Rachel Dolezal raised Fundy?

[justoneoftwo]

It seems to be that Rachel Dolezal was raised fundy, and people are claiming that this may relate to her wanting to change identities.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/20 ... sheds.html

Anyone with expertise have thoughts on this? Is this common/likely/something psychologists would predict?

[Black Aliss]

It's being discussed in WWoS, but maybe the fundie angle means the conversation should be here.

[apandaaries]

Oh my! That's an entirely different angle on this already beyond bizarre story. I had wondered about that, given the adopted siblings and how the parents went to South Africa for awhile with some of the brood. This whole story, though.... :pink-shock:

[justoneoftwo]

Sorry if this should go/be merged with something else, I just thought it was an interesting angle.

I also had wondered, but there is more there than I knew.

[nelliebelle1197]

Yes, they are typical fundie creationists out adopting in Africa. I heard she was homeschooled as well. Does not change the fact she is a pretty rotten person.

[justoneoftwo]

Yes, they are typical fundie creationists out adopting in Africa. I heard she was homeschooled as well. Does not change the fact she is a pretty rotten person.

Oh no doubt she is a rotten person, I'm mostly wondering if there is insight as to why she is the particular brand of rotten, as it seems uncommon.

[JesusPony]

Her other siblings' names that I have seen mentioned are Ezra, Joshua, Izaiah and Esther, which together seem kinda fundie. From Rachel's childhood photos I can't tell if she was wearing frumpers or was just unfashionable.

[December]

One of the articles I read suggested they adopted because of their anti-abortion views. Another said the family was (maybe were?) Pentecostal. Their whole family situation seems pretty messed up. More angles coming out every day. Just read that her brother was accused of molesting one of the younger kids. In these situations it seems when one scandal's discovered, a few more follow.

The first day this broke, I remember saying to someone that there must be more to the story. Cause she must have some issues that caused her to deceive people about her heritage to this extent. :wtf:

[Elegant Mess]

Hmmm, very interesting perspective on this story. :think:

The article suggests that her parents were adherents of that *pearl* of wisdom known as To Train Up a Child.

[Howl]

Oh ma gosh and gollies. This is one massive whirling mess of fundy fall out.

The bio brother, named Joshua and also a college professor, has written a memoir and has also been charged with sexual abuse of a child.

Rachel is the legal guardian of one of her younger adopted brothers, who went to court to be emancipated from his parents (because of physical abuse).

The parents think that Joshua was set up by Rachel for the sexual abuse allegations in order to gain custody of this adopted sibling and have "outed" Rachel in retaliation, even though Rachel has not had interactions with them for years.

The father, Larry Dolezal, worked for Creation Ministries International and was charged in 1999 with felony theft though the charges were later dismissed.

The dad says allegations of physical abuse of Rachel and Joshua as children are just silly, but according to R.L. Stollar at Homeschoolers Anonymous, the Dolezals did abuse their very young children in public

We have also heard testimonies from numerous homeschool alumni who grew up knowing the Dolezal family that frequent and significant child abuse occurred in the family. The parents allegedly forced both Rachel and her older, biological brother Joshua to beat their younger, adopted siblings with plumbing supply line and two foot long glue sticks, a practice inspired by Michael and Debi Pearl’s book, To Train Up a Child. (Forced sibling-to-sibling corporal punishment is sadly not uncommon in some homeschooling circles.)

Head over to homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com and read:

The Media Is Doing Exactly What Rachel Dolezal’s Abusive Homeschooling Parents Want

From Carmen Green, homeschool alumna and an attorney who specializes in the First Amendment, child abuse law, and homeschooling regulations.

Every time we go after Rachel, we are doing exactly what her abusive parents want. Read their quotes. Their tone, their word choice–it’s what I’ve seen again and again from abusive parents, hiding behind their own self-righteousness. They want you to hate Rachel. They want you to believe that she is lying about them. They want you to hurt her.

99% of the people reading about this woman will have no understanding of the significance of her fundy background. The other 1% will be Free Jinger readers and fundy escapees.

Edited to add that there has been no indication that the child who was sexually abused is the same child that sought emancipation from the parents and is now living with Rachel.

[louisa05]

Her background doesn't give her a free pass to lie, make false police reports, or be something she is not, though. So I can't really agree that it is helping the parents when people point that out. It would appear that the whole family, Rachel included, is a disaster area of pathologies.

Instead of giving her a pass on her behavior, the whole thing should be a warning of how these extreme fundie lifestyles can really affect people.

