What Brought You to Free Jinger?

[ORNurse]

Well...I just signed up a few weeks ago, but I used to be a yuku...can’t remember if I was at ezboard. I was around for the rapture. I don’t remember my old username at all. Was probably something like “NurseShannon”’or some crap...

What brought me here...I honestly dont remember! I remember Emily...maybe the Duggars brought me here? Think I stayed for the Emily snark! LoL 

[dizzying]

I came here to read about actual human beings using white buckets as a toilet and throwing it on the ground. I have stayed for the crazy. Long time lurker but going to try to start posting!

[Alice in Fundieland]

I found FJ thanks to a Google search for Jinger Duggar after TLC showed her wedding the first time.  I’d watched the Duggars on tv for years. Like a lot of other people have said, at first they seemed like a nice family. Their life seemed simple, they seemed happy, and I was curious. The longer I watched, the stranger they seemed and my own thoughts on religion and the existence of a higher power were starting to change. By the time Jinger and Jeremy’s wedding was shown, I was rolling my eyes at just about everything on the show so I found FJ at the perfect time.

[sleepy_doggos]

I came here because I moved in with my mother, a wonderful woman who idolizes everything on TV that's vaguely Christian, and I realized that the Duggars and Bates weirded me out for some unknown reason. I found lots of reasons here!
I actually stayed for everyone else: The Boyers, the Maxwells (because polo shirts are the only godly shirt), JillRod, Hannah Manderino (get ultrasounds, dammit), John Shrader, and Zsu. I haven't read about the Nogs, Wallers, or Bro Gary though. They might come eventually.
I was raised conservative Christian/evangelical but have had an interest in various religious activities since we studied cults (Jim Jones, Jehovah's Witness, etc) in high school Bible class.
Love Joy Feminism blog may have brought me here initially now that I'm thinking back.
I mostly lurk to see pictures and follow links but sometimes comment if there's a great thread drift.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

11 hours ago, sleepy_doggos said:

I mostly lurk to see pictures and follow links but sometimes comment if there's a great thread drift.

I just love a good thread drift.  I think I've usually found thread drifts easier to comment on than the "main topic". Especially when I'm new to a thread. 

The Bro Gary threads are good, mostly light reading for anyone who needs a good laugh.  It doesn't take much background to understand his threads, but it might not be the best topic if your stomach is queasy. The pictures of weens and pink gravy are really something! 

[Palimpsest]

10 minutes ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

The pictures of weens and pink gravy are really something! 

Pictures?  There's more than one?  The first one nearly did me in.

On 4/28/2018 at 10:08 PM, ORNurse said:

What brought me here...I honestly dont remember! I remember Emily...maybe the Duggars brought me here? Think I stayed for the Emily snark! LoL 

Hey!  I think I may remember you from back then.  I followed a link to yuku from TWoP when people were being chastised for talking about Lydia of Purple.  TWoP scared me to death (Howard) and I never posted on the Duggar threads there. I was Nell on yuku and it took me quite a while to start posting there.  Emily and Dna finally brought me out of lurkdom.  I took a long break from FJ, partly because I thought people were too mean, and completely missed the Rapture.  I found my way back here eventually though.  We are a much nicer place these days.

[clueliss]

For those looking for new crazy to read - take a look at ExGay Gregg and DeeDee.  I found that trip down a rabbit hole after the really  long wait for Isreal Dillard (Followed by both rounds of Josh Gate)

[Lisafer]

I just posted on the introductions thread, but I found Free Jinger years ago on Yuku. I think I was looking for dirt on the Duggars. Having been raised in a large homeschooling family myself, I just knew that "Godly family" thing was a facade. I've lurked all these years and learned a lot! Some of the Duggars are about the same age as myself and my siblings. If we could make it out of fundiedom, they can too! Still hoping, lol.

[Sia]

Umm....yeah, I just stumbled upon you while doing some 'research' for a sims 3 fundie challenge.

[curlyhairspray]

 I fell in love with fundies when the Duggers first came out. Back in the days of the big hair and trumpets on TLC. I had a strange fascination with them. I even remember reading the blanket training pages on the original Duggar blog. I heard about FJ some time ago, but found it a little intimidating as a forum. I loved lurking and have now found myself here.

[AtTara]

I've been reading here off and on since I first found the link on TWoP.  I think I started because of the Duggars, read some of the Emily/Dna stuff, RazingRuthgate... I'm sure there's more.

I finally joined because of the insanity that is Gwen Shamblin Lara's Remnant Fellowship Cult.  My older son googled a picture of her which gave him and my younger son a major case of WTF-itis.

[Sicily]

I noticed that Cody Winton had removed all photos of Sarah, and then of the kids, from his Instagram. It got me thinking again of the Serven clan. I wanted to re-read old blog entries, but since they had long-since locked the family blog down, I did some googling to see what references to the Servens I could find in other blogs. That led me to this forum, among other things.

I lurked for a bit, but I wanted to share what I'd observed about Cody and Sarah, so I soon created an account.

[Melissa1977]

I came to Freejinger a long time ago because I saw an article about Duggars (Johanna was the youngest then) and I couldn't believe they were real. I had no idea that evangelist fundamentalism was such a wide movement. I was horrified and fascinated.

[Threff]

I think I may have come here from We hunted the mammoth. A few years ago. I can’t read that site any more. Too much #metoo for me to be able to process. I’m focussing  on recovery. My own memories are sufficient information for now. But I’m grateful for the prompt. Go there, if you can handle it at the moment.

