Introduce Yourself- Part 3

[c_star916]

Hey! I’m c_star916 and I’m new. I’m posting here because I wasn’t allowed to in other forums and I wanted to feel out the site first! :)

[pinkhairdontcare]

Hi, everyone! I've had this account for a bit, but I've still been a lurker until now. My gateway was the Duggars, but I signed up to access the craziness of the Andersons! I'm somewhat active on Reddit, and I mostly follow the Duggars and the Rodrigues family. 

[Jellybean]

WELCOME! (My phone thought that should be shouted, so there it is...)

It's always nice when lurkers become posters - I hope you post often, and start to feel part of the community. I'm sure you've seen some of the same names come up again and again. It's not as daunting as it first appears, there are far more lurkers than active posters.

Sending happiness in your direction and misery-wishes in the direction of PP (may his congregation grow ever smaller)!

[Aimlesslywandering83]

Hey all,

I've had this account for a little over a year now, but forgot about it since it took a little while to get approved. I'm 37 with 2 kids. I'm a stay at home caregiver to my son who has muscular dystrophy and I also have a daughter. I'm recently divorced and have more time to read so this is right up my alley.

I have been fascinated with fundamentalist Christianity for a very long time, and even more so after I got my BA in history. I started with the FLDS and since moved on to others like the the IFB (is that right?). I used to watch the Duggars on TV but it was more as a WTF than a this is cool thing. I found snark groups on FB and fell in love with snarking. Through these groups I was introduced to several other families. My current favorite is JRod and her crew, the Rodrigues family. I look forward to learning more about other families and as I get more comfortable, posting in the forums.

Not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous I'm gonna break the rules or say something and get mocked! I've read through everything in the welcome new members stuff. Hence why I mostly lurk. This is way different than the snark groups I'm in on FB. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

18 hours ago, Aimlesslywandering83 said:

Hey all,

I've had this account for a little over a year now, but forgot about it since it took a little while to get approved. I'm 37 with 2 kids. I'm a stay at home caregiver to my son who has muscular dystrophy and I also have a daughter. I'm recently divorced and have more time to read so this is right up my alley.

I have been fascinated with fundamentalist Christianity for a very long time, and even more so after I got my BA in history. I started with the FLDS and since moved on to others like the the IFB (is that right?). I used to watch the Duggars on TV but it was more as a WTF than a this is cool thing. I found snark groups on FB and fell in love with snarking. Through these groups I was introduced to several other families. My current favorite is JRod and her crew, the Rodrigues family. I look forward to learning more about other families and as I get more comfortable, posting in the forums.

Not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous I'm gonna break the rules or say something and get mocked! I've read through everything in the welcome new members stuff. Hence why I mostly lurk. This is way different than the snark groups I'm in on FB. 

Welcome to FJ!  Glad you're here and hope you keep posting.

We don't bite...even though you are bringing another terrifying Jrod avatar to haunt me!    

If you like weird and crazy join us in Maxhell to follow the weird antics of Stevehova and crew (kind of the anti-Rods) and Arndtville as we patiently await the release of the fundy mini-series Vine Valley (and no, the comments about the FJ viewing party are not jokes, yes we will have one, yes we will watch the movie even if I have to pay.

 

[EmainMacha]

On 6/12/2020 at 2:52 AM, Aimlesslywandering83 said:

Hey all,

I've had this account for a little over a year now, but forgot about it since it took a little while to get approved. I'm 37 with 2 kids. I'm a stay at home caregiver to my son who has muscular dystrophy and I also have a daughter. I'm recently divorced and have more time to read so this is right up my alley.

I have been fascinated with fundamentalist Christianity for a very long time, and even more so after I got my BA in history. I started with the FLDS and since moved on to others like the the IFB (is that right?). I used to watch the Duggars on TV but it was more as a WTF than a this is cool thing. I found snark groups on FB and fell in love with snarking. Through these groups I was introduced to several other families. My current favorite is JRod and her crew, the Rodrigues family. I look forward to learning more about other families and as I get more comfortable, posting in the forums.

