Peter Bradrick files for Divorce

[Soulhuntress]

21 hours ago, DomWackTroll said:

I'm listening to Jay Valenti's accent and wondering where he's from. Also wondering how an Italian-American dude got mixed up in the craziest form of Protestantism ever. 

ETA: Uh-oh, there's li'l Katie with a baseball bat. You know what that means. The "F word."

ETA: "He's now ministering to our lost family members." The "C word." 

In the family business  is okey dokey but working for anyone else is bad.  Good to know.

[DomWackTroll]

7 minutes ago, Soulhuntress said:

In the family business  is okey dokey but working for anyone else is bad.  Good to know.

Hey, she runs errands. I mean, if her husband ever leaves her with, oh, I dunno, six children, it'll all be okay because Daddy let her run errands like a big girl. 

[SamiKatz]

I watched that video for the first time a few weeks ago, it made me realize just how controlled the lives of women and girls are in this cult.  Really, the idea of the man approaching the father to ask for permission to court, and having an ongoing dialogue about it before the female is even approached is so disturbing.  It also made me realize how benign TLC makes the Duggars seem, when this is what is happening there as well.

I have great sympathy for Kelly and hope things work out for her and her children.

[Palimpsest]

3 hours ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

they *are* intrinsically creepy/ disturbing/ flesh crawly?

This.  I'm surprised it's a question.  They make my hair stand on end.

No, I have not met either IRL.  I don't have to to form this conclusion.

(FWIW, I have met Steve Maxwell in person  Creep, disturbing, flesh crawly as hell.) 

[Soulhuntress]

1 minute ago, DomWackTroll said:

Hey, she runs errands. I mean, if her husband ever leaves her with, oh, I dunno, six children, it'll all be okay because Daddy let her run errands like a big girl. 

Well she is a Bradrick now so that knowledge would be useful.  

The other funny bit is that this lot seems to think they are like THE voice of the church.  Um no?

[ViolaSebastian]

I find the Botkin's creepy because it doesn't seem like their faces move when they talk and their eyes express no emotion whatsoever. They also tend to not blink at a regular rate when they're doing their narration. Not everybody is good on camera--I'm certainly not--but I don't know if I would make people who weren't the narrators of my documentary. 

[MamaJunebug]

3 hours ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

I'm watching this in segments because it's making me stabby and I have the urge to throw my computer across the room in anger and disgust.  

I'm about 53 minutes in and Geoff Botkin is bloviating about men being leaders and if they're not ,,, well ... they are girly men and bad things will happen -- and it will be All. Their. Fault.

This is the first time I've heard Scottie and Geoff speak and I find them extremely creepy and disturbing and I have a visceral flesh crawling reaction to them.  So I must ask -- do I think that because I've read so much about them or because they *are* intrinsically creepy/ disturbing/ flesh crawly?

Have any FJers met or heard them in real life?  Stories please

I vote "intrinsically."

They both give me the pit of the stomach feeling I get when I see someone IRL and something just. ain't.  right. I always follow my gut instinct. 

[MamaJunebug]

2 hours ago, Howl said:

I'm the child of an alcoholic.  The first thing that comes to mind with people referencing Kelly's cocktail recipes is, I hope, and do mean really hope, that she has not developed a dependence on alcohol while trying to raise 6 young children under Patriarchy.  If that were the case, I'm sure Peter would try to get custody.  

She has few options.  She has six children at home.  Perhaps the last one is out of diapers!  If she goes back to the Scottie Brown NCFIC Mind Control Center, they could take care of the kids while she goes to school, except that could never happen, because Scottie.  If she stays in Washington, she's stuck with six kids at home and I can't see where she could find child care or funds sufficient to allow her to start a college program in nursing or whatever, even with putting the oldest kids in (GASP!) public school.  

Jeeeze Louise, this woman is one step away from a LESBIAN DUPLEX!  

***Thanks to Libby Anne, who blogs at  Love, Joy, Feminism (Patheos) for the Lesbian Duplex concept, based on two of her blog posts about Debi Pearl's "Created to be His Help Meet".  Y'all can read about it here. 

Read the divorce one and within 7 lines it hit me: Debi Pearl doesn't write her own stuff. Her husband does, and gives her the byline. How did I never see that before? It's as plain as the nose ring on Kelly Jeannette's face. 

[Black Aliss]

6 hours ago, nausicaa said:

I can see this being the case if Peter were single, but would a traditional church see a man to leaving his wife and six children to marry the woman as "doing the decent thing"? 

It happened often enough in the fundie church I was raised in. Not six kids, but the youth pastor did divorce his wife after he knocked up the organist.

