The Duggars and Their World: Fashion, Food, Finance, Schoolin’ and Child Rearin'

[Lemur]

No kidding? There's really a store called Plato's Closet? Why? The greeks didn't have closets, and in the other sense Plato was pretty much the least closeted person in recorded history.

My theory is that the person who named the business has no sense of irony.

[lookeyloo]

There is a Plato's closet in my town. I went in once.  I am way too old for that stuff!!

[CofCinci]

There is a Plato's closet in my town. I went in once. I am way too old for that stuff!!

The one in my area smells like feet, which is how I imagine the Duggar house smells.

[kokapetl]

I think their house would smell like dried saliva, and a mix of pine disinfectant and fæces.

[zenme]

The one in my area smells like feet, which is how I imagine the Duggar house smells.

 

 

I think their house would smell like dried saliva, and a mix of pine disinfectant and fæces.

 

Yes.  I have always thought their house smells dirty.  When they moved furniture on an episode there was a whole lot of junk under those sofas.  Added to that the fact that the kids are allowed to walk around with food and probably spill or smear dirty hands on upholstery.  Their bathrooms probably smell like piss.  I bet it also smells like sweaty kids that have been outdoors--like a dirty dog smell.  Gross.

[kokapetl]

I bet they use those stupid Lysol/Dettol floor wipes. Those things can barely clean a square metre. They can't possibly be properly cleaning the 400+ square metres of the ground floor tiling.

[JenCarroll]

Hey, you can't hold the Duggars responsible for the mess. Now that the camera crew has stopped coming around, they don't have anyone to take out the garbage!

[kandinski]

Speaking of the Camera crew,why have none of them come foward with any revelations?

[CofCinci]

Speaking of the Camera crew,why have none of them come foward with any revelations?

NDAs and they don't want to risk future jobs.

[Guest]

Do we know which Duggar kids have their GEDs?

[JenCarroll]

They don't have to be GED's. Homeschooling parents can issue a high school diploma.

Seriously, I think a lot of the Duggars need to think about trade schools. Jessa and Jinger would probably both enjoy becoming licensed beauticians. Jill could become an ultrasound tech (my cousin makes huge amounts of money doing that). The boys could look into plumbing, electrician, auto mechanic, or heat and air conditioner repair, just to list a few off the top of my head. I can't think what Joy would like to do. She'd do very well as a sports coach, I think, if she'd ever been allowed to learn a sport. Personal trainer, maybe? Some of these types of programs take less than a year, and there is financial aid available. They might have to take out student loans, but we just won't mention that to Boob.

I realize Boob will have objections to every idea anyone has, but something has to give eventually. Otherwise he's going to find himself with 16 unmarried adults all sitting around in that house looking to him for money. Perhaps if one kid was able to get a career going, others would follow and then Jim Bob might suddenly discover that the Lord has (conveniently) laid it on his heart that his children should purpose to seek out jobs where they can connect with more secular people to help spread the good news even farther. Amen.

[CofCinci]

Do we know which Duggar kids have their GEDs?

I think all adult children, with the except of Jessa who has a HS diploma, have GEDs.

[Wellfleet]

They don't have to be GED's. Homeschooling parents can issue a high school diploma.

Seriously, I think a lot of the Duggars need to think about trade schools. Jessa and Jinger would probably both enjoy becoming licensed beauticians. Jill could become an ultrasound tech (my cousin makes huge amounts of money doing that). The boys could look into plumbing, electrician, auto mechanic, or heat and air conditioner repair, just to list a few off the top of my head. I can't think what Joy would like to do. She'd do very well as a sports coach, I think, if she'd ever been allowed to learn a sport. Personal trainer, maybe? Some of these types of programs take less than a year, and there is financial aid available. They might have to take out student loans, but we just won't mention that to Boob.

