Introduce Yourself - Part 2

[Ex-Creationist]

Hi, everyone. I just posted for the first time elsewhere (the vegetarian Thanksgiving thread) and thought I should properly introduce myself.

I was raised fundie, but not necessarily to the extent that he Duggars were. Really, my mother believed what she wanted when it was convenient to her and my father wasn't overly religious. Both, however, were very controlling in Duggar-like ways. I finally escaped for good a couple of years ago and don't speak to either of them (I have PTSD thanks to them, so I don't feel obligated to either of them).

While I'm an atheist, I don't hate religious people or even religion. I'm against abuse whether religion is involved or not.

Anyway. My wife and I have cats. They're spoiled and rotten and we adore them. I do most of the cooking around here because I love it. The cats desperately wish that I would share with them, but I'm mean. :)

[Karma]

Hi everyone

Yet another long time lurker who has decided it's finally time to join and introduce myself. I'm Australian, not bought up with any religion, atheist now, and living with a secret Dugger snark fascination.

I stumbled across the Duggars a few years ago now and watched a heap of episodes online. At the time I was having a hard time with one of my two kids, and watched in fascination this woman my age with 19 seemingly well behaved kids. My son was out of school for a few weeks, and I struggled with my own SOTDRT for one, and wondered how on earth Michelle could homeschool that many kids. However it didn't take too long before I realised that things were not what they seemed and I explored a bit further and found this site. I've been happily lurking ever since, and fascinated with the events of this year. Thanks!

[samira_catlover]

Howdy, all! Found your site in connection to a Mike & Debi Pearl-related murder case, and am slowly going through the archives. (There are more weird things in the world than I ever imagined....)

Have already read about the Pearls, Dna and Emily ( :cray-cray: ), Generation Cedar, a few recent Duggar threads (Joshgate 1 and 2), the Rodriguii ( :?) , the Shraders ( :pink-shock:), and now starting in on Lori Alexander. Suggestions for trips down the Rabbit Hole? I love a good trainwreck or three. :popcorn2:

Hope you've got LOTS of rescue ferrets carrying analgesics, cyberbooze, and chocolate.

FWIW, was raised Missouri Synod Lutheran, but turned into a Goddess-worshipping Pagan who hangs around with dissolute critters like Unitarian Universalists on occasion.

[beancounter]

Long time lurker, finally decided to take the plunge. I stumbled upon FJ several years ago, searching for Duggar info - they fascinated me. I only visited a few times before stopping my daily visits. I found my way back to FJ around 2 years ago via ZsuZsu who I discovered via the Triplets plus One Blog (which is now private) who I can't remember how I found her blog.

I'm in my early 30's and my username should give you a clue as to my occupation. I live in Brownbackistan. While I mostly identify as a conservative, I heavily lean to the left regarding social issues. My newest family I'm fascinated by is the Maxwells, I'm fairly familiar with where they live, I went to college in that area. My heart aches for the Maxwell women.

I'm nervous about settling in to the board culture, but I finally decided to take the plunge!

[beckerbuns]

Better late than never?

I'm Becky. I'm in northern California. I came here originally for discussion of CFHusband, as I'm in the CF community. Stayed for Duggar snark and lately I've been following the snark on Mckmama and That Wife. I was also caught up in the middle of that April Rose stuff a while back so these high levels of WTF intrigue me. :wtf:

[unsafetydancer]

Hey,

I'm Alex, I'm from Dundee in Scotland. I came here after looking into the Duggars out of curiosity (I dunno if we really have many extra huge families round my neck of the woods). This seems like a cool place so after lurking for a few weeks I decided to join.

[iweartanktops]

Hi! I've been lurking off and on for awhile due to my fascination with the Duggars. I finally signed up about a month ago.

I was raised in a very strict, tightly controlled Christian home (think Shupe), however not fundie. Now I still identify as a very liberal Christian but rather than saying I'm religious, I'd say I have a personal relationship with God that I'm sort of questioning...

Anyway, I'm really enjoying FJ! I've been getting into the Shupe and Alexander threads and interacting quite a bit despite my constant fear of sounding like an idiot or being "the annoying newbie."

Thanks for the constant entertainment and fun and allowing me to participate, FJ! :)

[Kjaerringa]

I am a long time lurker, new to posting. I'm a lifelong Midwesterner, a Norwegian Lutheran living on the shore of Lake Michigan... a woman who knows her hot dishes, so to speak. :lol: I self-identify strongly as a Christian, and equally as strongly with the politics of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and the Christian Left. Easy, then, to see how I was at first curious about the Duggars.....then alarmed.....then absolutely horrified at what I saw unfolding on national TV. Glad to be here..... A place on the interwebs where people THINK. I do enjoy some intelligent snark at the end of the day....as well as the insight!

