Let's Go Down the FJ Fundie Rabbit Hole!

[punkiepie]

I lurked on the old Yuku site for 4 years before the Rapture and then I emerged from lurkdom 4 years ago; that's 8 years of Fundie reading! For the most part, I feel like I know a whole helluva a lot about our fundies- be they the famous Maxwells and Duggars or the more historical and/or obscure people like Emily and Dna, Ian and Larissa, and latisha and Chad. BUT, today, forthe first time, I heard about Josh Beasley- he who shot and killed his wife of 3months "playing a game" and I got sucked down the fj rabbit hole! How could I not have known about this, I mean, I know about the Wissmans, so how did I miss this?! Which got me thinking- What else don't I know?!

Which brings me to the topic- I think it would be fun, as well as a good newbie education tool, to write about the old, and maybe not as famous, FJ favorite fundies and rehash the best jaw-dropping stories that we've either forgotten or never knew.

Mine is Josh Beasley. There are several threads and I'm just starting, so inwould recommend doing a search of his name and going down the rabbit hole that way.

Can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

[HighlandCow]

I would love to see photos of the Yates bus. It sounds like hell.

[blessalessi]

There is too much going on right now to go back through old threads! My brain is full already!!11!! :D

But when things go quiet I have Emily under 1000, and Jill Rodrigues on my list of fundies I'd like to read more about. :mrgreen:

[ladyamylynn]

I would suggest Jocelyn and the Love Rod for some entertainment.

[twin2]

I so wish I would have been part of FJ when Emily was blogging. But sadly, I joined after she closed up shop. The willful ignorance of that one is almost beyond words.

[mango_fandango]

I joined another snark site before this one and that introduced me to Erika Shupe of Large Families on Purpose. I got sucked down that particular rabbit hole HARD. She is still my main fundie. I don't remember where I first heard of the Duggars, Bateses and Maxwells, but this forum introduced me to them. I love the Family Summaries section/archives because you can go back for yonks. I also dipped into Sparkling Lauren (not quite a fundie, I think) and a bit into PP and Zsu, but honestly those two fucking terrify me. It took me a LONG time to be able to bring myself to watch any of 19KaC, and no way am I going to watch any of PP's stuff.

I think I'd like to find out a little more about JRod. Although the fact that she's a major suck-up, 80s throwback and is a mega-grifter kinda sounds like enough... but that's what fundies are like. Trainwrecks- you shouldn't look, but you feel drawn towards them.

[violynn]

I follow the adventures of Shannon and Brian and their ever-growing family on her 5 Kids 6 Months blog. I think their family is starting to fall down the fundie rabbit hole themselves, I've watched them 'discover' more fundie homeschool materials, the modest dressing began lately...it's super distressing on some days. Then I get a day like yesterday when Shannon comments on her FB page about Josh and his cheating evil self and I'm so very :cracking-up: :worship: :lol: with her reaction! She is so peeved at Josh and even suggests Anna leaving him for a while at least.

So I think I'm gonna have to find a more committed fundie. Shannon has too much good sense after all!

[Kiracee]

I also dipped into Sparkling Lauren (not quite a fundie, I think) and a bit into PP and Zsu, but honestly those two fucking terrify me. It took me a LONG time to be able to bring myself to watch any of 19KaC, and no way am I going to watch any of PP's stuff.

I just started following PP and zsu. And then I found out they live about 2 miles from me :/ AZ is so crazy I must have ignored PPs antics on the news and whatnot, because I had no clue these terrifying people live in my town. Also, tempe is a really weird place for them...tempe and phoenix proper are the liberal havens in a sea of red. Maybe it's easier to "win souls" here because we are all heathens?

Edit: wanted to trim the quote, per the big red box :)

[Seven Severn]

Lina and Taliban Tony! Lina was very young and had a blog and was stalked by the older Tony. He convinced her to marry him and they became quasi messianic Jews (or something). They had a kid and Lina would stop and start blogging. Last I saw she was in the process of converting to Catholicism, but that was a while back. Would love to know what she and TT have been up to.

[ladyamylynn]

Lina and Taliban Tony! Lina was very young and had a blog and was stalked by the older Tony. He convinced her to marry him and they became quasi messianic Jews (or something). They had a kid and Lina would stop and start blogging. Last I saw she was in the process of converting to Catholicism, but that was a while back. Would love to know what she and TT have been up to.

They're separated again- she's back to her original last name. She's definitely still Catholic- she posted a bunch of "sanctity of marriage" type stuff when gay marriage passed the Supreme Court, which I found to be pretty rich, all things considered. Tony is in school for computer programming and is still an atheist, as far as I can tell. No word if he still thinks disrespectful women deserve to be stoned to death. He still resembles cro magnon man.