Not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous I'm gonna break the rules or say something and get mocked! I've read through everything in the welcome new members stuff. Hence why I mostly lurk. This is way different than the snark groups I'm in on FB. 

Welcome! Are you me?! Very similar story. Initial interest in Christian fundamentalism due to growing up in Northern Ireland. BA History, FLDS and then on to the mega families. Though my interest in them was initially naive as I had rose-tinted glasses due to both my parents coming from double-digit families. Those rose tints are LONG gone.

[Liberal Grandma]

Hello everyone!  I’m new here, been lurking for a while and finally signed up.

[Tah Dah]

I'm pretty new, been here a few months. I think I read the forums off and on for awhile before joining. I'm married, one child, didn't have him until my early 40's.  I grew up in the deep South, Bible belt, in a Southern Baptist family (not weird, just your average go to church on Sundays Southern family).  Married my husband and moved to Southern California where he is from and he wanted to attend the church he grew up at which was Pentecostal. I encountered weird things I had never heard of before, like large families (5 to 9 kids), skirts only, no shorts for boys, etc. Also snide remarks such as that I must have been a sinner when I had my son because I didn't give him a Bible name. To which I replied I had actually considered renaming him, what did they think of Baal, Lucifer,  or Judas as those are all in the Bible.  It didn't go over too well. They literally did not invite me to the picnic....LOL ... I was given a book by a weirdo I had never heard of... Pearl.. and told as the book was being handed to me that I should be spanking my son as he was showing signs of rebellion (he was 4 months old). I tossed the book in the trash on the way to my car and never went back.  And yes, my husband never went back either.  He had gone there as a small child and didn't quite remember the weirdness. All of that got me curious, especially their talk of quiverfull and other oddities. I started googling and wound up here one day just trying to find out what the actual F@#$ was up with that weirdo church. I also had been watching Andrea Mills out of curiosity because she reminded me of the freaky church crazy ladies. I was delighted to see information on her here as well.  I'm mainly a lurker and don't post much but am really enjoying the snark as well as just getting information on all the crazy.

[JermajestyDuggar]

15 minutes ago, Tah Dah said:

I'm pretty new, been here a few months. I think I read the forums off and on for awhile before joining. I'm married, one child, didn't have him until my early 40's.  I grew up in the deep South, Bible belt, in a Southern Baptist family (not weird, just your average go to church on Sundays Southern family).  Married my husband and moved to Southern California where he is from and he wanted to attend the church he grew up at which was Pentecostal. I encountered weird things I had never heard of before, like large families (5 to 9 kids), skirts only, no shorts for boys, etc. Also snide remarks such as that I must have been a sinner when I had my son because I didn't give him a Bible name. To which I replied I had actually considered renaming him, what did they think of Baal, Lucifer,  or Judas as those are all in the Bible.  It didn't go over too well. They literally did not invite me to the picnic....LOL ... I was given a book by a weirdo I had never heard of... Pearl.. and told as the book was being handed to me that I should be spanking my son as he was showing signs of rebellion (he was 4 months old). I tossed the book in the trash on the way to my car and never went back.  And yes, my husband never went back either.  He had gone there as a small child and didn't quite remember the weirdness. All of that got me curious, especially their talk of quiverfull and other oddities. I started googling and wound up here one day just trying to find out what the actual F@#$ was up with that weirdo church. I also had been watching Andrea Mills out of curiosity because she reminded me of the freaky church crazy ladies. I was delighted to see information on her here as well.  I'm mainly a lurker and don't post much but am really enjoying the snark as well as just getting information on all the crazy.

Welcome! There’s a lot on FJ about the Pearls (Michael Pearl wrote that garbage book). 

