Introduce Yourself - Part 2

[LadyCrow1313]

Greetings! I've been a long-time reader, so I figured it was time to get my tuckus (sp?) in gear & sign up. I'm glad that I did; I'm learning a lot about different fundie families (& new things about the Duggars, too).

I'm glad that this board exists. Never hurts to have your eyes opened, right? :pink-shock:

Pax!

[Selah]

Holla! Long time lurker from the UK here. Study theology/religion at an ebil secular uni and have had a special interest in purity culture/patriarchy since I grew up pretty sucked into the whole purity thing, and later discovered a lot of it was a) crap and b) very damaging :roll: It's been quite a journey for me so I often watch the duggars like :angry-banghead:

I like to snark on the duggars but also research on this stuff to hopefully bring freedom to the fundies. I'm maybe a bit of an optimist :shifty:

[samurai_sarah]

Welcome everyone! Looking forward to your posts! :)

[JillyO]

Hi!

I'm 24, from Germany, grad student in sociology with a special focus on the United States. So, as you can see, I have a natural curiosity in American society. Grew up atheist, but fairly socially conservative (by European standards, at least). Still an atheist, but very liberal and feminist these days.

I hadn't heard about the Duggars or any of the families discussed on here until about two months ago, which is when I completely fell down the rabbit hole. I've caught up on quite a few seasons of 19KAC and have been lurking here ever since. I've also enjoyed (in a train wreck kind of way) skimming through a couple of other families' blogs. Religious fundamentalism is very strange and foreign to me as it is almost unheard of here in Germany, and wasn't really an issue in CA, where I lived for a while during college.

I look forward to posting on here!

[3DMommy]

So somehow I just discovered this, so hi everyone! :clapping: I am a 24 year old mom of 1.5 boys and was raised fundie lite. I love all things Hello Kitty, and even after completely rejecting Christianity at 15 am still learning that everything I was taught in school was a lie. I also have a sibling currently in high school who did not know that not everyone celebrated Easter. I have followed this forum for as long as I can remember, and at least one other URL, but only recently decided to join after my first non-family fundie sighting.

[Ofglen]

Hello all! I've been lurking for awhile now, but i kept having Things (with a capital T) to say, so I finally joined. I only started watching the Duggars this summer, and didn't fall down the fundie rabbit hole till I started reading FJ, so I'm pretty new to all of this, other than the purity culture crap I picked up from my upbringing (which my parents didn't shove down my throat so much as the schools and everyone else in the world did).

I'm an queer trans person that grew up in a fundie-lite heavy area in the Southern US. I now live in northern Ohio near a bunch of Amish. Here's my evidence 8-)

https://31.media.tumblr.com/6db5afd0f5956768eee2ec29fd60bc96/tumblr_inline_nh85uiEYKj1t4yhd7.jpghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/58d375989052838f6bf6510d7a8b2c06/tumblr_inline_nh85uccsvh1t4yhd7.jpg

Cheers!

[kapparin]

Hi everyone! I'm a 25 year old from Missouri who is a long-time reader and thought I might as well go on and sign up. Not sure if I'll have much to add to the discussions as of yet, but we'll see how it goes! :) Being that I live where I do, I've had several fundie encounters over the years but for some reason never realized until finding the different families on FJ just how many fundie families there are around my area. Knew about the Duggars, though, of course--a friend of mine lives right near TTH and has an odd story about how he encountered J'Chelle in Walmart during Christmas season (not knowing who she was at the time) and helped her buy a boatload of game consoles. Was only told by his co-workers after she was gone who she was and how strange it seemed that she'd be buying video game systems like that, wondering what need/want she had for such ~worldly~ things.

Anyway! I got a little off topic there, but nice to meet you all~ :lol:

[nachtmusik]

Hey, everyone!

I've been diligently lurking on FJ for months now and finally decided to get in on it all. I'm from the US and am currently an aspiring musician (yeah, yeaaaaah, I know, 'musician', hah).

