Erika Shupe *fake smile* Large Families on Purpose *cringe*

[upkacrane]

My parents are super catholic. I was agnostic at the time my daughter was born, now I'm an atheist. When she was born, my mom nearly had a stroke when I refused to have her baptized, she said she'd do it behind my back. Since she was bffs with the priest, and I was a teenager, I think she could've done it. I had a conniption, and told her if she did, then she'd never see my daughter or me ever again. I don't think baptism means anything, so I guess I could've let her do what makes her happy, but that wasn't the point. The point was her outright disrespect for the way I planned to raise my daughter, and I knew that if I allowed the baptism, she would undermine me on every decision until my daughter was 18. I'm glad I stood my ground because it was the principle that mattered. Setting boundaries with my mom has been challenging, but so, so worth it.

Same here! My super-Catholic grandmother was absolutely appalled when my parents told her they were not going to have me baptised. We are absolutely certain she had me baptised as soon as she had the opportunity...and yes, it was totally about control and to override my parents' choice. The Catholic church had already officially decreed that there is no such thing as the infamous 'Limbo' (for children who die unbaptised before the age of reason). Funny thing is I did eventually choose to be baptised when I grew up...hope baptism is not like double negation, you know, the second one cancelling out the first :D

[mango_fandango]

I dunno how fundie Erika's family is--the photograph of them on Bob Shupe's page makes them look non-fundie. There's even a woman in shorts and a little girl in a sleeveless sundress.

I think her family are Christian. Her mom certainly is. But her mom still wears pants. I think Erika said somewhere that they still get together and so on, there are just things they don't discuss. And Erika's girls wear sleeveless dresses a lot- I think they're just wearing the red t-shirts that day because a) 4th July, patriotism, etc and b) it's one of Erika's strategies to keep an eye on her kids when they're on a field trip/out together. Brandon down to Spencer are all wearing the same t-shirt, red with the Stars and Stripes on it. I just think Erika is the most fundie sibling. Wonder why? Her younger sister Heidi has four kids. Erika's sisters are much younger than she is, though- when Erika was 18/19 and in college, her sisters were 6 and 3. (This is also the age Erika's mom began homeschooling them.)

(As an aside) I AM A BODILY FLUID PERFORMANCE ARTIST! Off to piss on a squirrel BRB

[defraudingjezebel]

I think her family are Christian. Her mom certainly is. But her mom still wears pants. I think Erika said somewhere that they still get together and so on, there are just things they don't discuss. And Erika's girls wear sleeveless dresses a lot- I think they're just wearing the red t-shirts that day because a) 4th July, patriotism, etc and b) it's one of Erika's strategies to keep an eye on her kids when they're on a field trip/out together. Brandon down to Spencer are all wearing the same t-shirt, red with the Stars and Stripes on it. I just think Erika is the most fundie sibling. Wonder why? Her younger sister Heidi has four kids. Erika's sisters are much younger than she is, though- when Erika was 18/19 and in college, her sisters were 6 and 3. (This is also the age Erika's mom began homeschooling them.)

(As an aside) I AM A BODILY FLUID PERFORMANCE ARTIST! Off to piss on a squirrel BRB

Yeah, I don't get the sense that Erika's family is fundie. Perhaps conservative Christians but not fundie.

I agree with DaffyDill above that Erika was attracted to fundamental Christianity because of how black and white the worldview is. There are strict rules and they apply to everyone. No need to think critically- just follow the rules entirely. Its the same reason why she was attracted by the Maxwell chorepacks and whatnot- they promote control and complete uniformity. I don't get the sense that Bob's family was too religious at all and honestly, I don't get the sense that he's nearly as spiritual as Erika is. He just goes along with her because fundamentalism technically gives him the say-so in most matters so he just goes with the flow.

[zadie]

I really wonder what Erika would do if bob put his foot down over something important. What if he said "we are celebrating Halloween this year and that final!"

I think her head would explode. She wouldn't know how to stay submissive and not celebrate satanic Halloween.

Or she would just explode at bob and not listen to him at all. Hmm.

[princessmahina]

I find it interesting that Erika has the same haircut as her mother. Whisps and all.