[Tah Dah]

10 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Welcome! There’s a lot on FJ about the Pearls (Michael Pearl wrote that garbage book). 

I will definitely have to read more on them. I got an over view on Youtube and was pretty disgusted. 

[keep_my_spleen]

Hi everyone!

I have been lurking here for awhile, but finally got the nerve to make an account.  I was raised conservative Christian (and I still am), but not fundamentalist (thank goodness... no one in my family would've survived that!).  One of my more-fundie friends informed me of the Duggars when we were about fifteen and I could NOT believe that someone had 19 kids.  Insane.  

Fast forward a few years and I'm researching parenting in preparation for getting married (eternally grateful that did not work out).  I found Erika Schupe and, after her blog was closed and I searched her name again, found FJ.  I've been lurking since then (2017?).  

Truthfully, I don't know how I feel about Christian fundamentalism, as I know some families who live that way who are perfectly normal and fine in my opinion . . . and then I see people like the Duggars or other "non-major" families and I just shake my head.

Enough about that, though -- here are some things about me!

I have ADHD, so I way over-do it when introducing myself. ?

I've played piano for 13 years and I'm currently a music & psychology major at a local university.

I'm looking to enter an MS or MA in Counseling program when I graduate.  I want to be a Licensed Professional Counselor someday.

I'm interested in learning more and maybe even chiming in sometimes.  I'm not super outgoing, so I tend to be way more of a lurker, but maybe you guys will get me out of my shell . . . 

Ciao!

Edited July 4, 2020 by keep_my_spleen
Edit to correct "17 kids" to 19 kids, because Josie is older than I thought.

[Palimpsest]

Hello @keep_my_spleen and welcome to FJ.  There is a wealth of information on Christian Fundamentalism here, and many impassioned discussions about the many flavors of Christianity and how "Conservative Christian" does not necessarily = Full-blown Fundie.  Feel free to jump in with your own experiences and knowledge. 

PS.  I am about to approve you for the Adoption Club, although I should warn you that it is not very active.  We want it to be a supportive and safe place for all members of the adoption triad so feel free to ask questions there. 

Adoption is also discussed in many places here on FJ, and we have quite a few adoptive parents here too.   Overall I would say that FJ in general is opposed to rampant child collecting by mega families and "adopting for Jesus" but very supportive of those who want to adopt for the right reasons.

 

[keep_my_spleen]

Thank you, @Palimpsest!  Nice to meet you.

Like I said above, I was raised conservative Christian and it's nice to break out of my own culture, so to speak, and learn more about what exactly it means to /be/ conservative Christian.  I've been enjoying recently being able to make my own choices about politics and other life matters.

Thanks for approving me for the Adoption club.  My sister was adopted at birth and we both have a chronic illness that, at least for me, will make having biological children difficult if not impossible.  

Lastly, I agree with you -- it does seem that some families enjoy "child collecting"... to me, that is incredibly disgusting.  I'd rather my one child feel loved in the family they're in than have ten children with mediocre childhoods.

[JWT]

Hello, I found this forum a few weeks ago when I was doing some research and soul searching during the height of the Kung Flu Freakout. Tonight I finally decided to go ahead and make an account and start posting. 

Where to begin? Any psychologists on here wanna get rich and famous? I'm sure we can work out a book deal  

Very long, very(to anyone other than a psychologist) boring story short, my family has pretty much been Bill Goat-turd cultists through most of my life, joining IBLP when I was 5-8-ish, and ATI when I was 11. Grew up mostly IFBC as well.  I'm your stereotypical emotional, mental, and spiritual abuse survivor from the cults we've belonged to, albeit in different ways than some; I was also medically neglected after damaging my back when I was 14, with my very real and very serious injury being "treated" with prayer and fasting, laying on of hands, anointing with olive oil, that sort of BS. 

