19 Things I Hate About You: How the Duggars Infuriate

[Wellfleet]

Some of this stuff is really offensive, even putting aside what we know is the underlying purpose of this place.  One course is property and facility care (basically HVAC maintenance, wiring, plumbing etc). Fine. They give the instructor, a former residential contractor, the title Lt. Col. That's just offensive. That is a military title that people work hard for and serve our nation for a long time to receive that honor. 

 

I think this whole Alert place exists so that big boys can play army. They get to wear uniforms, salute, shoot guns, sleep in tents etc - all that fun "army" stuff. Without putting their own keesters in the line of fire and joining one of our armed services - without actually defending the country they profess to love so much.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Wellfleet

[3girlsforus]

I think this whole Alert place exists so that big boys can play army. They get to wear uniforms, salute, shoot guns, sleep in tents etc - all that fun "army" stuff. Without putting their own keesters in the line of fire and joining one of our armed services - without actually defending the country they profess to love so much.

I think you're right and it makes me sick.

[Absolom]

I wonder if Josiah did the aviation option since he's now a studying for a private pilot's license.

[CofCinci]

From the People excerpt of the Jill article for today:

"Jill was amazing," Michelle says. "I don't normally use the word 'proud,' but as a parent watching her, I was proud, and she did an amazing job. She is a trouper, that girl. We are so grateful this little man arrived safe and healthy."

Of course Michelle never lets her children know she's proud of them.

[Higgins]

It's actually called code-switching and most people who are able to do it don't realize (or often realize after the fact or during it) that they are falling into other speech patterns. I can code switch into Appalachian English, Pittsburgh English, evangelical English and Washington English without even thinking about it. Simply depends on whom I'm with.

Please stick with the Washington English!

[3girlsforus]

I wonder if Josiah did the aviation option since he's now a studying for a private pilot's license.

 

I would never say that everything we do has to have a point. Obviously it's great to have a hobby or a sport. But I do have to wonder about 20k spend for an adventure camp, aviation training, and the additional cost to get a pilot's license when you could spend the money on education or training for a career. What on earth is Josiah going to do with a pilot's license? They have the stink bus. Will Josiah's job be to fly the stink plane? Is there a career in crop dusting? I really hope he's letting his presumably future father-in-law give him some life advice.

[Mrsjumbo]

I think the main thing that bugs me about the Duggars is that people who don't regularly watch the show, but have a passing recognition of the family, assume that MEchelle is such a hard working mom raising all those kids & doing so much of the grunt work herself. And that she has all of those babies because she loves kids so much.

MEchelle came & spoke to my moms group a few years back (mr Jumbo was out of town & I couldn't attend, dammit) about organization. In reality our group should have asked one of the J'slaves to speak.

[truelovekiss]

I think the main thing that bugs me about the Duggars is that people who don't regularly watch the show, but have a passing recognition of the family, assume that MEchelle is such a hard working mom raising all those kids & doing so much of the grunt work herself. And that she has all of those babies because she loves kids so much.

MEchelle came & spoke to my moms group a few years back (mr Jumbo was out of town & I couldn't attend, dammit) about organization. In reality our group should have asked one of the J'slaves to speak.

I hear Jessa's a great organizer ;) and I'm sure she would have loved the attention and an afternoon out of the TTH.

[redlaces]

I do find the dick measuring contest against the Duggar family funny. Ya'll are a trip. 

[3girlsforus]

I think the main thing that bugs me about the Duggars is that people who don't regularly watch the show, but have a passing recognition of the family, assume that MEchelle is such a hard working mom raising all those kids & doing so much of the grunt work herself. And that she has all of those babies because she loves kids so much.

MEchelle came & spoke to my moms group a few years back (mr Jumbo was out of town & I couldn't attend, dammit) about organization. In reality our group should have asked one of the J'slaves to speak.

 

This is so true. It's true in the homeschooling community too. She comes to conventions to speak and I know homeschoolers who think she's so amazing. But there is no way they really know what she's doing (or not doing as the case may be).  They value education and are very good homeschoolers so I really believe that if they knew what Michele thought was good homeschooling they would be horrified.  

