Introduce Yourself - Part 2

[strangenurse]

Oh, hi. I'm new here. I'm here because I'm a chronic procrastinator, and I've found hours of work avoidance here this week.

I have really no idea how I originally found FJ in the long-ago -- perhaps a reference on TWOP. Perhaps a Google search for someone's particular train wreck. In truth, I'm really here because I have a shameful love of drama and I find accountability appealing. Last week, I wondered to myself, "Hey, I wonder if that Free Jinger place is still around?" and what do you know? Here you all are.

-D

[becky4201]

Hello all. I think I'd refer to myself as a recovering almost-fundy-lite. 6-8 years ago I bought Michael Pearl's books, had a subscription to his magazine & also subscribed to Above Rubies as well. I was even a poster on Prairie Homemakers forum. I think I was just looking for help raising my kids, but thankfully I just read, and never "trained up" my children. Even though I read Created to be His Helpmeet I never submitted to my husband either. I'm pretty sure I found this place due to a reference at TWOP. Snark on!

[Khan]

Hello!

I've been lurking for quite some time. I'm a fan of developing Post Apocalyptic Survival Skills (I like to spin, knit, weave). I live in good old New Jersey, though I am not orange. I have realitives who seem to be sinking down the fundie hole. I found Free Jinger through No Longer Quivering. I am a wee bit shy at first.

[happy atheist]

Welcome everyone!

[Klara_Brno]

Hello,

my name is Klára, I´m 24 and live in Czech republic. I´m curious about religion, particular fundie lifestyles and radical explanation of Bible and application to life.

I am looking forward to disscusion and learning more about various lifestyles and opinions among the american christian fundamentalists.

[pirate]

Hi. I'm new. Longtime lurker, late 30s single professional, been missing my fundie news since the 2nd rapture or privatization or whatever it was called. I can't believe I missed the Duggars' 3rd grandchild, Tony and Lina's divorce (really?) various other babies, and other shocking news that I'm still catching up on. I'm not really sure what flavor of religion I am (though definitely not fundy), but I'm always interested to hear everyone's stories. I love reading the intelligent discussions here and I appreciate that FJ keeps me up to date on important social issues. Anyway, looking forward to actually participating now! Thx!

[DracoGinny]

Hello. I just signed up today. I remember lurking at the old board around the time of the great Emily and Dna. I'm sure I have a lot of catching up to do. I'm a single, child free, athiest who was raised as a pastor's daughter. We weren't fundies, but my parents wouldn't let us date or go to dances. Because of my upbringing I am thoroughly fascinated with all things Quiver full/Gothard/ATI/Dobson. I used to read No Longer Qivering and now I read ThatWife, even though she has become an apostate now. Thanks for letting me join the new site!

[Persinette]

Hi, guys. I'm Kat. I lurked regularly and posted infrequently back in the Emily/Dna days on the Yuku boards (I think my username was Kalikat, or something similar). My ex-husband was raised super, super, crazy fundie (homeschool, vasectomy reversals--and way too may Thanksgiving dinner conversations ABOUT vasectomy reversals, FYI :angry-banghead:, ATI for a while, then not, fake-preacher dad, with a touch of polygamy (his parents, not him) thrown in for flavor)...so I was exposed to/horrified by all of that for the 8+ years we were together, and am continually fascinated by it (sadly, I never got to meet any "famous" blogging fundie families though :( ).

Look forward to reading/occasionally snarking.

[momo27]

Hello! I've been lurking for a while, finally decided to start posting.

I have been a lurker long enough that I can't remember exactly what lead me to the site. I stuck around because I loved all the witty, intelligent women. I was raised in a moderately conservative mainline Protestant home, but my step-mother had grown up full-on fundie. When she fled her abusive marriage and ended up with my dad after my mom's death, it was some major culture shock for her, and for us. The gender roles she expected didn't fly with me, so we had a very tumultuous relationship (I was the only girl, I have four brothers). As an adult, I've often tried hard to understand what made her act the way she did, which leaves me with a fascination of all things fundie/cultish. I consider myself an agnostic Christian these days. I am still active in church, a very liberal mainline congregation, primarily because I've always found comfort in and enjoy the ritual of worship. It's also a church heavily focused on community service, which matters a great deal to me.