Fast forward a couple of decades, and I'm physically disabled, but have only discovered relatively recently that disability assistance is a thing(not really sure about how to go about getting help with that though). I have no skills or education and so live with my sister, who was and still is one of the abusers, and am slowly working towards becoming financially independent to the point where when/if she discovers that I no longer drink the kool-aid, she decides that she doesn't want to live under the authority of an "ungodly man" and moves out, I won't be stuck with a house I can't afford to keep up. 

As to where I stand with faith, religion, etc., I'm still trying to figure out how much of what I've believed my whole life is Bill Gothard BS, how much is legalistic IFBC BS, and what the Bible actually says, or if any of it is even still worth believing. So pretty much in a holding pattern there until I can someday, hopefully, afford to move out on my own and support myself. 

I do currently have a job, although I'm not certain if I'll be able to make it work long term. It seriously pushes the limits of my very poor physical condition, requires me to drive long distances, be out in public a lot and interact with lots of people, all of which is incredibly stressful for me, as I was extremely sheltered growing up. Time will tell if I'm able to adapt to being outside of my comfort zone before my boss runs out of patience(he seems to have plenty, but everyone has their limits lol!)

 

And yes, that's the abbreviated version of my story. 

But anyway, I see a lot of kindred spirits in the few threads I've had a chance to read, and hope to make some friends and be mutually supportive of the other members of this forum.  

[starlitsuns]

My name is Star, I'm a young Floridian woman who has discovered the chaos of the cult that is Christian Fundamentalism while staying inside and discovered this forum in the process. I was raised agnostic, but my father's family is Catholic and my mother's family is Protestant (while a few members of her side are really ridiculous Christians, but let's not get into that here as they aren't IBLP). 

I'm neurodivergent (as in, my brain is wired differently from that of a typical brain) and I love a lot of things that make Fundies boil: Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel movies, science fiction, soccer (European football), and the list goes on. I hope to meet some fellow souls who are new and old to the Fundie snark scene and that's all I have to say.

[PastelPetals]

There is so much to read on this website I was planning to lurk for awhile just so I could read everything but I want to make an effort to post so here I am. Hello! My name is Petal. I have had more time recently to get carried away in my interests and that led me here. I am fascinated by fundamentalist Christianity and by religion in general.  I am not sure what else to say as I am not particularly interesting but I am an atheist, I have a lot of interests that I know too much about but those change around (that does mean I do have plenty of random knowledge) , and I am looking forward to learning a lot more than I currently know in relation to fundie and fundie snark.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

1 minute ago, PastelPetals said:

There is so much to read on this website I was planning to lurk for awhile just so I could read everything but I want to make an effort to post so here I am. Hello! My name is Petal. I have had more time recently to get carried away in my interests and that led me here. I am fascinated by fundamentalist Christianity and by religion in general.  I am not sure what else to say as I am not particularly interesting but I am an atheist, I have a lot of interests that I know too much about but those change around (that does mean I do have plenty of random knowledge) , and I am looking forward to learning a lot more than I currently know in relation to fundie and fundie snark.

Welcome to FJ  

[Jenderqueer]

Not much to say about me; I'm pretty  boring.  I was around fJ for its conception way back when (I think the idea was hatched on TWoP?), but was never really a part of it.  I was in the fb group for a while in 2013, I think.  I've been rubbernecking at these people since James was the youngest.  Religion in general is interesting to me.  I'm trying to quit tumblr for the umpteenth time and thought it might actually stick if I went somewhere else to discuss fundies.  It's like I keep crawling back to an ex I know is wrong for me.  Anyway.  Like I said, I'm pretty boring.  I'm 37, stuck in covid quarantine in the US, and my only talent is withering sarcasm.  Looking forward to finding out if I belong here.   

[mutinyofthedaughters]

Hello FJ,

 

I was as much of a fundamentalist as they get. 

Vision Forum, IBLP, Kevin Swanson, Douglas WIlson, Botkins, Pearls, SAHD, Quiverful, you name it.