Edited September 14, 2019 by Threff
More info

[ViolaSebastian]

I was up late one night because I couldn't sleep and came across "14 kids and Counting" and instantly knew that this situation was fucked and that I wanted to know more about it. I watched the subsequent episodes "16 kids and Covering Up Child Sexual Abuse" or whatever it was called. I eventually googled them and ended up on Yuku--where I lurked, scared shitless to post. I also found Zsu and her blog, and she became my induction fundie after the Duggars. After the rapture, I registered here and started commenting. 

[scarymummy343]

I have been a really, really, really long time lurker. I originally found Free Jinger after watching a bit of 19KAC. I was drawn to the bizarre family but I found some of their practices down right weird (plastic plates, processed foods) not to mention their religious values. Anyway I went looking for more info and found "leghumpers" which I still found bizzare. Then I found Free Jinger. Finally more people who think these fundamentalists are very strange!. Anyway I've been reading in the sub-forums for awhile but thought I would actually join and contribute. Hopefully I can get in every once-in-a-while before everyone else does. I'm in Australia so timezone wise this is not advantageous.

[redhedd]

I've done an Inet search for Doug Phillips for years to keep abreast of it all.  The last search turned up this site and it has a great set of threads and posts to fill my curiosity. 

And this post is also to see what all of my profile modifications look like before I post something serious.

[ignorantobserver]

Serendipity, entirely. I had to much time on my hands and wanted to read some articles about something pregnancy-related (I can't quite remember). For some reason, Google gave me an interview of Michelle Duggar complaining that her "mommy days" were over, and I was extremely shocked that a mother of that many children, some of whom were quite young at the time, would stop defining herself as a mother the second she entered menopause. I thought she was insane and moved on, but a few months later I stumbled upon the Quiverfull Movement through Wikipedia, remembered her, googled her name, and found this forum. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that this lifestyle actually has followers.

[Aimlesslywandering83]

I joined a year ago. It took a little while to get approved and I forgot about it during that time. FJ was mentioned in one of my snark groups on FB and I remembered that I had an account on here. I've been following the FLDS for many, many years and that led me to other fundie groups. My most recent obsession is the the Rodrigues family. There are so many rabbit holes on here and I'm looking forward to jumping in. I've only lurked for now, but I want to actively post. I'm trying to get the lay of the land before I do so.

[Liberal Grandma]

Well, what brought me here was Andrea Mills death.  After Tommy Boy set up a GFM I googled them and found y’all.  

[Caroline]

I read "Under the Banner of Heaven" when it came out and was hooked on strange cults.  I spent a lot of time finding out more about the unusual beliefs of Mormons, found an ex-Mormon site and soon realized there were many others escaping organized religions.  I have nothing against mainstream Mormons, but the FLDS are nuts in my opinion.  In the process I realized how strange the Catholic customs I grew up with must seem strange to others, because they still seem strange to me.  I was never a great practitioner of Catholicism, but I'm glad I realized that all religions seem strange to people on the outside.  My problem with fundamentalist Christians is that they seem so unyielding in general about gender roles and there belief that Catholics in particular aren't Christians.   I think the first really unusual Christian I encountered online was Candy Brauer, but I don't remember how I got there. I was a follower of the Duggars when they were on tv out of sheer fascination that people could choose to live that way.  When I found out what Quiverfull was I was really blown away.  I've been obsessed ever since.  My husband thinks I'm the crazy one for being interested in these people

 

 

[Random username]

I watched the Duggars on tv like 15 years ago, then about 5 years ago started thinking what ever happened to them and found this place a little before the Josh Duggar scandal was revealed. I've been lurking on and off since then in various threads and finally had to make an account.

[keep_my_spleen]

I found FJ because  was doing some Internet research.  I almost married a man who was pretty much fundamentalist (long story there, the best thing that's ever happened to me was when he broke up with me.  I was 18).  We both wanted a big family and since we were engaged, I started reading up on large families.  

Enter Erika Shupe.

(Yes, I know.)

After thinking this woman was insane, I decided to straight-up Google her name (I think I found her website on a Pinterest board).  By that time, her website had been scrubbed or deleted or whatever.  Instead, I found FreeJinger.  That had to be about 2018?  I followed along while her oldest found freedom (and someone suggested renaming the site FreeMelanie or FreeKaren, which ever daughter was the next.  That's when I realized FreeJinger was about Jinger Duggar... DUH.)

I stayed and decided to make an account because I love the snoop, the snark, and the overall style of the site.  I think it's interesting how clearly you'all've dissected these families and done research into their histories.  I am a conservative Christian and I've grown up around some pretty fundie families, even though they don't claim to be fundie.  Anyway, it's just interesting stuff to me.  To be clear, I don't like fundieism and I'm glad that I missed that bullet.

[Rex]

I googled "hepzibah house counselor dr phil" because I couldn't believe that she was for real. I wanted to believe that her dr Phil appearance was staged. Cue 18 page thread of shenanigans. As a survivor of a a reform school I was hooked 

[becky_m2001]

I started out as a Duggar/Bates fan (or a humper, if you will) until I started seeing just how toxic they really were. As a fan I'd heard of this place called FreeJinger where people would snark on them about everything from their political leanings to how they blow their nose. It wasn't until I heard through the grapevine that people on FJ were also talking about me. Naturally I was curious about that so I checked the sight, searched my name, and what do you think I found? LOTS of people talking about me! I spent probably 1-2 hours going through all the threads that brought up my name (I'm so popular!) and that's when I decided to join the forum. I joined in 2019, but I didn't leave my first comment until a few months ago.

 

Edited October 28, 2020 by becky_m2001
​ For what it's worth, it cracked me up what people were saying about me!! ?