Also, if Kelly is unable or unwilling to give him more arrows, wouldn't he be justified in finding a replacement?

[Columbia]

It's moments like this that I wish so much that the Botkinettes were still blogging. I'm dying to know what "advice" their father speaking through them they would give Kelly in a situation like this. The most that the Botkinettes have ever said regarding a worst case scenario was to mention that it would be good to have a home business you could work at, instead of having to leave for a 9-to-5 job. They've also mentioned that it would be handy to have the 60K that you didn't spend on college tuition on hand then, too. (It's Not About Staying at Home)

Not too long after Lordes went public they gave their talk about Godly Women and Bad Boys (or whatever it was called.) I wish they would publish one on what to do when your husband leaves you. Especially because these folks love speaking about stuff with which they have no experience.

[teachergirl]

I really hope it was two people who realized the bs they had been fed and BOTH of them are on their way to finding their voice. I don't advocate divorce but if Kelly slowly came to the conclusion that she is much more than a brood mare and Peter realized he isn't king of the world because he has a penis then great.  I am sad for their children they couldnt figure that out together but life is messy. I hope she doesn't go back to NC. i want her to go get Katie Morton and the two  of them live of life of freedom.  One can hope right?

[JermajestyDuggar]

15 minutes ago, teachergirl said:

I really hope it was two people who realized the bs they had been fed and BOTH of them are on their way to finding their voice. I don't advocate divorce but if Kelly slowly came to the conclusion that she is much more than a brood mare and Peter realized he isn't king of the world because he has a penis then great.  I am sad for their children they couldnt figure that out together but life is messy. I hope she doesn't go back to NC. i want her to go get Katie Morton and the two  of them live of life of freedom.  One can hope right?

But how can she and Katie live a life of freedom with no education, no job history, and 14 young children between them? Katie will stay with the Mortons and Kelly will need the help of the Browns. Their families made sure of that.

[Howl]

18 minutes ago, teachergirl said:

I really hope it was two people who realized the bs they had been fed and BOTH of them are on their way to finding their voice.

And for Kelly, this needs to be literally true -- she looks like such a vibrant woman but in the one instance I've seen her on video (post-birth in a hospital room, thanking Doug Phillips for being fabulous), she has the breathy little girl voice (submissive!) so prized in Patriarchy.  Really, when you hear it, it's the vocal version of foot binding. I'd be truly interested in knowing how women who escape from extreme Patriarchy literally find their voice.   I'd also be interested in knowing how this is cultivated in the home.  

[teachergirl]

agreed and I know they can't literally start over but I hope slowly but surely they uncover the bs they were raised with. Kelly has the odds in her favor more than Katie. I weep for all of these women and children trapped in patriarchy,

 

[kunoichi66]

13 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

This.  I'm surprised it's a question.  They make my hair stand on end.

No, I have not met either IRL.  I don't have to to form this conclusion.

(FWIW, I have met Steve Maxwell in person  Creep, disturbing, flesh crawly as hell.) 

You met him in prison?  Story time? Was that the time you felt like you had met a serial killer, or was that another FJer?

[Chocolatedefrauded]

Honestly, I would feel overwhelmed trying to raise one child, who is half grown, without the physical, emotional and financial help of my spouse. Forget six kids. But then we plan for college for her and do activities, sleepovers & normal cultural stuff instead of hide at home alone all the time. Single moms rock!

These guys probably don't do weekend visitation  or help their ex in other ways, cause kids are women's work.

Surviving on their own would take food stamps and public assistance, which they won't accept. How many women could run a business or work from home with no skills? Sadly they are in a tight spot if they even want to avoid moving home to daddy.

[Maxwell]

6 minutes ago, Chocolatedefrauded said:

Honestly, I would feel overwhelmed trying to raise one child, who is half grown, without the physical, emotional and financial help of my spouse. Forget six kids. But then we plan for college for her and do activities, sleepovers & normal cultural stuff instead of hide at home alone all the time. Single moms rock!

These guys probably don't do weekend visitation  or help their ex in other ways, cause kids are women's work.

Surviving on their own would take food stamps and public assistance, which they won't accept. How many women could run a business or work from home with no skills? Sadly they are in a tight spot if they even want to avoid moving home to daddy.