[MarblesMom]

I am a long time lurker, new to posting. I'm a lifelong Midwesterner, a Norwegian Lutheran living on the shore of Lake Michigan... a woman who knows her hot dishes, so to speak. :lol: I self-identify strongly as a Christian, and equally as strongly with the politics of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and the Christian Left. Easy, then, to see how I was at first curious about the Duggars.....then alarmed.....then absolutely horrified at what I saw unfolding on national TV. Glad to be here..... A place on the interwebs where people THINK. I do enjoy some intelligent snark at the end of the day....as well as the insight!

Welcome from another newbie, to FJ and to the Midwest! Just now getting to know about hot dish, and would love to swap recipes!

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

I can't believe I'm finally here. It's a bit surreal to finally be able to post just hours before the shutdown. The cool kids finally let me sit at their table!

I started watching television shows featuring large families after I had my first child: "Jon & Kate Plus 8", "Raising Sextuplets", and "17 Kids and Counting". I wanted to see how parents could manage so many children, because caring for my one baby just seemed so hard. (Plus it filled in the time while I was nursing her.)

I think my first impression of the Duggars was that JB was a tool. But I must have absorbed some of the Kool-Aid, because the more I watched, the more I bought their bs. (Never bought a frumper or gave side hugs, but I wondered if maybe they knew something I didn't.)

After I heard about Joshgate 1, I checked out more objective stuff on the internet: Wikipedia about IFB churches, the "Baptist Deception" website, and then I found FJ. FJ seemed like the best combination of fun and facts, so I started lurking. I read a bit about some of the oh-so-wacky fundie families here, and got some perspective.

Now I just love FJ because of the high quality of snark! There are so many articulate, funny, and amazing posters here. Also, I can't wait to see the updated site in a little over a week. So glad to be here.

[JabberJabber]

I started watching television shows featuring large families after I had my first child: "Jon & Kate Plus 8", "Raising Sextuplets", and "17 Kids and Counting". I wanted to see how parents could manage so many children, because caring for my one baby just seemed so hard. 

Like the above poster, I became interested in these large families after having my first child and a few stints in hospital over the past year meant I've watched as many of the 19 KAC as I could get on YouTube.

I found FJ whilst searching for more info on the Josh D debacles and have spent my time lurking and reading the back-catalogue-of-shame of some of the families in SOTDRT. I  delurked in the shelter and I've been informed that I cannot go back to lurking now. 

[Casserole]

long time lurker - honestly, sort of just made an account to save my place in threads so I wasn't always searching for where I left off... but I figured I should say hello, y'all! so, hi! I started out being obsessed with large families when I was younger and fell down the quiverfull/Gothard rabbit hole somewhere along the way and that led me here. Especially fascinated with the Nauglers and I can't help but watching the current train wreck that is the Duggar family go down. 

[Lamoria]

Hello!

 

Same as everyone else, long time lurker. I am interested in the lifestyle the fundies live, mostly from a psychological view point. I also fell down the rabbit hold and ended up here. I've been watching the Duggars and the Bates shows, and enjoy dissecting the craziness... Obviously the shows give a happy go lucky presentation, but you get a much more realistic view here.

As for me, I am engaged to be married October 2016 and come from a small (one sibling) Liberal Catholic family. I would consider myself a liberal Catholic (read: I take birth control) though I'm sure others would not.

Oh! I also live in Rockford Illinois. Yes, you got it. The place Josh Duggar is supposedly at rehab at. ( I personally don't believe it, but who knows!)

[caszandra]

Hi everyone,

My name is caszandra, I live in Clydebank, Scotland. I have 2 kid's, a boy and a girl.  My profile pic is my beautiful boy Alfie when he was a kitten.

I found FJ after reading about Joshgate pt1 on another website and they mentioned you all, I have been lurking since then trying to read as much as I can as although I knew of the Duggars and had watched a few of their episodes, I had no clue about their beliefs and didn't know how hateful and harmful these people are.  I've fallen down a few other rabbit holes (Jill Rodrigues being the main one I've fallen down, oh my god, the horror ) and I know there are load's more rabbit holes to go.  

[halcionne]

Welcome, everyone!

[ohSparkly1]

Hi!!!!

The Sparkly One here. Been lurking for a good bit. Going to dip my toes in the water. 

I live in AZ. Raised independent fundamentalist baptist. Was surprised to know there are others here who know of ACE, and PACEs and all that. Felt like I was the only one. 

That was my life through the end of 7th grade. Then I got corrupted by public school and at 43 and finally ok with how I got to be who I am. Can't wait to get to know all of you better  

 

[Palimpsest]

Just dropping in to welcome all new posters.  It looks as though we have some interesting people joining.  Feel free to ask for the rescue ferrets if you fall too far down a fundie rabbit hole.

