Poor Sarah Maxwell lacks gratefulness -MERGED

[Bethella]

Yeah, Sarah really needed to explain Mr. Gibson was an animal catcher before she got to the punch line, such as it was.

And I see these boys have Soul Winners New Testaments. Those are meant to be given to people you hope to convert. How wonderful (not) to see a generation being brought up to harass the lost.

But, but, but the Moody books are some of the only books out there that are godly enough to read. So obviously everyone who reads the blog has read the Moody books and will thus understand the punch line. :lol: (It's kinda like an inside joke, but with strangers on the internet instead of with friends :?)

[nokidsmom]

There have been ideas over the years but I don't think anything has ever been confirmed. We do know (based on Steve's own writings) that he had issues with his management at Boeing, mainly related to having to work with/for women and also a situation with a female supplier rep with whom he openly refused a working lunch on the basis of it being close to cheating on his wife. My theory is that his managers got tired of his anti-woman attitude but couldn't can him for fear of a lawsuit over his religious convictions, so they found a spot for him in some kind of voluntary separation package which he was strongly encouraged to take.

That is my thinking as well. I work in an engineering environment similar to what Steve would have been in. I could see that refusal to work with women, whether coworkers, supplier reps, customer reps, etc. would pose some serious problems. Not just the obvious with working relationships within the company and between outside customers/vendors, but it would disrupt workflow and project timelines that are often critical in such environments. As Steve went further down the rabbithole, I think he kept setting his own conditions for what he would and would not do and it got to the point that he was basically refusing to do his job. So they got him in line with a layoff / voluntary separation deal but in exchange, he probably had to agree not to come back and sue. It's usually how those packages work.

ETA: Few years back, we had a similar situation with a guy in my group. He had found "religion" and it impacted his work. But in his case, he refused to do parts of his job unless you agreed to convert. So we would have a major issue going on and he would refuse to do his part of the job unless the person agreed to go to his church. However, he left on his own.

[MamaJunebug]

I don't think it was any particular incident actually, just a case of homesickness. She described it as a sleepover, not a slumber party, which leads me to believe it was your standard "spending the night at a friend's house" kind of thing. Not exactly the kind of set-up where you'd expect hazing or any other upsetting group behavior where you'd cave to peer pressure, especially since even back then the Maxwells only seemed to socialize with other (somewhat) like-minded Christians. I also get the feeling it was probably her first time away from home and family so considering the Maxwells overall mindset that, in and of itself, could have been upsetting to a child. With little opportunity to learn to think and act for herself, and probably NO ability whatsoever to work through her emotions, she most likely freaked out. So it's probably true that she was traumatized. Another child with a "normal" upbringing would most likely have been able adapt.

The bolded part struck me as very likely and very sad: 20 years on, even if she were to have the opportunity to stay a night away from her family in a safe, welcoming place, she'd probably not be able to handle it.

Any "free Sarah!" thoughts might as well be made with that distinct possibility in mind: She's even less able now to walk away from the family than she was as a pre-teen.

Thus the posts about ungratefulness: she's teaching herself to be happy where she is, because there is no alternative. The mind reels.

[NerdyHil]

The bolded part struck me as very likely and very sad: 20 years on, even if she were to have the opportunity to stay a night away from her family in a safe, welcoming place, she'd probably not be able to handle it.

Any "free Sarah!" thoughts might as well be made with that distinct possibility in mind: She's even less able now to walk away from the family than she was as a pre-teen.

Thus the posts about ungratefulness: she's teaching herself to be happy where she is, because there is no alternative. The mind reels.

I really think this is the most apt assessment of Sarah's situation. There really is no option other than stay with her family.

[Carla Bruni]

Aside - every time I read about the "Moody books", all I can picture in my mind is David Duchovny as Hank Moody, getting punched in the face by a teenager in flagrante :whistle:

[HereticHick]

Sarah Maxwell is one of the few people in the world that I look at and think, "Gee, I wish she were Catholic so she could go become a nun." Her life could be 100x more fulfilling and useful.

[slickcat79]

Yesterday's blog post was "Bus Work and Aunties' Park." So a big yawn from me about John's exciting adventures in changing Uriah's oil, but I couldn't help but think that one day the headline might be "Auntie's Park," in the singular possessive. I can totally see that one day Sarah will be the only Auntie left at Steve's house, and teenage Abby and Bethany will be dragging little cousins over there and telling them not to mind Aunt Sarah - she's just struggling to find her servant's heart again.

On an unrelated note, Mary is frikkin gorgeous in the picture of her with baby Christina.

It's actually already been Auntie's Park once, but that's just because Sarah doesn't fully understand how possessive plural works ;)

[quincygal]

If Sarah can't spend the night at a friend's house, how would she cope with getting married & going away on a honeymoon (and all that they normally entail?). I remember once getting scared & having to go home from a simple sleep over, but I was also encouraged to go away to college at age 17 too. She has none of that to back her up. I recall a FJerite talking to her last year at a conference & the member commented on Sarah's reaction as being very childish ("I love my Daddy" and making a heart with her hands). Would Sarah be able to cope with moving from her parents' home into her "own" home with her husband?

I agree with the poster above who said that as a nun she could be more productive.