I realize Boob will have objections to every idea anyone has, but something has to give eventually. Otherwise he's going to find himself with 16 unmarried adults all sitting around in that house looking to him for money. Perhaps if one kid was able to get a career going, others would follow and then Jim Bob might suddenly discover that the Lord has (conveniently) laid it on his heart that his children should purpose to seek out jobs where they can connect with more secular people to help spread the good news even farther. Amen.

 

Jill as an ultrasound tech is a great idea, but somehow I can't see her kicking in with the requisite amount of Humble that she'd need in order to work with other medical professionals. Not to mention the moms-to-be. I see her as a team player in many other scenarios, but not this one. She might find the urge to offer her opinions, what with her vast amount of experience, somewhat overpowering.

[kathe5133]

How did Jessa get a HS diploma? Didn't she also attend the SOTDRT?

[JenCarroll]

Yes, I know I'm in fantasy land (and while I'm there, I'd like to propose that Jer and Jed become lifeguards) and I'm familiar with the 200 year plan. However, I think that entire plan will collapse under its own weight within the next generation. It may or may not be soon enough for the Duggars. OTOH, in order to have his kids' families living nearby, his kids have to get families -- meaning spouses will have to be found somewhere, and I honestly can't imagine who in their movement would want to marry into that mess. They may have to accept people from different backgrounds, or be left with sixteen unmarried adult children to support.

To some extent it will depend on what Jim Bob's financial situation really is, and much as we like to speculate, none of us really knows that. My own opinion is that the Boob just ain't that smart, and there may not be as much in the bank as some people think. I could be wrong (I'm sure that happened once) but I think he was counting on continuing income from the show rather than carefully squirreling away whatever he could, and he may be worrying now. If they aren't able to maintain their lifestyle, they may indeed be willing to bring in some spouses with earning potential. Or, you know, jobs.

Will he hold true to the vision if it means he has to give up all his nicest toys? Will the boys go along with not getting married and never being allowed to have sex? Will the younger girls be willing to accept the same draconian strictures that the older girls have lived under? Will the boy get off the chair? (Whoops, wrong show.) Time will tell, presumably.

[GeeGolly]

Yet then there are families like the Rodrigueses, and probably many more like them, who would be more than willing to marry their offspring into the Duggar Clan. If the Duggars keep following the same path, many of their kids will end up living like the Rodrigueses & the Kellers, and how the Duggars used to live - depending on love offerings and barely making ends meet.

 

And that, I believe, will be end of quivering for these folks - going from computers, travel, and plenty of space, to a cramped home with one bathroom, and not enough food to eat.

[kokapetl]

JimBob's senate campaign notwithstanding, he doesn't seem to be spending that much money on himself, and aside from her armpit iPhone plus, neither is Michelle. They spent $450,000 in May on land that will become a desirable location for motels or fast food joints when the planned interstate is constructed. Tightwad didn't even spend much on his daughter's weddings when the going was good. They own several million in property that I could find.

Nonetheless, the 200 year plan will never come to fruition because in 200 years, no one alive will have met them, let alone give a shit about what great great grandpa Duggar and the witch Ruark wanted.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Kokapetl

[Churchhoney]

I think all adult children, with the except of Jessa who has a HS diploma, have GEDs.

 

I remain curious about who awarded Jessa the diploma. I think I know why they got her some kind of diploma. They were probably worried that having a non-parent teacher might get flagged as a problem unless the non-parent teacher had some education credential. But in Arkansas, home schoolers aren't eligible for diplomas from any public entity. I'd be interested to know whether they just nabbed the diploma from one of several homeschooling groups who club together to offer them, essentially no questions asked; whether she and they actually got involved with some home-education group or online school that offers diplomas to people who take courses or pass tests or fulfill certain other conditions; or whether they're just touting their personal Duggar-brand diploma that they invented and conferred themselves.