[twin2]

They're separated again- she's back to her original last name. She's definitely still Catholic- she posted a bunch of "sanctity of marriage" type stuff when gay marriage passed the Supreme Court, which I found to be pretty rich, all things considered. Tony is in school for computer programming and is still an atheist, as far as I can tell. No word if he still thinks disrespectful women deserve to be stoned to death. He still resembles cro magnon man.

That marriage didn't last? I'm shocked. Perhaps good old tony is right, and he is "reaping what he sews".

[Fascinated]

I just wish I'd found FJ sooner. There's no way I can ever learn about All of these fundies. I've read, and enjoyed, a lot of the old threads but it will never make up for not being here. I, like so many, adore Jill R and I think she's quite vivacious and possibly a nice person. But the narcissism, the desperate fundie social climbing and the printing ministry and the RV and the job-free husband and...well, she's awesome. (However, the video of her kids in the RV from earlier this year was incredibly disturbing. Those kids made me cry a bit.)

[bionicmlle]

They're separated again- she's back to her original last name. She's definitely still Catholic- she posted a bunch of "sanctity of marriage" type stuff when gay marriage passed the Supreme Court, which I found to be pretty rich, all things considered. Tony is in school for computer programming and is still an atheist, as far as I can tell. No word if he still thinks disrespectful women deserve to be stoned to death. He still resembles cro magnon man.

Didn't they end up having another kid? She pins a ton of stuff about highly emotional children and continues on her quest for the perfect diet - she was pinning vegetarian for awhile, gluten free for awhile... it goes on. Remember when she was kosher and raw? Loved that.

Personally, I've always been intrigued by Laurel, originally I'm Ghana Adopt but now New Journey of Faith. That's a whole lotta mess. Let's not start talking about her, though, because I'm afraid she'll disappear again and she is just about to have a new grand baby whose parents aren't married. I'm hoping she will be gracious after her extended time away! :cracking-up:

[Daisy4]

I have often wondered what is up with Amy from "dailypleasures". I think she was pregnant with her 13th child when she made they blog private. Her husband sounded like such an asshole that I honestly still worry about her children.

[16strong]

I just wish I'd found FJ sooner. There's no way I can ever learn about All of these fundies. I've read, and enjoyed, a lot of the old threads but it will never make up for not being here. I, like so many, adore Jill R and I think she's quite vivacious and possibly a nice person. But the narcissism, the desperate fundie social climbing and the printing ministry and the RV and the job-free husband and...well, she's awesome. (However, the video of her kids in the RV from earlier this year was incredibly disturbing. Those kids made me cry a bit.)

I honestly don't know what I did before Jill R burst onto the scene in a fabulous cloud of glitter and hairspray. She's like the female equivalent of Shrader, but more fabulous and more terrifying.

[AliceInFundyland]

After the Duggars led me here, I took interest of the Polygamy and Sister wives discussion. Then it was Zsu. I did her whole blog and the vast majority of her threads. What made me lose it with her was the denial of Newtown.

Then Sparkling Lauren. I read her whole blog and threads after hearing about Elijah's death. If she ever gets back to posting...I have a lot of thoughts.

Then Erika. She is my least favorite. The dogs. The birds. The poor use of written English. The biggest control freak I've ever seen.

I also like the lady with the crazy wedding dress covered dining room table.

Extremism fascinates me.

I actually can't take the Duggars right now. I have slow burn to anger. Jill and Jessa and the interview broke my heart, and I still had empathy for Josh....I came down more on the side of his being a bad result of his upbringing. And in another thread, someone said that the use of ashleymadison is gross but not really weird. He's one of many. But it's too much. I like Anna (except for the abortion posts). I think she's dealing with some of the -shittiest- things ever and it hurts to think about much.

[princessmahina]

I joined for the Duggars and stayed for the Shupes and the Andersons. I'm not proud to admit that I've read all of Erika's terrible, wall-o-text posts, and nearly all of Zsu's rants and bizarre ramblings. I tried to get into the Rodrigues family, but I just can't keep up with the posts. Moreover, I'm just really horrified by how thin and miserable those children look. Their misery kind of spoils my snark. Jill is really something though :D

[singsingsing]

Autumn, the girl who was engaged/married at 15 or 16 after a courtship. It turned out her husband was an abusive asshole. Her family let her come back home and she divorced him, even though her church was telling her to stay with him and that all husbands treat their wives like that (seriously - he was choking her, pinning her to walls, threatening her with a gun, not to mention the extreme emotional abuse going on as well). I'm pretty sure they left that church and lost a lot of friends, but the family supported Autumn. The family as a whole seems to have become a lot less fundie. Autumn ended up moving away from home, going to college,getting a boyfriend, breaking up with him, getting a job, etc. Last time I checked she seemed to be pretty happy and leading an interesting and fulfilling life, so it's kind of a tragic tale with a happy ending.