I have two kiddos, a boy and girl, both in school. I do not work, but am very active in my community. I don't classify myself as a homemaker by any measure, because I really do very little in terms of running the household. Hubby is in charge of much of the housework and does the cooking. He works part-time, and thus is actually at home more than I am. He was also a SAHD until a few years ago, so I think those established chores have kind of stuck around.

[lilith]

Welcome all.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions and perspectives.

[Kailash]

Hi, I'm Kailash. I was raised super fundy and I've lurked here for a bit. There are some interesting and amusing people who post here and I enjoy a lot of the past topics.

[gingerjo]

Hi! I'm Ginger. I've lurked for YEARS, since the yuku boards, and decided to get in on the action! I was raised relatively fundie and have quite a few links to the political side of the world through acquaintances re: Patrick Henry College and Liberty University, etc. Hope to engage in some good discussions!

[momof1]

Hi. I am a healthcare worker and mom. I have been a long time follower of this board and I have decided to join in on the fun.

[NDC22]

Hi. Long time luker, excited to be here. I'm a housewife and mostly live in downtown Chicago. Love to cook and read and be snarky about all things Duggar. I was raised as a Presbyterian Jew, which meant I felt really guilty all the time but said f it because if there is heaven I have a ticket. Went to high school among the Missouri Synod Lutherans where I spent most of the time in the Dean's office for bitching out the religion teacher. I have been in executive leadership positions most of my career and worked as a turn around consultant for a variety of companies inculding reorganizing the business end of a best selling Christian author/speaker/singer/TV host. During my time with that particular author I traveled in the fundamentalist Christian circles, where my total lack of faith drew the ire of many and I even received scripture hate mail from some attendees at a women's conference (not to mention the number of people that tried to save me in the bathrooms). It was awesome!

I'm also a terrible speller so I beg the grammar nazis to please go easy on me!

[Tallulah]

LONG time lurker! 29 years old, live on the West Coast with my husband. We are expecting our first baby in September. Raised loosely United Methodist, converted to Reform Judaism so we can raise our kids with one religion that welcomes discussion/questioning.

Originally found FJ through the Duggar boards on Discovery Health Channel. Then found NLQ and through that site FJ. So happy I did!

Love the intelligent discussions and banter back and forth. This is the first forum I have joined. I have to admit all the long-time posters seriously intimidate me. I haven't been sure I could contribute anything by actually joining the conversation. You ladies and gents rock! Hope I can manage to hold my own/not come off as a complete bonehead.

[Grannie2times]

Hi everyone!

As my user name shows, I have two granddaughters. My daughter was a teen parent, and went into labor on my 37th birthday with the oldest. She had the second 19 months later. They have totally changed my life.

I found FJ through searching for an online video of Christopher and Anna Maxwell's wedding. I had to work the day they were married and only caught the end. And I have been lurking ever since, only recently registered.

I started with fundie watching when 14 kids and pregnant again was on back in 2005 I think. Through their website I found the Maxwells, who became my favorite family to watch.

My daughter and I used to watch the Duggars together till she moved out, and now I update her with what's going on.

I have learned a few things here, especially different points of view that have me stop and think.

[CherryBlossom]

Hi everybody! I've been a lurker off and on here for a while, since the yuku days. I don't remember exactly how I found Free Jinger, but I know it had to do with Vision Forum.

I am in my late 20's and live with my husband in the Southwest, but we are moving to Germany soon. :) No kids yet, but we love our furry "kids"!

I grew up in a family that was somewhere between fundy lite and evangelical Christian. We were homeschooled for several years and went to somewhat conservative churches, but my parents weren't quiverfull, they didn't encourage us to be SAHDs, and we wore modest, but normal clothing. On a kind of odd note, my family was friends with the Schatz family (as in Lydia Schatz) more than a decade ago. I am still a Christian, but less conservative than I was when I was younger.

