On the road again..... (Maxwells)

[anjulibai]

All men should start home businesses.... So how do they justify going to hospitals or there being police and firefighters or a host of other things that require someone working for someone else they aren't related to? Have they ever explains that?

[sparkles]

Steve's entire purpose in living is to prepare for where you go when you die, so if Sarah were to die tomorrow, IMO he'd probably look on it as a life well lived, not one that was cut short or without opportunity or fulfillment. She's pretty much lived a blameless life, according to Steve. Pretty fucking sad.

And hey Nathan! If you're so big on personal responsibility, why aren't you and your wife taking responsibility for protecting her health by choosing to stop the baby machine? It's obvious that she's high risk, every one of her pregnancies has been fraught with problems and you've already lost one child. Thousands, if not millions of dollars have been spent on her care and the care of your babies and it's money you don't have, which is why you have to depend on the kindness (gullibility) of strangers. What if your fellow Scamaritans decided that they're just enabling you and no longer wanted to continue to fund your quest for more, More, MORE?

[acheronbeach]

I vote getting stuck in the mud in Manitoba. The roads should be lovely this time of year. :twisted:

They must drink milk with every meal. There's no way my family of five would go through that much milk before it spoiled. We do have grocery stores in Canada, Maxwell's, so there's no need to bring so much milk.

They really should be careful bringing dairy over the border. It's the one food product the Customs guys really enforce the $20 limit on. I would have laughed my ass off if they got charged with dairy smuggling.

[Cartmann99]

So Samaritan decides that families A, B, C, and D have needs that meet their criteria and publish their requests in the newsletter. The members then receive the newsletter and decide which (if any?) of the families to support with their payments. Is there any mechanism in place to prevent a family from receiving more money than the approved amount? If you don't want to support any of the requests that month, do you just put that money aside until a request you approve of is published?

[NotALoserLikeYou]

All men should start home businesses.... So how do they justify going to hospitals or there being police and firefighters or a host of other things that require someone working for someone else they aren't related to? Have they ever explains that?

Plus all the bankers and stockbrokers and the people who print our money and the people who work at Costco....how on earth could he require people to work at home? Someone has to produce and pump the gas for Uriah.

[canadian]

Just had to share this: I was helping my mum tidy her house yesterday. She commented on how the kitchen cabinets could use a quick qipe down. My mind immediately went to the Maxwell family : ) I laughed to myself and showed her their blog posts about the very topic - needless to say, we are saving cleaning the cabinets for another day. (a rainy day perhaps)

[anjulibai]

Plus all the bankers and stockbrokers and the people who print our money and the people who work at Costco....how on earth could he require people to work at home? Someone has to produce and pump the gas for Uriah.

It's what bothers me the most about the fundie ideals - society could not function whatsoever if at least some people didn't work for someone else.

And it's not like this is a new thing, either. This is simply how civilizations work, and the more complex the technology a civilization has, the more this is required. Cars and trucks, computers and the internet, all of our food, our clothing, roads, boats and trains for transporting goods, hospitals that are capable of caring for a few hundred patients - lots and lots of people have to be involved in all of this, and it can't just by a single family of one patriarch and his sons for each endeavor, or even partnerships of like-minded men.

It's just so foolish, and frankly hypocritical, because they fully take advantage of all conveniences of society while looking down their noses at the people that make those things happen.

[Loveday]

Just had to share this: I was helping my mum tidy her house yesterday. She commented on how the kitchen cabinets could use a quick qipe down. My mind immediately went to the Maxwell family : ) I laughed to myself and showed her their blog posts about the very topic - needless to say, we are saving cleaning the cabinets for another day. (a rainy day perhaps)

Speaking of their kitchen cabinets--it's official. I now know for a fact that I spend way too much time on FJ. I had a dream last night about the Maxwells. :? Don't recall most of the details, but I do remember that I seemed to be staying with them, and Teri came to my bedroom, I guess to see if I had everything I needed as I recall thinking what a great hostess she was. And a couple of the ever-smiling girls appeared here and there, looking just like they do in their pictures, and I know I was in the kitchen at one point because I remember those spotless cabinets. So unlike my own, sad to say. :lol:

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Plus all the bankers and stockbrokers and the people who print our money and the people who work at Costco....how on earth could he require people to work at home? Someone has to produce and pump the gas for Uriah.

