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Dissapointed in the Bates Family


Bazinga

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I actually found myself watching the UP network a few days ago (it's in the 900s on my Comcast cable) as Dr Quinn Medicine Woman was on (don't judge me) and I was killing time before another show on a different network started (the show after Dr Quinn was Touched By An Angel if that tells you anything). It's awfully clear what the Bateses believe (emphasis on awful!) - just read their recent posts about topics for this election cycle - but they intersperse it with feel-good family posts about relationships, babies, and music, which makes their version of Flavor-aid go down better (sorry, some of my students gave a presentation about Jonestown last year and cults and emphasized it wasn't Kool-aid). However, considering how terrible TLC's reality shows are presented (they remind me of a terrible Pop-up Video when the banal facts about the family pop up on the screen), there's nowhere to go but....UP? Of course UP will somehow make the show palatable to the unwashed masses while sprinkling in enough down-home charm and religion to keep its core channel audience happy. It sort of reminds me of the INSP channel - "wholesome" TV from decades ago (The Waltons, etc.) with the emphasis on family, which should play well with the regular UP audience of fundie-lites.

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And can I add while Gil's brother's family is a homeschooling Christian brood, I still hold out hope that they will draw one of the Gil Bates kids (their cousins) to the fundie-lite side of wearing shorts and regular swimsuits and learning more than SOTDRT stuff. They even went Trick or Treating this year with their other cousins, so I cross fingers one of the younger Bateses flees to their cousins' farm someday and adopts a more laid-back lifestyle. I would love to be a fly on the wall when the whole family, grandparents included, are together, and if they compare lifestyles much...

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May be we are to blame for getting them a reality show. We flood their blog when they have updates and ask a lot of questions. In addition to eagerly waiting for Kelly to post Zach's wedding online that has not been posted, more or less drew attention from executives and say..'hey, there is money to be made here.' I mean there is a genuine fan base. Shoot. I was hoping to at least see Zach's wedding on youtube.

...and don't get me on the issue that we are free research for tabloid magazines.

I doubt a few thousand fans and haters is enough to get the ad revenue needed to pay the crew and the Bateses. Maybe there's a backer somewhere hoping to turn the into the same cash cow the Duggars are.

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UP has a nifty little feature on their site http://up.viewerlink.tv/ and you put in your zip code and cable provider and it tells you if they carry UP (and if it's HD even! :shock: )

Yes I'm a nerd sometimes :lol:

Wish they all made it that easy to find out where to find their stations on some of these random ones.

Time Warner Cable has them on even their just more expanded packages (their mid-range stuff and up) Only the very barebones starter and standard two don't have it (the former only has about two dozen stations as it is.

I'll not bother with giving the # since that is so different for everyone. But again, the location finder thing above is very nifty and easy to use and takes about 10 seconds to find if you can get it and what number and even if it's HD for those who do want to watch when it airs :D

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Thanks for this!

Now I suppose I have to watch and recap lol.

:happy-cheerleaderkid::happy-cheerleadersmileygirl::happy-cheerleaderkid::happy-cheerleadersmileyguy:

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Maybe they need the money. In a family that large without a steady, substantial income, I imagine you always need the money. They may be more likeable on the surface than the Duggars, but I don't think they're all that different.

Add up what it costs to feed the 16 or so kids still at home, plus the parents. Now see what an average tree service earns after business insurance, vehicle maintenance, billing and other costs are subtracted. They were living in a house of about 1200 square feet until they were given a new house built in front of the old one. They were given a bucket truck for the business, given the big green Duggar table of old, possibly given a few old Duggar vehicles. THEY NEED THE MONEY. They have to pay for food, utilities, increased (but still dirt cheap to most people) property taxes, vehicles and gas. Even though I doubt the boys are really paid much if anything for working for Dad, it is likely just NOT enough. And since Gil in big in ATI they have to now repay for that gifted home by providing hospitality to any and all Gothardites traveling thru--some with 10 or so kids to feed. Money, Money, Money. I don't blame them, but God's provision really isn't quite enough--is it Gil? On the positive side, maybe they saw Crown College as worth it and want more of their children to go there? They may not accept federal financial aid and certainly don't want loans. We can hope.