[Cherrio]

From the People excerpt of the Jill article for today:

"Jill was amazing," Michelle says. "I don't normally use the word 'proud,' but as a parent watching her, I was proud, and she did an amazing job. She is a trouper, that girl. We are so grateful this little man arrived safe and healthy."

Of course Michelle never lets her children know she's proud of them.

Is proud a swear word in sicko fundie land?      What a sick P.O.S.       

[Cherrio]

There are all kinds of options for additional "training" beyond the Basic 9-weeks. The aviation one is 32 weeks, paramedic is 34. What I want to know is - who are the instructors and what are their qualifications?

If they are anything like the Duggars, no real education is necessary. Most important qualification is that you are insecure, ignorant and a coward. For a paramedic, all that is needed is that you had a toy doctor's bag as a kid. For a flight instructor, you have to have had to put together a few airplane models.

[3girlsforus]

Well the aviation part does say FAA certification and I don't think they can fool around with that. If they want to fly any kind of airplane from even the smallest airport they have to follow FAA rules. I

[GEML]

It reminds me of some of the old military boarding schools floating around the south. There are a handful left, mostly a remnant left over from when you had a "troubled" son who needed "discipline" in order to "be a man." The expectation of those was entrance to perhaps The Citadel, or VMI, and the holy grail was one of the Academies, but those became harder to achieve, and many of these schools have folded.

[3girlsforus]

LOL GEML... that made me imagine the face of the admissions guy at West Point or Annapolis looking at a transcript highlighting training from ALERT. He would probably think the admissions department was playing a joke on him. 

[Darknight]

You piqued my interest so I poked around on the website - they do not make it easy to find. However there is a downloadable PDF outlining various charges. Basic training for 9 weeks comes in at $3420. The application alone is $75 which is more than most college applications these days. Let's just say "pre-TLC Boob" would probably not be sending anyone to Alert.

PS - if someone will tell me how to do it, I'll pop the PDF in here. Thanks.

For a poor buy used save the difference family, they sure waste money

[Wellfleet]

LOL GEML... that made me imagine the face of the admissions guy at West Point or Annapolis looking at a transcript highlighting training from ALERT. He would probably think the admissions department was playing a joke on him. 

 

Hopefully West Point or Annapolis will recognize the Alert transcript for what it actually is when they see it. It's not always so clear.

 

A little off "thread" but a true story. For the last five years before I retired, I worked in the graduate admissions office of a major Northeastern university. We once actually had to rescind an acceptance to our Executive MBA program because the applicant had "earned his bachelor's degree" from a diploma mill-ish school in California, and the MBA admissions committee [professors and a dean] did not recognize the transcript's "bogus factor" when reviewing the file. They essentially admitted a student without an accredited bachelor's degree to a prestigious executive master's program. It was the assistant in our office who recognized the transcript - and the school - as "bad" when the file came back to her for processing and verification. She was very experienced and had handled literally 100s of 1000s of transcripts in her time, so she knew what she was looking at immediately. Made for quite a staff meeting the following week as we wondered how many times things like this get missed at schools all over the country. How many truly unqualified people might be working - and basically getting by - in fields for which they don't have the proper training? We also ran into a fly-by-night store-front "college" - it was literally in a store front in Arlington VA - run by an immigrant Chinese doctor. Well, he called himself Doctor - obviously we had our doubts. One of his "students" applied for a graduate engineering program using the saddest excuse for a bogus transcript I'd ever seen. Not even close to looking like the real thing.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Wellfleet

[JenCarroll]

I do find the dick measuring contest against the Duggar family funny. Ya'll are a trip.

No, no -- this is vagina measuring. Different sport. ;-)

[redlaces]

No, no -- this is vagina measuring. Different sport. ;-)

 

Haha! Thank you for not taking my post seriously.  

[truthtalk2014]

I will say the "I delivered every one of them" line is going to have to change, because it's starting to sound weird.

 

I seem to remember that a real doctor delivered Miracle.  MEchelle didn't cut her own abdomen open and pull her out.  

The animals had no collars or identification.. Ugh. I know Bubba was probably on loan, and anyone that has had a dog for real, knows that dog had no clue who these people were. 

Has anyone ever seen that dog on the Duggar property before?

 

Pick up icky socks off the floor?