I wonder this same exact thing about ALL the various kinds of fundies who cut off access to higher education, too. They might end up with super pious communities, but they can never be independent in the modern world - for all the talk of "personal responsibility" they end up completely DEPENDENT on us heathens.

Often they look back to an idealized prior time in history (either looking at the Amish/Little House, or the shtetls of pre-war Europe, or maybe even bibilical times) but they seem to willfully forget that those people weren't all that different from their surrounding communities, but times have changed.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

So Samaritan decides that families A, B, C, and D have needs that meet their criteria and publish their requests in the newsletter. The members then receive the newsletter and decide which (if any?) of the families to support with their payments. Is there any mechanism in place to prevent a family from receiving more money than the approved amount? If you don't want to support any of the requests that month, do you just put that money aside until a request you approve of is published?

Not sure about this one - I'll have to read around more.

But even if the center were to give some more direction as to who you pay, all of the requests have gone through some level of screening already, so you won't have any severe sinners out there - unlike that heathen Medicare or heaven forbid "socialist!!!!1!" single payer national plans.

I do know that many people were happy that Samaritan and the like aren't considered insurance plans because that means that they can't be required to provide coverage for birth control and that sort of thing, they get to stay "discriminating." And yet apparently, if you belong to one of these "ministries" you can get an exemption for buying insurance under the new "Obamacare" rules? Sounds like the perfect outcome from the fundie POV.

[fundiefan]

I just have to say, again, how grateful I am that I was not born a Maxwell. I will kneel to any god and give praise and thanks for that for as long as I live.

They're everything said about them and more as well as redundant.

I've had a hard time even snarking on them anymore because they do nothing new to snark on. They are simply not even worth my wasted time.

[Lillybee]

Here is the thread on cheap meals.

openforums.titus2.com/forums/t/1456/

[Lillybee]

I just found the Maxwell meal plan. How boring is this?

Here's what our lunch menu is:

--Monday, Sandwiches

--Tuesday, Soup

--Wednesday, Pizza Bread (Bread toasted, then spread pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese: melt in the oven)

--Thursday, Bean Burritos or Breakfast Burritos

--Friday and Saturday, whatever (sometimes leftovers, Macaroni and Cheese, etc)

Dinner Menu:

We have salad and fruit each dinner.

Sunday--burritos

Wednesday--just salad and fresh tortillas

Saturday--homemade soup and fresh bread

Other evenings are variable

Hope this helps!

[Coconut Flan]

No wonder they are all so thin. Maybe I could lose a few pounds going on the Maxhell food plan.

[Loveday]

Note from the burrito recipe: "We used to add hamburger, but Dad found that you couldn't taste any difference and this makes it much less expensive."

:roll: :roll: :roll:

[anjulibai]

Note from the burrito recipe: "We used to add hamburger, but Dad found that you couldn't taste any difference and this makes it much less expensive."

:roll: :roll: :roll:

I've mentioned that one before - always makes my head spin.

[anjulibai]

I wonder this same exact thing about ALL the various kinds of fundies who cut off access to higher education, too. They might end up with super pious communities, but they can never be independent in the modern world - for all the talk of "personal responsibility" they end up completely DEPENDENT on us heathens.

Often they look back to an idealized prior time in history (either looking at the Amish/Little House, or the shtetls of pre-war Europe, or maybe even bibilical times) but they seem to willfully forget that those people weren't all that different from their surroundingtimes have changed.[/

Even in those es, though, people had to use products made by people with employees. Metal had to be ored somehow. Wheels, plows, etc has to be made by experts. Civilization has always required specialization, which in turn requires someone doping something for someone else.

