S'Morton Alan Smith charged with incest, rape, child molestation

[EmCatlyn]

38 minutes ago, refugee said:

Thanks for your explanation. That makes even more weird sense to me... patriarchal types seem to embrace the OT somehow. I haven't had enough coffee yet to enumerate some of the things I remember from our former church, and I've only just been introduced to the S'Mortons threads on FJ. I went back and looked at the Renaissance wedding, and yes, that's just the kind of thing one of the ruling families at our former church might do, IMO, though they hadn't done anything like that yet before we left. They *did* do an elaborate dress-up thing, more than once, to celebrate the anniversary of the Reformation, so why not a wedding some time? They weren't baptist, but they were heavily influenced by Gothard (he's baptist of some kind, isn't he?) and DPIAT, among others in the patriarchal crowd.

But yes, extremely OT in orientation, like reciting the ten commandments on a regular basis (oftener than the Nicene creed, actually), and interminable sermon series preaching through OT books, and even when preaching through NT books, an emphasis on rules and practices.

ETA: I don't have time to read through the background, so may I please be excused for asking why some of them up and moved to Paraguay? Is it a long-term mission, or are they, like the escaped Nazis and Jim Jones before them, trying to establish a colony where they can practice their lifestyle in peace, without interference.

I just sort of wandered into this thread also.  I have been vaguely aware of these people from other references on FJ, but I too wonder why some of them went to Paraguay. Whatever official reason they gave, I wouldn't trust it, but would love a summary.

I also don't know if these people are Baptist or have their origins among the Primitive Baptists.  But a lot of the fundies in the South do come out of the Baptist tradition.  And as you say, different fundie groups inspire each other.

What I was trying to suggest is that there are different ways of looking at the symbolism of the footwashing.  We all agree that it is an act of humility, but the humility can that of a superior to inferior ("I am not just your Bishop, I am also your servant.") or among equals ("Brother/sister, let us wash each other's feet.") or an act of submission as well as humility ("Husband, I abase myself before you and yours.")  In my view, the Primitive Baptist custom of peers washing each others' feet takes away some of the association of "the higher serves the lower" and makes it easier to repurpose the ritual as one of submission to authority.    But that's just imho.

[justwatching]

23 hours ago, refugee said:

This is going to sound stupid against the backdrop of the larger discussion. Sorry, I never delved into the S'Morton threads before this one showed up. So I'm going to ask about "old news".

Wouldn't it be more "biblical" for the husband to wash the wife's feet, if you're going to have that sort of thing in a wedding ceremony? After all, he is her "head" (according to their teaching) just like Christ is head to his bride, the Church. And Christ was the one who washed others' feet, not other people washing his feet.

Oh wait, there was the woman who washed his feet with tears and dried them with her hair. Maybe that's the vibe they were going for. Yeah, that makes sense. The bride is a lowly, nasty, dirty (reforming) sinner, and the husband is the shiny clean christ-figure. Yup, that's much more demeaning to the bride. That must have been the deal.

I agree.

I have some friends (not fundy) who washed each other's feet during their ceremony.  It was one of the most moving, emotional weddings I've ever attended.

The wife being the only one to wash, however, doesn't fly with me.  At all.

[AmazonGrace]

I know it's symbolic and meant to be nice and all but sometimes I get the mental picture of, "Oh fer crying out loud, you didn't bother to change your stinky socks even for your own wedding..."

[dramallama]

14 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

I know it's symbolic and meant to be nice and all but sometimes I get the mental picture of, "Oh fer crying out loud, you didn't bother to change your stinky socks even for your own wedding..."

Alan and his groomsmen had been camping and riding horses and wearing boots for god knows how long prior to getting the signal to come for Katie, in the warm and humid climate of south Georgia....I'm betting those feet were pretty unpleasant by the time she washed them.

[nelliebelle1197]

On 7/28/2016 at 11:36 PM, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

My cynical side is out in force with this.  I venture that this isn't Alan's first offense, it's just the first time he's been caught.

If we believe this is the first time he's done this, then we have to believe that a grown man with, as far as we know, no pedophile tendencies, decided 3 years ago to rape, molest and commit incest with a minor.

No, not buying it.