 

That is just gross.  You either pick up your own socks or you don't get clean socks - ever again!  That is just lazy.  Use a freaking laundry hamper OR the shoot in your house.  Makes me wonder how the rooms smell.  Who doesn't teach their children (or spouses) to pick up dirty clothes???

[truthtalk2014]

Could you go into a little more detail on that? I've wondered a bit about what the perception of the Duggars from the hardcore fundie/Gothard world sorts other than the sanitized/staged stuff that's come on the show.

I have often wondered that as well.  We never see anyone mopping the floors.  They have to be filthy.  I honestly wonder (if when the TLC crew is gone) if they hire people to clean.  I know that is a long stretch - but maybe MEchelle gets volunteers to come over and help her.  GAG!  

 

I just feel so sorry for the older girls and boys that have to sleep in beds with the younger ones (that may have never been properly potty trained).  The whole big dorm room is disgusting to me. 

Edited April 19, 2015 by truthtalk2014

[merylinkid]

$20K for a year of Alert is just sad.   You could get a real education at the state university for that.  

[JessDVD]

Yeah, the reason I had asked initially was because, who wants to watch people clean a house on national TV so I can understand why they wouldn't film stuff like that. The food, I would say to some degree we can't verify what they do or don't cook when the cameras are off (If I were being filmed making dinner, I'd probably do something easy), but we see the Pantry of Pre-Packaged Goods often enough that it seems the fresh stuff is minimal, plus like someone said above, you know that if they were doing the Dad carving the turkey thing, ever, the cameras would surely film it.

 

And for the perception within the hardcore fundies, obviously the majority of us here have few ties to that, beyond perhaps those who are just regular mainstream Christians of one degree or another, so I was curious what the hardcore fundies would think about the girls' abilities to cook/clean based on what's on or off the show.

[hlemommy]

In going to try to upload some photos. I hope this works

this isn't against the Duggars but I find this photo to be stalker status

that hair cut drives me nuts

Poor jinger is working on this holiday while mechelle is dressed nice. I'd never do this to my child

hannie without shoes. This makes me sad more than it aggregates me

no shoes for Jennifer although the miracle child has warm boots

Why why why would you post your address on instagram?? He took it down shortly after posting thank God. Address make out by freejinger

this one made me laugh

this is tacky. Josh mist have dressed himself this day.

I thought they didn't eat pork? Why would you kill an animal if your not going to eat it?

this pic is in the wrong spot. I'm really happy to see her changing the modest rule

I hope all these show up and I don't get in trouble for these

Edited April 19, 2015 by hlemommy

[maraleia]

It's so sad that the kids will never get to experience the awesomeness that is the Star Wars universe. I'm like a giddy kid on Christmas with the new trailer release this past week. I clearly remember going to see the first movie when I was six and it has stayed with me to this day. All the Duggar kids have to look forward to are bible verses, working for daddy and having kids.

[Wellfleet]

Yes, thank you.

 

This is two peeves of mine rolled into one. I, too, come from a large family, and we ate well. There are plenty of meals that can be cooked for a large family with little more effort than for a small one. We ate turkey, spaghetti and meatballs, meatloaf, lasagna, hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, etc. -- all really easy to make for a lot of people. We didn't wander in and out of the kitchen all day and all night and make our own meals and eat off of paper plates. We ate together as a family and worked together as a family to clean the kitchen -- it wasn't some gigantic production.

 

But we ate *together* as a *family.* I just don't see the Duggars doing that -- ever. If they all gathered around that big table every night and daddy said a prayer and carved the turkey, that would be the lead-in to their show. It is such a warm and relatable image that they would absolutely use it, but they don't. I've only seen them eat at that table once.

 

To me, they don't really interact like members of a family. Why have 19 kids if you don't want to do things together as a family? Aside from the TLC guided events ("we took J_____ horseback riding! She LOVES animals!"), they just seem like a lot of people wandering aimlessly around a big house. I've gone on and on about this in a previous post, so I will just say that I agree with GEML -- what do they do all day?

 

Totally agree with every point here. Despite the everlasting "special and precious" blather, the Duggars do very little that says "close and caring family." Any fun activities these kids have been able to enjoy in the last 10 years are likely to have been a direct result of TLC's need for footage. There would have been no overseas travel, no field trips, no visits to amusement parks, Dollywood etc otherwise. In fact, I think if several recent episodes of 19K&C were shown to a roomful of people who'd never heard of the Duggars - and the sound was muted - a fair number of them would guess that it was a show about a group home or orphanage. Or possibly, some kind of really boring camp for kids.

