Zach & Whitney Bates Wedding - Part 2

[scc12]

I think they need a baby because what else is there? Cleaning the house, bringing your husband lunch? Lets say Josh and Anna had no kids, after 5 years what would Anna be doing right now? would they even be able to stay together since most of their marriage is about the kids?

idk but I was just thinking that with most of DC shut down today due to weather,Josh can't even enjoy a nice,quiet day at home,considering they have 3 kids now.LOL.I recall those days.Going to work was quieter and less demanding than staying home.

[bal maiden]

In a reply to a comment on their blog, Whitney says

zachandwhitney.comJanuary 20, 2014 at 10:11 AM

Thank you so much Alexis!!:):):) We would love to meet you!! As of right now we are attending Zach's dad's church.. Bible Baptist in Clinton, TN and occasionally visiting other local churches. We are just praying and letting the Lord show us and direct us to where he wants us to be:)

wondering if the 'letting the Lord show us where we should be' coupled with visiting other churches means they are thinking about NOT staying ATI...

[singsingsing]

She also said that they're going to homeschool but they haven't 'picked the institution yet.' To me that does sound like they're seriously thinking about not going with ATI. I hope that's the case. You'd think they'd want to stick with it if they're going to stay in the conservative homeschooling realm, though, because it's already such a strong part of their social network.

[Coconut Flan]

Appropriate weasel words so if/when they move on from Gil's strict beliefs it will be "the Lord's leading" and since Zach will be the headship that Gil and Kelly will need to accept it. Or I could be being too optimistic again. I hope it's sliding slowly out from under the control to at least be out of ATI.

[singsingsing]

It's definitely interesting that they live so close to Gil and Kelly but they're obviously thinking about going to a different church. That's encouraging, anyway. Wonder if they will end up at a conservative Baptist church, but a non-ATI one. That seems to be Whitney's background.

[Justme]

What kind of background does Whit have? I know she lost her parents when she was a tween/young teen, then adopted. Does she have birth siblings or only adopted siblings? Do we know what happened to her parents. I imagine that was a very difficult time in her life. Loosing her parents may be why she's latched on so quickly to Zach's "happy family". Did she go to a regular school? Is her new Dad a Pastor that actually attended Collage/ Divinity School, or did he just slap on the title a/k/a "Pastor Bates".

[nokidsmom]

Appropriate weasel words so if/when they move on from Gil's strict beliefs it will be "the Lord's leading" and since Zach will be the headship that Gil and Kelly will need to accept it. Or I could be being too optimistic again. I hope it's sliding slowly out from under the control to at least be out of ATI.

I noticed the weasel words, too and it could very well be a way for them to start easing out of ATI without really looking like it. At least at first. Zach may be aware of the fact that his folks are probably watching like hawks over the newly married young 'uns making sure they continue to toe the line. He might have figured out that in order to live the life he wants he might have to be a bit devious when it comes to his parents. I know I sure would.

Maybe I am being too optimistic too, but honestly the fact that he met his wife outside of ATI circles and controlled courtship (I suspect Gil and Kelly had coniptions (sp) when they found out he was seeing someone at the Sonic) says a lot. Whit might be all caught up in things because it's all exciting and new, but he lived his whole life this way and it's not that way to him.

[singsingsing]

We know very little about Whitney's origins, other than the fact that she was adopted as a teenager and kept her birth name. It seems to me that her (adoptive) father is a pastor at a Baptist church, but a non-ATI one. She wore jeans up until her courtship with Zach, she worked and went to school, so obviously they're not as conservative. I would guess that she wasn't homeschooled, but I don't know for sure. I think she's enchanted by many aspects of the ATI lifestyle, but in reality her less conservative background will have more of an influence on Zach. I also think Zach may be very disillusioned with ATI as an organization after his first failed courtship. He also seems like the sort of guy who has no problem thinking for himself.

[Mela99]

We know very little about Whitney's origins, other than the fact that she was adopted as a teenager and kept her birth name. It seems to me that her (adoptive) father is a pastor at a Baptist church, but a non-ATI one. She wore jeans up until her courtship with Zach, she worked and went to school, so obviously they're not as conservative. I would guess that she wasn't homeschooled, but I don't know for sure. I think she's enchanted by many aspects of the ATI lifestyle, but in reality her less conservative background will have more of an influence on Zach. I also think Zach may be very disillusioned with ATI as an organization after his first failed courtship. He also seems like the sort of guy who has no problem thinking for himself.

We can hope. Maybe they'll get more influence from her parents than his.

[ILoveJellybeans]

That sounds good, I am glad they are looking around at other churches and trying to work things out for themselves.

[actuallyjessica]

i think once one of the bates/duggar kids break free, more will follow as the path will be paved for them. it'd be easier to do once they know someone who isn't drinking the koolaid.

