh hasn't worked in months - assuming he ever worked and brought in a real income of course.  I can't see the Duggars supporting the idea of her going on public assistance though - they want to give the illusion of wealth and they also want to give the illusion of being a caring family.  That wouldn't really jibe with Anna having to collect money from the government.

I could see them taking money for assistance from the government. They never stopped at taking money, perks, etc. from being on TV. I'm sure they panhandle for "love offerings" when they do or did speaking engagements.

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(edited)
5 hours ago, Lurk said:

I could see them taking money for assistance from the government

In some way they are all self -employed, so I'm pretty sure they have been collecting unemployment and applying for every small business loan they can get their hands on.

Edited by MsJamieDornan
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1 hour ago, Snow Fairy said:

When is Anna due? Do you think they will even announce the birth publicly?

All she said when the announcement was made was that she was due in Fall 2021. So we could be waiting anywhere from 2-5 more months. 

They announced on April 23, and already knew it was a girl, so someone can maybe figure out how far along she would have had to have been at that point, and do the math from there. 

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21 hours ago, christine falls said:

All she said when the announcement was made was that she was due in Fall 2021. So we could be waiting anywhere from 2-5 more months. 

They announced on April 23, and already knew it was a girl, so someone can maybe figure out how far along she would have had to have been at that point, and do the math from there. 

i would guess she was close to 5 months at the time of the announcement. that would  put her due about end of august/early september. that's my guess.

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(edited)
11 hours ago, Albanyguy said:

As long as it doesn't interfere with his naptime.

Josh will argue that court rules prevent him being in the room with Anna, since she's about to give birth to a child. Then he'll go take a nap. And the Rebers will have to deal with it instead. 

Edited by Churchhoney
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1 hour ago, BigBingerBro said:

In one of Jessa's birth videos (I think part 3), when they are in the hospital, listen to Boob in the background. He mentions something about "2/3rds of the way there" which I thought was a reference to the fact that Jessa now has 4 kids which is 2/3rd of Josh and Anna's 6 kids.

And then, in the shot where Henry is holding Fern, listen to Boob and to whoever Boob is talking to. I wondered if that other voice was Josh. Josh appeared to me to have the thickest southern accent of all of them, much like the other voice on the phone.

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44 minutes ago, Rootbeer said:

Josh barely cares about his own kids, I doubt he has any interest in seeing Jessa's latest spawn. That would be the case even if he wasn't legally restricted from being around kids.

The only reason Josh would interested in sneaking over to see Jessa's baby would be the childish thrill of breaking the rules and proving that no judge can push him around.

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With the serious issues Josh has at hand, I also doubt he cares anything about Jessa's baby....just another one added to the pile of nieces and nephews and GRANDCHILDREN for his parents. Judging by Josh's actions and choices he has made after marriage is a clear indicator to me that he could not care less about the impact his "pass times" and actions would have had on his wife and the lifetime scars, embarrassment, financial and emotional effects they would have on his children.

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I have a question.  Does Gothard teach that a spouse is more important than a child?  Is a wife supposed to support her husband, even if it means not caring for her children?  Just looking from the outside, I get the impression that the children are of less importance as people.  Numbers matter, but not individual children.  If this is the case, I can see Anna sticking with Josh, even if it is not the best situation for her children.  But then, I don't understand this line of thinking at all.

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4 hours ago, CalicoKitty said:

I have a question.  Does Gothard teach that a spouse is more important than a child?  Is a wife supposed to support her husband, even if it means not caring for her children?  Just looking from the outside, I get the impression that the children are of less importance as people.  Numbers matter, but not individual children.  If this is the case, I can see Anna sticking with Josh, even if it is not the best situation for her children.  But then, I don't understand this line of thinking at all.

Gothard absolutely prioritizes marriage over kids. His logic is that you can't be good parents if you don't have a good marriage.

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4 hours ago, CalicoKitty said:

I have a question.  Does Gothard teach that a spouse is more important than a child?  Is a wife supposed to support her husband, even if it means not caring for her children?  Just looking from the outside, I get the impression that the children are of less importance as people.  Numbers matter, but not individual children.  If this is the case, I can see Anna sticking with Josh, even if it is not the best situation for her children.  But then, I don't understand this line of thinking at all.

Yes, the books I’ve read and experiences I’ve had indicate that the marriage comes first. The husband-wife relationship takes precedence to children’s needs. Even the needs of newborn babies. 

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1 hour ago, awaken said:

Yes, the books I’ve read and experiences I’ve had indicate that the marriage comes first. The husband-wife relationship takes precedence to children’s needs. Even the needs of newborn babies. 

So the M's are basically all alone in this mess.  Josh gets the attention of his wife, and the  kids don't get the attention of their mother.  Nice.

 

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11 hours ago, awaken said:

Yes, the books I’ve read and experiences I’ve had indicate that the marriage comes first. The husband-wife relationship takes precedence to children’s needs. Even the needs of newborn babies. 

Yes, that is one of the key facets of Gothardism; the husband, and especially the wife, must put the spouse first, every time and all the time.  The kids and their problems come in a poor second to Dad.  Hence, one can stop breastfeeding at 6 months and hand the baby over to any nearby preteen girl who will then be in charge of raising it so that mama can tend to daddy in the bedroom and everywhere else.

As I recall, Gothard used to preach on the topic, claiming that one of the biggest problems with modern marriage was that women tended to focus on their children and their needs rather than her husband and this is why marriages fail.  As long as the woman gives complete precedence to her husband over her kids, the marriage will thrive.

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(edited)
6 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

Gothardism also seems to treat children as if they were little robots, acting and feeling just like their parents tell them to. No dissent from the party line or having your own feelings. So those kids are going to take their orders from Anna and probably think that Daddy is being persecuted. 

As I understand it, one of the messages in the siren song that Bill Gothard sang, that lured so many people into his fold, was that people who followed his teachings would protect their children from being contaminated and ruined by the evil forces active in modern godless mainstream society.

For that kind of authoritarian message to work, the parents have to believe in their power to not just shape but totally control their children's development. That's true whether the authoritarian system being offered is about religion, or finance, or politics, or . . . pretty much any subject. And of course, one has the best chance of succeeding with such indoctrination if the subjects are isolated sufficiently from outside influences. So of course the ATI/IBLP way assumes the kids are programmable robots. And, depending on the family circumstances, sadly, many of those kids were quite programmable. Although they're human and there are limits to how effective the brainwashing can be.

The Duggars have IMO done very well overall with the brainwashing. They landed the TLC money and celebrity which allowed them to make their realm pretty comfortable for their kids, and to allow them to "expand" the circle while pretty much keeping within the fundie world. Even with that, Jill's not drinking their Kool-aid anymore (she's still conservative and evangelical, but in a mainstream way). But the rest of the pack seems firmly within the orbit of JB and Meech and the IBLP, including the marrieds. Except for Jinger. Who's exchanged one headship for another, who although not IBLP is unlikely to set out to expose or embarrass the IBLP world. 

I find it chilling to think that the indoctrination has been so successful, but I don't delude myself that there are a half dozen Duggars of the next generation just itching to break ranks. Nope. There may be the kind of awkward distancing that Jill has done, and more daughters like Jinger who marry headships who don't openly break with the family but aren't into IBLP either.  BTW I would love to be mistaken about whether there are some next gen Duggars about to spectacularly break free. Just saying.

 

Edited by Jeeves
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