Of course, I was just told I'm a white supremacist on another site because I "insist" on calling her stories (including the ones she admitted were not true--like living in South Africa and being beaten with a "baboon whip") lies. :roll:

[Firiel]

Her background doesn't give her a free pass to lie, make false police reports, or be something she is not, though. So I can't really agree that it is helping the parents when people point that out. It would appear that the whole family, Rachel included, is a disaster area of pathologies.

Instead of giving her a pass on her behavior, the whole thing should be a warning of how these extreme fundie lifestyles can really affect people.

Of course, I was just told I'm a white supremacist on another site because I "insist" on calling her stories (including the ones she admitted were not true--like living in South Africa and being beaten with a "baboon whip") lies. :roll:

A white supremacist for not believing the stories of a person who is a documented liar?

The Internet is such a strange place...

[nelliebelle1197]

One of the articles I read suggested they adopted because of their anti-abortion views. Another said the family was (maybe were?) Pentecostal. Their whole family situation seems pretty messed up. More angles coming out every day. Just read that her brother was accused of molesting one of the younger kids. In these situations it seems when one scandal's discovered, a few more follow.

The first day this broke, I remember saying to someone that there must be more to the story. Cause she must have some issues that caused her to deceive people about her heritage to this extent. :wtf:

Actually the parents seem pretty average. The molestation accusation was something Rachel apparently made up in order to gain custody of the boy and she manipulated the adopted sister into lying. That was reported in NYDN or then NYP i think.

[Firiel]

Actually the parents seem pretty average. The molestation accusation was something Rachel apparently made up in order to gain custody of the boy and she manipulated the adopted sister into lying. That was reported in NYDN or then NYP i think.

Do you have a link by any chance?

[Howl]

Her background doesn't give her a free pass to lie, make false police reports, or be something she is not, though. So I can't really agree that it is helping the parents when people point that out. It would appear that the whole family, Rachel included, is a disaster area of pathologies.

Instead of giving her a pass on her behavior, the whole thing should be a warning of how these extreme fundie lifestyles can really affect people.

Of course, I was just told I'm a white supremacist on another site because I "insist" on calling her stories (including the ones she admitted were not true--like living in South Africa and being beaten with a "baboon whip") lies. :roll:

Well, her parents background as Christian Fundamentalists does not give them a free pass to lie, claim police reports are false, or be seen to be something they are not.

Although not using these exact words, they are definitely into the "My daughter is rebellious and bitter" and that is why she is lying about us mode.

When homeschool alumni that knew the family report that they witnessed the Dolezal parents physically abuse their children in public, I tend to believe them.

I know I sound snappy and attack-ish but let me add the 2nd paragraph from Carmen Green's comments at Homeschooler's Anonymous that really influenced my current thinking on this issue:

Abuse victims are complicated people. They can and do hurt others. They can and do make awful decisions. But blaming and pointing fingers at them without acknowledging the searing impact of child abuse doesn’t help anyone but their abusers–who want, more than anything, for you to believe that everything is the victim’s fault.

[JesusPony]

Wow. The crazy runs wide and deep in this family. It seems like the fundie obsession with converting and adopting black/African children may have turned into a weird envy thing for Rachel. I'm trying to figure out if all of her younger siblings are black or mixed race. At least 3 are (Ezra, Izaiah, Esther). Maybe she didn't feel as special because she was born into fundiedom and not chosen to be "rescued" by her White Savior parents.

It makes me wonder how many more fundie kid meltdowns we're going to see in the coming years. I'm thinking a whole lot.

[December]

Do you have a link by any chance?

No idea what's true or false yet... seems like the accusations are flying pretty heavily from both sides. This Daily Mail (take their articles with a grain of salt, obviously) links to her sister's blog.

dailymail .co.uk/news/article-3128309/Rachel-Dolezal-s-adopted-black-sister-20-says-fully-supports-blog-post.html

itsthelife17 .blogspot.com/

I'm sure this isn't the last we'll hear about this whole deal. Ironically, my SO and I were thinking of visiting the Spokane area in the next few weeks. Guess we're putting that idea off for a bit, it's probably crawling with reporters!

[apandaaries]

Actually the parents seem pretty average. The molestation accusation was something Rachel apparently made up in order to gain custody of the boy and she manipulated the adopted sister into lying. That was reported in NYDN or then NYP i think.

So they say...but I'm not finding the parents especially reliable, either. Anyone who responds to reports of sexual molestation with, "Nope! You're lying! I'm here all the time and there's no way that could happen," gets a suspicious side eye from me. And that's what I've heard from her mother's quotes.