[slickcat79]

If Sarah can't spend the night at a friend's house, how would she cope with getting married & going away on a honeymoon (and all that they normally entail?). I remember once getting scared & having to go home from a simple sleep over, but I was also encouraged to go away to college at age 17 too. She has none of that to back her up. I recall a FJerite talking to her last year at a conference & the member commented on Sarah's reaction as being very childish ("I love my Daddy" and making a heart with her hands). Would Sarah be able to cope with moving from her parents' home into her "own" home with her husband?

I agree with the poster above who said that as a nun she could be more productive.

I think that was Mary and not Sarah. Which might make it slightly better coming from a teen and not a 30yo woman, but still creepy.

I also think Sarah would have problems transitioning to married life at this point, though. I feel like Anna Duggar had some issues with it, and she was coming from a far less sheltered existence than any Maxwell spawn.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

I think that was Mary and not Sarah. Which might make it slightly better coming from a teen and not a 30yo woman, but still creepy.

Whenever I hear that "I love my Daddy!" story with the heart I just can't help but imagine Jimmy Fallon as Justin Bieber on SNL:

[quincygal]

whoops sorry about the girl mixup. I do get them confused form time to time:(

[sparkles]

whoops sorry about the girl mixup. I do get them confused form time to time:(

Easy to do especially considering that despite their rather large age difference, experientially they're the same.

[Jana814]

Sarah Maxwell is one of the few people in the world that I look at and think, "Gee, I wish she were Catholic so she could go become a nun." Her life could be 100x more fulfilling and useful.

Agree!! All she wants to do is serve G-d.

[gustava]

Agree!! All she wants to do is serve G-d.

And all she's allowed to serve is the God-of-Steve.

[Lady Grass Lake]

I had this strange thought. I've read that Steve reads here. Could it be that in his warped mind, reading the discussions about how everyone wishes they could get Sarah to leave, or that she could find a way to leave, and speculation about how she might accomplish it, Steve hashed it around in his head and his paranoia led him to believe this to somehow be Sarah's fault, or imagined her having all of these same thoughts, and the forced post about being ungrateful was a way to punish her for something she has no idea what the heck she did or what prompted it.

I wonder too, after seeing the posts about the Moody books and how families are anxiously waiting for the next book, is she being pushed to get this next one written, because the family needs some cash inflow and the book is sure to generate some sales. Is that why she was banished to Uriah last time - "you'll stay out there and write until that books is finished young lady." Maybe she is burned out, or out of ideas or just doesn't want to do it any more, but those books are money makers and she should be grateful to be able to help the family financially.

[Tangy Bee]

Right now her Moody books are the only great thing going on in her life. Are these books for kids under 11? Maybe she will one day write something for the older fundie crowd.

[lilwriter85]

Right now her Moody books are the only great thing going on in her life. Are these books for kids under 11? Maybe she will one day write something for the older fundie crowd.

I predict she will write a book called "Siblings Are Your Friends". It will be a fictional account of siblings who are in their teens and 20s who aren't allowed to have friends outside the family. Each chapter will be a an adventure in lives of the sibling friends.

[mystikchick17]

If NPD = Narcissistic Personality Disorder, then yeah, there have been some signs. Possibly OCD too, though I'm certainly no psychologist:

Remember the first person to infiltrate a Maxhell conference told how everything stopped cold, twice, when something went wrong during a presentation Steve was invovled in.

The first was when Steve, delivering his little speech, walked to where he was to find a Bible and pick it up. But the prop - er, Bible - wasn't there. He froze. He could not ad lib for the life of him. Teri looked aghast, Sarah appeared at a doorway in back of the meeting room, alert and questioning and nodding and dashing off to look for the missing book.

Steve and Teri hemmed and hawed until one of the J-boys strode on from stage left, Bible held aloft, big grin on his face. Smattering of applause, Steve visibly recovered from his panic and the spiel went on.

Everything revolved around Steve and his spiel and the missing holy book. Maybe narcissistic, maybe obsessive, maybe just really unimaginative when faced with a glitch.

The second incident reported was when Teri mis-read a Scripture verse, which IIRC the account is one about "Be not lovers of pleasure...." and Teri simply forgot to read the word "not." Steve froze, Teri froze .... for all the smoothness of their deliveries when things are going right, when one little bitty itsy bitsy teensy weensy thing goes wrong, ooh, they *lose* it.

Teri hunched her shoulders, giggled, looked at Steve with extreme sheepishness and more-or-less waited for him to re-set that there had been a misreading and that the show could go on.

Dunno about the world, but it sounds as if every presentation certainly and surely revolves around Steve.

I wonder if Steve-O doesn't have a bit of scrupulosity going on as well. After reading about it on a Catholic fundie blog, I've started to wonder. It certainly seems to fit, though I think it usually is a self-directed, not an outwardly directed at controlling other people OCD disorder.

[BullyJBG]

This post makes me so sad. I keep hoping Sarah will have a Valancy Stirling moment and rebel against Steve:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Castle-Lucy-Maud-Montgomery/dp/1843913941/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1360268503&sr=8-2&keywords=the+blue+castle

The Blue Castle is one my favorite books and every time I go to the Maxwell blog I can't help but compare Sarah to the main character.

Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Where's the "like" button? Of course, let's hope it doesn't have to end up being through Sarah receiving news from her doctor that she has less than a year to live.