Swizz Beatz is doing an awesome thing to raise money for the next generation … auctioning off one of his original paintings to help raise funds for children in need. The legendary producer has become a major player in the art…
Showing posts with label Children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Children. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Friday, October 26, 2018
Isaac in "Children of the Corn" "Memba Him?!
John Franklin is best known for playing the cult leading Isaac Chroner — opposite Courtney Gains as Malachai — in the 1984 fright film “Children of the Corn.” Guess what he looks like now!
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Ami Brown: Honored by Children on a Birthday They Feared She"d Never See
Considering how serious Ami Brown"s cancer battle was at times, there were many who feared that the Alaskan Bush People matriarch would not see this year"s birthday.
But August 28 has come and gone, and Ami is now 55 yeras old.
Rain and Bear joined forces on Instagram to give their mother a series of birthday tributes, as you can see in the video below.
On Rain"s Instagram, she and her brother, Bear, give Ami a shout-out on this very special birthday.
"Just want to say happy birthday to mom," Bear says while arm-in-arm with Rain.
"Seriously," Bear says. "It’s awesome to still have our mother around, quite frankly."
Rain chimes in, saying: "Amazing."
Rain then says "Happy birthday, mom!" and Bear echoes the sentiment.
That"s all very sweet, but Rain also wrote up a message of her own.
"Dear mommy," Rain writes. "Happy birthday to the greatest woman I know!!!"
We know that Rain is going to turn 16 in a few months, but ti"s sweet that she still calls her mother "mommy."
"You inspire me beyond compare," Rain continues. "If I turn out to be anything like you my life would have purpose."
"You listen to me even when I’m having an anxiety attack over the dumbest things," Rain says. "You comfort me just by being in the room."
We should note that Rain has spoken about her mental health before, and also that anxiety attacks are like allergies — it seeming "dumb" doesn"t make it so.
"You mean absolutely the world to me," Rain"s sweet birthday tribute message to her mom continues. "And I would be lost without you."
Rain writes: "it’s been an amazing honor to not only know a legend such as you but to call her mommy."
"I can’t wait until we’re both super old ladies together," Rain imagines. "Sipping tea with the grandkids."
"Happy birthday mommy," Rain concludes. "I love you more than the world."
Rain isn"t the only one who wanted to put her affection for her mom in writing.
In addition to the video that we"ve included, Bear also wrote his own message.
"Today was my Moms birthday!!" he writes with his characteristic lack of chill. "I have no words to describe how I feel to still have my Mom!"
A lot of people use exclamation marks on social media to show that they are being friendly in tone. Bear just seems enthusiastic.
"She’s always been there for me! My whole life!" Bear writes. "And I’ve been trying my hardest to be there for her!"
"Thank you everybody!!" Bear says in a shout-out to fans. "All the fans and family’s!! All the production crews we’ve worked with!! Everybody at discovery!"
"Life is too short not to enjoy every moment!!" Bear writes.
That is a very on-brand sentiment for him.
But Bear makes sure to remind people that Ami"s birthday is, of course, all about Ami.
"Happy birthday to the strongest and best mother ever!!!"
Bear concludes: "I will never give up and I will never surrender!!"
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Jenelle Evans Twerks in Front of Her Children in SUPER Cringey Video!
Jenelle Evans is such an interesting person because she manages to be awful in such a wide variety of ways.
If you were to write out a complete list of all the bad things she"s done and all the terrible things she"s said, she"d sound like a character in a poorly written white trash soap opera, not a real person.
Like when she stole her mother"s credit cards and ran away with her boyfriend a the time, Kieffer, to New Jersey?
Or the time she tried to get out of going to jail because she"d made plans to go to a Kesha concert, and she even put feathers in her hair for the occasion?
Or the time she told Nathan Griffith that she"d taken a pregnancy test and it was positive, but she wasn"t sure if she was actually pregnant or if the test was positive because of "leftovers" from the abortion she"d just had?
She really is just the most ridiculous person, and in a new video she just shared on Instagram, she"s extra ridiculous.
As you probably know, there"s a certain viral trend right now called the "In My Feelings" Challenge, where people do a little dance to the Drake song, usually while walking alongside a moving car.
