Impromptu Meeting of the Arndt Boys

[formergothardite]

He did in theory, but in reality he was traveling all of the the place giving conferences and staying at his training centers where he played footsie with teen girls. He taught sons should stay at home until marriage, but I never saw that really work well. At least not to the extent that the Arndt parents did with their sons. To get that many adult sons to not desire to leave home, I bet Gothard is jealous.

[JenniferJuniper]

He did in theory, but in reality he was traveling all of the the place giving conferences and staying at his training centers where he played footsie with teen girls. He taught sons should stay at home until marriage, but I never saw that really work well. At least not to the extent that the Arndt parents did with their sons. To get that many adult sons to not desire to leave home, I bet Gothard is jealous.

Maybe some of them would like to leave. But they're afraid for some reason. Who can say? I don't believe the phony harmony we see portrayed day in and day out. It's contrary to human nature for one thing, and it's especially contrary to the nature of brothers.

The appeal of the Arndts for me is that there are never any answers. Just questions that lead to more questions.

[lilith]

He did in theory, but in reality he was traveling all of the the place giving conferences and staying at his training centers where he played footsie with teen girls. He taught sons should stay at home until marriage, but I never saw that really work well. At least not to the extent that the Arndt parents did with their sons. To get that many adult sons to not desire to leave home, I bet Gothard is jealous.

It's truly amazing, in a sick twisted way. I would love to know how they do it.

I wonder if they will let Mary Elizabeth marry? It must be so odd for her living among so much suppressed male sexuality. Maybe that's part of why she's kept so infantilised, seemingly even more so than her brothers.

[nokidsmom]

I do wonder if there is some sort of instilled fear in these guys that is keeping them from leaving. If so, it must be quite effective since it's working with not just one or two, but several of them. I am saying this based on watching a similar family situation, though not so extreme.

[lilith]

That's a big part of what makes the boys so fascinating.

They all go to a gym, even the ones who are still actually boys. The older ones do court transcription work, which requires them to travel - solo - into the big city where they go to courtrooms and attorneys' and doctors' offices. They must hear all manner of worldly things while listening to testimony and depositions. Crime, sex, drugs, rock and roll, you name it.

Some of the older ones do wedding photo shoots and videos. And you can see from the (very awkward) video one of them posted the other day, the couples they work with don't necessarily appear to be hardcore fundies, if they're even fundie at all. They have a TV in the house and everyone over a certain age seems to have his own laptop with internet access.

They're meeting with all sorts of different people in the real world, and yet they return again and again to their parents. They are all physically fit, a couple aren't bad looking, and they are all, at least superficially, good-natured. But there is not even a hint of any ladies in their lives, because if there were, Daddy and Mommy would insist on a courtship.

If they all lived and worked on some remote farm, they would only be mildly interesting. But the fact that they move in and out of the real world on a pretty regular basis boggles the mind.

Surely they have some sort of net nanny or Mama Ardnt checks browsing histories for accountability. Cause if they have unrestricted access they are viewing porn, no ifs buts or maybes. And if they were viewing porn surely they would want the real thing and would be threatening mutiny if they didn't at least get a courtship.

Even if they are just looking up baseball sites and other innocent young male interests they would be bombarded with targeted advertising for hookup dating sites and the like with pictures of scantily clad young women, and surely they would click.

[formergothardite]

If it was just one son I could accept that perhaps he was gay and since that isn't acceptable in that family, he would rather just not get married. But that many adult sons that are that old not leaving or trying to find a wife, something is up.

[Morton Fan]

I do think the Arndt's are the most intriguing of (almost) all our fundie families. Their familial accents take it to a whole new level for me. I also think that the sheer number of boys in their family might give their home-life a bit of a (very uncool, Mom-included, sober, virginal, and juvenile) frat house kind of appeal; perhaps that is part of the reason no one flees the nest.