I guess what really drew me to FJ was the fact that I feel so strongly about religion and social issues. Growing up, my father became a Methodist pastor (a very, VERY conservative one, as he grew up a fundamental baptist) when I was about 14. I knew already at that point in my life that I was 1) atheist, 2) lesbian, and 3) very liberal, so I clashed very much with those surrounding me. So I have fairly strong opinions and I enjoy voicing them, haha. :D

I'm really looking forward to posting more often!

[ExMW]

Hi Everyone!

I'd heard about FJ but have never had the chance to come check it out - I'm glad I did. I grew up in a Fundamental Baptist home that was all about legalism and no free thinking whatsoever. This primed me to marry a minister and spend twenty years as his punching bag. (He was Pentecostal and I ended up shunned by most of the family because I'd married 'outside the faith', go figure...) It took me 15 years to realize that I wasn't going to hell if I left the idiot :roll: and then another five to orchestrate my escape (leaving with four kids was easier said than done).

Once I got away I went to therapy to deal with all the programming and ended up getting a degree in social work (working on my masters even as we speak). I now work with both victims of domestic violence and those who've come out of abusive religious situations - I see A LOT of Duggarlike people on a regular basis. :pink-shock:

I remarried and lived in the midwest of the US but my husband passed away in 2011 - when that happened I moved to Florida (basically because it's warm). My kids are now adults, three out of four of them want nothing to do with church or their father. Can't say that I blame them.

I get a lot of "I bet you don't believe in God any more, do you?". Actually I do. I believe in God, it's people I find hard to stomach. I don't believe in church or organized religion, I think the whole Quiverful crappola is just more of the same legalistic BS repackaged and presented as some sort of appealing ideology that makes people think those individuals have their act together when, in reality, it's just another abuse situation - all about power and control. Ultimately, I believe in a spiritual walk with God, it's not God's fault that people are assholes. Just sayin....:evil-laugh:

[waterandrocks]

I have to say that I'm pretty excited to have found FJ!

I'm a longtime follower of LiaS - it was actually the first blog I ever read. I'm not sure exactly when that was but it was at least 5 LiaS babies ago! I also follow quite a few of the other blogs discussed on this site.

I'm not specifically interested in fundies but rather any church/religion/group that shuns members for leaving or making alternative choices. I'm not sure what drives my interest but reading the conversations on this site is basically like listening to the thoughts in my head! Happy to be here.

[KittenMitten]

Hi. First time posting anywhere, ever. I'm glad it is on free jinger. I have been lurking here and at Love,Joy and Feminism. It has been very helpful to read here to start to process spiritual abuse. I'm old (52). Happily married with a 15 year old son living in Upstate New York(liberal college town). Also have three cats and a snake. I'm a social worker past 25 years. Good luck to previous poster, ExMW, going for her Master's of Social Work. You will make it! Thank you for having freejinger. I'm nervous as I have never posted, as said. Please be patient with mistakes. Thank you and hi everyone.

[oxymorot]

Hello everybody!

I'm from Finland and longtime reader of FJ. :)

[kat]

Middle-aged female from Deep South USA. Came for the Duggars. Learned many new things about the fundies and other cultish belief systems. Horrified by the Rodrigues and others discussed here. Blood boils over TTUAC and like. What I find personally of great interest are the psychological methods used in keeping children isolated, emotionally manipulated and crippled and helpless even as adults. Unfortunately, have had experiences with some mentally unhealthy people in family and at work.

The snark here is outstanding and has given me a good laugh many a day.

[stardust]

I'm a 19 year old female and have always known about the Duggars' show on TLC. I started paying attention to them more when Jessa announced she was courting and became a religious watcher early last year. Graduated high school in May 2014 and will complete my AA degree at the end of this semester :)

[BeautifulSquirrelhood]

Hi, everybody. Reading for years, finally got curious enough about all that hidden content I couldn't view to bother registering..Not a fundie or former fundie, but morbid curiosity and righteous anger have kept me interested.