[Wellfleet]

Well the aviation part does say FAA certification and I don't think they can fool around with that. If they want to fly any kind of airplane from even the smallest airport they have to follow FAA rules. I

 

One would think so, but these days I think that's making a big assumption. One would also think the Secret Service is following all the rules and guidelines that have been been in place for decades regarding Presidential/White House security etc as well. And now of course, we know better, don't we? I'll think I'll send my kid to a recognized, established, accredited and secular school to learn to fly a plane. I don't want anyone popping in a "Pray on it..." when it comes to handling an engine that cuts out in mid-air.

Edited April 19, 2015 by Wellfleet

[Muffyn]

One would think so, but these days I think that's making a big assumption. One would also think the Secret Service is following all the rules and guidelines that have been been in place for decades regarding Presidential/White House security etc as well. And now of course, we know better, don't we? I'll think I'll send my kid to a recognized, established, accredited and secular school to learn to fly a plane. I don't want anyone popping in a "Pray on it..." when it comes to handling an engine that cuts out in mid-air.

Is there an airplane version of Jesus, Take the Wheel?  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lydBPm2KRaU 

[Marigny]

No, she won't get one unless Boob or TLC pays for it. No one cares beyond the second kid, and sometimes not even then. And did Anna ever get a cover - of anything? I'm thinking - maybe I'm wrong though - that all this branching-out to the evil yet well-paying mainstream media is relatively new. Were the Duggars on any People covers before the Dullard relationship came to be?

Anna got Today show special announcements & gender reveals.

[GEML]

Jinger and Jessa have both admitted they are terrible cooks on camera, and Jinger went so far as to say, "We all aren't very good cooks" at least once. We've seen all of them cooking enough - fresh, frozen, canned, baking - to know they are not skilled and comfortable in the kitchen the way "trained" cooks are. There's no assembly line. There's no fluidity of movement with, say, a knife, or a whisk. The fact that they crowd around every time someone cooks something real on camera is a tip off that it's a novelty, in my opinion.

And part of the reason I think they don't cook is because they don't want to clean. I think a lot of the time the cameras aren't on, the older girls are just sitting around and talking the way teenage girls do. That's not a slam on the girls, but I think the girls likely are as lazy as the boys because they haven't really been "trained" how to do anything useful except to be on television and be a good "witness."

That is NOT the norm in Fundy families, and honestly wasn't even the norm in the Duggar family when they started out.

[ChocolateAddict]

Agree with the cooking. I remember when Jessa went to Ben's house to learn how to cook his favourite meal.  I can't remember exactly what it was but I was really surprised that she needed a lot of help!  She looked so uncomfortable and out of place. 

Cooking for 19 wouldn't be super difficult (hear me out, hahaha).  It would have to be basic but meals like spaghetti bolognaise, soup, chicken drumsticks and salad can all be made on a large scale by tripling a recipe.  It would take more time but it wouldn't be impossible for everyone to eat at least 3 vegetables and a source of protein at dinner. 

And all their friends would be doing exactly that, taking normal recipes and making them work for 15-20 people.  If they needed ideas, they could just ask for recipes that aren't too hard but are healthy (or for the Duggars, at least sort-of healthy).  

[Sunnybobs]

Yes I've just seen the Jessa visiting Ben's house one (England is only showing S8 as the most recent!) - one of Ben's sister says "dot the pie with butter" and Jessa is genuinely confused - she has to ask what that means and the sister has to explain exactly what to do. It's such a shame that Ben & Jessa can't start married life nearer his sisters & parents, I know they're also fundamentalist but they do at least seem to value homemaking as a skill. While I don't agree with either family choices/lifestyle it does seem that if you're only going to be allowed to cook, clean & rear children you might as well actually try to do those things properly and at least feed your children real food.