[Luisainlondon1]

Maybe they're just saying that they haven't decided yet just to show that they can think for themselves. I can imagine Gil, um I mean God, will lead them to use ATI for homeschooling and also to visit an ATI church.

[SpeakNow]

Maybe they're just saying that they haven't decided yet just to show that they can think for themselves. I can imagine Gil, um I mean God, will lead them to use ATI for homeschooling and also to visit an ATI church.

That's exactly what I was thinking...

[Ellimenopy]

This says Zach is running for mayor: http://www.wbir.com/story/news/local/oa ... r/4724431/

wtf? He's 24.

[bookgirl14]

This says Zach is running for mayor: http://www.wbir.com/story/news/local/oa ... r/4724431/

wtf? He's 24.

The article says he's 25 but that's still young for running for mayor imo. It also says he's county commissioner. How the heck did Zach get into politics?

[HereticHick]

Yep-- all the East Tennessee media is covering it: http://oakridgetoday.com/2014/01/21/com ... n-primary/

[ILoveJellybeans]

That's pretty impressive at his age.

[formergothardite]

The last thing any place needs is a mayor who just moved out of his parent's house, is uneducated, and is a fundie. The guy running against him needs to bring up ATI/Gothard and all the drama surrounding it and ask if Zach is still a member or believes in the teachings.

[DugFan]

Did my defrauded eyes deceive me or is Whitney's mom wearing a SLEEVELESS dress?!?! :shock: Holy crap on a cracker! (Can a female be defrauded by seeing another female in a sleeveless dress?)

While the pranks were rude and distracting, the sound created by all of the girls yelling "NIKE" must have really been an interruption! :lol:

[mpheels]

The article says he's 25 but that's still young for running for mayor imo. It also says he's county commissioner. How the heck did Zach get into politics?

So I've been gone for a while (moved, went back to school, etc) and lurking for the past few weeks while on break. I'm leaping back into the realm of commenting, so here goes...

24/25 really isn't that young to run for public office, especially in rural areas where the pool of potential candidates is much smaller. Youth can actually be a very good thing for small town politics, as younger members of the community tend to be less attached to the status quo. I lived in a mid-size college town for 13 years, and it was pretty normal for recent grads (22-24 years old) to run for city council. Back in the 1980's, my dad was on the board of aldermen in our small town when he was in his 20's and mayor in his early 30's. I had friends from college running for Congress in 2010 and 2012 when they were 28-30 years old. JFK was 30 when he was first elected to Congress. I'm not at all comparing Zach to JFK, my father, or my friends (who all had at least a Bachelors), but just saying that age alone shouldn't disqualify him. His lack of education, one the other hand...

[Dandruff]

It looks like the Terry Frank he is running against (or whatever he wants to call it) is a WOMAN.

[singsingsing]

Hey, if Zach gets elected mayor at least he'll have a decent paying job to support his wife and inevitable babies. He might even do an okay job, as long as he doesn't try to build a giant winter sports complex called Ice Town. Anyway, this should be fun to watch.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Ms. Terry Frank has a college degree inPolitical

Science, and has had a radio show, a cable tv show, a blog, and a business

theknoxvillejournal.tumblr.com/post/29132807960/terry-frank-first-female-mayor-of-anderson-co

This will be interesting. It's for the primary and zach will probably lose and not be able to run for mayor. Will there be a debate?

[Arete]

Until I see definitive proof he has stopped drinking the ATI Kool-Aid, I hope he loses the election. Finding a wife outside of courtship isn't going to mean much if he eases back into the lifestyle.

Pregnancy tests and pledges to homeschool tell me he hasn't fully broken free of that mindset. He is also grossly undereducated...not exactly a ringing endorsement for his being able to see all sides of an issue.

[silverspoons]

Hey, if Zach gets elected mayor at least he'll have a decent paying job to support his wife and inevitable babies. He might even do an okay job, as long as he doesn't try to build a giant winter sports complex called Ice Town. Anyway, this should be fun to watch.

Do Mayors in TN make a lot of money? I always thought mayors make next to nothing but it is city managers that make the big bucks. We just had a very heated mayoral election in southern Utah(ousting a 20+ year religious tyrant) and it was known that the city manager made 100k+ but the mayor made under 10k a year, in fact in smaller cities it is unpaid except for expenses.

I lived in small towns in new England growing up. My family was very involved in politics and at young ages as well as my friends parents. The big difference was most were recent law school grads, or college grads with military experience. Being a mayor, selectman , or alderman of a small town was a stepping stone for a lot of younger 25-35 year old lawyers. While I believe Zach has good intentions, he lacks any real form of life experience or education.