I'd bet cash money he was up to the same as a teenager and it was all hushed up,  Capt'n Bret found the perfect wife in Katie (he hoped) to keep his son away from the young ones.  Katie is naive to the max, compliant, completely submissive with no will of her own, and trained from birth to give in to every one of her husband's demands.  And in fundie world we know that means sex on demand/ command.

And I have this sinking feeling that if Alan did have a prior history of molestation, Pa Morton knew all about it, and that the marriage was arranged between Capt'n Bret and Pa M to keep Alan on the straight and narrow by marrying him to a godly, submissive girl so he could legally have all the sex he wanted.

If my supposition is true, I hope all the prior victims come forward and they put Alan is jail for multiple life sentences -- to run concurrently

I really hate these long-winded speculations. I mean seriously, there is no basis for this. This is the type of unsubstantiated speculation that makes the Duggar thread so annoying.

And why would you want the sentences to run concurrently?

And you want the

[Grimalkin]

2 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

I wonder how the Morton padre deals with the cognitive dissonance and justifies telling Katie that this was the right man for her, according to the Lord. And how is this going to affect the loyalties and relationships in the extended family when the Smith-Mortons are all so entangled. It wouldn't be unusual for something like this to destroy or strain the relationships with the inlaws who screwed your family over... 

       It's all about looking to the Lord, trusting our Lord, praying for strength from the Lord. Pray harder for more strength. Can't cope? Not praying enough, not trusting enough. It's her fault for not praying enough, not using the right prayers in the proper combination to get the outcome she wants.     

       Captain Caveman has even taken prayer to a whole new level! He added his own holy dance to achieve greater results. Sooper speshul Holy dance: now with pendulum kicks! Add fasting to that. Submit more. Pray more. Trust more. TRY HARDER!

[Howl]

@ALM7, I went to that link and now there are only a few shreds of skin above my neck and a horrible mess on the computer.  Yes, my head exploded.   Tragic, I know.  When you consider how many of these people are having between 6 and (let's estimate here) 15 kids, all of whom will marry young and continue the tradition....

Also, IMHO, the self assigned use of a military or naval title by anyone not in active service or the reserves or retired is a red flag; just stand down already.  Except maybe Sarge, in exceptional circumstances.  People who have served together, you're good to do whatever you want.  Husbands and wives, ditto. 

This does warning does not apply to pets. That is all.  

 

[Palimpsest]

On 7/29/2016 at 0:13 PM, AmazonGrace said:

Note to self: try to bring up the kids in such a fashion that you don't have to take it for granted that the CPS will be at your door and take your kids away, it's just a matter of when.

Unfortunately a lot of these folk buy into the Fundie propaganda that Christian home schooling is enough to get your children ripped from your Godly arms by CPS and sent to evil public school. 

Truth is, if you home school with any degree of efficiency short of complete educational neglect you are probably quite safe.  CPS may want you to improve your home schooling methods, that's all.

Spanking with an open hand is still legal (unfortunately, IMO) in the US. OTOH, punching, beating with an object, leaving visible marks, permanently injuring, or killing your child isn't.  Starvation and torture aren't allowed either.  Some Fundies find it hard to tell the difference when it comes to Biblical discipline.  Pearl's appalling methods again.

[refugee]

49 minutes ago, Palimpsest said:

Unfortunately a lot of these folk buy into the Fundie propaganda that Christian home schooling is enough to get your children ripped from your Godly arms by CPS and sent to evil public school. 

There is some serious paranoia out there. I remember hearing mutters about "the liberals' " plans to set up re-education camps for christians (a la The Killing Fields), and that religious homeschooling families were being put into some sort of database of enemies of the State. I wonder how much of it was fueled by that awful "Left Behind" series?

Did you know, that according to some of the paranoia-stirring leaders, those re-education camps are "not just in the planning stages, but really exist"? And some of those inexplicable highway signs you see are "really there to guide the troops when the time comes for urban warfare and rounding up all those who are branded as enemies of the State." Seriously.

(And if you don't believe anybody would fall for this, just consider Kevin Swanson and his womb tombs.)

ETA: Just out of curiosity, I googled "Re-education camps" and google helpfully supplied "for US citizens" to round it out. This was just one of many links:

http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2015/07/06/exterminating-40-million-americans-in-re-education-camps-is-the-goal/

[JMO]

@fundiefan, I thought that this was #8 for Katie . Didn't she just change her instagram name a few months ago from 7babybirds to Babybirds? 