 

Arkansas Dept of Ed regs 

http://www.arkansased.gov/public/userfiles/Learning_Services/Charter%20and%20Home%20School/Home%20School-Division%20of%20Learning%20Services/Home%20School-Rules%20Governing%20Home%20School.pdf     :

 

"Home Schools are not accredited by the Arkansas Department of Education.  There are no grades, credits, transcripts or diploma provided by the Arkansas Department of Education, education service cooperative or by the local school district for students enrolled in home school."

Edited September 5, 2015 by Churchhoney

[Wellfleet]

I think this is all very well thought out and logical. Sadly, "well thought out and logical" doesn't always apply to Jim Bob Duggar. I posted at length in another topic about how JB and Michelle were big time chums of Doug Phillips of the Vision Forum - well, they were till he went down in disgrace after being outed for sexual abuse.  My post about that - you can read it here - discusses that Phillips promoted, and for all we know the Duggars have adopted, a "200 year plan" for fundie Christian domination of the world - or at least the USA - which means generation after generation of large numbers of children, all home-schooled and toeing a strict fundamental patriarchal Christian doctrinal line.

 

I don't know how deeply Jim Bob has absorbed and is now committed to that stuff, so it's possible he'll loosen up a little. But, sadly, as much as the Duggs appeared to loosen up some of their more obvious oddball ways (no more frumpers, computers and smartphones in the home, and lately the adult kids aren't so bundled up in "modest" clothes), I doubt that JB would ever envision one of his daughters getting a real education or working at a job. He may want to keep the sons as close as he can, too. Obviously, that doesn't exclude any of the kids being on TV or making paid appearances or "writing" books.

 

He may be clinging to the idea that a decade from now he'll have his married kids and grandkids living on his property or very nearby, somehow all making a go of it financially through Duggar Enterprises.

 

Ah, Boob and Doug P and the "200-Year Plan." Boys, boys. What you two crazy kids don't know - because, of course, history isn't important - is that extremist plans like yours have NEVER lasted. In fact, they never come CLOSE to achieving their goals. In the grand scheme of things, they actually peter out very quickly. Pun intended. Relatively recent case-in-point: the Third Reich and one of its most highly-touted talking points - a thousand years of domination and enlightenment by the Germanic people. Sorry to tell you boys, but it went down in a little over 12 years. Less than a single generation. So it's back to the drawing board, boys. See if you can come up with something that looks a LOT more like the Bell Curve than this Quiverful idiocy you've got on your plate right now. And good luck [not really] because you two geniuses are so going to need it.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Wellfleet

[Guest]

GEDs have an unfortunate stigma attached to them, but they aren't useless. There are at least a half dozen accredited Christian colleges in their area that routinely accept homeschoolers with GEDs. For example, John Brown University is all of 15 minutes away from their house and offers degrees in music (Jana), photography (Jinger), and likely whatever Joy might find interesting as well. 

 

However, IMO, it's entirely a control issue for JB. Most universities, including John Brown University, require non-married students to live on-campus. JB would never allow an unmarried child to live away from home in an environment that isn't entirely controlled by him or people exactly like him, which is why he seemingly preferred to have Joseph sent hundreds of miles away to Crown College rather than send him 15 miles down the road to John Brown University.  

Edited September 5, 2015 by Guest

[Churchhoney]

Ah, Boob and Doug P and the "200-Year Plan." Boys, boys. What you two crazy kids don't know - because, of course, history isn't important - is that extremist plans like yours have NEVER lasted. In fact, they never come CLOSE to achieving their goals. In the grand scheme of things, they actually peter out very quickly. Pun intended. Relatively recent case-in-point: the Third Reich and one of its most highly-touted talking points - a thousand years of domination and enlightenment by the Germanic people. Sorry to tell you boys, but it went down in a little over 12 years. Less than a single generation. So it's back to the drawing board, boys. See if you can come up with something that looks a LOT more like the Bell Curve than this Quiverful idiocy you've got on your plate right now. And good luck [not really] because you two geniuses are so going to need it.

 

In my opinion, though, at least Boob and perhaps more of these guys really don't give a crap about anything lasting 200 years.