[Arete]

I've mentioned that one before - always makes my head spin.

I can't believe I actually missed this. Steve's douchebaggery never ceases to amaze me. Nothing wrong with a bean/veggie burritto, I enjoy them sometimes. But do not sit there and claim you can't taste the difference. You most certainly can.

[Palimpsest]

Report from Greenfield, Part 1.

I’m dividing this into several different posts as it is going to be long! We are also down to one home PC so parts 3, 4 and possibly 5 will come in tomorrow.

We went to Greenfield and were completely un-Inspired! And angered. It was a lovely drive and Greenfield is a very pretty little town. That is the good stuff. The conference was truly depressing. It was sponsored by a group called gospelfamilyforum.com A rather newish group, I think. The two male hosts were very excited and enthusiastic. Rather barfably so.

I'm glad that another FJer went to the Friday event. We agree with her perspective. Ours is going to be detailed though. Please bear with us. :)

Who we are

I’m Palimpsest. I’ve been a member of FJ since yuku days. I like to say that I joined pre-Emily of <$1000! I can’t be bothered to update my post status to include my previous post counts as “Nell†on yuku, but I’ve been around for a while although my post count is low. FJ has a lot of triggers for me. As a result, I take frequent mental health breaks and I read much more than I post. I am the adopted child (in recovery) of second generation UK fundie-litish missionaries. My father was an "almost" Steve. That means that Steve Maxwell royally pisses me off.

Mr P.

FJ owes Mr Palimpsest big-time because it seems that a lot of the real business happens in Steve’s sessions for men. Mr P has long been aware (and supportive) of my negative attitude towards Fundies and my dismay at the growth of patriarchal pseudo-Christianity. He usually chuckles at my reports from FJ. He does not share my obsession though. He identifies as born Catholic, in recovery.

Mr P’s homework before the conference was to read GardenVarietyCitizen’s (I hope I got her name right) summary of the Maxwells on SOTDRT. ( Thanks GVC, that was a great job!) He approached his assignment with objectivity and genuine anthropological interest, and took his duties seriously. Mr P knows what he is doing. He has a PhD in Social Science, although he now works at a rather famous university in an administrative position. He is also writing up his own report for FJ on Steve’s session and I’ll post that later. He wrote it long-hand and it will take a while to transcribe, but I think it is worth waiting for.

Infiltrators

We only made it through the first hour. We high-tailed it out of there at the first break before we blew our cover completely. We are fairly confident that they suspected us anyway. We are older than the rest of the crowd and didn’t have a quiverful with us! We also overheard a whispered conversation at the entry. It wasn’t very clear, but one man seemed to be asking about infiltrators. The response from one of Steve’s boys was, “We had two yesterday. They didn’t stay until the end but met up outside and were (snickering? word unclear) on their way to their car(s?)†As Amy went by herself and no-one else has come forward, perhaps there were two non-FJers there who also think that Steve is full of it. Take that, Steve!

When I met up with Mr P after the first session, he asked me if I had been “chastised, berated and exhorted.†I said, “No. More empathized with, supported and (theoretically) given (rather useless) tools.†Our opinion is that this is deliberate. *Encourage* the women in their sadly confined lives, and tell the men they are wimps unless they take charge of their homes with so-called “Godly Manhood.â€

Mr P then requested that we got out of there ASAP, so we vamoosed. Mr P was enraged by Steve’s session, and he is usually a very even-tempered kind of guy.

As we only lasted an hour we may be wrong, but . . .

Demographics in post 2.

[sparkles]

Has an FJer ever made one of the Maxwell recipes? They look as bland and as boring as the Maxwells themselves, and they'd probably need a lot of tweaking to make them flavorful and actually enjoyable to eat. Not that this is surprising given that all food directives originate with Steve, the man who probably coined the expression "eat to live, don't live to eat." As always, no middle ground.