It"s been very popular, some celebrities have done it — Will Smith even did it, that"s how big it is — and our dear Jenelle decided she"d give it a go, too.
"My turn!" she captioned her video. "Showing the kids their mom still has dance moves."
She added that her car was parked, not moving, and they were "on the side of our road."
She probably explained that because she knew she"d get some hate for the video, mostly because of who she is as a person and all she"s done to deserve that hate.
But just because she was parked doesn"t mean haters kept their mouths shut.
"I"m embarrassed for you," one of her followers wrote. "GROW UP AND BE A MOTHER TO YOUR CHILDREN!!"
"Twerking for your kids?" another person asked. "That"s disgusting. Very on brand for you."
Several people took issue with her outfit, saying it was too revealing, especially for a mother, and other people talked about how she"s appeared to have put on a little bit of weight.
Another big issue was that if she was showing her kids her dance moves, and the video was filmed from the front seat, then poor Jace is probably the one capturing his mother"s twerking skills on her phone here.
One person argued "It"s not the point of the dance, who cares .. it"s the fact she chose to do it with a car full of her kids & being the only adult in there with them!"
Another particularly dramatic person wrote "And this is why society is going to self destruct. Teach children how to respect themselves. Sad, u have a daughter. Think!"
OK, look, is this video embarrassing?
Yes, it is. It"s super embarrassing — most of these videos are, honestly.
But she looks great, and even if she didn"t, she doesn"t deserve criticism for her looks.
Her clothes are fine, too, and although it must be tough to watch your mom twerking in short shorts, her kids have definitely been through worse.
No, the real issue here is that Jenelle is just kind of an embarrassing person in general, and this video doesn"t help anything.
Oh, and the fact that she nearly got hit by that car that was forced to drive in the wrong lane because she felt like dancing in the street, that"s also an issue.
Watch Jenelle strut her stuff in the video below:
Friday, August 3, 2018
David Faustino Says We"re All On Board for "Married with Children" Reboot
David Faustino says the Bundys — just like the Conners — might be returning to television soon. You better believe it, Bud!! We got Al and Peg’s youngest son out in WeHo Thursday and asked if a “Married with Children” reboot was going to happen.…
Monday, July 16, 2018
Anna Duggar Shares Rare Glimpses of Children, Continues to Break Out of Social Media Shell
Anna Duggar is starting to really take to this whole social media thing.
The beleaguered former reality star had been silent on Instagram between May 1 and July 5.
She had been similarly quiet on Twitter during this same time period, only re-sending a few messages from her family’s official account for over two months.
Not that we could blame her, of course.
Not that anyone could really blame her.
The 30-year old is trapped in a marriage to an ADMITTED child molester and an ADMITTED adulterer.
Josh Duggar has owned up to the fact that he inappropriately touched two of his sisters back when he was a teenager and also to having cheated on Anna via the infidelity website Ashley Madison.
It’s very ugly stuff all around.
So anyway. Our point is that we totally understand why Anna would stay as far away from the spotlight as possible.
For whatever reason, however, she has chosen to emerge a bit from her social media cocoon of late.
First, Anna gave props to John-David Duggar for courting.
Then, she gushed over her relationship with Josh and we threw up a lot.
Now, Anna has opened up about two of her kids, starting with eight-year old Mackynzie.
“Mackynzie, Jordyn and cousin Emily enjoyed attending a sewing camp this week!”
Yes, sewing camp.
Instead of rolling our eyes over this concept, however, we’ll simply echo the sentiment of most Instagram followers who think this is a very cute photo of young Mackynzie.
Because it definitely is.
Whatever issues we have with her father, they obviously do not apply to her or any of her siblings.
We just feel terrible for them.
Elsewhere, Anna also posted a video of her two-year old daughter Meredith belting out a tune.
Check it out here:
“She is adorable! And hearing her sing made me smile ear to ear. So precious!” reads one comment in response.
We don’t know why Anna has chosen to suddenly be so open about her kids, but perhaps she just needs some positive reinforcement in her life.
Any time Anna mentions Josh, she gets slammed online.
Folks wonder how the heck she can remain with such a disgusting cheater.