 

I simply don't believe that Boob is actually motivated by religious faith or theological principles in any way, shape or form. All those things are for him is rationalization of stuff he wants to do because of his own neurotic, needy, controlling, angry, fearful, mean, selfish, hyper-competitive personality. That's at the root of most human motivation, and it's certainly about the only thing that motivates somebody as dumb, nutty and selfish as Boob, I expect. He latched onto his "faith" because it authorizes him to do all the crap that his messed-up nature is longing to do. So he doesn't need it to last 200 years. He just needs it to last well enough for another 30 or 40 years. And with 19 kids, maybe he can hold on to eight or 10 for that long, or nearly that long. He's got an amazing track record of brainwashing up to this point. Of course, the TLC money played a big role in that, I'm sure. He won't be really happy with only eight or 10 perpetual acolytes, of course. But it will be enough to staff the TTH.

 

I strongly suspect that this is also mainly the case with the rest of the current 200-year-and-similar theology guys, like Philips and Botkin, given the way they tend to cling to, use and manipulate their wives, their children and other young people in their orbit. Some perpetrators of and believers in these ideas may care about this stuff in a more abstract and objective way -- maybe Rushdoony did, for example -- but for most of them it's just handy rationalization for stuff they want to do. And it sounds much cooler than just, "Because I said so."

[Twopper]

 

JimBob's senate campaign notwithstanding, he doesn't seem to be spending that much money on himself, and aside from her armpit iPhone plus, neither is Michelle. They spent $450,000 in May on land that will become a desirable location for motels or fast food joints when the planned interstate is constructed. Tightwad didn't even spend much on his daughter's weddings when the going was good. They own several million in property that I could find.

 

 

I have no way to prove this, but I wonder if without the income stream from TLC if JB might be in danger of becoming "land poor." I would guess they spent that $450,000 in May before the molestation scandal.  It isn't like they need to save for college, pay off a mortgage, or spend for outside activities for kids, but they do have a fairly large food bill, and I would think a rather hefty heating and a/c bill plus they seem to have lots of vehicles and lots of drivers who need insuring.

 

[SometimesBites]

NDAs and they don't want to risk future jobs.

Oh, but wouldn't you just LOVE to hear their stories. What I wouldn't pay to hear the dirt. Like Miss Clairie said in Steel Magnolias: "If you don't have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me." Guess that's why I love y'all so much. :)

[kokapetl]

I have no way to prove this, but I wonder if without the income stream from TLC if JB might be in danger of becoming "land poor." I would guess they spent that $450,000 in May before the molestation scandal. It isn't like they need to save for college, pay off a mortgage, or spend for outside activities for kids, but they do have a fairly large food bill, and I would think a rather hefty heating and a/c bill plus they seem to have lots of vehicles and lots of drivers who need insuring.

Most of their properties likely have tenants, so there is income from those. The $450,000 purchase in may seems atypical, I don't think property speculation is lucrative in NW Arkansas. Edited September 5, 2015 by Kokapetl

[GeeGolly]

I have no way to prove this, but I wonder if without the income stream from TLC if JB might be in danger of becoming "land poor." I would guess they spent that $450,000 in May before the molestation scandal.  It isn't like they need to save for college, pay off a mortgage, or spend for outside activities for kids, but they do have a fairly large food bill, and I would think a rather hefty heating and a/c bill plus they seem to have lots of vehicles and lots of drivers who need insuring.

And the plane. They have not lived cheaply for years. I believe they will have to make huge adjustments to live within their means even with a couple of million in the bank. Everything they own, even just a plot of land comes with expenses as well.

In my opinion, though, at least Boob and perhaps more of these guys really don't give a crap about anything lasting 200 years.