I think the parents present as fairly average, but if the dad was sued and they gave birth out in the woods and were closely aligned with Pentecostalism and followed the Pearl's "training" advice....Then there is more there. Obviously there are lots of issues amongst the siblings as well.

Fundie fallout season is just beginning, I suppose. Wonder what other information will come out...

[December]

So they say...but I'm not finding the parents especially reliable, either. Anyone who responds to reports of sexual molestation with, "Nope! You're lying! I'm here all the time and there's no way that could happen," gets a suspicious side eye from me. And that's what I've heard from her mother's quotes.

I think the parents present as fairly average, but if the dad was sued and they gave birth out in the woods and were closely aligned with Pentecostalism and followed the Pearl's "training" advice....Then there is more there. Obviously there are lots of issues amongst the siblings as well.

Fundie fallout season is just beginning, I suppose. Wonder what other information will come out...

Judging from her blog, assuming it's legit (link in my last post), it seems like the other daughter has a lot of issues with the parents too.

[Firiel]

Judging from her blog, assuming it's legit (link in my last post), it seems like the other daughter has a lot of issues with the parents too.

Yep, and with her sister, too. It seems like Rachel and the parents are both controlling and manipulative towards the adopted kids-- just the parents are MORE manipulative.

Edited to add that from the sister's account, the parents were absolutely abusive. Rachel's more subtle manipulations were probably a huge relief when compared to the shit her parents pulled.

[nelliebelle1197]

So they say...but I'm not finding the parents especially reliable, either. Anyone who responds to reports of sexual molestation with, "Nope! You're lying! I'm here all the time and there's no way that could happen," gets a suspicious side eye from me. And that's what I've heard from her mother's quotes.

I think the parents present as fairly average, but if the dad was sued and they gave birth out in the woods and were closely aligned with Pentecostalism and followed the Pearl's "training" advice....Then there is more there. Obviously there are lots of issues amongst the siblings as well.

Fundie fallout season is just beginning, I suppose. Wonder what other information will come out...

I found the evidence on HSA to be a little thin and the Carmen Green article without much substance. That saddens me because I usually trust Ryan Stollar 100%. Rachel herself was almost an adult when the TTUAC was published and her older brother was already out of the house. Her homeschooling was apparently limited to just a couple years. Her siblings are all making very different claims. From what I read, the adopted brother who was accused of abuse was later taken by Rachel, who tried to pass him as her bio son. The older brother, from whom most of these abuse accusations fly, has actually been charged with sexually molestation a black girl (which adds another layer to me - did these kids have had really hard time with the adoptions or something?).

I can't link to the articles now (my history is on another device) but there are articles easily found on Buzzfeed and Gawker and the Post website,

[Jasmar]

I had the same response to the HA post yesterday, nelliebelle. I do understand the desire to make sure homeschooling alumni voices are heard and respected, and usually love the HA stuff; even if sometimes I don't 100% agree with something, I like to read the perspectives of ex-homeschoolers. But that post seemed like an unusually knee-jerk response.

[Howl]

Well, this whole thing revolves around issues of family, truth and identity, which makes it hard to look away and easy to have strong opinions.

[apandaaries]

I found the evidence on HSA to be a little thin and the Carmen Green article without much substance. That saddens me because I usually trust Ryan Stollar 100%. Rachel herself was almost an adult when the TTUAC was published and her older brother was already out of the house. Her homeschooling was apparently limited to just a couple years. Her siblings are all making very different claims. From what I read, the adopted brother who was accused of abuse was later taken by Rachel, who tried to pass him as her bio son. The older brother, from whom most of these abuse accusations fly, has actually been charged with sexually molestation a black girl (which adds another layer to me - did these kids have had really hard time with the adoptions or something?).

I can't link to the articles now (my history is on another device) but there are articles easily found on Buzzfeed and Gawker and the Post website,

Yeah, I've read a TON of other articles on her, her family, the term "transracial," and almost everything else under the sun on this odd situation. There are a lot of different voices and almost all are singing different songs (the parents seem to be singing the same lines, though). It's an incredibly strange story and I can't really find any reliable narrators thus far, but I'm very suspicious of both extremes -- Rachel's and Ruthanne & Larry's. I gotta say, those are some rage-filled parents. They are MAD and in attack mode. Parents who behave that way ping my radar. Something is (many things are?) very off. I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle. So incredibly weird all around.

[Geechee Girl]

Everyone in that family needs help. After reading the sister's account, I have no doubt the parents were abusive.

itsthelife17.blogspot.com/2014/01/well-lets-just-say-this-new-year-is-not.html