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It's a double edged sword- darned if they do and darned if they don't. I love watching the Bates folksy ways. You never know what they will say (even better is when they say something totally cuckoo with a straight face). They just make for better TV than the Duggars. I am sure the Bates would justify their being on TV as using the medium to spread the Gospel.

The money must be very tempting. I can imagine just feeding and clothing 16 kids still at home is very expensive.

Hopefully their TV show will mean that a few more kids will get to go to college- even Bible College will give them at least some education and opportunities besides the tree business.

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Maybe Kelly is a better mother when compared to J'chelle.
Oh Treemom, I've met cats who are better mothers than J'Chelle!
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Even if they don't get paid at all for their tv show, it still has the potential to bring them revenue and things.

The Duggars got offered a lot of travels and stuff like a grand piano by TLC, they probably are given money to promote things on instagram, and their popularity helps them to get speaking gigs where they can collect "love offerings" afterwards.

So it's understandable they want to do it. A tv show is much easier anyway than searching for a real job, isn't it Gil?

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I have to say I like reading about the Bates kids' lives and relationships more than the Duggar kids. We all know the Bates kids are bathing in the ATI pool as much as the Duggars, but they seem to like each other more, or at least they're better at writing about their lives and not just posting crap on Instagram like Jessa in particular and somewhat Jill and definitely better than JB and Michelle (whose vapidness astounds me - and they both weren't sub-par-homeschooled).

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It's really sad that Gil and Kelly can't see the harm and bullshit they are putting their kids though. At least the Duggars did have some money before their show. Gil and Kelly weren't as lucky like JB. Asking your son to support the family because you can't is really sad

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It's really sad that Gil and Kelly can't see the harm and bullshit they are putting their kids though. At least the Duggars did have some money before their show. Gil and Kelly weren't as lucky like JB. Asking your son to support the family because you can't is really sad

I wonder what effect this has in the family hierarchy. Cause usually, in those fundie families, Daddy has all the money and thus all the power, since everybody depends on him. Also a reason why fundies don't want women to work, cause with money comes independence. Now that Gil depends on his son financially, his authority is undermined.

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Anyone who has DirecTV can find UP on channel 338 nationwide.

Now to remember that this will air in January. I wish I could set a reminder on the DVR!

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IBLP is an 501©(3) organization. Non-profit organizations don't pay their boards.

That's not true. See Susan G Komen, Autism Speaks, etc. They are 501©(3) orgs and they pay their boards. Even some of the smaller (Turner Ministries in Charleston SC pays their board). The larger groups tend to pay their board.

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I was about to say the same thing. I did some Googling and Gothard reports a salary of $12,000 and $18,000 in expenses. Not a fortune, but not free either. I know there is somewhere they have to report what expenditures they put out, but I found this rather quickly:

http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exp ... eneral.htm

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That's not true. See Susan G Komen, Autism Speaks, etc. They are 501©(3) orgs and they pay their boards. Even some of the smaller (Turner Ministries in Charleston SC pays their board). The larger groups tend to pay their board.

I taught a class on nonprofits and have a certification in nonprofits, and learned how to apply Google-fu to find info about nonprofits.

Universities and colleges usually pay their boards as well, and they are definitely non-profits.

IBLP is set up as an umbrella 501©(3) with sub organizations (ATI, ALERT, etc.). I did find a quasi-report on them from Charity Navigator, but it's telling that there is no mention of a 990 on the IBLP website, which most "good" charities offer a link to:

charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.profile&ein=366108515#.VGQ49PnF-So

You can also view their 990 IRS forms here (2012 is the latest, which says Bill Gothard worked on average 108 hours a week but earned less than $25,000 a year?!), but does not show that the trustees, Gil included, were paid in any way:

guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2012/366/108/2012-366108515-098fda9b-9.pdf

Interesting stuff there. Wonder how 2013 & 2014 after Bill was booted will play out in terms of revenue reported.