A big part of the reason I am interested in FJ is that I have friends who read books by the Pearls, Vision Forum, etc. and I think that they are leading Christians in a really harmful direction.

[cooper_1104]

Hi all! I'm a mid-20s graduate student who resides in the Midwest with my husband and dog. Soon there will be 3 of us, our first child is due the 16th, but she's taking her sweet time. You've all kept me busy these last few weeks while we wait for her arrival, many thanks!

I'm a long-time lurker of the boards both old and new. I came upon FJ while googling the Duggars after my college roommate introduced me to them during a TLC marathon. FJ is where I come for all my fundy drama...drama in general really. Looking forward to interacting more with you all soon!

[m_mdon]

Hi everyone! Longtime lurker! I'm a school teacher in MA home of the most ebil libruls ever! Just finished up my M.Ed as well, which is nice to finally be done with! Before becoming a teacher in MA, I was an English teacher in Spain for two years, which was the best time of my life. I discovered FJ after googling the Duggars, because I wasn't buying their "keep sweet" stuff that they always talk about. Needless to say it opened my eyes to the world of fundies, and it's like a morbid fascination for me, as I grew up Catholic (although we weren't very religious, my family did what they wanted, I think someone has called it "cafeteria style" Catholicism).

[Smokey-pony]

Hello! I'm Kristi, I'm 26 and live in California. I've lurked around for a while and all this drama with razing Ruth finally got me to start posting.

A little about myself, I grew up in a somewhat conservative Christian home and I was home schooled from 1-10th grade. Although we weren't fundie, the home school group I was part of consisted mostly of people on the fundie spectrum so my interest in them began at an early age!

My earliest memory of them is feeling sorry for a girl around my age at the time who wasn't allowed to read Peter rabbit. So I told her the story from memory with the logic "if I tell you the story you aren't reading it". :-) She loved it but I got found out so she wasn't allowed to play with me any more.

[Hedgehog]

Hi all! I'm a mid-thirties woman from the Atlanta area. I've been lurking on the boards for a few months now. Got really drawn in through the Sparkling Lauren and Ruth sagas. I homeschool my two kids using a far more rigorous version of the SOTDRT that I've read about here :lol:

I found the board b/c of posts by QF/fundie types at the Well Trained Mind Forum. Prior to researching homeschooling I had no idea of the level of crazy to be found out there :) After attending a couple of homeschool conventions and seeing some of the curricula out there, I *had* to learn more about the people who actually purchase/believe what these publishers are selling.

[WifeofBill]

I've been lurking here off and on for a few years. Never delved too deep until the whole Razing Ruth scandal. Ugh, followed her blog for years and I'm saddened that it appears to be a fraud.

About myself, I'm a SAHM to three kids, husband works insane hours, so most of the time I feel like I'm loosing my mind. I've never been a fundy, but married a former fundy so I started out on some FB groups trying to understand his upbringing, wound up on SFL, then found my way here. I can't spell, so if you see lots of grammar and spelling mistakes from me, oh well. I'm not all that bothered by them at this stage in my life. Going to try and get enough post now so I can enter Chatter and learn more about RR.

[LongTimeLurker]

I've lurked for a few years now, and just reading has helped me a lot. Grew up in a large, quiverfull, homeschooling family and have been slowly journeying out into the wider world. Seeing people deconstruct the teachings and thoughts behind a lot of these groups helped me immensely as I found myself faced with finding out just how differently I'd grown up from others as I went through college and graduate school.

[herebedragons]

I'm excited that there are so many new people/people delurking. In my case, the RR threads have definitely piqued my interest.

[stonechat]

Hi! I'm another long-time lurker and am also delurking because of RR. I'm a British woman, currently living on mainland Europe. Am endlessly fascinated and confused by all things Christian fundamentalist, especially American Christian fundamentalist.