The Infamous Maxwell Pizza Incident

[happy atheist]

Our newest post count title is "Reverencing My Cheese Paper Sandwich" :dance:

[nausicaa]

Because even if you were attracted to another woman, you have committed and should be strong enough in your convictions to not allow yourself to fall in love with another woman, since men and women can be and are platonic coworkers, friends and colleagues unless they choose not to be? Steve must have zero self control-- it is amazing he would admit this.

BTW, my husband works closely with women clients all across the country. If he said "please, I can't have lunch with you without a male coworker of yours there" I can see many of them being insulted even to the point of dropping him as a vendor. And I'd take him in for a brain scan, because I'd think he had developed a tumor. :?

Wait, the woman offered to bring another man along as well, and it STILL wasn't okay? Even mixed groups going out to lunch aren't okay? So essentially Steve is saying that men and women really just shouldn't associate at all.

[FundieFarmer]

I think Steve asks women not to read his posts so that they can't sinfully use his words against their husbands.

"Steve said I'm as bright as, if not brighter than, the women you work with!"

"Steve says you should go to lunch with me more!"

"Steve says you should allow me to leave our children with other homeschooling moms!"

"You shouldn't go to lunch with other women, because Steve doesn't."

"If you go to lunch with another woman, you might fall into the trap of adultery."

Oh, the places that could go. It's okay for Steve to say it, but not the wives. :roll:

[sparkles]

Wait, the woman offered to bring another man along as well, and it STILL wasn't okay? Even mixed groups going out to lunch aren't okay? So essentially Steve is saying that men and women really just shouldn't associate at all.

In anything other than a family environment, that's pretty much it. It was never explicitly said, but FJers are pretty much in agreement that Steve's refusal to work alongside women was why he was "called home" to work. He seemed to know that he'd be let go, since he was no longer able to do his job, but it did drag on for a year or so before some kind of settlement was reached. Buy out, early retirement, who knows? Steve still got to spin it to make himself look holy(er than thou), even though in reality he was just an uptight, self-righteous douche with a messiah complex.

[nokidsmom]

I would love to know how Steveovah's former coworkers and managers thought of him. He had to have been completely insufferable by the end.

[mango_fandango]

In anything other than a family environment, that's pretty much it. It was never explicitly said, but FJers are pretty much in agreement that Steve's refusal to work alongside women was why he was "called home" to work. He seemed to know that he'd be let go, since he was no longer able to do his job, but it did drag on for a year or so before some kind of settlement was reached. Buy out, early retirement, who knows? Steve still got to spin it to make himself look holy(er than thou), even though in reality he was just an uptight, self-righteous douche with a messiah complex.

At my ebil heathen public school (ie secular) I learnt about Buddhism. Steve's whole attitude sounds like that of a Buddhist monk. They are not allowed to associate with women or even sit on the same bench as them. Then again this is slightly easier for them as they spend most of their time in a monastery.

Steve! You've got the same attitude as an ebil Buddhist! Repent! Repent!

[Cartmann99]

I love that this thread is turning into Maxwell Greatest Hits. In the post mango_fandango links, Teri describes how seeing other kids innocently trick or treating was terrifying her children out of their wits, so they decided to go out to dinner. Then:

Not even The Elderly were immune from this depravity:

Hee.

You know, the Maxwells could have stayed home and invited the other "like-minded families" to have dinner at their house. Then again, getting together with other people and having a good time on Halloween could be interpreted as celebrating the holiday. :o

The Godly solution to Halloween is to stand in a dark closet and pray until the sun comes up on November 1st. :pray:

[VodouDoll]

Yes! Hide, Maxwells! Hide in the basement! There are small children dressed as ninja turtles coming for your mini KitKats! Terrifying!

[Eternalbluepearl]

Claiming that their younger children did not even know the word "Halloween" is not something to brag about. It makes the Maxwells look super creepy and like they are raising their children in a windowless room with no social interaction. So scary. Why do they focus so much on stuff they consider "evil?" Just ignore it. Go out on Halloween, visit with your "like-minded friends," see people, tell your kids they are just costumes and decorations and it's all okay.

[anjulibai]

At my ebil heathen public school (ie secular) I learnt about Buddhism. Steve's whole attitude sounds like that of a Buddhist monk. They are not allowed to associate with women or even sit on the same bench as them. Then again this is slightly easier for them as they spend most of their time in a monastery.

Steve! You've got the same attitude as an ebil Buddhist! Repent! Repent!

Huh? I've met a number of Buddhist monks over the years, and none had any issue associating with women. Two offered to share their lunch with me.

[nausicaa]

At my ebil heathen public school (ie secular) I learnt about Buddhism. Steve's whole attitude sounds like that of a Buddhist monk. They are not allowed to associate with women or even sit on the same bench as them. Then again this is slightly easier for them as they spend most of their time in a monastery.

Steve! You've got the same attitude as an ebil Buddhist! Repent! Repent!

Hell, Steve's got a hell of a lot in common with fundamentalist Muslims. Something to think about Steve...

[mango_fandango]

Huh? I've met a number of Buddhist monks over the years, and none had any issue associating with women. Two offered to share their lunch with me.

Ah, sorry. I might have got that wrong. Or maybe I'm referring to a stricter sect, IDK.

[DowntownAbbey]

If this was Sarah writing, then I'm not surprised it was phrased like that. This is the author of the weirdly formal and stilted Moody books.

Speaking of old posts, how about the Halloween one from November 1st 2000? The one by Teri rather than Steve. Steve's one is all about why he doesn't let Teri spend time alone with another man with occasional bits of "Halloween is EVIL and there is NO justification in celebrating it!!" and plenty of Bible verses. Teri's more in-depth explanation is.... well... :pink-shock: to say the least.