I finally finished watching the betrothal video. The crazy ending with Mrs Smith going on and on about how she worried about Brett's religious plan for the family and how she worried what others would say and that they'd think the family was crazy but she decided to trust him. She never finished the statement by claiming how right and wise he was. Weird. 

[fundiefan]

27 minutes ago, JMO said:

@fundiefan, I thought that this was #8 for Katie . Didn't she just change her instagram name a few months ago from 7babybirds to Babybirds? 

I finally finished watching the betrothal video. The crazy ending with Mrs Smith going on and on about how she worried about Brett's religious plan for the family and how she worried what others would say and that they'd think the family was crazy but she decided to trust him. She never finished the statement by claiming how right and wise he was. Weird. 

She changed to babybirds more than a year ago. She is due any day now. I could be wrong, but that's what I counted; I figured one when she changed the IG name and one now. Maybe she was just preparing for the future and I made a presumption. 

She is, after all, always pregnant. One pregnancy easily runs one right into the next. In normal people, you can tell things by maybe year of pregnancy or birth, but with the Smortons, and Katie & Alan specifically, there is no break in between. She has a pregnancy, newborn, and pregnancy all within a year. 

Ten years of marriage (and 3 months) and 8 or 9 kids = a damn lot of kids and always being pregnant with more.

 

[JMO]

From our expecting babies files Katie had #7 the end October 2014. A girl. Since she's due in a few weeks that would be less than 22 months since #7. Not that I wouldn't put it past her to sneak in #8 but that's mighty tight. @Kira made the posts on that thread. Maybe she knows? 

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

Oh my. What was that... that......words fail me.  A  ,,,,,... um........ testament of Capt'n Bret's wise wonderful advice?  Not!  Katie looks so dragged down there, so tired, and she has a less than thrilled expression to have Alan the Molester's arm around her.

It may just be the quality of the video but I thought I noticed that neither Capt'n nor Alan wore a wedding ring.   Do fundie men wear wedding rings?  Do the women?  Wouldn't they want people to know they eere taken?  Being Catholic all the men in my family wear wedding rings

There was a very fundie pentacostal group in my small Southern hometown where the women never wore jewelry, not even a wedding ring or a watch, never cut their hair, and only wore skirts -- even to gym class in high school.  They pinned the skirt together at the bottom and made sort of a bloomer -- but no gym shorts, not even under the skirts.  Most of the girls dropped out in 10th grade to get married.

Edited to add  -- It's entirely possible for Katie to be on # 9 wiith 22 months between this one and #7.  I had a friend in high school who we all thought  was a year younger than her brother a grade ahead of us,  Turns out she was 9 months and 3 weeks younger!!   Their birthdays just spanned across 2 years.  Interestingly she was 8 years older than her sister, the last child in the family

[browngrl]

You know, I've been reading about the Mortons/Smiths for some time now and I've seen that dating video before and yet it never ceases to amaze me that anyone would buy into this. I've often wondered why this might be.  IMO I think that fear might be the root of their fundy beliefs.  It is as if they think that if they just follow all the rules everything will be ok and they won't need to be scared. It doesn't seem to have worked for Katie (nor does it for anyone because of course bad things still happen to good and bad people). I wonder if she thinks about the irony of her statements in these old videos and her current life situation. I would bet not. I think she is busy either blaming herself or the victim or both

[AmazonGrace]

Send out the ferrets, I'm stuck in the rabbit hole...

The captain is awesome... He wants to say a few words before his daughter's wedding and it turns out to be a huge rant about the public education and scientific humanism... He gives a nod to Doug Phillips is a tool. 

There's a kid in the background who apparently knows him well and leaves the minute he says he has something to say. 