[anjulibai]

I can't believe I actually missed this. Steve's douchebaggery never ceases to amaze me. Nothing wrong with a bean/veggie burritto, I enjoy them sometimes. But do not sit there and claim you can't taste the difference. You most certainly can.

Well, I could see how it wouldn't make a difference to some; I personally would note a difference, but hey, we all have different tastes.

But it's the fact that apparently no one else's opinions on this mattered - Dad decided something tasted a certain way and that's that. Only Dad's tastes matter.

Makes me wonder if they are allowed to have their own tastes or if everything they eat is only stuff Steve likes.

[Palimpsest]

Report from Greenfield, Part 2

Important lesson from Steve:

“Don’t be late for a Maxwell Conference: It’s the Schedule, Stupid!â€

We were 10 minutes early and thus spared Steve’s chastisement (see Mr P’s report, later). At 3 minutes to 9:00 a.m. Steve shut down the registration table. We didn’t get to sign in or get a name tag. Phew! He briskly ordered us all inside where we were rapidly separated into women upstairs, men on the first floor and kids in the basement. It wasn’t the best situation or venue to get accurate numbers, but we tried for a rough head count and took a very quick look at the parking lot after our escape from Maxhell.

Demographics

There were 23 men, including Mr P, in the session with Steve. Age range of the Dads was 30s through 45ish. Mr P and Steve were definitely the oldest in the room. Six dads had between 1 and 3 male children with them, ranging in age from 3ish to 6ish. Nearly all the men had bibles open in their laps and about half were taking notes. Mr P noticed one man with an Ipad looking around the room “like me, he was paying as much attention to the audience as he was to Steve†and taking extensive notes. He wondered if it was another mole, but we decided afterwards that he was probably one of the hosts. Or a designated bouncer!

I didn’t get a good head count upstairs as there were several late arriving families who sat behind me. There were perhaps 30 women and a few teenaged girls in total? Some infants cried on and off, so there was a bit of coming and going as women took them in and out. Most of the kids were down in the basement.

Parking lot

Most plates were from NH, a few from MA and VT.

Dress code

Definitely business casual for men, Steve was wearing a red shirt, tie and the bottom half of his business suit. The Maxwell “boys†had ties. Male attendees didn’t. The ladies were pretty much all in modest skirts, although I noticed one pair of defrauding capris. Only one head covering, and she was a Vermonter. One family had all the girls wearing matching ankle length skirts, just like the Maxwells!

The Maxwell Family

Steve is very average looking; he would blend into any crowd. He’s also shorter than I would have expected. He’s tanned, fit, glib, smooth, a practiced and lucid speaker, and a quintessential snake oil salesman. There was no fanatical gleam in his eyes at first meeting when he turned on “charm.†The fanatical eyes came out later in his session with the men, per Mr P. I was slightly ahead of Mr P in the greeting line. Steve gave me a quick (and frankly rather icky) comprehensive once over, and turned away to greet Mr P. Then he turned back to me and asked who I was. I said, “Mrs P.†:? Duh!

Teri, as others have said, is soft-spoken, very petite and very pretty. She looked rather tired.

We saw no sign of Poor Sarah. Perhaps she was in the basement. I saw both Anna and Mary, but I wasn’t really sure which was which. Both are very pretty with absolutely gorgeous eyes and very bright and “happy†smiles. I spoke briefly about the weather and their drive to NH to the one who was sitting at the book table upstairs (I think it was Anna?) She was charming. She gave me a survey that I quite forgot to fill out and hand in. Darn!

I couldn’t tell the boys apart either. It might have been easier if they had been lined up side by side, but they were not. We spoke to one (not the one outside) who was directing traffic and separating the sheep from the goats, sorry, men from the women. He was tall, good looking (much better looking than Steve), great eyes (the kids must get their eyes from Teri), and had killer dimples! Were I thirty plus years younger I would have been quite defrauded. But then, imagine Steve as a father-in-law! :angry-banghead:

I want my birthday dinner and cake (not animal crackers) now. My birthday present was dragging Mr P to Maxhell! :lol: I seriously owe Mr P. big time. I hate to think what I'll have to do for his next birthday. :lol:

More posts tomorrow, if you lot are at all interested? My critique of Teri's presentation and Mr P on Stevo to come.