I wonder if he mother is also a control freak?

[defraudingjezebel]

I find it interesting that Erika has the same haircut as her mother. Whisps and all.

I wonder if he mother is also a control freak?

I noticed that too! The same exact haircut, down to the "wispy" bangs. They also have the same faces. Considering her mom home schooled, too, I wouldn't be surprised if the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in matters of control issues, either.

[mango_fandango]

I noticed that too! The same exact haircut, down to the "wispy" bangs. They also have the same faces. Considering her mom home schooled, too, I wouldn't be surprised if the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in matters of control issues, either.

Erika's mom only started homeschooling when Erika was already in college, which I think coincided with when her mom "truly" became a Christian, as in more fundie. Oh, and apparently her mom is called Kaaren (which is a Scandinavian spelling). Erika, Leif (Erika's brother), Heidi... it's all Scandinavian. And we know who Karen (the daughter) is named after.

[Seven Severn]

Do we know what Erika's maiden name is? Or is that something we shouldn't look in to? :shrug:

[ViolaSebastian]

Do we know what Erika's maiden name is? Or is that something we shouldn't look in to? :shrug:

If it's wrong, I don't wanna be right. (And if you stalk that photo on Bob's page, it's fairly easy to figure out...)

On another note, her brother's facebook is in league with Bob's...and he thinks National Report is a serious news organization. :cray-cray:

[Seven Severn]

If it's wrong, I don't wanna be right. (And if you stalk that photo on Bob's page, it's fairly easy to figure out...)

On another note, her brother's facebook is in league with Bob's...and he thinks National Report is a serious news organization. :cray-cray:

I'm not on Facebook, so I can't see the picture over there. If you're OK with giving the answer here, please do so, or just PM me, if you don't mind.

[princessmahina]

I prowled about on Erika's facebook for a minute, and found something interesting. She may have cut ties with his father and stepfather, but they're on very good terms with his mother. I wonder why she's never written/posted about her?

[defraudingjezebel]

I really wonder what Erika would do if bob put his foot down over something important. What if he said "we are celebrating Halloween this year and that final!"

I think her head would explode. She wouldn't know how to stay submissive and not celebrate satanic Halloween.

Or she would just explode at bob and not listen to him at all. Hmm.

I think she would get pretty upset with him and not exactly be the meek, submissive wife a la Teri Maxwell. Erika's made a few references in her blog posts about getting upset with Bob and Bob shutting down and not wanting to have anything to do with it.

As an aside, Erika is one of those poor, brainwashed women who think men are completely unable to deal with women's emotions and concerns. She totally makes excuses by why Bob shuts down on her when she is having a problem. Its because he's a man and apparently men "aren't wired for that." Ok.... :roll:

[lizzybee]

In response to some of the speculation about how controlled Erica's kids are, I can say, I grew up in a home with a very controlling stepmother. We weren't religious and she wasn't a neat freak but the rules were similar. I literally couldn't do anything without her permission - I could not eat, use the phone, use the internet, watch television, listen to music,go outside, go to the basement, even enter the kitchen without her permission. I wasn't homeschooled but everything I did was micromanaged and every decision was 100%. She literally went with me to prom - literally went into the dance with me. Like some people say the Shupe kids do, I resented it and I hated her. For her, the feeling was mutual. Making sure I couldn't move without her permission though, she loved that.

Anyway, as an adult I find that the biggest thing for me is that I am really attracted to rules. I think it's why I dabbled in being fundie. I LIKED the idea of their being rules about everything and standards for living. Making decisions for myself still makes me really uncomfortable and it's anxiety inducing and I struggle with it daily. I got sucked into fundie-life because I thought, "heck yes, they're so happy and fulfilled and they have a prescription for life!" It probably sounds weird, I get that, but I didn't even mind that everything online said the IFB/Gothard were cultish, I'd come lurk here and tell myself that y'all were just all mean and judgmental. It wasn't until I got into it that I saw that it wasn't as idealistic and Leave it to Beaverish as it was in my fantasy, it was much scarier and soul crushing for those that truly drank the koolaid.