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charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.profile&ein=366108515#.VGQ49PnF-So

You can also view their 990 IRS forms here (2012 is the latest, which says Bill Gothard worked on average 108 hours a week but earned less than $25,000 a year?!), but does not show that the trustees, Gil included, were paid in any way:

I've read comments from multiple ex-IBLPers that Gothard very consciously cultivates image of modesty and frugality. He drives and ancient Oldsmobile and is open that he works a crazy amount of hours for very little financial return. It's part of his I'm-not-in-it-for-the-money shtick. At the same time he is quite okay with using IBLP resources and perks (like the private jet) when he wants to and he's quite generous with those perks when he wants to impress someone. I'm sure he's more interested in the power than the money but,despite what the government paperwork might say, he's really not being financially recompensed that badly for his efforts.

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I've read comments from multiple ex-IBLPers that Gothard very consciously cultivates image of modesty and frugality. He drives and ancient Oldsmobile and is open that he works a crazy amount of hours for very little financial return. It's part of his I'm-not-in-it-for-the-money shtick. At the same time he is quite okay with using IBLP resources and perks (like the private jet) when he wants to and he's quite generous with those perks when he wants to impress someone. I'm sure he's more interested in the power than the money but,despite what the government paperwork might say, he's really not being financially recompensed that badly for his efforts.

Makes complete sense. Pretty hard to shill systems like Financial Freedom and ask your followers to be frugal when you aren't yourself. That said - he definitely is getting perks somewhere else, which are buried in the 990, but he'd better be reporting on his own tax filings as non-monetary compensation (we have friends who work at Google who say that even their free lunches are probably soon going to be considered a taxable benefit) unless they're clever with accounting and booking it all to the organization (which is entirely possible). And considering all of the charges lodged against him, those 108 hours of work a week certainly weren't all "work" per se...

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Thanks, Snarkle. I was just about to search for the IBLP 990 and you saved me Google time.

That said, IMO and experience, some non-profits with charismatic all-powerful leaders can be remarkably, um, inventive with financial record keeping. Or careless. At least until they get caught red-handed during an audit.

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Thanks, Snarkle. I was just about to search for the IBLP 990 and you saved me Google time.

That said, IMO and experience, some non-profits with charismatic all-powerful leaders can be remarkably, um, inventive with financial record keeping. Or careless. At least until they get caught red-handed during an audit.

You're sincerely welcome, Palimpsest. And yes, considering how "creative" they are with their offerings, their "inventiveness" as you put it probably knows no bounds as well. God knows (pun intended) they're masters of spin.

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And can I add while Gil's brother's family is a homeschooling Christian brood, I still hold out hope that they will draw one of the Gil Bates kids (their cousins) to the fundie-lite side of wearing shorts and regular swimsuits and learning more than SOTDRT stuff. They even went Trick or Treating this year with their other cousins, so I cross fingers one of the younger Bateses flees to their cousins' farm someday and adopts a more laid-back lifestyle. I would love to be a fly on the wall when the whole family, grandparents included, are together, and if they compare lifestyles much...

I liked the Bates grandparents when I saw them on "The United Bates of America." I also like Gil's brother's family. Their kids are always doing something fun, whether it's playing with their farm animals, baking cookies, or appearing in plays and musicals.

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I liked the Bates grandparents when I saw them on "The United Bates of America." I also like Gil's brother's family. Their kids are always doing something fun, whether it's playing with their farm animals, baking cookies, or appearing in plays and musicals.

I think that Casey and her family are my favorite fundie-lites. They clearly follow Christian homeschooling methods, but their kids are part of a homeschool co-op, participate in theater, and go to places like the beach and Disney World where they look like any other family having fun. She also has a son with special needs who is just one of the gang and is studying advanced high school-level subjects - wonder how Kelly would have helped (or not?) a kid who needed special help.

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  • 2 months later...

I think that Casey and her family are my favorite fundie-lites. They clearly follow Christian homeschooling methods, but their kids are part of a homeschool co-op, participate in theater, and go to places like the beach and Disney World where they look like any other family having fun. She also has a son with special needs who is just one of the gang and is studying advanced high school-level subjects - wonder how Kelly would have helped (or not?) a kid who needed special help.

I think Kelly would've definitely tried to help a special needs child. However Mullet, she wouldn't even begin to understand what was going on; not that she teaches her children anyway.

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