Whitney and Zach Bates- Part 2

[neurogirl]

Whit's story on IG today is about working out, and it seems like she works out fairly intensely. A lot of fundie women care about appearance, but I respect that Whitney works out instead of restricting calories only like some of the other fundies we follow seem to. Obviously wearing pants/shirts can help with this, though I have a running skort that I love (prob too short for fundies though)! As someone with an eating disordered past, working out helps me feel strong/more confident/have more agency in my body, regardless of what it looks like.!ymmv I just see it as giving whit a little of her own power. (And not to play schrodingers uterus too much, but would she do intense workouts while pregnant? I know one can but I'm just hopeful there's going to be a bit of a gap before the next blessing.)

[LawsonBatesEgo]

I don't think there is anything wrong or weird about a parent being proud of their child when they heard they went out of their way to be kinda and helpful to someone. I have friends who post on Facebook that their kids teacher told them that their kid was being really nice to a kid being picked on, or give half their lunch to a kid who forgot theirs , and that they are really proud of them. Pretty normal.

I don't mind Zach. Yeah, I know he has some shitty beliefs and voted for Trump, but he seems to be working for a living instead of grifting and he seems to be a decent, polite and non creepy person who is decent and loving to his spouse and kids. Unlike another oldest fundie son.....

[Shouldabeenacowboy]

1 hour ago, LawsonBatesEgo said:

I don't mind Zach. Yeah, I know he has some shitty beliefs and voted for Trump, but he seems to be working for a living instead of grifting and he seems to be a decent, polite and non creepy person who is decent and loving to his spouse and kids. Unlike another oldest fundie son.....

He gets brownie points for me on the above as well. And they watch movies!  

[OyToTheVey]

Purely from a spectator point of view: Whitney hit the fundie husband lottery. He works, loves his kids, doesn't object to movies and tv in their house, they seem to have a nice life. Seems like a nice guy. Not crazy fundie like a bunch of others we've seen. 

[Tangy Bee]

1 hour ago, OyToTheVey said:

Purely from a spectator point of view: Whitney hit the fundie husband lottery. He works, loves his kids, doesn't object to movies and tv in their house, they seem to have a nice life. Seems like a nice guy. Not crazy fundie like a bunch of others we've seen. 

Yeah but his folks are still a "nice" kind of crazy. The kids have been trying really hard to be trendy and hipster these past couple of years. I believe Whit was kissing ass in the beginning by wearing skirts just to fit in.

[RosyDaisy]

It's all a pretty facade hiding the ugly. Sorry, not sorry. It had be said.

[actuallyjessica]

1 hour ago, RosyDaisy said:

It's all a pretty facade hiding the ugly. Sorry, not sorry. It had be said.

they don't seem to hide it though. so not sure what people are really expecting. the adult kids seem like regular conservative christians.

[just_ordinary]

Whitney is one of my pet fundies (though I am still recovering from her pro Trump post) and she and Zach seem to pretty happy with each other and their children. They seem to have enough money to afford a comfortable living right now. But I don't delude myself. They voted for Trump, they are against LGBT marriage, they want to eliminate the right to have an abortion. 

I want to believe they are not abusing their children with horrible child "training" methods, are putting them into school (or at least a homeschool cooperative) and don't follow a quiverfull lifestyle. Maybe they do all this- I don't know. I choose to believe they are better than their parents in this regard. That is why I am rooting for them. But I doubt they will ever be liberal. 

And of course I might be tricked by their appearance on the show and how they portray themselves on instagram.

 

And about Whitney's ability to look so perfectly put together: she clearly envolved her make-up skills over the years and must be quite experienced. I think she doesn't spend more than ten minutes for it. I just hope she doesn't feel pressured to do it. I wear so much make-up only on a handful of occasions so I will most definitely be a zombie mum and I am not a tiny bit ashamed of it (well, now).

[SuhrEnity]

9 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

Whitney is one of my pet fundies (though I am still recovering from her pro Trump post)

I unfollowed her for a few months after this because I just couldn't get past her voting for him even though I knew she was going to.

[Carm_88]

10 hours ago, actuallyjessica said:

they don't seem to hide it though. so not sure what people are really expecting. the adult kids seem like regular conservative christians.

Just because something seems true, doesn't mean it's so. We don't know what they are or what they believe. 

[VelociRapture]

30 minutes ago, Carm_88 said:

Just because something seems true, doesn't mean it's so. We don't know what they are or what they believe. 