 

I simply don't believe that Boob is actually motivated by religious faith or theological principles in any way, shape or form. All those things are for him is rationalization of stuff he wants to do because of his own neurotic, needy, controlling, angry, fearful, mean, selfish, hyper-competitive personality. That's at the root of most human motivation, and it's certainly about the only thing that motivates somebody as dumb, nutty and selfish as Boob, I expect. He latched onto his "faith" because it authorizes him to do all the crap that his messed-up nature is longing to do. So he doesn't need it to last 200 years. He just needs it to last well enough for another 30 or 40 years. And with 19 kids, maybe he can hold on to eight or 10 for that long, or nearly that long. He's got an amazing track record of brainwashing up to this point. Of course, the TLC money played a big role in that, I'm sure. He won't be really happy with only eight or 10 perpetual acolytes, of course. But it will be enough to staff the TTH.

 

I strongly suspect that this is also mainly the case with the rest of the current 200-year-and-similar theology guys, like Philips and Botkin, given the way they tend to cling to, use and manipulate their wives, their children and other young people in their orbit. Some perpetrators of and believers in these ideas may care about this stuff in a more abstract and objective way -- maybe Rushdoony did, for example -- but for most of them it's just handy rationalization for stuff they want to do. And it sounds much cooler than just, "Because I said so."

I agree, JB hit the lottery with this belief system. It allows him to be everything he is and everything he is not.

[JenCarroll]

Yet then there are families like the Rodrigueses, and probably many more like them, who would be more than willing to marry their offspring into the Duggar Clan. If the Duggars keep following the same path, many of their kids will end up living like the Rodrigueses & the Kellers, and how the Duggars used to live - depending on love offerings and barely making ends meet.

 

And that, I believe, will be end of quivering for these folks - going from computers, travel, and plenty of space, to a cramped home with one bathroom, and not enough food to eat.

This, I think, is pretty much what I was going for. The whole movement is going to collapse under the sheer weight of its economic impracticability.

[Guest]

I have no way to prove this, but I wonder if without the income stream from TLC if JB might be in danger of becoming "land poor." I would guess they spent that $450,000 in May before the molestation scandal.  It isn't like they need to save for college, pay off a mortgage, or spend for outside activities for kids, but they do have a fairly large food bill, and I would think a rather hefty heating and a/c bill plus they seem to have lots of vehicles and lots of drivers who need insuring.

 

After a few years of supporting themselves and the ever-expanding families of their unemployed children, I think it's a real possibility that they could become "land poor." First on the chopping block will probably be JillyMuffin's house and John David's private plane. 

[Julia]

But what Jim Bob does have is serfs, and daughters he can parlay into more serfs.

 

I think now is the time for Oprah to make that offer about college again.

[Guest]

But what Jim Bob does have is serfs, and daughters he can parlay into more serfs.

 

Very true, but I'm not sure how much real money can be made from their Duggar business ventures. Could Duggar Towing feed their family of 30+ unemployed? I suspect not. 

 

BTW, Julia, my name is Julia, too. Hehe. 

[JenCarroll]

Thirty dependents and counting...

[Julia]

I imagine Jim Bob will have an epiphany about gummint assistance when the grandchildren start coming.

[Guest]

Does anyone know what Joseph is majoring in at Crown College? Is there any hope that he might acquire a marketable skill?

[CofCinci]

Does anyone know what Joseph is majoring in at Crown College? Is there any hope that he might acquire a marketable skill?

One of these below.  I'm guessing language or ministry?

 

Programs Offered in the School of Ministry:

BACHELOR DEGREES

Pastoral Ministry

Missions

Youth Ministry

Music Ministry

CERTIFICATE PROGRAM

Foundation for Christian Life

Certificate (one year program)

 

Programs Offered in the School of Business Applications:

ASSOCIATE DEGREE

Associate of Biblical Studies

in Office Management

BACHELOR DEGREE

Bachelor of Biblical Studies

in Business Applications

CERTIFICATIONS TRAINING

Certifications available:

• Certified Bookkeeper AIPB

• PMI Certified Project

Manager

• ASBDC Entrepreneurship

Certificate

• Export Management

Certificaiton

• Intuit Quickbooks®

• Microsoft Word®, Excel®,

Access®, Powerpoint®, and

Outlook®

 

Training Offered through International Language Navigators:

TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER

LANGUAGES (TESOL)

PHONETIC READING SPECIALIST CERTIFICATION

LANGUAGE LEARNING

ASL INTERPRETER

TRAINING PROGRAM

[kokapetl]

One of these below. I'm guessing language or ministry?