Anyway my hypothesis is that the kids probably resent her or will resent her the older they get, but allowing for different personality types - some of her kids could definitely spread wings and thrive - there is a good chance that there will be some kids however who are just like fish out of water when it comes to adulting. They'll probably stick to the standards of their parents because not having structure could be anxiety inducing or get sucked into some other kind of cult-like behavior because it gives them back the structure they grew up accustomed to.

[zadie]

Hey guys she replied!

"Because he has a sense of humor and thinks it's funny how other people think sometimes. wink emoticon"

Nice try Erika. But throwing shade is not your forte.

[zadie]

I can't believe in one week I've called out fundies on fb and contributed to sleuthing about a family. I feel like there's some FJ bingo card I should be filling out.

[sockinshoe]

Hey guys she replied!

"Because he has a sense of humor and thinks it's funny how other people think sometimes. wink emoticon"

Nice try Erika. But throwing shade is not your forte.

Respond with "I find it troubling that he allows these sinful beliefs to get more airtime. While I understand that these jokes are merely jokes, less godly people might take this as permission to engage in Halloween. I am worried that, while trying to be good, Christian examples, you might be mistakenly leading people astray." Put her on notice.

[16strong]

Hey guys she replied!

"Because he has a sense of humor and thinks it's funny how other people think sometimes. wink emoticon"

Nice try Erika. But throwing shade is not your forte.

What?! :evil-eye: That's the answer she's going with? What I see is that basically, she doesn't have a good response, so she decided to pull the "Lulz, just kidding, it was a joke you guyz!" card. :doh:

[defraudingjezebel]

What?! :evil-eye: That's the answer she's going with? What I see is that basically, she doesn't have a good response, so she decided to pull the "Lulz, just kidding, it was a joke you guyz!" card. :doh:

Its such a piss-poor answer. She's clearly trying to act like she thinks nothing of it but I guarantee you that she is embarrassed. She was admonishing people just days ago about even giving the appearance that they celebrated Halloween and her husband is doing something similar, albeit on a much larger and more public scale. Boy, does she have egg on her face now.

[Koala]

So let me get this straight. Erika just told a woman that her kids were damaging their "witness" by dressing up as superheros, but Bob can post Halloween memes on FB because he's supposedly just making fun of other people (although he indicates nothing of the kind). And of course making fun of people doesn't damage Bob's witness :roll:

[zadie]

Respond with "I find it troubling that he allows these sinful beliefs to get more airtime. While I understand that these jokes are merely jokes, less godly people might take this as permission to engage in Halloween. I am worried that, while trying to be good, Christian examples, you might be mistakenly leading people astray." Put her on notice.

I would love to but my fb is way too obviously unchristian lol. She's gonna know I'm just fucking with her. Someone else should do it. Too bad no one knows that fundie catfish fb lol

[zadie]

Its such a piss-poor answer. She's clearly trying to act like she thinks nothing of it but I guarantee you that she is embarrassed. She was admonishing people just days ago about even giving the appearance that they celebrated Halloween and her husband is doing something similar, albeit on a much larger and more public scale. Boy, does she have egg on her face now.

She is def embarrassed. When I saw her response I practically cackled with glee. :dance:

[sockinshoe]

I would love to but my fb is way too obviously unchristian lol. She's gonna know I'm just fucking with her. Someone else should do it. Too bad no one knows that fundie catfish fb lol

Ugh I can't either. My fb is full of ungodly liberalism and references to *gasp* college.

[zadie]

Ugh I can't either. My fb is full of ungodly liberalism and references to *gasp* college.

*GASP* Not college! The horror!

I'm tempted to just be nasty and response with "I think it's funny how people think sometimes too! Like hypocritical fundies for example!"

But I don't want her to ban me just yet in case there's something else I can call her out on.

[formergothardite]

Well she got that answer from Bullshit Mountain. :shifty-kitty: I bet she spent a long time trying to come up with a reply.

[Antimony]

I think the BEST response would be to copy paste exactly what she said to another reader; ". And to others Bob still appear to be celebrating. Outside appearances do matter."

Then offer to pray for Bob.