But the opposite takes place any time Anna shares a picture or video of her young children… and for an understandable reason:
They’re so very cute, young and innocent.
Anna is the mother of Mackynzie, Michael, Marcus, Meredith and Mason.
She met Josh in 2006 at a Christian homeschooling convention and the two got married two years later in Florida.
They have since welcomed the five kids cited above.
And while Anna and Josh will no longer appear on TLC because the original Counting On was canceled in the wake of Josh’s molestation scandal, it does look like we’ll be seeing a lot more of their kids going forward.
We just pray they grow up alright.
Friday, June 29, 2018
XXXTentacion Will Declares No Children and Everything Goes to Family
XXXTentacion was only 20 when he was murdered earlier this month, but he left behind a will … which underscores what appears to have been some sort of premonition he was going to die. According to the will, filed with the court, XXX left all of…
XXXTentacion Will Declares No Children and Everything Goes to Family
XXXTentacion was only 20 when he was murdered earlier this month, but he left behind a will … which underscores what appears to have been some sort of premonition he was going to die. According to the will, filed with the court, XXX left all of…
Friday, June 15, 2018
Rep. Steve King Defends Detention Centers for Immigrant Children
Rep. Steve King doesn’t understand the fuss over immigrant children being placed in detention centers — after separation from their parents — because he says they’re getting great care and having more fun than most American kids. The Iowa…
Thursday, June 14, 2018
Michelle Duggar Defends Treating Children Like Servants: They Love It!
If you’re a fan of her family’s reality show, then you’re probably aware that Michelle Duggar is a mother of 20 (she and husband Jim Bob adopted their nephew, Tyler Duggar, last year).
No one in their right mind would dispute the fact that Michelle is mother to a truly insane number of children — but there’s some disagreement regarding just how much how much mothering she’s actually done.
Yes, depending on how closely you pay attention to the Duggars’ social media accounts and Michelle’s comments on child-rearing, you might fall into one of two schools of thought regarding her skills as a mother:
There are those who feel she’s the uber-mom, named not for her weekend ride-sharing gig for her astonishing ability to attend to the needs of double-digit offspring without letting of her children feel left out.
And then there are those who believe that Michelle is essentially running a child-rearing sweatshop or pyramid scheme, essentially passing off the demands of the household to her oldest kids, who then burden the younger kids with those duties once they’ve been properly trained.
And what does Michelle have to say about these controversial practices?
Well, as the folks at In Touch Weekly point out, she just can’t imagine why anyone would have a problem with her division of labor.
“The little ones love to help,” Michelle once stated.
“They have such a servant’s heart.”
Yes, there’s nothing kids love quite as much as being servants.
Fortunately for Michelle, it seems all 20 of her children have the exact same disposition and none of them would prefer to be outside playing with their friends or otherwise being children.
The Duggars are taught from a young age that chores are second only to procreating on the list of acceptable activities to be engaged in when Jesus comes back.
As such, when they take on a new responsibility because the previous laborer left the nest or simply became too decrepit, a sacred torch has been passed.
That’s 9-year-old Jordyn Duggar doing a load of laundry.
The family made a congratulatory video to mark the occasion.
She inherited the duty from Joy-Anna Duggar, who in turn inherited it from her grandmother.
“This is my jurisdiction, Grandma washes it all and I do put it away and…do the shoes,” Joy-Anna once remarked in one of the Duggars’ YouTube videos.
To ensure that all of the tasks around the Duggar compound are properly completed, the family has designed a stringently-enforced system of rewards and punishments.
An important part of this system is the chore pack, explained in the video below by top enforcer Jana Duggar:
Yes, when they’re finished with their chore pack, the Duggar kids report not to their parents, but to their older siblings.
It’s a system that brings to mind the prison practice of allowing more seasoned inmates to run the cafeteria instead of the guards.
It also might help to explain why Duggar children are so quick to start families of their own and fly the coop.
Perhaps Joy-Anna Duggar married Austin Forsyth at 19 because she fell madly in love … but even if that’s the case, the possibility of escaping laundry duty may have also factored into her decision.
And why would Jana Duggar remain single and resign herself to such brutal conditions?