My story includes things like cults, arranged marriages, and being involved with some celebrity fundies that are pretty well known here. 

Apparently my coping mechanism is to extensively research all of the names and teachings that I grew up with. That's how I ended up here.

I'm just another renegade daughter trying to put the pieces together.

 

- Mutineer

[christiane87]

Hi all! Nice to meet you, longtime lurker from Italy here... and now I've finally decided to create an account.

My first taste of fundie world was a couple of years ago when I was at home with a flu and killing time watching TV, and I ended up seeing an old season of 19kac... that's when I found out about the Duggars and fell in the fundie families rabbit hole. Then came the Bontragers, Bowers, Maxwells... and here I am writing on FJ ? Apart from the snark on what fundies do and say, what I really like here is the food for thought about religion, society, family and the woman condition. And the chance to keep my English language skills fresh!

My hobbies include travelling (currently on hold for well-known, pandemic reasons ?), walking and cycling in the nature, listening to music, learning about random subjects (I could push on the "random article" button in Wikipedia for hours!).

[Nothing if not critical]

Hey everyone! 

So.... I've been lurking on this site for pretty much forever - seven years? Eight? But I've finally summoned the courage to make an account, so introductions are in order.

I'm a mom of two teenagers, on a hiatus from work right now, to sort out my priorities and take care of the kids as they navigate this crazy school year. My husband is completely stumped by my fascination with fundie culture - I personally blame it on my Catholic upbringing in the South of Germany in the 70s and 80s, which brought its own share of religious weirdness. Or maybe it's a family thing - my late mom was one of twelve kids. 

Anyway, here I am, still a bit worried about stepping on anyone's toes. English is not my first language, so bear with me, please, if I come across rude or weird sometimes. And thank you all for creating this community for weirdos like me.

Edited September 11, 2020 by Nothing if not critical
Obsessed with small typos

[laPapessaGiovanna]

58 minutes ago, Nothing if not critical said:

Anyway, here I am, still a bit worried about stepping on anyone's toes. English is not my first language, so bear with me, please, if I come across rude or weird sometimes. And thank you all for creating this community for weirdos like me.

Welcome fellow ESL fjer! I love this place exactly because it's so diverse and the more diverse it is the better! Don't worry about being ESL, people here are very helpful and uderstanding and anyway your english is at least as good as mine so you won't have any problems fitting in. Have fun!

On 9/2/2020 at 12:04 PM, christiane87 said:

I could push on the "random article" button in Wikipedia for hours!

Me too lol! Actually I also love the random button on Nonciclopedia, the Italian satirical parody of Wikipedia, when I need a laugh that's my place.

[christiane87]

26 minutes ago, laPapessaGiovanna said:

Me too lol! Actually I also love the random button on Nonciclopedia, the Italian satirical parody of Wikipedia, when I need a laugh that's my place.

Hahaha, you0re so right, Nonciclopedia is definitely another good one!!! ?

[Bluebirdbluebell]

Hello Everyone!

I've been following the Duggars and the Bates since they first showed up on TLC. I've been following other fundies for a while too.

I was raised Catholic by an ex-fundie. We seem to know more than our fair share of fundies. None of these fundies are famous and many of them are fundie-lite/"mainstream" Conservative. I'm very stressed by the Catholic Church. I'm struggling to find where I belong in both a religious sense and nonreligious sense. I'm kind of a lost soul. I tend not to fit in and I'm worried I won't fit in here either.

I joined FJ last night after years of lurking, because I'm really worried about my country (USA) and our future. I was seeking kindred spirits.

[laPapessaGiovanna]

4 hours ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

I joined FJ last night after years of lurking, because I'm really worried about my country (USA) and our future. I was seeking kindred spirits.

Welcome! I think you described very well the reasons for many of US hang out on fj. We are a very diverse community but we are mostly progressive women worried by the turn of events in the US and the world, so I think you'll fit in very well. I hope you'll enjoy being a member of this community.