Programs Offered in the School of Ministry:

BACHELOR DEGREES

Pastoral Ministry

Missions

Youth Ministry

Music Ministry

CERTIFICATE PROGRAM

Foundation for Christian Life

Certificate (one year program)

Programs Offered in the School of Business Applications:

ASSOCIATE DEGREE

Associate of Biblical Studies

in Office Management

BACHELOR DEGREE

Bachelor of Biblical Studies

in Business Applications

CERTIFICATIONS TRAINING

Certifications available:

• Certified Bookkeeper AIPB

• PMI Certified Project

Manager

• ASBDC Entrepreneurship

Certificate

• Export Management

Certificaiton

• Intuit Quickbooks®

• Microsoft Word®, Excel®,

Access®, Powerpoint®, and

Outlook®

Training Offered through International Language Navigators:

TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER

LANGUAGES (TESOL)

PHONETIC READING SPECIALIST CERTIFICATION

LANGUAGE LEARNING

ASL INTERPRETER

TRAINING PROGRAM

BA in Time Wasting Studies.

[Guest]

Well, at least some of those programs teach employable skills (computer programs, ASL, etc.) even if the paper the degree is written on is worthless in the non-ATI world. 

[SometimesBites]

Does anyone know what Joseph is majoring in at Crown College? Is there any hope that he might acquire a marketable skill?

HA...must admit that while scrolling through, I read this as "Clown College." For reasons other than the hard root beer I just drank.

[Muffyn]

What exactly would a Bachelor of Biblical Studies in Business Applications degree prepare someone for?  Say a prayer to make a macro work in a spreadsheet?  Or is this only related to businesses that are found in the Bible.  He could become a shepherd, a pharisee (boo, hiss), a tax collector (boo, hiss), a fisherman, a carpenter, a prostitute  . . .  Perhaps they teach people how to build an ark.  I am so confused.  I think it would have been better if he went to clown college.  At least he would know how to juggle and make balloon animals.  He could help entertain the multitude of children.  

[Julia]

What exactly would a Bachelor of Biblical Studies in Business Applications degree prepare someone for?  Say a prayer to make a macro work in a spreadsheet?  Or is this only related to businesses that are found in the Bible.  He could become a shepherd, a pharisee (boo, hiss), a tax collector (boo, hiss), a fisherman, a carpenter, a prostitute  . . .  Perhaps they teach people how to build an ark.  I am so confused.  I think it would have been better if he went to clown college.  At least he would know how to juggle and make balloon animals.  He could help entertain the multitude of children.  

 

I could be wrong, but I imagine it would teach them to administrate a church.

[Churchhoney]

Thirty dependents and counting...

 

Maybe that can be the name of their new show on Fox Business.

[CofCinci]

I could be wrong, but I imagine it would teach them to administrate a church.

Most importantly- tax codes for religious organizations. Jim Bob is probably missing tons of exemptions and write offs for his Church of the Grift.

[BitterApple]

Clown College is useless. Hell, elementary school kids know how to use Microsoft Office applications. You could take a course at your local community college or town recreation center to learn computers.

As far as these "ministry" degrees, is the job market in the church sector really that hot? Unless you're Joel Osteen I can't imagine the typical church has that large of a full time staff.

[louannems]

As far as the Duggar's dirty floors, that house is installed with industrial wet/dry built-in vacuums in each room. I have seen various Howlers scrubbing that vast tiled area with it.

[kellylovessnark]

No kidding? There's really a store called Plato's Closet? Why? The greeks didn't have closets, and in the other sense Plato was pretty much the least closeted person in recorded history.