[3girlsforus]

One would think so, but these days I think that's making a big assumption. One would also think the Secret Service is following all the rules and guidelines that have been been in place for decades regarding Presidential/White House security etc as well. And now of course, we know better, don't we? I'll think I'll send my kid to a recognized, established, accredited and secular school to learn to fly a plane. I don't want anyone popping in a "Pray on it..." when it comes to handling an engine that cuts out in mid-air.

 

This is true, although it does say it's accredited by the FAA. Either it is, or they are lying. I'm not saying they aren't lying but if they do have FAA accreditation then they have to be following at least some of those rules. I don't think secular is required to learn to fly a plane. I know several Christian pilots and none of them would just pray if the engine cut out in mid-air. But I do think going to a school whose purpose is to actually teach what they are claiming to teach is important. The point of ALERT isn't these vocational training programs. Those are a nice cover but it's really about indoctrination. If the real focus was the various vocational training in a Gothard setting then the Duggar kids would have skills to get a job, especially Josiah who spent a year there. Since he's looking to Mr. Jackson for some career guidance and working for Daddy Duggar, it seems he didn't get any of that kind of training in that year.

[3girlsforus]

Agree with the cooking. I remember when Jessa went to Ben's house to learn how to cook his favourite meal.  I can't remember exactly what it was but I was really surprised that she needed a lot of help!  She looked so uncomfortable and out of place. 

Cooking for 19 wouldn't be super difficult (hear me out, hahaha).  It would have to be basic but meals like spaghetti bolognaise, soup, chicken drumsticks and salad can all be made on a large scale by tripling a recipe.  It would take more time but it wouldn't be impossible for everyone to eat at least 3 vegetables and a source of protein at dinner. 

And all their friends would be doing exactly that, taking normal recipes and making them work for 15-20 people.  If they needed ideas, they could just ask for recipes that aren't too hard but are healthy (or for the Duggars, at least sort-of healthy).  

 

I agree. I definitely could do it. And with a little planning (I know - insert laugh here) they could actually ease the daily load but having one day a month of lots of cooking and putting things in the freezer - enchiladas, waffles, ziti, soups, broths, etc. All there for them to just put in the oven or use as the base of a soup etc. Then once a week they could do 'cutting and chopping'. I don't always get to do it but I love to spend an hour or so on the weekend cutting, washing, prepping things my kids eat for snack and putting them in tupperware. So we have washed, cut, and prepped fruits and veggies they can just grab and go. Sometimes I'll even grill up chicken breasts or steak (if it's on a good sale) and cut it up for use on salads for lunches. Sure it takes a lot less time to cut enough for my family than their but that would be the time you employ your kids to help, not just turn over the entire food responsibility to them. 

 

This post actually just lit a fire under me. We've been so swamped for the last few weeks my prepped food is getting low. Time to stock the fridge/freezer again :-)

[DangerousMinds]

This is true, although it does say it's accredited by the FAA. Either it is, or they are lying. I'm not saying they aren't lying but if they do have FAA accreditation then they have to be following at least some of those rules. I don't think secular is required to learn to fly a plane. I know several Christian pilots and none of them would just pray if the engine cut out in mid-air. But I do think going to a school whose purpose is to actually teach what they are claiming to teach is important. The point of ALERT isn't these vocational training programs. Those are a nice cover but it's really about indoctrination. If the real focus was the various vocational training in a Gothard setting then the Duggar kids would have skills to get a job, especially Josiah who spent a year there. Since he's looking to Mr. Jackson for some career guidance and working for Daddy Duggar, it seems he didn't get any of that kind of training in that year.

I can't recall where I read it, but I remember reading that Alert is heavy on Bible verse memorization.

[GEML]

I remember when Jessa was beating the pie crust to bits and it's falling apart, and tells Ben how unmanageable the crust is, and Ben reasonable reminds her that no one looks at the bottom of the pie. I think Ben has made a couple of pies in his day.

[galax-arena]

Ben reasonable reminds her that no one looks at the bottom of the pie.