Well, there’s something to be said for being at the top of the hierarchy — as well as for the power of Stockholm Syndrome.
Watch Counting On online for more from reality TV’s most controversial family.
Friday, June 8, 2018
Nursery Rhyme Prepares Children to Hide During School Shootings
This may send chills down your spine. It should.
A woman tweeted about a horrifying poem — written to a hauntingly familiar tune — that she saw posted on the wall of her child’s future classroom.
It’s to prepare for lockdowns in the event of a school shooting.
On Tuesday, June 5, Somerville Schools posted on Facebook:
“Tomorrow is Kindergarten Transition Day, when incoming Kindergarteners spend he day visiting their new school and learning about Kindergarten.”
That is not uncommon for schools, especially elementary schools that have any sort of partnership with specific pre-K programs or facilities.
Parents come in for a sort of open house experience. At some of these events, preschoolers who are soon to be rising kindergarteners are able to see and visualize their future.
Everything is so new when you are 4 or 5 years old, so being able to see a classroom in advance can make your future less daunting.
Unfortunately, the experience caused quite a fright for a parent after she saw this hanging in a classroom.
To the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” or “The ABC Song,” or “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” read:
“Lockdown, lockdown, lock the door.”
Yikes.
“Shut the lights off, say no more.”
A chorus of children’s voices singing this sounds like the intro to a horror movie.
“Get behind the desk and hide. Wait until it’s safe inside.”
Holy f–k.
“Lockdown, lockdown, it’s all done. Now it’s time to have some fun.”
Awful.
Some commenters tried to comment that this might be for tornado drills, too. But it is not. Tornado drills send children into hallways, and do not require turning off the lights or remaining silent.
This is to prepare children to hide and fear for their lives in the event of a shooting.
Georgy Cohen, the mother who shared the image, which of course went viral as people saw it and blanched with horror, wrote:
“This should not be hanging in my soon-to-be-kindergartener’s classroom.”
Referring to her child as “Z,” which is a tasteful way of discussing your child in a public space, Cohen says:
“Yeah. They already do the drills in pre K. Z was excited about it as a game to see if you can stay quiet for ‘one whole minute."”
To children, death is usually an abstract concept. And it very much should be.
For parents and other adults, who can fully understand the creeping dread of a society that allows its most vulnerable citizens to be in so much danger on a daily basis, this really hits home.
To be clear, she is not in any way condemning the school or the teacher who wrote the song.
“I’m only going to add one more comment to this:”
As you can imagine, her mentions on Twitter were blowing up.
“The school is doing exactly what they need to be doing, and I am glad for it.”
A rhyming song with a familiar tune is great for teaching children to remember simple instructions.
“My issue is with the political & cultural factors that brought us to this sad state.”
Yep. She specifically refers to America’s gun culture and the lack of political action.
“Please talk to your legislators about the need for gun reform.”
The tweet’s viral popularity was astonishing. This rhyme was a real shock to the system — which is good, because these horrors should never be normalized.
Many people who have a tweet blow up try to garner attention to a personal passion, such as their SoundCloud.
Cohen writes:
“So I don’t have a SoundCloud but I, like most of you, have congressional representatives I can call to advocate for gun reform https://www.callmycongress.com/ Or we can support orgs like @Everytown and @SandyHook.”
That is sound advice.
The whole world has been horrified by these shootings. Regular folks and celebrities alike.
Monday, May 14, 2018
John Cena"s Trying to Get Nikki Bella Back, "I Want to Be the Father Of Her Children"
John Cena says his life’s been a wreck ever since his fiancee, Nikki Bella, dumped him before their wedding … and says he’ll do whatever it takes to get her back — including having children. “I had my heart broken out of nowhere,” Cena…
Sunday, April 22, 2018
Michelle Duggar: PROOF She"s Abusing Her Children?!
If you keep up with the comings and goings of the Duggar family, then you know that a hot topic of discussion when it comes to these people is their parenting styles.
And that’s because it’s all very, very scandalous.
For years now, people have speculated on the way Jim Bob and Michelle raise their children, and that’s for a lot of reasons.
