Get your FFRREEEEE Moody book......

[Brittany15]

The bolded could pose a problem though.

What happens when they see that I get secular magazines? :shock:

Mailers from leftish political candidates? :o

Lingerie catalogs? :pink-shock:

I would consider this a positive. Just imagine their faces! What fun that would be!

[Elegant Mess]

-They would not have loud parties all night

-The outside of their house would be kept in immaculate order. This really helps when you try to sell your home.

-I imagine if you were out of town they would have no problem getting your mail

-If you were sick or in need I imagine they would bring you food

-I would become the most popular person on Free Jinger as I could provide many in person observations for all of you

-That cinnamon bread they give out while caroling looks really good

-I would have the opportunity to offer help to any children who want to escape

Brittany15, you are far stronger than I! I don't think I could last very long.

Regarding your points I highlighted:

Red: They probably would get my mail, but they would be quickly horrified by my subscription to the Skeptical Inquirer! Steve might also be defrauded by the clothing catalogs I get: contrasting buttons everywhere! :twisted:

Blue: Yes!!!!! :popcorn2:

Green: The cinnamon bread might be good, but as we heard during the great Nuptials O' Death, would their singing be worth it?

Purple: :(

[FloraKitty35]

I am probably alone in this thought but I don't think I would mind living next to the Maxwells. Before you all think I am crazy there are a few reasons:

-They would not have loud parties all night

-The outside of their house would be kept in immaculate order. This really helps when you try to sell your home.

-I imagine if you were out of town they would have no problem getting your mail

-If you were sick or in need I imagine they would bring you food

-I would become the most popular person on Free Jinger as I could provide many in person observations for all of you

-That cinnamon bread they give out while caroling looks really good

-I would have the opportunity to offer help to any children who want to escape

I imagine that them trying to win over my soul may get a little old. However, I like to think I am a strong enough person to quickly cut these conversations off.

You've got some viable points about having the Maxhell clan for neighbors. Especially 1 & 2. As to bringing food, if it is those burritos, I'll pass and I don't think I want them getting my mail.

[SPHASH]

I wouldn't want them getting my mail either. I subscribe to National Geographic, trade magazines for the industry I work in, Sports Illustrated, and I buy coins and hobby related supplies off of Ebay and Amazon so that would be frowned on too.

[Palimpsest]

You've got some viable points about having the Maxhell clan for neighbors. Especially 1 & 2. As to bringing food, if it is those burritos, I'll pass and I don't think I want them getting my mail.

1 & 2 definitely.

3. No. I think they limit their charity to other Christians who are widows or orphans. I suppose I am an orphan, technically, but the food wouldn't be worth being prayed at. Also, if I'm sick enough to need someone to bring me food then I wouldn't want someone asking if I know where I will go when I die. Although it might have a curative effect, I suppose. I'd probably get off my deathbed to tell Steve to stick it where the sun doesn't shine.

4. Yes! When are you moving?

5. We joke about the 2 animal crackers, but the Maxwells often cook and eat some delicious looking breads and desserts.

6. There is that, but you would need to set up the equivalent of an underground railroad before you move in.

[blessalessi]

They seem to judge quickly whether or not people are "teachable", from what I have read in Teris books and the blog.

I think their "charity" would soon end and they would learn to scurry past the heathen neighbour houses.

You might get Christmas caterwauling and a sweetbread though! :lol:

[church_of_dog]

I would consider this a positive. Just imagine their faces! What fun that would be!

True!

And I used a bit of literary forumirary license there, as I don't really get any of those kinds of mail anymore. I've been pretty good about eliminating junk mail. I do get some environmental publications, though. And occasionally I get some pornish stuff addressed to my dad (TMI, sorry! He died several years ago and I had all his mail forwarded to me, have stopped most of it but occasionally something still arrives -- he was a hoarder who never met a mailing list he didn't like...).

Anyway, you're right, being a fly on the wall to see their faces would be fun, but then they would probably throw things out instead of saving them for me.

Or maybe they would use white-out to "photoshop" them to their standards! Painted-on undershirts for the littles, anyone? :lol:

[Naga Viper]

Ooh, I wouldn't know where to begin as the new arrival in the Maxwellhood. I might try to get into their good graces as best I could just to try to shine some light into the kids' lives a bit. You know, like introduce Mary to a sanitized but nonetheless wider world of art for inspiration. Offer my proofreading services and limited feedback to Sarah on her writing. Have them over individually and ease them into the world of flavored burritos.