[Firiel]

Hi, everybody. Reading for years, finally got curious enough about all that hidden content I couldn't view to bother registering..Not a fundie or former fundie, but morbid curiosity and righteous anger have kept me interested.

Sorry, I'm quite often the culprit of those! :lol:

Was it worth it?

[LovelyLuna]

Hi, everybody. Reading for years, finally got curious enough about all that hidden content I couldn't view to bother registering..Not a fundie or former fundie, but morbid curiosity and righteous anger have kept me interested.

Basically this. I found FJ years ago, and lurk periodically mainly to follow Sparkles and the Duggers. Recently I decide to branch out (OMG The Pecans :pink-shock: ) and figured Ide better get the whole scoop.

This place is better then watching ‘Hoarders' back to back to ‘Intervention' :D .

[Londish]

Hi everyone! I am 22 years old and pretty new to 19KAC. The first episode I watched was Jill's wedding when it first premiered. I first thought the Duggars were just a charming, albeit slightly ridiculous family, but I started doing some research when Jessa's engagement episode came on because I couldn't believe all of the courtship rules, and that led me to FJ! Ever since I started (spending way too much time) reading the forums I have had dreams of befriending the J'Slaves and bringing them to college with me. My likes include reading, travelling, cooking, and theatre, and my dislikes include writing essays, highway driving, and nutjob conservative fundamentalists hindering their own childrens' futures.

[happy atheist]

Welcome everyone!

[Delilah]

Hi everyone! I am an Episcopalian and consider myself to be a liberal, progressive Christian. I began reading here at FJ because I'm fascinated with how religion affects legislation here in the U.S. I dislike that so many people feel they have a right to impose their religious views on other people. I hope that things are getting better. I just read that Sally Kern (Republican - Oklahoma) has decided to back down on her "Business Protection Act" that would have allowed businesses to discriminate against the LGBT community.

I frequently bring up FJ topics with my teenage daughter, and we have the most wonderful conversations. I will miss her when she goes off to college in the Fall. Not only does she like to talk about social issues with me, she's also my tech support! I'm sort of a computer idiot.

[GotCaughtDancing]

Hello everyone!

I've been a long time lurker and finally decided to join. I had too, there was only so many times I could laugh myself silly over the brilliance of many of the posters here and their replies and not be able to jump in. This site is pure awesome.

[rainbow_vixen]

Hi all,

I'm new so wanted to jump in and say "Hi!" I've alwys thought the fundie families like the Duggars were a little cuckoo for coco puffs so it will be fun to talk to others that feel the same way! :)

[SharonYvonne]

Hello!

I'm new here and still learning my away around, etc. I have been morbidly fascinated with the Duggars for some time now and am glad to have discovered a place to talk about them (and other topics of interest) where I don't have to censor my distaste for some of their behavior!

I actually barely watch the show at all; other than various bits and pieces, I think I have only sat through one whole episode (the one with Jubilee's "memorial service"--urrggghhh). I might watch more if I could stand it, but I just can't!

My distaste for the Duggars and what they represent is pretty strong. I had a fundamentalist upbringing myself, albeit a relatively "mainstream one" (Southern Baptist, which is not as mainstream as it used to be and getting less all the time), which I have moved very, very far away from. As a result, some aspects of their beliefs are familiar to me and remind me of what I ran away screaming from fundamentalism. But then, there are other things that just seem so "out there" to me that I can't seem to help being fascinated.

I'm looking forward to joining in some of the discussions once I've gotten myself better oriented. See you all around the board!

[J'Isabel]

Hi all! I've been lurking here for years, so I thought that I'd finally make a commitment and create an account before the new season of 19 Kids starts. Can't wait to be able to join in on the snark!

[sadiZ]

Hi all. I'm Sadi. I've had a long time morbid fascination with the Duggar family and discovered FreeJinger through the grapevine of looking for more info on their lifestyle/beliefs beyond the happy, shiny image they portray on TV. After lurking for a bit, and discovering even more than I bargained for (along with laughing a lot at the snark), I decided to join and start putting in my two pennies worth!