[fundiefan]

1 hour ago, browngrl said:

You know, I've been reading about the Mortons/Smiths for some time now and I've seen that dating video before and yet it never ceases to amaze me that anyone would buy into this. I've often wondered why this might be.  IMO I think that fear might be the root of their fundy beliefs.  It is as if they think that if they just follow all the rules everything will be ok and they won't need to be scared. It doesn't seem to have worked for Katie (nor does it for anyone because of course bad things still happen to good and bad people). I wonder if she thinks about the irony of her statements in these old videos and her current life situation. I would bet not. I think she is busy either blaming herself or the victim or both

Ask the Antonin & Vawser families. Back when FJ was still on Yuko, Brittany was laboring with her first. Her mother, Chris, came to FJ to vent and ask for prayers. The labor was ridiculously long, and Chris couldn't be there, and she was going off the rails. She was worried that they didn't go to the hospital...it was a play by play, basically. 

In the end, the baby finally arrived, but the point is....the Antonins & Vawsers fell for the the Smith schpeal hook, line & sinker. They are the fathers in the 'biblical betrothal' video, and the wedding of their children - Brittany & Andrew - is their further propaganda.

Reading Brittany's 'godly' story is heartbreaking, manipulative, and all Smith influence. 

I feel horrible for Brittany because her parents sucked up the Smith shit and fed it to their kids - and she will pay the price for life. I know her younger sister has a baby, with another on the way, and is not married and she works for a living. Their insecure time that led them to the Smith's fucked her for life. 

http://shiningstarsmagazine.com/volume2-number4/sweetest-story-ever-told-by-brittany-vawser/

The how is still a mystery, I would imagine. But, I think it's all about insecurity, doubt, religious rules and desperation, no confidence in yourself or how you raise your kids, no recognizing that child raising is a crap shoot for everyone....looking for 'the' answer, latching onto the most flamboyant, loudest, dramatic person with some answer that will give you answers and on top of that, remove all responsibility from you for making a decision because you can always blame it on some god. 

Here is the Yoku thread

http://freejinger.yuku.com/topic/7326/Homebirth-worrying-me?page=1#.V51NHrgrLDc

[hoipolloi]

12 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

The how is still a mystery, I would imagine. But, I think it's all about insecurity, doubt, religious rules and desperation, no confidence in yourself or how you raise your kids, no recognizing that child raising is a crap shoot for everyone....looking for 'the' answer, latching onto the most flamboyant, loudest, dramatic person with some answer that will give you answers and on top of that, remove all responsibility from you for making a decision because you can always blame it on some god. 

I've said this before but fundie or liberal, atheist or believer, there probably isn't a parent alive -- especially those who have teenagers -- who wouldn't do anything to get their kids safely to adulthood. This is why fuckwads like Michael Pearl are so popular. These people peddle guarantees and when you're gullible or desperate, it all looks good, particularly when the shysters present faux pictures of how their kids turned out. If you are already a fundie or inclined that way, it would not be a big step to fall for the S'Morton-Sanders bullshit on how to handle young adult children & get them married.

 

[fundiefan]

6 minutes ago, hoipolloi said:

I've said this before but fundie or liberal, atheist or believer, there probably isn't a parent alive -- especially those who have teenagers -- who wouldn't do anything to get their kids safely to adulthood. This is why fuckwads like Michael Pearl are so popular. These people peddle guarantees and when you're gullible or desperate, it all looks good, particularly when the shysters present faux pictures of how their kids turned out. If you are already a fundie or inclined that way, it would not be a big step to fall for the S'Morton-Sanders bullshit on how to handle young adult children & get them married.

Absolutely. This is, I believe, the entire reason fundie 'royalty' comes to be. They take total and complete advantage of human nature - fear and doubt in raising children. The Tool, Pearls, Gothard, Smiths/Mortons/whoever comes along at the 'right' time...Just like all cults work; take advantage of those who are insecure, searching, desperate, doubting; exploit their weaknesses and offer 'answers'. 

Then, if you make your living by selling yourself and your opinions, you make videos to promote 'your' way and say...look how perfect it worked for this one family, don't you want this joy? Come to me. I will show you Jesus. 

[AmazonGrace]

Do y'all think it's just a coincidence that both Josh Duggar and Alan Smith are the patriarch's firstborn son?

[Four is Enough]

OMG I just skipped through the Kressant wedding video.. until I got to the vows part. Her father flat out told her groom that she was Completely Unprepared Educationally "for a man who works 9-5" but she was taught to serve her husband and be hospitable.

And WHY was the groom wearing a sidearm and a knife over his suit coat? And his pants tucked into his jackboots? And that first dance????? No way those two didn't touch (hands, anyway) before marriage, the way they were dancing.