[amyand4]

Oh I cant wait to hear someone else's perspective. I was not totally prepared and was stunned by the whole thing. :pink-shock:

[deborahlynn1979]

MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[twin2]

Report from Greenfield, Part 1.

I’m dividing this into several different posts as it is going to be long! We are also down to one home PC so parts 3, 4 and possibly 5 will come in tomorrow.

We went to Greenfield and were completely un-Inspired! And angered. It was a lovely drive and Greenfield is a very pretty little town. That is the good stuff. The conference was truly depressing. It was sponsored by a group called gospelfamilyforum.com A rather newish group, I think. The two male hosts were very excited and enthusiastic. Rather barfably so.

I'm glad that another FJer went to the Friday event. We agree with her perspective. Ours is going to be detailed though. Please bear with us. :)

Who we are

I’m Palimpsest. I’ve been a member of FJ since yuku days. I like to say that I joined pre-Emily of <$1000! I can’t be bothered to update my post status to include my previous post counts as “Nell†on yuku, but I’ve been around for a while although my post count is low. FJ has a lot of triggers for me. As a result, I take frequent mental health breaks and I read much more than I post. I am the adopted child (in recovery) of second generation UK fundie-litish missionaries. My father was an "almost" Steve. That means that Steve Maxwell royally pisses me off.

Mr P.

FJ owes Mr Palimpsest big-time because it seems that a lot of the real business happens in Steve’s sessions for men. Mr P has long been aware (and supportive) of my negative attitude towards Fundies and my dismay at the growth of patriarchal pseudo-Christianity. He usually chuckles at my reports from FJ. He does not share my obsession though. He identifies as born Catholic, in recovery.

Mr P’s homework before the conference was to read GardenVarietyCitizen’s (I hope I got her name right) summary of the Maxwells on SOTDRT. ( Thanks GVC, that was a great job!) He approached his assignment with objectivity and genuine anthropological interest, and took his duties seriously. Mr P knows what he is doing. He has a PhD in Social Science, although he now works at a rather famous university in an administrative position. He is also writing up his own report for FJ on Steve’s session and I’ll post that later. He wrote it long-hand and it will take a while to transcribe, but I think it is worth waiting for.

Infiltrators

We only made it through the first hour. We high-tailed it out of there at the first break before we blew our cover completely. We are fairly confident that they suspected us anyway. We are older than the rest of the crowd and didn’t have a quiverful with us! We also overheard a whispered conversation at the entry. It wasn’t very clear, but one man seemed to be asking about infiltrators. The response from one of Steve’s boys was, “We had two yesterday. They didn’t stay until the end but met up outside and were (snickering? word unclear) on their way to their car(s?)†As Amy went by herself and no-one else has come forward, perhaps there were two non-FJers there who also think that Steve is full of it. Take that, Steve!

When I met up with Mr P after the first session, he asked me if I had been “chastised, berated and exhorted.†I said, “No. More empathized with, supported and (theoretically) given (rather useless) tools.†Our opinion is that this is deliberate. *Encourage* the women in their sadly confined lives, and tell the men they are wimps unless they take charge of their homes with so-called “Godly Manhood.â€

Mr P then requested that we got out of there ASAP, so we vamoosed. Mr P was enraged by Steve’s session, and he is usually a very even-tempered kind of guy.

As we only lasted an hour we may be wrong, but . . .

Demographics in post 2.

1

Mr. P is definitely owed one big time for taking one for the team! I'm not sure we have ever had anyone infiltrated one of Stevus' sessions for mens only. I'm looking forward to the write-up. Hoping you can both purge your brains shortly thereafter.