Yes there is. Strange thing is that Plato's Closet is geared to teens and 20 something crowd.

[queenanne]

I've never understood this version of "Christian theology" either (got me a set of hyperfundie cousins), because as others have sagely said, what's the point of training up "strong Christian witnesses" who are never allowed to go out amongst the unsaved to have their faith tested?  Or get jobs ditto?  "Jobs" has always seemed like the bare freakin' minimum of "interacting as salt and light for the world", even if nothing else (infantilizing, etc.) it's inefficient.  Minimum half the potential "workforce" can't be trusted to do anything more than loll around washing dishes and holding down couches?  A batch of hermits hiding in their rooms aren't going to do squat to show people "how Christians are different" than the great unsaved.

Edited September 6, 2015 by queenanne

[ChocolateAddict]

I've never understood this version of "Christian theology" either (got me a set of hyperfundie cousins), because as others have sagely said, what's the point of training up "strong Christian witnesses" who are never allowed to go out amongst the unsaved to have their faith tested?  Or get jobs ditto?  "Jobs" has always seemed like the bare freakin' minimum of "interacting as salt and light for the world", even if nothing else (infantilizing, etc.) it's inefficient.  Minimum half the potential "workforce" can't be trusted to do anything more than loll around washing dishes and holding down couches?  A batch of hermits hiding in their rooms aren't going to do squat to show people "how Christians are different" than the great unsaved.

It sort of defeats the point when those in "God's Army" are more focused on chaperoning each other than saving the heathens.

Edited September 6, 2015 by ChocolateAddict

[Churchhoney]

 A batch of hermits hiding in their rooms aren't going to do squat to show people "how Christians are different" than the great unsaved.

 

This is why they must have a tv show! it's the only way the rest of us will be exposed to their wonderful example. lol

It sort of defeats the point when those in "God's Army" are more focused on chaperoning each other than saving the heathens.

 

Not to mention kind of undercutting the idea that God's Army are an especially upright and trustworthy bunch and the only humans suitable for preparing the world for Jesus.

[kalamac]

They probably think the disciples were actually accountability buddies for Jesus, there to make sure he wasn't lead astray by all the poor, liberal people he associated with. Not to mention the prostitutes he counseled...(Josh's next excuse for engaging with a woman of negotiable affection?)

[Churchhoney]

They probably think the disciples were actually accountability buddies for Jesus, there to make sure he wasn't lead astray by all the poor, liberal people he associated with. Not to mention the prostitutes he counseled...(Josh's next excuse for engaging with a woman of negotiable affection?)

 

Brilliant.

[queenanne]

They probably think the disciples were actually accountability buddies for Jesus, there to make sure he wasn't lead astray by all the poor, liberal people he associated with. Not to mention the prostitutes he counseled...(Josh's next excuse for engaging with a woman of negotiable affection?)

 

Oh wow, I think it’s actually true – although he did run away from his parents, so there's that. 

 

And you probably did have to pass prostitutes on your way to the temple courtyard.

 

I guess it's never occurred to them that a big reason we primarily hear about "Christ with disciples" is, because the disciples were doing the writing/reporting of anecdote, and thus wouldn't have much knowledge of what he did when he was alone?

[Tabbygirl521]

I've never understood this version of "Christian theology" either (got me a set of hyperfundie cousins), because as others have sagely said, what's the point of training up "strong Christian witnesses" who are never allowed to go out amongst the unsaved to have their faith tested? Or get jobs ditto? "Jobs" has always seemed like the bare freakin' minimum of "interacting as salt and light for the world", even if nothing else (infantilizing, etc.) it's inefficient. Minimum half the potential "workforce" can't be trusted to do anything more than loll around washing dishes and holding down couches? A batch of hermits hiding in their rooms aren't going to do squat to show people "how Christians are different" than the great unsaved.

Thank you! You have perfectly articulated my puzzlement over this "philosophy."