We know Whit voted Trump. Zach likely did too. I may be curious on how she looks so good as often as she does (meaning more than me ), but I'm also completely aware that she's:

- either in agreement with Trump on a lot of stuff or

- is willing to ignore many things she believes because blastocysts are apparently the same as a living and breathing infant or

- she doesn't trust women, no matter how qualified, to lead the country.

Whatever the reason, I honestly don't think it says anything good about her beliefs. She may be the most genuinely sweet person ever born, but it doesn't mean much if she wants to control personal decisions that have nothing to do with her.

As far as the post about Zach - I'll give him credit for seeming to take his job seriously. And I agree with others that his love for Whit seems very genuine. That's what happens when you meet someone in a pretty normal way and you take your time (they were friends 1.5 years before courting) to get to know them. Too bad more of these second geners don't have that chance.

[HereticHick]

8 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

 

I want to believe they are not abusing their children with horrible child "training" methods, are putting them into school (or at least a homeschool cooperative) and don't follow a quiverfull lifestyle. Maybe they do all this- I don't know. I choose to believe they are better than their parents in this regard. That is why I am rooting for them. But I doubt they will ever be liberal. 

 

Bradley Bates is only 2 years old. It will be several years before we know the path of his education.

[just_ordinary]

Well yes. That is why I said "I want to believe". I can also not know from instagram and short moments of a highly scripted tv show how they raise their children. All I have is what we know about Kelly's and Gil's methods and the fact that Zach and Whit did not explicitly state to go another way. And some small insights in Whit's instagram stories and texts. They can be horrible parents- I wouldn't know for sure. But I see little things and the adorable children and want/choose to believe otherwise.

[actuallyjessica]

Just because something seems true, doesn't mean it's so. We don't know what they are or what they believe. 

True. We only know what they put out there.

I wish she didn't vote for ass-hat Trump, but she did because that's where her personal values align. They don't hide this, however disappointing it may be to people with opposing opinions.

I'm not looking to Whitney to be the voice of our generation, I follow her because her kids are cute, and her IG feed is aesthetically pleasing.


There are plenty of people who aren't religious at all who voted Trump or generally conservative or are pro-life.

Some people are going to be disappointed in anyone who isn't a SJW.

[MsSaylor]

I was just thinking, Zach was "allowed" or otherwise able to meet a normal, pants wearing woman who worked at Sonic and was outside of their fundie cult. They were able be friends for awhile and from all appearances date normally before marriage, including kissing (so probably didnt have chaperones) what is stopping the other kids from doing so? Especially Lawson and Nathan. I think a similar scenario would be a good fit for either of them. Zach did it, and he is not disowned or anything. His parents may not have been happy with everything but that didnt stop it. 

[VelociRapture]

2 hours ago, MsSaylor said:

I was just thinking, Zach was "allowed" or otherwise able to meet a normal, pants wearing woman who worked at Sonic and was outside of their fundie cult. They were able be friends for awhile and from all appearances date normally before marriage, including kissing (so probably didnt have chaperones) what is stopping the other kids from doing so? Especially Lawson and Nathan. I think a similar scenario would be a good fit for either of them. Zach did it, and he is not disowned or anything. His parents may not have been happy with everything but that didnt stop it. 

Personally? I have no real proof, but I don't think Lawson is really interested in settling down right now. His parents may have allowed (grudgingly or not) Zach to meet Whit in a more natural way - but they still wound up following the courtship model. I don't think Lawson would be given the ok to not follow the courtship model though - and if he's not ready for marriage then it may be better in every long run for him to avoid a relationship.

As for Nathan, he may still be taking some time to heal his broken heart pieces after his relationship with Ashley. It's possible he just wants to focus on flying or something for a bit. Or he could have realized he isn't ready for a serious commitment with anyone. I do think it's possible he could pull a Zach and find a relationship unexpectedly though.

[MsSaylor]

Yeah Im not saying that they need to find someone right now or anything, just that i think what happened with zach and whitney might be more successful for them (well and everyone) than being forced into the traditional courtship with a fundie maiden in their circle.    

[Carm_88]

5 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

Well yes. That is why I said "I want to believe". I can also not know from instagram and short moments of a highly scripted tv show how they raise their children. All I have is what we know about Kelly's and Gil's methods and the fact that Zach and Whit did not explicitly state to go another way. And some small insights in Whit's instagram stories and texts. They can be horrible parents- I wouldn't know for sure. But I see little things and the adorable children and want/choose to believe otherwise.

