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Michael and Brandon Keilen


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I wish I could find it again, but an article I read written by someone at IBLP said that a given percentage of HQ people were moving.  It was in the neighborhood of 75 to 80% if memory hasn't failed.  I expect that they may not want the main building completely vacant and abandoned while they're actively trying to sell it.  Although the sale may be on hold from the lawsuit. 

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6 hours ago, HereticHick said:

I continued to be baffled about why Brandon  & his helpmeet haven't moved to Big Sandy yet. The end of the article article about Gothard headquarters in this month's Chicago magazine certainly implies that the headquarters is totally empty now:

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/July-2016/Institute-in-Basic-Life-Principles-Hinsdale/

"On a recent afternoon at the colonnaded building in Hinsdale, the future did not look exciting. More like abandoned. No girls in ankle-length skirts floated in and out or strolled in the nearby park; no boys in dark suits and crisp white shirts tended the gardens or climbed on shuttle buses to destinations unknown. The parking lot stood empty. The normally well-manicured lawn looked a little forlorn. Even the sign that had once provided the lone hint of what the building represented was gone."

That was an interesting article, thank you for posting it!

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Robert Staddon hasn't moved either, but since he does web design, I guess he can live just about anywhere he chooses. It's strange that the Keilens haven't followed everyone else down to Big Sandy, though. 

Has anyone ever figured out exactly what Brandon DOES? Maybe, like Staddon, he doesn't have to be localized. But I'd think they'd all move, just for the "fellowship" of fellow cultists. 

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45 minutes ago, marmalade said:

Robert Staddon hasn't moved either, but since he does web design, I guess he can live just about anywhere he chooses. It's strange that the Keilens haven't followed everyone else down to Big Sandy, though. 

Has anyone ever figured out exactly what Brandon DOES? Maybe, like Staddon, he doesn't have to be localized. But I'd think they'd all move, just for the "fellowship" of fellow cultists. 

Speculation plus following the lawsuit:  IBLP was planning to move all operations to Big Sandy and liquidate HQ and other properties to hide assets from the lawsuit filed in IL.  That is - until they got an injunction stopping them from selling any IBLP property in IL.

Methinks they are in a holding pattern until some legal things are sorted out.  Although a few people have moved (Pecan and his bro) it makes sense financially not to move everyone from HQ right now.  

Brandon is a talented cartoonist.  As to what he does for the "ministry?"  I have no idea.

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Well I just spent a few minutes on google trying to find out what Brandon actually does at IBLP and I ended up on his Google+ page which says he lives in Texas... but he probably just hasn't updated it since he lived in Texas for bible school.

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Greyhoundfan I agree the article was interesting. I had a good chuckle looking at the main building, partly because the tower area behind the white roof peak is phallic in nature. As for what Brandon does I thought I read he worked in video production. So as suggested like Stanton he could be stationed any where. I have to say I know he doesn't gush over his wife like Chad does with Erin, but not saying anything about Michaela graduating is crappie. He didn't need it to be a big long praise fest just a quick I'm proud of you and love you. Also no interviews by anyone to mark her as the only Bates off spring to graduate a real community college. Basically it seems like you're married and we're waiting for the grandchild. Now maybe they will talk about it in depth on the show, but for now it seems as though she's at best getting a passing acknowledgement of her accomplishment.

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12 minutes ago, infooverload said:

Greyhoundfan I agree the article was interesting. I had a good chuckle looking at the main building, partly because the tower area behind the white roof peak is phallic in nature. As for what Brandon does I thought I read he worked in video production. So as suggested like Stanton he could be stationed any where. I have to say I know he doesn't gush over his wife like Chad does with Erin, but not saying anything about Michaela graduating is crappie. He didn't need it to be a big long praise fest just a quick I'm proud of you and love you. Also no interviews by anyone to mark her as the only Bates off spring to graduate a real community college. Basically it seems like you're married and we're waiting for the grandchild. Now maybe they will talk about it in depth on the show, but for now it seems as though she's at best getting a passing acknowledgement of her accomplishment.