And then on my last night in town, seduce Jesse. Partly because Steve knows John is the one to guard against the hussies of the world and partly because John's pert little ass doesn't make up for having Steve's crazy eyes, IMO.

[SPHASH]

If you were a Maxwell neighbor you might get invited to what some might call the annual fall neighborhood brunch.

[blessalessi]

They'd add Death Tracts in with your mail and maybe the odd business flyer.

[formergothardite]

I don't think I would mind being a Maxwell neighbor either. I think I would be perpetually inviting them over and being super nice even when they told me I was going to hell. The niceness would drive Steve insane.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I think the Moody mom spends all day in her room because she is on a ton of drugs. The dad is such a raging jerk because when the Moody kids aren't around, he is actually a master criminal.

[Maggie Mae]

I really like most of neighbors (except for one who threatened to kick/kill the neighborhood cats and the crazy lady on NextDoor who has too much time and is scared of people walking to the bus stop.) The Maxwells can have crazy lady's house. Hates Cats guys hasn't followed through yet, and the Maxwells are actually mean to animals. Also I'm not moving to Kansas.

I doubt they would get much traction on converting this neighborhood to their brand. They, might, however, relax and just enjoy the great view of both the mountains and the ocean, the proximity to lakes and parks and trails, and maybe enjoy some of our (legal, sort of) special brownies.

[MamaJunebug]

"... the great Nuptials O' Death, ..."

Be.side. myself. Laughing!!!!

I once spent a season (!!!) in Leavenworth and let me tell you: when the sun's shining - winter or summer - it's a nice enough place. When it's gloomy, it's realllllly gloomy. I tend to enjoy clouds and rain (and chopped liver and swamps, srsly), but there's something about L-worth when it's grey, it's oppressively grey.

I liked the town and the people. There's lots more there than folks realize. That is, IF they are able to get to the sights, events, meetings, museums, classes, lectures, clubs and shops.

You put a clinically depressed woman there and keep her pregnant over what is it, 8 years with three isolated pre-teens at home to "help" and uff da, I garontee, it's not a pretty situation.

So would I want to live next door to Maxhell, then or now? No. I'd feel all kind of bad things knowing that there was a depressive lady my general age who I couldn't really befriend and try to support.

And guys like Steve just annoy the living day lights out of me.

[blessalessi]

May favourite/most frighteningly telling part of Summer Days is the bit where they play Hide and Seek for their family activity night.

Mrs Moody "didn't feel like being creative" so she just turned out the light and stood in the corner of the living room. She was found as soon as the kid entered the room and so she happily sat down to read a book. :? :lol:

That was probably exactly what Teri was like on the rare occasions she wasn't in bed with a bad back while the kids were growing up.

[ILoveJellybeans]

May favourite/most frighteningly telling part of Summer Days is the bit where they play Hide and Seek for their family activity night.

Mrs Moody "didn't feel like being creative" so she just turned out the light and stood in the corner of the living room. She was found as soon as the kid entered the room and so she happily sat down to read a book. :? :lol:

That was probably exactly what Teri was like on the rare occasions she wasn't in bed with a bad back while the kids were growing up.

I cant believe Sarah wrote something that makes her mother sound like such a lazy sack of shit. But then again, why wouldn't she? As far as Sarah knows, all mothers do nothing but sit around all day and have no interest in their kids, because she hasn't seen another family in years.

[Georgiana]

In reading the Moody snippets, I feel for Terri. I know, I know, and don't think that for a SECOND I don't believe she was terrible.

But I have double depression, which is when you concurrently have 2 of the depressive disorders ( for me, it is SAD and Dysthymia). I first experienced symptoms at age 10, but it took me until age 27 to get a good diagnosis and treatment plan. Part of that was because people around me pressured me NOT to seek treatment, especially anti-depressants.

What many people don't realize is that Depression/the depressive disorders impact your cognitive functionality. The worse it gets, the more you lose. Your brain doesn't shut down exactly, but the chemical imbalances make it so that it goes into like "power save mode", where it only transmits absolutely vital messages. By the time I went into the doctor, I couldn't see color anymore or hear music. My eyes and ears were FINE, but my brain was refusing to process those signals. I had lost my second language as if I had never learned it. There were things that I just COULDN'T do anymore, like be creative. You lose yourself. You don't have any likes or dislikes or hobbies.

And tasks. Tasks are EXHAUSTING. Depression just fatigues you so incredibly, even super easy stuff becomes harder than climbing a mountain. I mean that very literally. On my medication, I run up mountains for fun and it is 200% easier and less exhausting than stepping out onto my front porch to grab my mail was when I was untreated. It's fatigue beyond anything I have ever experienced otherwise. And one of the hard parts is that you've lost so much (colors, music, yourself) that you probably don't have a reason to push through the fatigue.