They just have so many of them, for one — how does one even begin to parent 19 children?
On top of that, it’s always interesting to look into the Duggars’ church and their specific religious beliefs, because it turns out that others with those same beliefs use some pretty concerning methods to care for their kids.
One of those methods, just for an example, is blanket training: you put a baby on a blanket, and if he rolls or crawls off of it, then you scold him (or hit him, in some instances) until he learns to stay put.
Do the Duggars do this? Maybe, maybe not.
We’ve never seen them do it on any of their shows, but many other people who share their belief system do it, so, you know, there’s a decent chance.
But besides all that, there’s been actual evidence that all is not quite right in this family — Josh’s molestation scandal and the way it was dealt with, the way Jana seems to be more of a mother to the younger kids than Michelle is.
And now, thanks to a live video Derick Dillard put on Instagram, there may be even more evidence of abuse.
In the video, Derick is just filming around Jim Bob and Michelle’s house, and he happens to catch Michelle talking to Jennifer, her 10-year-old daughter.
She’s visibly scolding her, and Jennifer is turned away, flinching.
When Michelle notices that Derick is filming, she’s surprised, but then goes into her usual sickly sweet public persona.
It may not sound like a lot, but after watching the clip, numerous Reddit users are convinced that this is proof the Duggars are abusive to their children.
One person said that the clip contained “a lot of red flags,” including “Jenny’s body language, Michelle’s sociopathic switch to sweetness and the finger wagging which is clearly being used as a threat.”
“Omg did you see Jennifer flinch?” another asked before answering that it looked like “she was actually flinching becauseshe thought Michelle was going to hit her.”
One user confirmed that “Jennifer was absolutely flinching,” and “she did it as soon as Michelle made a swift motion with her hands. It looked like she was going to smack Jennifer in that moment.”
Sadly, multiple people commented to say that Michelle’s scolding and Jennifer’s reaction remindd them of their own abusive childhoods.
Of course none of this is definitive proof that she’s hitting her children — none of us could know that, obviously — but it’s troubling that so many people think this is evidence that something sinister is going on in the Duggar home.
Or something more sinister than the stuff we already know about anyway.
But regardless of everything else, someone else pointed out that “nothing about that interaction looked to be a healthy way to reprimand a child.”
And that sounds accurate.
Do you think this is proof that Michelle is abusive?
Monday, February 26, 2018
Jessa Duggar: SLAMMED For Endangering Children!
Back in October of 2016, Jessa Duggar posted photos of her “messy” house in an effort to demonstrate to fans that despite her wealth and fame, she understands the challenges of raising young children.
And she was promptly roasted to a crisp by an army of angry mom-shamers.
Fans slammed Jessa for raising her children in unsafe conditions.
They cited dirty dishes and a full diaper pail as risk factors that could potentially make her two sons sick.
Jessa didn’t respond, but her most devoted followers came to her defense, rightly arguing that the house really wasn’t in all that terrible of a state.
One would think that after being mess shamed by thousands of concern trolls, Jessa would refrain from posting any photos or videos of her house for a while.
But earlier this week, she proved that the haters can’t get her down by sharing this video of her youngest son, Henry:
“Henry discovered a new game last night,” Jessa catpioned the pic.
As a sort of preemptive response to the inevitable backlash, Jessa assured fans that steps were taken to ensure Henry’s safety:
“(And daddy came to aid by moving hard objects from the fall zone and padding the area with pillows and blankets),” she wrote.
But not surprisingly, fans still saw cause for concern:
“What he is doing is potentially dangerous though,” wrote one follower.
“Plus it is teaching the wrong way to use a slide. He chews on tags, water bottle caps, misuses the slide. SMH, can’t they parent these kids?!!!”
The comment refers to a recent incident in which Henry was seen chewing on a tube of ointment in a brief online video.
This is the second child endangerment controversy in as many weeks for Jessa, who was recently criticized for allegedly allowing her children to play near a busy highway.
In actuality, the children were playing under adult supervision in Jessa’s backyard, but the house is situated near a highway, which was all the ammo fans needed to launch a full-scale assault on her parenting abilities.
We’re guessing Jessa will probably be taking a break from Instagram sometime in the near future.