[JenniferJuniper]

I do wonder if there is some sort of instilled fear in these guys that is keeping them from leaving. If so, it must be quite effective since it's working with not just one or two, but several of them. I am saying this based on watching a similar family situation, though not so extreme.

If I counted right, 8 sons are in their 20's or 30's. They're young, fit guys living near St. Louis. They have some computer/video/transcription skills and even if they couldn't get something up and running along those lines, a couple of them could start a landscaping company or do construction and easily afford an apartment and then eventually head out individually.

Seriously, guys, you won't go to hell just because you don't live with Mommy and Daddy and you don't even have to have sex until after you are married if you really don’t want to. But get out before it's too late. Starting a life now will be so much easier than waiting until your 40's or, gulp, your 50's. And think of the little chubs. What kind of life are they going to have when they’re your ages now if someone doesn’t take that first step?

Triggering an old Rankin-Bass memory from childhood (the penquin looks like Benji!)

OORsz2d1H7s

[freejugar]

their website is a nighmare to navigate, i can't find anything there

[terranova]

I'm not making any judgements against people who choose to live at home. A lot of them a prefectly well rounded, well socialsed people who are capable of holding down jobs and interacting with the rest of the human race with no issues.

But, not all are like that. I have a friend who is 34. He's lived at home, with his parents, his entire life. He has a younger brother who left to go to uni at 19 and never came back. Eventually the brother married and moved away.

My friend is a bit stunted in the socialisation department. He has no male friends, except a gay friend from school days. If he goes out at night its with the women he works with. He has very few friends. What he does have, however, is a damn nice bank account, seeing as he makes 100k a year and has almost no overheads (petrol, personal items, that's it). I feel for him, it's like he's stuck at 18, both in the way he acts and his social situation.

A few years ago some friends tried to help him buy a house and move, but it was almost like he was scared to. His parents arn't running a church and are not fundies, but I do think if they'd "helped" him to move out 10 years ago, he'd be a happier, more well rounded individual now.

I feel for these men and boys :(.

[Jezebel]

What a dreary looking room. The white plastic garbage can along the wall classes it up nicely.

Seriously though--something about that dining room is having a skin crawling effect on me.

Same here.

It looks like an institutional setting that is trying hard to seem home-like. But despite the "country" furniture and decorative touches, there's still the stark white walls, sad gray floor tile, and harsh, glaring light that undermine all attempts at warmth.

[truthteller]

I happen to live about 10 mins. from the Arndts and I know them very well. They are nice people but VERY different. The older sons are extremely indoctrinated by their dad. They are all carbon copies, they have the same politics, same religious views, same music, TV shows, everything. The parents have instilled this idealistic, magical thinking regarding the opposite sex.

I came across this website when I Googled them out of curiosity. Anybody that wants insight into their thinking should watch this video. It's very telling, especially around the 9:30 mark.

[link=]http://youtu.be/0-L5_QKGvSs?t=9m35s[/link]

[ceg045]

I happen to live about 10 mins. from the Arndts and I know them very well. They are nice people but VERY different. The older sons are extremely indoctrinated by their dad. They are all carbon copies, they have the same politics, same religious views, same music, TV shows, everything. The parents have instilled this idealistic, magical thinking regarding the opposite sex.

I came across this website when I Googled them out of curiosity. Anybody that wants insight into their thinking should watch this video. It's very telling, especially around the 9:30 mark.

[link=]http://youtu.be/0-L5_QKGvSs?t=9m35s[/link]

"You're not stiff at all."

Dead. and. buried.

[Markie]

The son talking in that clip truly does believe everything he is spouting. Interesting to see the father nodding again and again - yes, son, that's what WE believe. How hard would it be to be the one Arndt boy with a differing point of view? They really should get out there and promote themselves. The longer they wait and stay "chaste" the less fundy kids in the world, so there is a plus. The Seven Sisters should take up baseball.