Depression, while a mental illness, has very real physical symptoms just like any virus or physical illness.

The other hard part is that in order to really conquer depression, you have to fight. Hard. And sometimes you have to fight everyone. It is very hard to mount that kind of fight when you are already exhausted and apathetic. In addition, antidepressants have a stigma, which is absolute bullshit. Also, many of them are not safe for pregnancy. For MOST people, that's OK because when you see your partner this sick, you don't WANT them to have more children. You WANT to focus on their wellness. You want the person back that you married. But Terri had Steve, who cares more about his godly rep than his wife's health. The fight is hard, and Terri would have had a harder fight than most. I barely made it through mine. Does this excuse her? Not fully.

But it is clear to me that Terri was sick. Very sick. And who was it blocking her from care? Who was it forcing her to have more and more children while she was sick and already overwhelmed?

When it comes to horrible things at the Maxwell house, once again, all roads lead back to Steve.

[nausicaa]

If you were a Maxwell neighbor you might get invited to what some might call the annual fall neighborhood brunch.

I want to go to that brunch SO BADLY.

[anjulibai]

Sadly, I don't think they do the brunch anymore. This last year, they didn't have a post about it. The closest they came was going over to a neighbor's house for tea. I think too many people in their neighborhood got wise to what the brunch was really about - converting them to the Maxwell cult.

[SPHASH]

Sadly, I don't think they do the brunch anymore. This last year, they didn't have a post about it. The closest they came was going over to a neighbor's house for tea. I think too many people in their neighborhood got wise to what the brunch was really about - converting them to the Maxwell cult.

I think they had a tea for the nieces too. ETA: I went back and found the post about the tea at the neighbors house. I strongly suspect that the "neighbor" was Gigi or Elissa.

[blessalessi]

In reading the Moody snippets, I feel for Terri. I know, I know, and don't think that for a SECOND I don't believe she was terrible.

But I have double depression, which is when you concurrently have 2 of the depressive disorders ( for me, it is SAD and Dysthymia). I first experienced symptoms at age 10, but it took me until age 27 to get a good diagnosis and treatment plan. Part of that was because people around me pressured me NOT to seek treatment, especially anti-depressants.

What many people don't realize is that Depression/the depressive disorders impact your cognitive functionality. The worse it gets, the more you lose. Your brain doesn't shut down exactly, but the chemical imbalances make it so that it goes into like "power save mode", where it only transmits absolutely vital messages. By the time I went into the doctor, I couldn't see color anymore or hear music. My eyes and ears were FINE, but my brain was refusing to process those signals. I had lost my second language as if I had never learned it. There were things that I just COULDN'T do anymore, like be creative. You lose yourself. You don't have any likes or dislikes or hobbies.

And tasks. Tasks are EXHAUSTING. Depression just fatigues you so incredibly, even super easy stuff becomes harder than climbing a mountain. I mean that very literally. On my medication, I run up mountains for fun and it is 200% easier and less exhausting than stepping out onto my front porch to grab my mail was when I was untreated. It's fatigue beyond anything I have ever experienced otherwise. And one of the hard parts is that you've lost so much (colors, music, yourself) that you probably don't have a reason to push through the fatigue.

Depression, while a mental illness, has very real physical symptoms just like any virus or physical illness.

The other hard part is that in order to really conquer depression, you have to fight. Hard. And sometimes you have to fight everyone. It is very hard to mount that kind of fight when you are already exhausted and apathetic. In addition, antidepressants have a stigma, which is absolute bullshit. Also, many of them are not safe for pregnancy. For MOST people, that's OK because when you see your partner this sick, you don't WANT them to have more children. You WANT to focus on their wellness. You want the person back that you married. But Terri had Steve, who cares more about his godly rep than his wife's health. The fight is hard, and Terri would have had a harder fight than most. I barely made it through mine. Does this excuse her? Not fully.

But it is clear to me that Terri was sick. Very sick. And who was it blocking her from care? Who was it forcing her to have more and more children while she was sick and already overwhelmed?

When it comes to horrible things at the Maxwell house, once again, all roads lead back to Steve.

As a preface to what I am about to say, I agree, Steve is the biggest arsehole in Kansas, without a doubt. But I don't think Teri is blameless.