Spoiler: the paragraph about the waitress at the restaurant is probably the most ridiculous thing I have EVER seen on the Tits2 blog. Now, that may be because I'm not as au fait with the Maxwells as other FJers, but still.... it's mental. Absolutely mental.

articles.titus2.com/halloween/

*documentary narrator voice* And here we so how isolationism evolves in fundie households over time. Look closely at how it started with doubts, always linked to accepting Christ, and then grows over a period of 10-15 years into being "happily content closing the blinds, turning off the porch lights" every Halloween. Watch how the fundie mother emphasizes the effectiveness of such isolation in that the "younger children didn’t even know the word “Halloween†for many years" and Halloween lights were mistaken for Christmas lights. This isolationism even keeps children away from doing the Lord's work in nursing homes because of the supposed depravity of senior citizens.

[ILoveJellybeans]

The only way Teri could not realise she was eating paper is because she is dead inside.

[DowntownAbbey]

Also, this exclaimer: "Special Note: Steve has asked that moms please not read the Dad’s Corner unless your husband has read it first." articles.titus2.com/2000/11/

Sure Stevehova :cray-cray: :nenner:

He's elaborated on it more in another post:

Before you read any Dad’s Corner, may I share a caution? Dad’s Corners are from a father’s heart to another father’s heart. It is our desire that these Corners would build the family up and never create a controversy between a husband and wife. It is possible to undermine our goal if a mom read and agreed with a Dad’s Corner and the husband didn’t. Never would we want to undermine respect for Dad in the direction he has chosen for the family. Therefore, we would encourage moms not to read Dad’s Corners first, unless as a couple, you have discussed and agreed who should read the Dad’s Corner first.

[nausicaa]

Ah, sorry. I might have got that wrong. Or maybe I'm referring to a stricter sect, IDK.

No expert on Buddhism here, but I have heard of Tibetan monks who are not allowed to touch or interact with women. However, my friend is a Japanese Zen Buddhist, and his married uncle is a monk. So I'm guessing it varies by sect.

[nokidsmom]

He's elaborated on it more in another post:

Good lord, he has to tell his readers how to read his Dad's Corners? He's this worried about the dad being undermined and possibly create controversy over the shit he writes? :cray-cray:

Can only imagine how much everyone in Maxhell has to tiptoe around Steveovah in order not to "undermine" him.

[happy atheist]

Say hello to our newest post count title: My Kids Have Never Even Heard of Halloween

[usmcmom]

Good lord, he has to tell his readers how to read his Dad's Corners? He's this worried about the dad being undermined and possibly create controversy over the shit he writes? :cray-cray:

Can only imagine how much everyone in Maxhell has to tiptoe around Steveovah in order not to "undermine" him.

It really shows how hard he tries to control EVERYTHING in his life. I don't think he gives a flying fig about causing discourse in some faceless readers' marriages. He just wants to control everybody and everything.

I wonder how much control he has over his married sons' households. I get the feeling, even they defer to him on how to run things in their separate little wings of the compound.

[anjulibai]

By Steve's logic, the dad should also read the Mom's Corners first, too, as there might be something in it the dad might disagree with but the mom does.

[mango_fandango]

Say hello to our newest post count title: My Kids Have Never Even Heard of Halloween

Wow, you're on a roll happy atheist!!

[kpmom]

Good lord, he has to tell his readers how to read his Dad's Corners? He's this worried about the dad being undermined and possibly create controversy over the shit he writes? :cray-cray:

Can only imagine how much everyone in Maxhell has to tiptoe around Steveovah in order not to "undermine" him.

Steve really believes his articles are that important? That one of his silly four or five paragraph articles could actually sew discord in other people's marriages? :lol: What a complete ass.

[twin2]

I've been trying to find my other "favorite" Maxwell story, with no luck. The one where Steve and Teri take Sarah to the airport to judge how women are dressed....

[VodouDoll]

Ask and you shall receive!

One of the most helpful things we did was when we had a school assignment on dressing modestly. There were some very specific examples with drawings given of eye traps. These were styles of womens clothing that draw the eye away from the face and to other parts of the body. Some were a revelation to me! I had to go to my husband and ask, Steve, if you see a woman with a slit in her skirt does it draw your eyes to her legs? We went through each of the examples and he confirmed that they were eye traps for men. We also went to the airport and sat the family in a busy spot. We watched the people specifically watching mens eyes as they looked at women with some of these clothing styles on. Ugh! What a lesson for our daughter!

Sarah and I discuss our clothing when we are shopping, sewing, or something is given to us in light of its modesty and how it looks on us. We style show for Steve getting his opinion as a man and the head of our home on something we might wonder about. We have some styles that we know we would not wear; no discussion or decisions there. Other things will sometimes depend on how the outfit actually fits.

Sarah has come away with a great modest- but-lovely way of dressing. She is out of vogue with some of the girls in our church. Quite often this is a topic of conversation between she and I that she will bring up after church. It will go something like this, Mom, did you notice what so and so had on today? I dont understand how she can choose to dress like that. I wonder why her parents dont encourage her to dress modestly. She and I are quite aware of this because we know that my husband, twenty-three year old and twenty year old sons are sitting there in church with us, easily able to observe any clothing (and the one wearing it) that isnt modest.

Source: http://forums.preparingdaughters.com/forums/t/3352/

This is also the no contrasting buttons post. That rule was tossed for some reason when Mary hit her teens. The conversations Teri recounts where Sarah trashes the other girls at church behind their backs for not dressing like the Maxwells reads to me like Sarah was just desperate for her mother's approval and sucking up.

[FundieFarmer]

I don't think he cares about causing strife in others' marriages as much as he'd be afraid it would cause him to lose readers or credibility.

As far as the airport...apparently that's a common practice in those circles.