There's nothing wrong with hoping they're different. It's just important to remember that they may be disguising a lot in the perfect family pictures. 

[Melissa1977]

3 hours ago, MsSaylor said:

I was just thinking, Zach was "allowed" or otherwise able to meet a normal, pants wearing woman who worked at Sonic and was outside of their fundie cult. They were able be friends for awhile and from all appearances date normally before marriage, including kissing (so probably didnt have chaperones) what is stopping the other kids from doing so? Especially Lawson and Nathan. I think a similar scenario would be a good fit for either of them. Zach did it, and he is not disowned or anything. His parents may not have been happy with everything but that didnt stop it. 

Zach hadn't chaperones when dating Whit. They stated that clearly. In fact he was dating when he was working as a policeman in training (or a police helper or something like that). People would have mocked a policeman walking with a chaperone, wouldn't them? I mean, chaperoring was probably out of question. 

We really don't know if Lawson is dating. Maybe he's doing but keeps it out of IG. He seem to travel alone and while I'm sure he's behaving, I highly doubt he's living a gothardite life.

Young fundies becoming less crazy sounds nice, but the truth is that they're picking what It suits them (dating, kissing, pants...) but keep horrible beliefs and fight against other people freedom (sexual, religious, political freedom). So their evolution is good for them.but not for the society.

[imokit]

But lots of non fundies have horrible beliefs - many conservative Christians won't to ban abortion & gay marriage and think laws should be christian - you don't have to be fundy to have abhorrent beliefs.

[HarleyQuinn]

2 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

Zach hadn't chaperones when dating Whit. They stated that clearly. In fact he was dating when he was working as a policeman in training (or a police helper or something like that). People would have mocked a policeman walking with a chaperone, wouldn't them? I mean, chaperoring was probably out of question. 

We really don't know if Lawson is dating. Maybe he's doing but keeps it out of IG. He seem to travel alone and while I'm sure he's behaving, I highly doubt he's living a gothardite life.

Young fundies becoming less crazy sounds nice, but the truth is that they're picking what It suits them (dating, kissing, pants...) but keep horrible beliefs and fight against other people freedom (sexual, religious, political freedom). So their evolution is good for them.but not for the society.

Lawson? Keep something off of IG? That means no attention.

[RosyDaisy]

I don't think Zach was allowed anything. He most likely snuck out to be with Whitney.

[infooverload]

Which leads to a question did the two of them reveal the circumstances of their premarital kiss? I don't have UP so I'm curious what prompted the revelation and the circumstances for them to be alone?

[actuallyjessica]

1 hour ago, infooverload said:

Which leads to a question did the two of them reveal the circumstances of their premarital kiss? I don't have UP so I'm curious what prompted the revelation and the circumstances for them to be alone?

they revealed it in season 1, or maybe season 2 of the show during the little talking head bits. i think the topic of saving your first kiss was brought up by the producers, and everyone advocated for it, including zach and whitney, even though they said they did not save their first kiss for their wedding day... but wish they had.

alyssa and john have made zero mention about saving theirs... which leads me to believe they did not wait for the almighty mouth sex.

[ophelia]

17 hours ago, VelociRapture said:

As far as the post about Zach - I'll give him credit for seeming to take his job seriously. And I agree with others that his love for Whit seems very genuine. That's what happens when you meet someone in a pretty normal way and you take your time (they were friends 1.5 years before courting) to get to know them. Too bad more of these second geners don't have that chance.

Did they mention how they met and dated on the show? I haven't really seen any of the episodes, but I'm curious about their relationship since it seems so different from his sister courtships and engagements.

14 hours ago, MsSaylor said:

I was just thinking, Zach was "allowed" or otherwise able to meet a normal, pants wearing woman who worked at Sonic and was outside of their fundie cult. They were able be friends for awhile and from all appearances date normally before marriage, including kissing (so probably didnt have chaperones) what is stopping the other kids from doing so? Especially Lawson and Nathan. I think a similar scenario would be a good fit for either of them. Zach did it, and he is not disowned or anything. His parents may not have been happy with everything but that didnt stop it. 

I think Zach was given more freedom when it comes to Whitney since he already had a failed courtship and Gil and Kelly somehow wanted to make it up to him!

12 hours ago, VelociRapture said:

 I do think it's possible he could pull a Zach and find a relationship unexpectedly though.

Love this!!! Thank you for making me laugh.