It's entirely possible he stayed silent out of respect for his wife's feelings. Michael clearly is not comfortable being in the spotlight - it's why their website isn't really updated and it's why she posts so rarely on Instagram too (Brandon seems to barely use the joint Instagram account.) She seems to very much value their privacy. It is well within the realm of possibility to think that Michael simply doesn't want the public attention she would receive for finishing college. That is her right and her loved ones should respect any wishes she may have regarding the topic. It would be incredibly shitty of them to publicly congratulate her if she had previously requested they refrain from doing so.

We have no way of knowing whether what I suggested is true or not - but I don't think anyone should be jumping to conclusions because Brandon or the Bateses didn't mention it. Michael herself hasn't posted anything either other than briefly answering when fans have asked about it. If she doesn't want to publicly celebrate or acknowledge her graduation, that is her right.

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VelociRapture you do raise a good point about her valuing privacy and could well be the reason. As an unrelated aside I wonder how many children raised Gothard style learn about sex from reading the encyclopedia. A woman from the linked article mentioned learning about sex via encyclopedia reading. I remembered the discussion of Michaela doing the same thing.

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14 minutes ago, infooverload said:

VelociRapture you do raise a good point about her valuing privacy and could well be the reason. As an unrelated aside I wonder how many children raised Gothard style learn about sex from reading the encyclopedia. A woman from the linked article mentioned learning about sex via encyclopedia reading. I remembered the discussion of Michaela doing the same thing.

Non-fundie here, but similar story. I did know what sex was... this was before my ebil public school "talk" but I honestly don't remember a time where I didn't know about sex. HOWEVER, I was a hardcore bookworm growing up. Still am. Think real life Matilda. When I essentially finished the children's section of the library I moved on to adult things. So walking in my parents' room and pulling off their bookshelf wasn't out of the ordinary. Bottom shelf, tucked in the corner was some sort of spice up your sex life book. I read it, nothing earth shattering, except the word orgasm. I didn't understand it. So, I pulled out the dictionary and looked up the word orgasm. I was not satisfied with the definition and looked it up on our family AOL account. And then got a lecture. 

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I do think Brandon really loves Michael. On the family done blog, in a post about their courtship, it said how he often sent her packages and was really thoughtful in what he put in them.

https://thebatesfamily.com/2014/09/brandon-michaella/

He does sound like a sweet guy. Cherin seems more prominent because Erin's not so shy and because of the whole miscarriages thing. Brandon strikes me as fairly quiet too. He likely did congratulate her, in a non-obtrusive way.

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Not posting one's life on instagram doesn't mean it isn't happening.  :mouse-shock:

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At this point I wonder if she's thinking do I use this degree I felt called to get or instead keep on doing what I was minus school work.

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13 hours ago, infooverload said:

VelociRapture you do raise a good point about her valuing privacy and could well be the reason. As an unrelated aside I wonder how many children raised Gothard style learn about sex from reading the encyclopedia. A woman from the linked article mentioned learning about sex via encyclopedia reading. I remembered the discussion of Michaela doing the same thing.

 

IDK about Gothard kids, but I was raised Catholic, which is another religion where women are sexually sheltered and repressed, and I learned from the encyclopedia.  

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1 hour ago, QuiverDance said:

IDK about Gothard kids, but I was raised Catholic, which is another religion where women are sexually sheltered and repressed, and I learned from the encyclopedia.  

I was raised in an atheist/agnostic home and learned the basics from the encyclopedia. My mom explained menstruation to me before it happened, thankfully, but not much else. 

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19 hours ago, infooverload said:

but not saying anything about Michaela graduating is crappie. He didn't need it to be a big long praise fest just a quick I'm proud of you and love you.