 

Shudder..

[AmazonGrace]

16 minutes ago, Four is Enough said:

OMG I just skipped through the Kressant wedding video.. until I got to the vows part. Her father flat out told her groom that she was Completely Unprepared Educationally "for a man who works 9-5" but she was taught to serve her husband and be hospitable.

And WHY was the groom wearing a sidearm and a knife over his suit coat? And his pants tucked into his jackboots? And that first dance????? No way those two didn't touch (hands, anyway) before marriage, the way they were dancing.

 

Shudder..

I didn't get it. Well, apart from, "I'm a father who devoted his life on keeping his daughters downtrodden, naive and helpless and cannot think of anything nice to say about her on her wedding day that is not also incredibly demeaning to her,  and this whole speech is really me congratulating myself on having managed to  guard her virginity until I can sell her  off to the first godly eejit who falls for my spiel." That part I got loud and clear. 

But what's the deal with 9-5? Is there some biblical admonishment that I missed that says that a man should not work? 

[nokidsmom]

Watched the video too.   This "you are going out with another man's future wife" business just kills me. 

 

[JMO]

That video is always one of my favorite wtf fundie videos. I want to shake him and steal her away from that ceremony.  It's disgusting how much he brags about sheltering her. They are allowed to hold hands after betrothal so I'm sure they practiced dancing. 

Did Brittany Vawser ever have more kids? I searched fj and didn't see any more references to her. 

[NachosFlandersStyle]

15 hours ago, fundiefan said:

Reading Brittany's 'godly' story is heartbreaking, manipulative, and all Smith influence. 

I feel horrible for Brittany because her parents sucked up the Smith shit and fed it to their kids - and she will pay the price for life. I know her younger sister has a baby, with another on the way, and is not married and she works for a living. Their insecure time that led them to the Smith's fucked her for life.

What's interesting about the Smiths and Mortons is that they have managed to do this with pretty much all their children, not just the ones that were marriageable during a couple years of a weird family phase. I feel like many of the super-creepy courtship stories we read about on here happen for only the oldest one or two in the family. The Mortons, on the other hand, have married off 8 children, who in turn have produced at least 25 grandchildren, in the space of 10 years.

[picklepizzas]

Copying over @lexiloumarie's post from the other morton thread for reference, bc i'm always trying to remember if katie is on 8 or 9 (although @fundiefan's post added much more interesting color to who all these people are.  I'm impressed that Lise has caught up to Dorothy already, considering that Darth is much younger and has several years of marriage on her. Wasn't Lise over 30 when she got married? imagine if they'd gotten married younger. O_O 

Quote

An update based on my notes

Katie Morton + Alan Smith = Brett, Ronald, Esther, Wallace, Anna, Elizabeth, Dorothy, and #8

Michael Morton + Kressant Smith = Michael, Carlos, Jonathan, Isabella, Byron, Fletcher and #7

Cleve Morton + Lise Kendall = Liam, Kendall, and Carolina

Wesley Morton + Rachel Smith = Joseph, William, Ariana, Luke, Olivia and (assumed) #6

Dorothy Morton + Noah Sanders = Enoch, Patrick, and Edwin

Martha Morton + Tayte Alexander = Alexandria

Andrew Morton + Kennedy Decker = Mia

Samuel Morton + Alyssa Campana = Probably expecting soon

 

To those asking for a short summary of why the Mortons are in paraguay: we really don't know. they stopped blogging awhile back so there's been a lot of conjecture here that perhaps they were attracted to paraguay for its general lack of government oversight? it seems to have attracted other religious types who like to be free from govt interference in the past (sounds like there is a large mennonite community down there). The main family (mother & father morton & their four unmarrieds - Addie, 26 and 3 youngest boys between 13-17) moved down there with wesley's family and looks to bee setting up permanent residence. 

 

Also - I wonder if Katie has given birth yet. She was days away right before this broke out. I can't imagine the stress of childbirth coinciding with the arrest of your husband (for any crime, much less one this horrific). 

ok one last edit i promise: someone said above that we haven't heard from alyssa and sam since their marriage: they have heard our cry and responded with an instagram from samuel of them visiting with alyssa's family. no mention of a pregnancy or the alan scandal.