33 minutes ago, Columbia said:

He was more than big. He was their "scholar in residence."

He was also best man at Doug's & Beall's wedding:

2 hours ago, Howl said:

I think he was big with Doug Phillips back in the day. 

He was more than big. He was their "scholar in residence."



He spoke at the big history conferences and Titanic events, went on the European and Greek tours. He had stuff for sale all over the catalog. He and Joe Morecraft were Doug's right hand men at a lot of those big events.

On 3/7/2024 at 1:30 PM, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

I was curious about the fellow inmate Creech was convicted of murdering in 1981, the murder for which he received this death sentence. (His previous death sentence for 2 murders in 1974 was reduced to life in prison, because of a 1979 supreme court ruling about the unconstitutional nature of the Idaho law of the time.)

I found an article from 2019 on East Idaho News. Apparently the sheriff and county prosecutor at the time believed that Creech was a danger to fellow inmates.

Reportedly the other inmate, David Jensen, attacked Creech first. 

  Reveal hidden contents

Court documents say David Dale Jensen attacked Thomas Creech with a sock filled with batteries.

Creech was able to take the weapon away from Jensen, and it was that same weapon Creech would later use to beat Jensen to death.

(clipped)

Creech went on to claim self-defense in the incident, but the prosecution argued he went above and beyond self-defense.

There are a lot more colorful details in that article than the more recent ones have had. Including Creech admitting to at least 26 murders, including some for "satanic cult worship rituals". It gave me the impression that Creech was really unstable, at least back in the 1980s. That isn't how his wife and prison friends describe him now, but I can't imagine trusting him, personally. 

I was watching some YouTube videos of the Darrell Brooks trial today.  Both the judge and prosecutor described that fornicate stick Brooks as pure evil and a danger to the community - part of the reason he should die in prison or be subjected to the death penalty.  (Unfortunately Wisconsin doesn't have the death penalty).  As I said before an adult having to spend the rest of his or her life in prison is far worse than the early release they'd get if the state ended their lives, but I do believe there are a handful of crimes when the death penalty is warranted.  Both in the Brooks case and in the Creech case.

10 hours ago, postscript said:

I get the impression the Bontrager marriages are semi-arranged. Marlin and the other patriarch decide two of their kids would be a good match, tell the kids to pray about each other as potential mates, and start planning the wedding. I don’t think Marlin would force his kids to marry anyone they didn’t get along with, but he sees parental approval as more important than romantic love. 

I think they vary widely. John and Chelsy no, Mitchell and Bryn no, Denver and Praise no. Allison and Jeremiah, 100%; Carson and Lina 100%; and then Josh and Cass were gray area.

According to a guest post they wrote on the Bont blog, Cassidy developed a crush on Josh while being told to pray about her sister and Carson, but Cass thought Josh was out of her league. Josh talks about being terrified to talk to Curtis about pursuing her, and appreciating not only her devotion to God, but her intelligence, playful personality, and joy.

Taylor and Susanna also seem like gray area. Semi-arranged because of two sets of sibs already being married, but at the same time Taylor has Bible Bee money and Susanna is really pretty, and their wedding pics on Chelsy's blog show far more chemistry than Allison and Jeremiah, but less chemistry than Denver and Praise.

I'll be curious to see their final three. The odds seem high that there'll be at least one more Bowers and one more Helferich match -there are just too many similar ages.

First Candice Cameron and now Mel Gibson. It’s like they are trying to pose with actors I don’t like. Maybe next will be Gwyneth Paltrow.