‌@samira_catlover  I suggest  the Maxwells for your next rabbit hole, if you haven't found them yet.  The unbelievable monotony of their existence is mind-boggling.  Steve Maxwell AKA Stevehovah is probably the most controlling of all the Fundie Patriarchs we keep an eye on.

[JKW98]

Longtime lurker, first time poster.  I've had a life-long fascination with religious groups and cults, which is probably what led me to the Duggars.

[FrumperSeamstress]

Hi everyone! 18 yo female. I was raised Southern Baptist, but I'm now an ebil feminist liberal agnostic/atheist. I've been lurking for a little while. I think I first found FJ because of Sarah Jane Meister (Romantic History), but I've been following the Duggars for years.

As you can tell by my username, I sew. Mostly vintage-inspired stuff. I still pretty much live in skirts and dresses, but because I like them and they're comfortable, not because of Jebus. 

I'm a classical singer, planning on majoring in vocal performance, with a special focus in opera. 

. 

[limegreen421]

Hello to all the members of FJ!

I started lurking earlier this year (prior to either of the Smuggar scandals). I have to say you all really know how to entertain! Since my lurking began I have lost many a day down the rabbit hole reading the different threads. I loved the threads on all the different fundie families. They got me through at least a week of brutal 12-hour workdays!

I'm almost finished with the RR threads. And that is some fascinating stuff, to say the least. Anyways, the purpose of this post was to not only introduce myself, but to start myself getting in the habit of actually posting and becoming a contributing community member! I also learned about the chatter thread while reading the RR threads and I want in So I obviously need to up my post count!

P.S. Any fellow members in the midlands of South Carolina? I'm not originally from around here and have yet to meet very many like-minded people...

[CoveredInBees]

Hi,

I've been lurking in the shadows for far too long, I was originally a bit of a duggar fan (back in the old days) but got creeped out with the Josh/Anna wedding special (I watched it and just thought "I'm watching a girl flushing her life down the toilet") and decided to dig further on the internet and I think that's when I ended up here. I've never had anything particularly useful to say (everyone else is so much more well informed than me) so I never signed up fully, just lurked and learnt all about Gothard etc. As times gone on, this is my go to place when a new reality tv show makes it over to the UK so I figured signing up was long overdue!

I was brought up in the church and was proper god squad for a long time, but I'm now an Atheist and proud. Looking forward to getting more involved

[FreeLove]

Hi everyone!

Yet another long-time lurker here coming out of the woodwork...

I found FJ years ago after stumbling across 19 Kids episodes on youtube (although it was probably still 17 Kids back then!) and being completely fascinated by them. I'm from a very small family - as in my entire extended family totals less than their offspring count - so find it baffling how people cope in such chaotic homes. I'm also grotesquely fascinated by cults and extreme religious sects so am probably going to be right at home here.

Right now, I'm in my early twenties and live in sin with my boyfriend in London. Looking forward to getting to know you all better

 

 

[Lysistrata]

I'm one of the lurkers that decided to come out of lurkdom.  So many times I almost pulled the trigger on a FJ account, yet didn't.  No idea why this I did, though I am glad that I did.  Not because I want to regale you with my wit and wisdom, but now I feel like I can at least become part of the community instead of being a crazy outskirts person.  Now I'll get to interact with some of my all time fav FJ posters! 

I'm really big on social justice, and I currently work in that field in major city in Western US.  I'm fascinated by the Duggars.  And by fascinated, I mean irritated at most of the antics.  No one I know watched them or even got what was the fascination with a mega family that is crazy religious, so I turned to the internet awhile back to find like-minded people... that and I was probably chasing down a Duggar rumor too.

 

[JCB]

Another longtime lurker here. I'm in my early 30s, from the midwest, and have been snarking about the Duggars since their first tv special. I was actually raised in a cult. Not nearly as bad as many others, but a cult nonetheless. Now I'm happily agnostic.

[PickledPepper]

Hi everyone! So glad we have this space to get our feet wet because I am nervous about posting in the deep end. I am from the US but have lived in Europe for many years. Started obsessively youtubing the Duggars when I was procrastinating from writing my Master's. Without knowing about FJ noticed Jinger was a little different from the other kids. I then did some internet research, which naturally took me here. I was happy just lurking - even all through the Josh scandals - until Spurgeon. After that, I just couldn't be a lurker anymore!  (Sorry if this is in the wrong thread. For me, introducing myself is about how I came to FJ, too)

The board culture on FJ is awesome. I like that there is a space for real debate and I have learned and laughed so much from following the threads here! You keep it real and for the most part argue with logic and level-headedness. This kind of conversation culture is really lacking in the media and in my sphere of influence, which tends to just be talking points with no real depth. I am looking forward to engaging in conversation with you all! (And I hope I don't mess up too much!)