Hmph. Speak for yourself, Ben! The bottom crust has always been my favorite part of the pie. :D

[Wellfleet]

I agree. I definitely could do it. And with a little planning (I know - insert laugh here) they could actually ease the daily load but having one day a month of lots of cooking and putting things in the freezer - enchiladas, waffles, ziti, soups, broths, etc. All there for them to just put in the oven or use as the base of a soup etc. Then once a week they could do 'cutting and chopping'. I don't always get to do it but I love to spend an hour or so on the weekend cutting, washing, prepping things my kids eat for snack and putting them in tupperware. So we have washed, cut, and prepped fruits and veggies they can just grab and go. Sometimes I'll even grill up chicken breasts or steak (if it's on a good sale) and cut it up for use on salads for lunches. Sure it takes a lot less time to cut enough for my family than their but that would be the time you employ your kids to help, not just turn over the entire food responsibility to them. 

 

This post actually just lit a fire under me. We've been so swamped for the last few weeks my prepped food is getting low. Time to stock the fridge/freezer again :-)

 

Everyone who's posted about the lack of Duggar domestic skills - both cooking and cleaning - has been right. It takes more $$ and it takes more material to feed 21 people but it doesn't necessarily have to take more time or effort. It does take more effort to clean a 7000 sq ft house, but then there's that old saying - many hands make light work. And they certainly have many hands, albeit that Josie Grossie's are sticky and dirty. Bottom line for the appalling way this house is managed is Me-chelle, a lazy, disinterested mother who is not going to put forth Effort One into anything she doesn't want to do. I wonder how she'd be managing now if she had given birth to six boys in a row right off the bat? She claims to be the family organizer and scheduler, but apparently she only knows how to schedule things that bring in $$ or fame.

[GEML]

And if the house weren't so filthy looking on television, or the food so badly prepared and served, and the children, especially the littlest ones, so poorly turned out, I'd assume they we're hiring someone which would be fine with me. The show is their job. I get that.

[3girlsforus]

I totally agree GEML. If they hired people to help I'd have no problem with that. I would love to see them hire a nanny and a cleaning service. I know the nanny sounds dumb but if I had the means and that many kids I'd hire a nanny to play with the little ones while the older ones studied. Younger kids take a lot less time to do their studies than high schoolers and it would be great to see them being cared for by someone while Michele taught the older ones. I know - I live in fantasy land.

[Sew Sumi]

I agree. I definitely could do it. And with a little planning (I know - insert laugh here) they could actually ease the daily load but having one day a month of lots of cooking and putting things in the freezer - enchiladas, waffles, ziti, soups, broths, etc. All there for them to just put in the oven or use as the base of a soup etc. Then once a week they could do 'cutting and chopping'. I don't always get to do it but I love to spend an hour or so on the weekend cutting, washing, prepping things my kids eat for snack and putting them in tupperware. So we have washed, cut, and prepped fruits and veggies they can just grab and go. Sometimes I'll even grill up chicken breasts or steak (if it's on a good sale) and cut it up for use on salads for lunches. Sure it takes a lot less time to cut enough for my family than their but that would be the time you employ your kids to help, not just turn over the entire food responsibility to them. 

 

This post actually just lit a fire under me. We've been so swamped for the last few weeks my prepped food is getting low. Time to stock the fridge/freezer again :-)

They said Joseph had to memorize an entire book of the bible (I'm pretty sure it was more than a chapter, given he was there for 9 weeks). eta: Josiah spent 3-9 week terms there last year. 

 

ALERT keeps them tired and hungry, typical cult behavior that keeps the troops in line and easier to coerce. 

Edited April 20, 2015 by Sew Sumi

[Wellfleet]

This is true, although it does say it's accredited by the FAA. Either it is, or they are lying. I'm not saying they aren't lying but if they do have FAA accreditation then they have to be following at least some of those rules. I don't think secular is required to learn to fly a plane. I know several Christian pilots and none of them would just pray if the engine cut out in mid-air. But I do think going to a school whose purpose is to actually teach what they are claiming to teach is important. The point of ALERT isn't these vocational training programs. Those are a nice cover but it's really about indoctrination. If the real focus was the various vocational training in a Gothard setting then the Duggar kids would have skills to get a job, especially Josiah who spent a year there. Since he's looking to Mr. Jackson for some career guidance and working for Daddy Duggar, it seems he didn't get any of that kind of training in that year.

 

I was being somewhat facetious with my "pray on it" comment, though I also have to be honest and admit I would indeed be nervous if I got a plane to find out the pilot trained at Alert. It goes without saying there are 1000s of well-trained, competent professional Christian pilots out there. And I agree completely, Alert is a clearly a Gothard prop, plain and simple. Fake - and safe - Army fun for men both young and old. And one more way to control the offspring.