[Witsec7]

I happen to live about 10 mins. from the Arndts and I know them very well. They are nice people but VERY different. The older sons are extremely indoctrinated by their dad. They are all carbon copies, they have the same politics, same religious views, same music, TV shows, everything. The parents have instilled this idealistic, magical thinking regarding the opposite sex.

I came across this website when I Googled them out of curiosity. Anybody that wants insight into their thinking should watch this video. It's very telling, especially around the 9:30 mark.

[link=]http://youtu.be/0-L5_QKGvSs?t=9m35s[/link]

You say you know them well, in what context do you know them?

[freejoytoo]

I can't see the video :(

[MamaJunebug]

I can't see the video :(

YOu're not missing much.

So, ceg, people actualy follow this clan? They say they have 200-some people at least that they imagine might show up for a casting call??? I find this incredible, literally. I love southern ILlinois but our landscape can get a little tedious, as it does in the "why I won't look at girls until it's bullet-hitting-bullet" or whatever that dialog came to. At least they could've gone to Saint Louis and shot some of the Arch or an historic building or something.

I'm also interested in how you know them and whether they have a following, or just enjoy posting their preachy home movies online.

The son says it's miraculous how Kathy and Rick Arndt met in a grove at a retreat, IIRC? So, with none of the boys going on retreats ... how exactly do Kathy & Rick expect them to meet their partner bullet?

It's so much like the strange family I knew, where the first son didnt' marry 'til the mom had passed and the second not 'til the dad had died, as well. They were both in their 50s, and it was the first time either of them had lived in a home not owned by their parents. Odd, odd way to live.

[formergothardite]

Are the Arndts the ones that made the really weird movie with a guy stumbling through the snow and meeting a woman?

After that video, I am sure it will be a long, long time till any of them have sex.

[Triplet3]

The Seven Sisters should take up baseball.

No way. The seven sisters come across as being far more human than the Arndt boys. I know they're a bit immature, but it's clear from their blog that they have proper friends outside the family (even some non-fundy or fundy-lite friends) and they go to a proper church, whereas the Arndts NEVER mention friends at all, don't allow comments on the publically-accessible part of their blog, and homechurch. The Arndt boys just come across as weird and completely socially stunted, which is not the impression I get of the seven sisters. I really don't think any of the sisters would enjoy being in the Arndt family.

[Seven Severn]

The flow of their speech is weird. It reminds me of the character "Gavin" from Kids In the Hall.

At-dM_2kEQI

[clarinetpower]

Exact. That vocal pattern drives me up a wall. I can hardly believe it's real.

I had a student who spoke like that at one time. He had some major developmental issues. I still remember asking him what the next verse of a song was about, and his answer was (in Gavin's/the Arndt's inflection) "Sometimes... people go under water...and bubbles come out their nose...and then they DROWN." Irrelevancy, FTW.

[Cerdwin]

They are clearly discussing their usernames on the Love Shy forums.

[Guest Anonymous]

They are clearly discussing their usernames on the Love Shy forums.

I had never heard of the Love Shy forums, so I looked it up. Big mistake. That place is a hell-hole.

From a thread called 'women ARE a problem':

Yes, some women deserve to be beaten and humilated, but you can't say ALL of them are the same. However, I'm sure the ones who get plenty of male attention do let it get to their heads and they form seemingly unstoppable egos that the only way to change it is to be in a freak accident that would shatter their appearance as well as dignity and be grateful for what they have. This can also apply to men who get plenty of female attention.

ETA: I totally had heard of it before; my brain just disconnected.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=14018

[freejoytoo]

YOu're not missing much.

I'm morbidly curious now. What's the name of the video?

Just watched part of 'day in the life' and the exciting 'coming up' section was about two of the brothers wearing the same shirt. Exciting.

[rose240]

I'm morbidly curious now. What's the name of the video?

Just watched part of 'day in the life' and the exciting 'coming up' section was about two of the brothers wearing the same shirt. Exciting.

Safe at Home - Personal Connection