Watch Counting On online in order to get caught up in time for tonight’s season premiere.
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Amy Duggar: I Want to Adopt All 13 Tortured Turpin Children!
We all read in horror about the California parents who were arrested after shackling their 13 children in their house of horrors. David and Louise Turpin were only caught after a 17-year-old’s daring escape.
Many wonder what will happen to the 13 victims, aged 2 through 29. It’s very likely that they’ll be separated, and they’ll need a lot of physical and psychological care after what they’ve been through.
One of the people staring at their screen and wishing that they could adopt and care for all 13 Turpin children is none other than Amy Duggar King.
On the surface, David and Louise Turpin seemed like a nice, loving couple. Admittedly, Dan seems to have not picked a new hairstyle since the 1970s, but other than that, they were almost normal.
But they had 13 children, most of whom were starved and many of whom were literally shackled to their beds — rope, you see, allowed too much possibility of escape.
The tortured children have revealed that they were only permitted to shower once per year. They were deprived in every way imaginable, for purposes that we cannot fathom.
And, though we refer to them as “children,” several of the 13 young Turpins in the house were adults. A lifetime of malnourishment, however, made them appear years younger.
Physically, they may never fully recover from the way in which their starved bodies were warped by a lifetime of deprivation.
Mentally and emotionally … it is also difficult to imagine anyone coming back from that, even if they go on to the best possible homes and healthcare from here on out.
Like so many of us, Amy Duggar King saw the story.
Taking to Twitter, Amy wrote: “I just texted Dillon and told him I wanted to adopt all 13 Turpin children.”
“I would love to show them true love and have a beautiful life and provide a secure and stable home for them.”
She does clarify, however, that she has a realistic understanding of how daunting of an undertaking that would be.
“#ifonly #houseofhorrors God can restore what the devil has stolen.”
She follows that with an emoji depicting uncontrolled crying.
Amy wrote again on the subject in a follow-up tweet.
“Anyone who can hurt animals and starve /torture children in any way need to be hung by their toenails.”
That’s quite an image. And she’ll get no argument from me.
“Watching the news just breaks my heart.”
She follows that with a broken heart emoji.
Amy knows that, realistically, she doesn’t have the resources to care for all 13 Turpin children.
The 2-year-old didn’t appear to have been neglected in this way, yet. Perhaps the Turpins wait a few years before they begin breaking their children.
(Again, we don’t know what their motives could possibly be, beyond some sort of sadistic delight)
Like so many abuse survivors, Amy Duggar has seen firsthand what a monster looks like.
Even if we reluctantly set aside abuse allegations about the main Duggar family, Amy is a Duggar cousin, who famously opened up about her childhood abuse before being adopted by Jim Bob and Michelle.
Among other things, she says that her father once tried to run her over with a car. She said that the scariest thing was that one never knew what might set him off. That part, at least, is a familiar childhood story for way too many people.
So Amy must feel a special connection to the Turpin children.
We don’t know what fate lies for the Turpin children. We don’t even know what fate is in store for the Turpin adults.
(Unless you believe in hell, we suppose)
Will they quietly accept a plea that lands them with, like, 600 years in prison?
The only reason for which prosecutors would even offer a plea in the first place might be to avoid making any of the Turpin children testify.
At the same time, some of the Turpins — particularly the adults — might find it therapeutic to safely confront the monsters who ruined their lives with torture and chains.
If there is a trial, one can be sure that there will be a lot of coverage, whether cameras are allowed within the courtroom or not.
Like Amy Duggar, so many of us are captivated by this gruesome story.
Monday, January 29, 2018
Jim Bob Duggar Slammed By Fans: Your Children Are Uneducated Clones!
Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar are controversial, to say the least. For their fundamentalist approach to religion, for the way that they treat their daughters. Their parenting in general has been brought into question by … basically everyone.
Despite that, the Duggar family will be speaking at a conference, telling the audience how to “prepare” their children for the world.
Critics are slamming the Duggar parents, pointing out that their children end up as clones of their parents. Not a single Duggar child has gone on to get a university education.