[3girlsforus]

I was being somewhat facetious with my "pray on it" comment, though I also have to be honest and admit I would indeed be nervous if I got a plane to find out the pilot trained at Alert. It goes without saying there are 1000s of well-trained, competent professional Christian pilots out there. And I agree completely, Alert is a clearly a Gothard prop, plain and simple. Fake - and safe - Army fun for men both young and old. And one more way to control the offspring.

Yea I know you were being factious and I completely agree that I would not want to be on a plane or really hire anyone for anything if ALERT was their training. I just wanted to emphasize that it's the ALERT part that would bother me, not the fact that there training was at a Christian institution. In fact I wouldn't consider ALERT to be a Christian institution. As you say, it's a Gothard training ground. But it is possible to get an excellent education from a Christian school. My daughter, who is getting her BSN, is regularly asked why she chose her Christian university over one of our state's many well-known public universities.  The comment is usually 'you are smart enough to get in these other schools'. The reality is that her school has the highest pass rate for the NCLEX (nursing licensing exam), the most lab access to advanced equipment and the most clinical hours in an actual hospital during their studies than any other school in the state. However, if someone told me they became a nurse at ALERT, I'd tell them I'd rather bleed to death LOL.

Edited April 20, 2015 by 3girlsforus

[GEML]

Both of my (very liberal) sisters have degrees from Christian colleges that are known for being very conservative. (My liberal father taught at one most of our childhoods.) One sister has a masters from Columbia and is finishing her PhD and my other sister is an accountant. Give me almost any Christian college, and I am one person removed from at least one liberal teaching there. None of these schools are monoliths.

That said, ALERT isn't a Christian College.

Edited April 20, 2015 by GEML

[Wellfleet]

Yea I know you were being factious and I completely agree that I would not want to be on a plane or really hire anyone for anything if ALERT was their training. I just wanted to emphasize that it's the ALERT part that would bother me, not the fact that there training was at a Christian institution. In fact I wouldn't consider ALERT to be a Christian institution. As you say, it's a Gothard training ground. But it is possible to get an excellent education from a Christian school. My daughter, who is getting her BSN, is regularly asked why she chose her Christian university over one of our state's many well-known public universities.  The comment is usually 'you are smart enough to get in these other schools'. The reality is that her school has the highest pass rate for the NCLEX (nursing licensing exam), the most lab access to advanced equipment and the most clinical hours in an actual hospital during their studies than any other school in the state. However, if someone told me they became a nurse at ALERT, I'd tell them I'd rather bleed to death LOL.

 

Agree 100% - I'm a product of Catholic schools, first grade through bachelor's degree.

[JenCarroll]

Agree 100% - I'm a product of Catholic schools, first grade through bachelor's degree.

Don't think the Gothard crowd considers those "Christian." :-). That said, my older daughter, product of a very liberal New York area Jewish family and a graduate of a well-regarded (secular) boarding school, now attends a Jesuit university. Why? They have one of the best programs for her particular field.

[Wellfleet]

Don't think the Gothard crowd considers those "Christian." :-). That said, my older daughter, product of a very liberal New York area Jewish family and a graduate of a well-regarded (secular) boarding school, now attends a Jesuit university. Why? They have one of the best programs for her particular field.

 

The Jesuits have been famous for centuries among Catholics - and many other faiths - as superb educators.

[Micks Picks]

Count me in as being a product of Catholic schools and Jesuits.  They taught us to think and reason things out rather than follow their line because they said so.  This critical thinking is now out the window at our universities in favor of following the professors' agendas.

[3girlsforus]

Count me in as being a product of Catholic schools and Jesuits. They taught us to think and reason things out rather than follow their line because they said so. This critical thinking is now out the window at our universities in favor of following the professors' agendas.

I couldn't agree more about critical thinking. You see the lack of that all over education. Besides emphasizing it in all of our studies, I make my kids take Logic and Rhetoric courses.

[Micks Picks]

We were debaters.  Pick your topic, pick your side.

 

But remember if it rains every time you take Mary to the picnic, the solution is to not take Mary to the picnic.