I know what it is to suffer quite long periods of severe depression. I hear what you say about the sense of "losing yourself" and the tiredness... yes, yes, yes, I have several t-shirts of that variety. But I don't entirely give Teri a pass, even though I feel sad for some of her experience. Her behaviour has been consistent over two decades and, as she has recovered from the depression, she seems to have found herself a very strong sense of entitlement and judgement over others. For sure, Steve has abused her mightily, but she has been co-author in the family story. Any sensitive parent would most likely weep with regret when seeing their children's sad childhood played back to them in Sarah's stories, but Teri capitalises on what she put her kids through and rewrites history as being one Sweet Journey from which she learned so much she now qualifies as Titus2 woman, mentoring others for Jesus.

I hear a steely edge to Teri's voice in the video clips on titus2. I "hear" it in her books too. And I sense more than a hint of passive aggression in her behaviour too. If people disagree with her or don't keep up with her bible schedule, it's their fault, nothing to do with her boring bible study, they are "unteachable". At the start of Sweet Journey she urges readers to do their homework and as motivation to imagine having to meet her and see how disappointed she is with them, if they fail. If people at the airport wear different clothes to her family, they lack modesty and become simply a teaching tool for her children to watch and learn how not to dress. Steve forgot to bring pizza home? Too bad, it would have been unsubmissive to phone him. Everyone will have to go without and then HE will be the one repenting at bible time.

If it were any other family, I would smile at the hide and seek story in Summer Days. Which of us hasn't counted an extra 100 before getting up from our comfy chair to play yet.another.game? :whistle: But given what we know about how Sarah keeps an "Ideas File" from every dredged up memory in order to fill her books, it is very sad to think that her best and worst anecdotes from her childhood all revolve around arrogant arsehole Dad and emotionally absent, controlling Mom.

On the depression issue, I think, from my own experience, and from what I have seen of others, there is quite a complex interplay between what depression "does to us" and how depression also draws out and amplifies what was there all along. And in any long-term illness, the concept of "secondary gain" comes into play. For quite a long time, she set the schoolwork, Sarah and the older boys supervised and Dad came home and dealt with any "trouble" at the end of each day. To this day Teri and Sarah have their bible times in their beds in the morning, while the younger ones go downstairs with Dad - sort of like how the married women on Downton Abbey get to have breakfast in bed, while the singleton sisters have to be dressed and downstairs. Teri is celebrated (more than the graduate themselves sometimes!) at each graduation, despite having done fuckety fuck all in the way of actually educating the children.

For sure Steve is a bastardy fuckwit and my least favourite of all fundies, but instead of ever squaring up to him as the other adult in the family, Teri went off to cry in bed and passed the hurt on to her children - not just during the worst of her depression but for years and years on end.

Teri is to the biblical Titus2 woman what Michelle Duggar is to Mother of the Year, IMO. :snooty:

[FloraKitty35]

I don't think I would mind being a Maxwell neighbor either. I think I would be perpetually inviting them over and being super nice even when they told me I was going to hell. The niceness would drive Steve insane.

:lol:

[MamaJunebug]

Kinda on the topic of Maxhell books.

Remember how indignant they became at the thought of libraries carrying copies of MOTH, etc., lest people who didn't buy the books - and thus had no right to see them - were actually able to peruse the material?

Well, that's seemingly something else Steve has in common with GotHard. Over on Spiritual Sounding Board there are stories of how GotHard believers are loathe to even show ATI/IBLP materials to families who aren't in the program.

There are also similarities being noticed between $cientology's "Blow Squads" and ATI's methods of dealing with runaways from the motherships.

And we wonder that Prince Hot John hasn't tried to bolt.

The info is among the Sunday 31 May comments on the "Victims of Bill GotHard" thread.

Cults is as cults does.

[VodouDoll]

Okay, I just have to ask, how do you pronounce Gothard? In my head I read it like goatherd but I'm sure that's not right.

Blessalessi, if I could give your comment a standing ovation via Internet I would. So well-put.

[blessalessi]

Why thank you, voudoo! :)

I pronounce it GOTH- ard (goth to rhyme with moth and ard to rhyme with lard)

For fun I typed "neighbour" into the titus2 search box. The only thing that came up were bible verses from Sarah, and snarky comments that HAVE to be from people here because they referenced the Neighbours soap opera theme song. :lol: Along with one post about a visit with the Maxwell neighbours ... the family members next door! blog.titus2.com/2014/03/29/a-neighborly-invitation/

So FormerGothardite, I think you might be very lonely and have noone to be nice to, if you move to Kansas. They dont seem to do much to neighbours except sing to them at Christmas. :mrgreen: