Male Duggarling on Journey to the Heart

[lilith]

I agree. JD does not strike me as the type to decide on his own he needs to reconnect with Jesus and from what we saw of Jana's Journey, aside from some walks in the woods, there does not appear to be any more privacy than he'd get at home. It's possible his work freedom has led to some concerns that he is - how did Michelle put it - being sucked into the world.

I know Priscilla met her fabulous future husband while she was on a Journey, but I always assumed it was because he was working at Headquarters at the time. The timing of the male and female Journeys don't overlap, so I'm not sure whether the young men have any opportunity to interact with their young lady counterparts unless there are some female staffers around.

Priscilla worked on Journey to the Heart for a few years, living at headquarters in between journeys, that's where she met the Prancing Pecan Pilferer.

I'm pretty sure that women provide the catering for all the journeys, so JD may meet a helpmeet that way.

[bananacat]

I don't think that the baldness is more prevalent among this group, only that they're all so unfashionable that they don't make any effort to find a hairstyle that looks better. They have all probably grown up in families with several sons and little money and throughout their childhoods they all got the exact same buzz cut at the kitchen table with no thought put into it, and that's what they're used to now. And since they believe that women aren't visually attracted, they probably see no need to care about hairstyle except to maybe impress other men. Out of the whole lot, there's only one boy who seems to make an effort on his hair, and even that is minor. But if these were normal boys who grew up in mainstream society and cared about impressing girls, a lot of those balding ones could actually pass for attractive if they just styled their hair differently, or at all. Sometimes a weird head shape can make it seem so much worse, but a little bit of hair gel can go a long way.

[freejugar]

it's weird that he left his bussiness in stand by to attend there

i wonder if he paid it with his own money :think:

[SallyDraper]

Well David Waller's special friend Robert Staddon seems to be involved with it, so you may be right.

Is that David Waller's brother in the picture too, first row, 4th in ? I'm sorry I cant remember his name.

[Peppercorn]

Wow. Looks like ol' JD's gonna be just a couple hundred miles from me. If I were two decades younger, I'd load up the kayak and go paddling by ATI's northern outpost wearing a bikini just to defraud the bunch of them.

[lilith]

Is it possible he's gone to "get right with god" or something fundie like that before announcing an engagement? I just find it so odd that a 23 year old man with his own business would take a few weeks and a few thousand dollars for this unless there was something in particular motivating him, that's probably why I first assumed it must be Joseph.

[Anxious Girl]

So the open-air reenactment/recreation of the 1890's of Salem Massachusetts' witch hunts isn't just for girls... Who knew there's equal opportunity to make all children to feel guilty for not participating enough in the cult?

[Lainey]

Which one is John-David?

[RachelB]

I don't think that the baldness is more prevalent among this group, only that they're all so unfashionable that they don't make any effort to find a hairstyle that looks better. They have all probably grown up in families with several sons and little money and throughout their childhoods they all got the exact same buzz cut at the kitchen table with no thought put into it, and that's what they're used to now. And since they believe that women aren't visually attracted, they probably see no need to care about hairstyle except to maybe impress other men. Out of the whole lot, there's only one boy who seems to make an effort on his hair, and even that is minor. But if these were normal boys who grew up in mainstream society and cared about impressing girls, a lot of those balding ones could actually pass for attractive if they just styled their hair differently, or at all. Sometimes a weird head shape can make it seem so much worse, but a little bit of hair gel can go a long way.

Also, if it's not common among their peer group for boys to make such an effort, being the one boy to make an effort sets you apart, which is for them not necessarily a good thing. If women aren't visual, whom exactly are you sprucing up for?

[mrs]

I really can't understand why anyone would want to go JTTH. It sounds awful. I am posting a quote from an old thread that I think captures how horrible JTTH can be for the attendees.

[mrs]

Here is the link to the old thread about JTTH:http://freejinger.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=10490&hilit=journey+to+the+heart

[sophrosyne]

I think male pattern baldness comes from winning the genetic lottery on your mother's side, though their stress and crappy diets do set them up for a lot of other problems.

Michelle's father, Garrett Ruark, had little hair. Josh looks especially like him, I think.

[sophrosyne]

Is it possible he's gone to "get right with god" or something fundie like that before announcing an engagement?

Yeah, that's what I thought too. He's Journeying to the Heart in preparation for headship.