Eschewing actual education in favor of keeping children culturally isolated through homeschooling is one of the goals of Bill Gothard and his Institute for Basic Life Principles.
Sure, the Duggars have distanced themselves from Gothard … somewhat.
Duggar cousin Amy Duggar King tweeted her criticism of the Duggar family church, saying that she does not support it in any way or form.
She got really specific, pointing out that she doesn’t share their views on topics like legalism (in which following select lifestyle rules from the Old Testament seems to take precedence over accepting salvation through Jesus).
To a lesser extent, the Duggar Family has tried to show that they aren’t quite in lock step with Gothard’s views. That might have something to do with Bill Gothard resigning in disgrace a few years back after being accused of sexual harassment and molestation.
Did we mention that Gothard is the one who “counseled” Josh Duggar after Josh’s own bout of molestation? Yeah.
Despite the alleged distance between the Duggars and the IBLP, Jim Bob and Michelle will speak at the Big Sandy Family Conference in 2018.
The topic? On preparing one’s children to enter the world.
Critics have taken aim at the audacity of Jim Bob and Michelle to lecture anyone on parenting.
Reluctantly setting aside allegations of abuse, the idea that they’ve actually prepared their children for the world is absurd.
By keeping their children isolated from American culture and from society, they’ve prepared their children to remain part of an insular subculture that shuns the real world and rejects anything unfamiliar from their childhoods.
Or, as one criticism phrased it, Jim Bob and Michelle produce only “robotic clones.”
The page, Duggar Family News: Life is Not Pickles and Hairspray, took aim at the couple’s expected presence at the Big Sandy conference, saying:
“Those kids are all robotic clones of Jim Bob and Michelle. I really don’t think God intended for everyone to be clones of their parents.”
To be clear, this isn’t some bonkers conspiracy theory. They’re saying that the Duggars actively suppress the individuality of their children.
More to the point, the writer of the criticism believes that the Duggars are positively ungodly:
“We would have never advanced as a civilization if that [were] His intention.”
And there’s a specific example:
“It seems God called Jill to become a nurse but Jim Bob overruled God and pushed her towards midwifery.”
And finally:
“If their kids were actually doing something besides family businesses or having babies, they might have something to talk about.”
If you’re looking for other examples of the Duggars suppressing the individuality of their children whenever they express a desire to live actual lives:
-None of the Duggar children have gone on to have a university education. Not everyone has to go to college, but for no children from a wealthy family to go to higher education? That’s bad. And no, Joe Duggar’s one-year of Biblical study is not the same.
-Jinger Duggar has expressed an interest in photography. When she expressed a desire to live in a big city like New York, Michelle dismissed it as Jinger just wanting to live closer to Walmart.
-Joy-Anna actually had an internship with a local politician. While that’s not exactly breaking the mold, since Jim Bob also worked in politics, some wondered if she might pursue elected office. But apparently her parents didn’t push her to do that, and now she’s pregnant and married.
(Considering the shotgun wedding rumors, her parents may have ruled out any other life path, particularly after she got pregnant)
In other words, many believe that the Duggar girls are trapped in a dangerous cult and that they may remain that way for the rest of their lives.
It’s important to note that the Duggar family’s avoidance of higher education (and public education … and maybe education in general, since Jessa Duggar can’t even do homeschooling right) isn’t a coincidence.
Many fundamentalists and other deeply conservative folks are reluctant to encourage even their sons to attend a university.
Why? Because they believe that universities are “liberal bastions” where agenda-carrying professors braindwash children with wild ideas like equality.
In reality, the beliefs of professors vary wildly, and most are just passionate nerds who love a particular subject. But eduction and, perhaps more importantly, actual social contact with people who aren’t exactly like a person can usually have a positive effect.
Imagine if a Duggar child came home from college and had made gay friends. Or friends from non-Christian backgrounds. Or both!
Jim Bob and Michelle might speak at the Big Sandy Conference, but they’re not going to be talking about preparing your children for the world. Not really.
They’ll be talking about how to insulate your children from the world. How to keep them from ever being truly a part of their world.
Critics say that they will be talking about how to crush every spark of individuality out of your child so that, even when they leave the nest, they’ll always adhere to how you want them to be.
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