Josiah Duggar is courting

[meee]

Okay, this might be a dumb question, but I've seen mentioned a few times here that fans "wouldn't like" to hear of Duggars/Bateses having babies before age 20. See: Alyssa announcing just after her 20th birthday, lots of speculation here that Jessa/Ben may announce a pregnancy after Ben turns 20. Josiah will be 19 in four months, so I imagine he won't marry before then, and then he won't have a baby much before 20. But (and I don't read religiously here, so maybe I've missed something) why is 20 the magic number? Surely a 19-year-old who is a legal adult should have no problem making their own choices, including reproductive?

To clarify, I do understand concerns of lack of education, life experience, income, etc. That's not what I'm talking about, because that wouldn't be magically better when a 19-year-old turns 20.

...did that make sense? This might not even be the right thread to post it on, just, it had come to mind recently with all the talk about Alyssa and Jessa, and now here I'm finally geting around to asking about it. Thanks.

[karismanic]

Remember the episode where Jill and other Duggars go out for Mexican food as part of their Spanish lesson? Can someone with Netflix or good at YouTube searches see of Marjorie and AnaLucia are featured?

[Smchugh1304]

Lovely family photo. It'll be interesting to see how long it will take to whip that denim wearing habit out of her :roll:

[tulip]

Well, his drugged-up comment about marriage post-wisdom teeth makes sense now.

YES! Which makes me think they already had the "get to know you" portion of the relationship and are already a done deal.

They are now officially equal with the Bates family in terms of married/courting kids. If Josiah gets engaged/married before Michael, the Duggars will be winning! :roll:

[Fundie Bunny]

Okay, this might be a dumb question, but I've seen mentioned a few times here that fans "wouldn't like" to hear of Duggars/Bateses having babies before age 20. See: Alyssa announcing just after her 20th birthday, lots of speculation here that Jessa/Ben may announce a pregnancy after Ben turns 20. Josiah will be 19 in four months, so I imagine he won't marry before then, and then he won't have a baby much before 20. But (and I don't read religiously here, so maybe I've missed something) why is 20 the magic number? Surely a 19-year-old who is a legal adult should have no problem making their own choices, including reproductive?

To clarify, I do understand concerns of lack of education, life experience, income, etc. That's not what I'm talking about, because that wouldn't be magically better when a 19-year-old turns 20.

...did that make sense? This might not even be the right thread to post it on, just, it had come to mind recently with all the talk about Alyssa and Jessa, and now here I'm finally geting around to asking about it. Thanks.

Because at 20 one is not a teenager anymore (at least in the english speaking world)

[SnazzyNazzy]

The thing is, is that you never know what's really up with these people. There have been way too many "FU internet moments" (I remember the TWOP forum fondly), and the past couple of seasons, everything they did, felt like a "next season storyline".

[somewhereinbetween]

Jesus wept

[CaptainFunderpants]

Okay, this might be a dumb question, but I've seen mentioned a few times here that fans "wouldn't like" to hear of Duggars/Bateses having babies before age 20. See: Alyssa announcing just after her 20th birthday, lots of speculation here that Jessa/Ben may announce a pregnancy after Ben turns 20. Josiah will be 19 in four months, so I imagine he won't marry before then, and then he won't have a baby much before 20. But (and I don't read religiously here, so maybe I've missed something) why is 20 the magic number? Surely a 19-year-old who is a legal adult should have no problem making their own choices, including reproductive?

To clarify, I do understand concerns of lack of education, life experience, income, etc. That's not what I'm talking about, because that wouldn't be magically better when a 19-year-old turns 20.

...did that make sense? This might not even be the right thread to post it on, just, it had come to mind recently with all the talk about Alyssa and Jessa, and now here I'm finally geting around to asking about it. Thanks.

Honestly, I don't expect Ben and Jessa Blessa to announce right after Ben is 20, because how do two hyper-fertile teenagers not get pregnant in six months? We've seen recent pictures of Jessa -she doesn't look pregnant AT ALL, plus if they're waiting until he's 20, that suggests delaying pregnancy through intervention opposed to leaving it up to God.

As for Alyssa, I don't necessarily think that's fundie-dom talking; her hubby's dad is a politician, so it might be more to do with that and appearing more mainstream than anything the Bates are up to.

[Rescinded and Mended]

Sounds like Marjorie's family is a major selling point for Josiah. If he thinks her mother is kind and treats her children well, maybe that was one really solid reason for him to ask Marjorie for a courtship.

Seems as if one of Derick's biggest selling points for courting Jill was the family environment she brought to the table, especially if he sought JB out as a prayer partner beforehand.

[karen77]

Maybe she'll be 18 soon. This could also potentially get him out from under JB's thumb. It might be good.

The quick announcement = they don't have to have covert operations and dates, since people like to post pics of them. It's a controlled way of getting it out there, vs playing cover up or catch up on the press.

[MotherOfDragons]

I like you!