[Elinor]

I'm feeling kinda privileged for not being to able to believe that there are people out there that desire to be anywhere near these camps. I know what you are saying I just cannot imagine it to be desirable to attend ATI.

I grew up in ATI and always enjoyed ATI events, although I liked them less and less as I got older. I loved every minute of attending Children's Institute and Pre-EXCEL.

[Arete]

Which one is John-David?

Second row from the bottom, second guy from the left. White shirt.

[Mama Mia]

Second row from the bottom, second guy from the left. White shirt.

With all this speculating on reasons -- is anyone even sure that IS a Duggar ? It only looks slightly like J D to me.

[singsingsing]

It's definitely John David. Either that or he has a clone.

[Arete]

With all this speculating on reasons -- is anyone even sure that IS a Duggar ? It only looks slightly like J D to me.

If that isn't John David, I'll vote Republican in the next presidential election.

[JenniferJuniper]

It couldn't be anyone but John David.

[mrs]

I grew up in ATI and always enjoyed ATI events, although I liked them less and less as I got older. I loved every minute of attending Children's Institute and Pre-EXCEL.

Can you give us any insight into your ATI experiences? (Welcome to FJ, Elinor!)

[formergothardite]

I grew up in ATI and always enjoyed ATI events, although I liked them less and less as I got older. I loved every minute of attending Children's Institute and Pre-EXCEL.

There are some people who really do like the things. When I taught Pre-EXCEL there were some families that this was their yearly vacation and the kids had a blast. And then there were the kids who were miserable. At least in the 90's they had really stupid craft ideas for Pre-EXCEL and I always felt horrible making the unhappy kids attempt to do them. "Here's a stick, write the names of God on it." all while their brothers were outside doing really cool stuff.

[HereticHick]

If you've grown up sleeping in a big room with a bunch of infantile howler monkeys, perhaps spending a few days with guys closer to your age is quite pleasant. You can talk hunting and airplanes and all those manly things. And maybe a little bit about the pleasant countenances of certain godly maidens.

[JenniferJuniper]

If you've grown up sleeping in a big room with a bunch of infantile howler monkeys, perhaps spending a few days with guys closer to your age is quite pleasant. You can talk hunting and airplanes and all those manly things. And maybe a little bit about the pleasant countenances of certain godly maidens.

There has been speculation that John is not living at the TTH full time. He's only rarely seen in the house on the show these days and he is quite possibly a property owner now, thanks to that deal he made which was referenced sometime last year. He may have an argument that he needs to stay in the house to look after it while he works on it. I can see Jim Bob agreeing with that, but not Michelle. Assuming her recently weepiness over her fears about her kids being "sucked into the world" was legit, John may be her biggest concern right now. Josh is on his own and filling his quiver, the daughters are stuck at home, and Joe appears to be an obedient boy, possibly Mama’s favorite.

Maybe that's why John was "encouraged" to attend the Journey at his relatively advanced age.

[singsingsing]

One of the things that bothers me the most about fundies (which may be stupid, because they do so many deplorable things) is refusing to allow their adult children to live independently. It's one thing if the man/woman wants to stay at home. If everyone's happy with that and they're contributing to the household somehow, I see absolutely no problem. But it's that they "CAN'T" leave home. EVEN IF THEY OWN THEIR OWN HOUSE. Joseph Maxwell owns a house and he's ~not allowed to live in it~. I'm sorry, that's just rage-inducing! So I really hope that if John David does own a house, he is living there. For crying out loud, the man is 23-years-old, he doesn't need to be sleeping in a dormitory with his grade-school-age brothers.

[nelliebelle1197]

One of the things that bothers me the most about fundies (which may be stupid, because they do so many deplorable things) is refusing to allow their adult children to live independently. It's one thing if the man/woman wants to stay at home. If everyone's happy with that and they're contributing to the household somehow, I see absolutely no problem. But it's that they "CAN'T" leave home. EVEN IF THEY OWN THEIR OWN HOUSE. Joseph Maxwell owns a house and he's ~not allowed to live in it~. I'm sorry, that's just rage-inducing! So I really hope that if John David does own a house, he is living there. For crying out loud, the man is 23-years-old, he doesn't need to be sleeping in a dormitory with his grade-school-age brothers.

There really is something incredibly wrong with that. It seems unhealthy for everyone- the children and the adults.