[countressrascal]

I so wish I would have been part of FJ when Emily was blogging. But sadly, I joined after she closed up shop. The willful ignorance of that one is almost beyond words.

I miss Emily & DNA to this day. I hope her boys are doing well.

[punkiepie]

Autumn, the girl who was engaged/married at 15 or 16 after a courtship. It turned out her husband was an abusive asshole. Her family let her come back home and she divorced him, even though her church was telling her to stay with him and that all husbands treat their wives like that (seriously - he was choking her, pinning her to walls, threatening her with a gun, not to mention the extreme emotional abuse going on as well). I'm pretty sure they left that church and lost a lot of friends, but the family supported Autumn. The family as a whole seems to have become a lot less fundie. Autumn ended up moving away from home, going to college,getting a boyfriend, breaking up with him, getting a job, etc. Last time I checked she seemed to be pretty happy and leading an interesting and fulfilling life, so it's kind of a tragic tale with a happy ending.

I can't believe I haven't read about Autumn before- what an inspiring girl! I'm going to have to dig into the archives and read some more about her. I tried to find her blog, but it looks like she deleted all the posts from the old one, her current blog is private, and her mom hasn't posted to hers since 2010. I wish there was some way to read Autumn's post where she writes about what happened to her- a bunch of FJ'ers kept mentioning that specific post and how strong she was to write it.

[KnittingOwl]

I miss Emily & DNA to this day. I hope her boys are doing well.

I also wonder about Emily & Dna, especially what's happened to their children.

[JillsFlowerHeadband]

I started out with Emily's blog when I was first divorced because I was looking for ways to save a little money here and there... little did I know... :?

When I first started lurking here I found a thread on Sarah Jane from Romantic History so that was a bonus, I actually really enjoyed looking at her blog and her seamstress work.

Lady Lydia: I find it hard not to get lost in her pink and paper doily labyrinth (complete with curtains in the yard). It's like a dollar store decorated train wreck, I just can't look away, but sadly, she's been fairly quiet lately.

Boobert... oh, Boobert, why did you have to flounce. I miss your manly-man, bull-rasslin, big-as-a-mountain bloviating! Most entertaining load of, well, bull around.

FJ introduced me to Rebecca Eleventy as well and I'll admit she's the closest thing to a pet fundy I'll ever have. She's gone fairly quiet too although that may be because of the Kellums fostering kids, she may just be too busy to blog.

The other families I find weirdly fascinating are the Arndts (because my ex-husband's family had the same dynamic with Mama ruling the roost but on a smaller scale), the Lydia of Purple family (Pa Sabin's little articles he posted on Coleen's website- a treasure trove of crazy) and the Our Little Haven gang (I can't say why, I'm just fascinated with them).

[Defrauding Delilah]

I lurked on the Yuku board. Carri was my first fundie. I started right about the time she announced that she thought she was having twins. That ended up being such a sad story. Emily and Dna were probably my favorite and Autumn was the one I cared most about. I read Anna T's blog for awhile but stopped. I have also read some of Zsu's drivel but it raises my blood pressure too much.

[Mary C Doates]

Doug Phiilips (who is a tool) and his manly men, dressing up and having Hazardous Journeys, which often involved private planes and luxury accommodations. I still peruse the LOLDougs when I need a good laugh. The poll hijack...ah, memories...

[DaisyD]

I just started following PP and zsu. And then I found out they live about 2 miles from me :/ AZ is so crazy I must have ignored PPs antics on the news and whatnot, because I had no clue these terrifying people live in my town. Also, tempe is a really weird place for them...tempe and phoenix proper are the liberal havens in a sea of red. Maybe it's easier to "win souls" here because we are all heathens?

Edit: wanted to trim the quote, per the big red box :)

That's funny. Those of us in northern AZ think of our home as a little blue island in the sea of red that is the rest of the state. Being where I am, I'm drawn to the deep, dark hole that is FLDS. I see them around from time to time, and always have to resist whispering to them about HOH. The Tumblr about all things polygamy is quite the rabbit hole. I've lost days to that thing.