Not everyone publicizes everything on social media. Not everyone is into social media. When I finally finish this degree I am working on, Mr. A will be proud of me. I seriously doubt he will brag about it on social media though. You can't judge someone based on what they post or don't post on social media. I personally think the posts where people praise others on social media are usually fake.

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53 minutes ago, Ali said:

Not everyone publicizes everything on social media. Not everyone is into social media. When I finally finish this degree I am working on, Mr. A will be proud of me. I seriously doubt he will brag about it on social media though. You can't judge someone based on what they post or don't post on social media. I personally think the posts where people praise others on social media are usually fake.

I suppose they are at times. At least, they are mainly superficial. The thing is, when did it become de rigueur to announce All the Congratulations online? For you and Mr. A, your degree will be an accomplishment to appreciate and use in your actual real life. That's just how we all always used to do until the tyranny of Facebook et al. led people to think it doesn't count unless it's Liked.

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I guess I just find it a contadiction in terms regarding when and how her private life is valued. She publicly talked about family planning in interviews. Why is there not the same interest in an accomplishment outside of what is considered routine and expected in the fundie community they are a part of. So often there is a drum beat of women in this community only being valued for being wives/mothers. I guess my point is I find it sad a pregnancy would be treated with more fan fare than the determination to finish a degree. As I mentioned in my previous post maybe they'll suprise us and go more into depth on the show about her finishing her degree.

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6 hours ago, QuiverDance said:

IDK about Gothard kids, but I was raised Catholic, which is another religion where women are sexually sheltered and repressed, and I learned from the encyclopedia.  

I learned from the halls of middle and high school.  My parents' were opened about everything but that one subject. Most of the kids I went to school with were like that.  Very few if any restrictions on anything but never mentioned that one subject to their kids. It was like they thought if they weren't talking about their kids weren't have sex. Even though the number of teen pregnancies went up every year. By the time I graduate more then half of the senior class were either pregnant or all ready had kids.   

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1 hour ago, JordynDarby5 said:

I learned from the halls of middle and high school.  My parents' were opened about everything but that one subject. Most of the kids I went to school with were like that.  Very few if any restrictions on anything but never mentioned that one subject to their kids. It was like they thought if they weren't talking about their kids weren't have sex. Even though the number of teen pregnancies went up every year. By the time I graduate more then half of the senior class were either pregnant or all ready had kids.   

Heavens, where'd you go to school? Over half seems high. 

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15 hours ago, JemimaPuddle-Duck said:

Heavens, where'd you go to school? Over half seems high. 

My guess would be the south. They have the highest rates of abstinence only education and the highest rates of teen pregnancy.

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On 7/30/2016 at 11:43 AM, JermajestyDuggar said:

My guess would be the south. They have the highest rates of abstinence only education and the highest rates of teen pregnancy.

 

Yeah.  Our teen pregnancy rates are not at 50%.   That is either hyperbole or a grave anomaly.  

Please, FJ, STOP MALIGNING THE SOUTH.  FFS.

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3 hours ago, QuiverDance said:

Yeah.  Our teen pregnancy rates are not at 50%.   That is either hyperbole or a grave anomaly.  

Please, FJ, STOP MALIGNING THE SOUTH.  FFS.

I agree that 50% is crazy high. If that was a real school, I bet the media would be all over it looking for an outrageous pregnancy pact or something. 

I believe the south is moving away from abstinence only education though so hopefully the teen pregnancy rate will go down over the next decade.

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57 minutes ago, lizzybee said:

Another southerner here. I wish it weren't true, but we DO kind of have the higher statistics. I googled this hoping you were right, but unfortunately not. Sigh. 

https://thenationalcampaign.org/data/compare/1701

 

 

 

 

Oh, I have no doubt we have higher rates of teen pregnancy in parts of, if not all of, the Southeast.  Moreover, I would not doubt extremely high rates of teen pregnancy in poorer or minority populations in the South.  But 50%? I just had a moment.  Didn't mean to sound like I was blowing a gasket, though.

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