In defense of their refusing public assistance... if Scottie takes scripture seriously, he should be providing for her & the kids, you know, 1 Timothy 5:8 and all... and he certainly has the means to do it.  If he were a decent human being he would take note of the fact that there is no "...unless..." clause in 1 Tim. 5:8.  That's how it's supposed to work and if headed, there's no reason for them to be supported by public assistance.  I wonder if that will happen -- I can't imagine Mr. Brown being so callous that he wouldn't do it for the sake of kids at the least... but then again, he seems to pick and choose what he adheres to when it comes to biblical teaching (see here: Statement of Biblical Rebuke for Scott T. Brown and Jason Dohm)

[Jess]

I seriously doubt moving in with her dad is an option it's unlikely a judge would let her move out of state with the kids unless both parents agree. Judges are far less likely to allow out of state moves then there were even ten years ago. Family law really is moving forward with trying to keep both parents involved. Out of state moves are really only granted at least in my area these days if it's a job situation where there really is no other feasible option.

[Maxwell]

4 minutes ago, Jess said:

I seriously doubt moving in with her dad is an option it's unlikely a judge would let her move out of state with the kids unless both parents agree. Judges are far less likely to allow out of state moves then there were even ten years ago. Family law really is moving forward with trying to keep both parents involved. Out of state moves are really only granted at least in my area these days if it's a job situation where there really is no other feasible option.

She doesn't have to move in with her parents to be supported by them.  Sending money would work, as would renting/buying her a non-glamerous house that meets the family's needs, paying for (or at least helping out with) reasonable expenses, maybe flying mom in for whatever time is needed to help her get stabilized, etc.  There's lots that can be done from afar.

[Columbia]

1 hour ago, kunoichi66 said:

You met him in prison?  Story time? Was that the time you felt like you had met a serial killer, or was that another FJer?

I'm pretty sure that was a riffle but even so, it's the best riffle ever.

[JermajestyDuggar]

49 minutes ago, Chocolatedefrauded said:

Honestly, I would feel overwhelmed trying to raise one child, who is half grown, without the physical, emotional and financial help of my spouse. Forget six kids. But then we plan for college for her and do activities, sleepovers & normal cultural stuff instead of hide at home alone all the time. Single moms rock!

These guys probably don't do weekend visitation  or help their ex in other ways, cause kids are women's work.

Surviving on their own would take food stamps and public assistance, which they won't accept. How many women could run a business or work from home with no skills? Sadly they are in a tight spot if they even want to avoid moving home to daddy.

I said this on another thread about fundie divorce but I suspect these men rarely see their children after divorce. Since their mother was always the primary caretaker, a man couldn't have the kids visit him without his own mother or sister in attendance to do most of the childcare. How would he know what to do? He wasn't raised to take care of children from the minute he was born. And he isn't about to lower himself to women's work. He's a real man!

[Jess]

24 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I said this on another thread about fundie divorce but I suspect these men rarely see their children after divorce. Since their mother was always the primary caretaker, a man couldn't have the kids visit him without his own mother or sister in attendance to do most of the childcare. How would he know what to do? He wasn't raised to take care of children from the minute he was born. And he isn't about to lower himself to women's work. He's a real man!

As sad as it is if the oldest daughter is over six or so he would probably just leave her in charge of any babies. After all married fundies do it like the duggars with the buddy system.

[kunoichi66]

1 hour ago, Columbia said:

I'm pretty sure that was a riffle but even so, it's the best riffle ever.

...That would make much more sense, yes 

ETA: but my other questions still stand!!

[browngrl]

6 hours ago, teachergirl said:

I really hope it was two people who realized the bs they had been fed and BOTH of them are on their way to finding their voice. I don't advocate divorce but if Kelly slowly came to the conclusion that she is much more than a brood mare and Peter realized he isn't king of the world because he has a penis then great.  I am sad for their children they couldnt figure that out together but life is messy. I hope she doesn't go back to NC. i want her to go get Katie Morton and the two  of them live of life of freedom.  One can hope right?

I read this and I pictured Katie and Kelly doing a sort of cross between the old sitcoms Kate and Allie and Brady Bunch. Two women and their many children trying to find their way in the big city. I'd watch.

[Palimpsest]

3 hours ago, kunoichi66 said:

You met him in prison?  Story time? Was that the time you felt like you had met a serial killer, or was that another FJer?

  No, I think it was @treemom who compared his stare to Charles Mason but I agreed.  He has very creepy bright eyes and fixes you with an unblinking stare.  I suppose Steve thinks it is deep and meaningful but I experienced it as very aggressive.  It reminded me of Stephen (the Rifleman) Flemmi.  

I practically wrote a book about our whole hour at a Maxwell Conference a few years ago.  We had to leave then because Mr. P (who took one for the FJ team by going to Stevehovah's session for men) needed to get the fuck out of there.  He's a peaceable guy but Steve made him really furious. He still sputters with anger at the very mention of Steve's name.   I'll try to link the thread.  I can't promise to find it because it was ages ago though.