[Toothfairy]

Omg she wears pants :o She's not a fundie? Sounds like she doesn't sit on her ass waiting for prince charming. If Josiah and his gf marry they will be teen parents. :o How in the hell can an 18yo evil no job, education, or skills support a family or a wife?

And Jana is watching her younger siblings get married and move out before her.

[CaptainFunderpants]

The post with the wisdom teeth/marriage comments, for easy access:

duggarfamilyblog.com/2015/03/duggar-loses-wisdom.html

[AngelGirl8811]

:shock: :o Oh my god! Josiah will no longer be at Alert, they're getting rid of him in a completely different way. Like other people said it would be cute if they were like high school sweethearts or something but this...they're engaged! Josh and Anna 2.0? It could happen, I feel that they were both pushed into courtship. I really was hoping for better things for Josiah and maybe Marjorie will be good for him, but I don't know. It just seems really rushed even if they have known each other for a while. I'm sad!

[Sundaymorning]

This is one of the reasons this whole courting thing sucks so much.

I totally get that at 17 or 18, people want to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend. But in this cult, they can't just casually date, they are basically expected to marry the person they are interested in, and they can't even get to really know them first. :angry-banghead:

And if they want to avoid getting married in their teens/early 20s, they are forced to stay alone, unable to enjoy the company of a partner. That is really cruel if you ask me.

[Nishi621]

I'm having a hard time time believing that Josiah is truly happy courting. He doesn't even try to look happy in the pictures, and, Duggar Construction? Really?? Josiah seems like the type of guy to work in construction?

Very sad.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

I wasn't expecting this. However, I hope he's happy and that she makes him happy. Yes, they're young. I can't make any judgements on age since I've been seriously dating someone for a year and I'm only nineteen now. I'm not rushing into marriage and hopefully they aren't either. It takes a long time to know someone well enough to marry them.

1. She can back out--he can't. He gave his word he wants to court her. Only if he finds out something about her "past" can he ditch her.

2. Does it matter what he works at? He's a reality tv star--that's how he makes his money.

3. Will they make John marry first like they did with Jill/Jessa?

[morri]

i dont see lot of difference between an 18 year old and 20 year old neither more like between a 20 and a 25 yo..

[bekkah]

Couldn't they post a better picture?

[Kira]

Honestly, I don't expect Ben and Jessa Blessa to announce right after Ben is 20, because how do two hyper-fertile teenagers not get pregnant in six months? We've seen recent pictures of Jessa -she doesn't look pregnant AT ALL, plus if they're waiting until he's 20, that suggests delaying pregnancy through intervention opposed to leaving it up to God.

As for Alyssa, I don't necessarily think that's fundie-dom talking; her hubby's dad is a politician, so it might be more to do with that and appearing more mainstream than anything the Bates are up to.

Have you read the "Blessa Bump Watch 3"thread? Some thinks she looks four months pregnant.

[tulip]

I agree that's a great family picture. It looks as though there's a (somewhat) large age gap between kids #2 and #3. I wonder if there was some sort of kool aid drinking that enticed them to have a 3rd and then two more. She also looks young enough to have a 6th.

[Cleopatra7]

Honestly, I think that courtship and marriage is the only way for Josiah to get out from under JB's thumb, at least in the sense of not living in the TTH (he will probably rely on him for employment and maybe a house, post-marriage). What I'm sensing with Josiah is not so much, "He's getting married young because he can't control himself" so much as "He's getting married to gain some sort of independence." It's more common for girls/women to marry young to get away from controlling parents, but I would think that in the Gothard/quiverfull world that not a few boys/men are doing it for the same reason. I had predicted that Josiah would marry young for precisely this reason several years ago when it first seemed like JB was souring on him, and I see my prediction was accurate. :( :shifty-kitty:

[Fundie Bunny]

i dont see lot of difference between an 18 year old and 20 year old neither more like between a 20 and a 25 yo..

Because there's not. At 18 i am studying, going out and living life. In 2 years time, i will be doing exactly the same. I can't imagine getting married right now, and much less having kids

[Toothfairy]

Lovely family photo. It'll be interesting to see how long it will take to whip that denim wearing habit out of her :roll:

cute family. I wonder if they're lying about how Josiah met her. Spanish lessons? Okay, I don't believe that. Her family may be like Bens

[Miggy]

I agree with the person above who said 20 is no longer a teen. It does seem to be the definition of adult in fundydom, even if you are still treated as a child. Didn't Anna promise her father she wouldn't marry before 20? I'm sure she's the one I heard use 20 first and I wondered then, why 20?

Nothing wrong with 17 & 18 in the real world. I starting dating MrMiggy when I was 17 - that was 22 years ago. My son has just turned 18 and he has a lovely girlfriend who I adore. The big difference is outside fundydom there's no pressure to marry. If Josiah and Marjorie were girlfriend and boyfriend and could take things at their own pace, I'd be happy for them.

As for the Spanish lessons, there was an episode where Jill took her brothers to her Spanish lessons. Was this the teacher? Anyone know which episode it was?