#Big Sandy 2016

[EyeQueue]

3 hours ago, nausicaa said:

My Dad was in Vietnam and his dog tags are marked Catholic and the small Bible he was issued has "CATHOLIC" printed right on the front, so I'm assuming they issued Protestants a separate one. 

Marking the dog tags makes sense, for last rites/burial reasons. But people should totally be able to put "No Religion" or whatever less known religion they are an adherent of. 

Does anyone remember the controversy with the soldier who was a practicing Wiccan and died in Afghanistan and his widow wanted his tombstone marked with a pentagram? The military put up a big stink about it, saying it would offend the Christian families with relatives buried nearby, but finally relented and let it happen. From what I've heard, there have been atheists who stated their preference for leaving their tombstones blank (they can also choose to have the atom symbol, one of 38 approved symbols, put there) but there is apparently a lot of pressure in military cemeteries to have a symbol put there, and then push back if it's not the "right symbol."

Yes--I remember this. And this is where advocates like Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and the Foxhole Atheist come in handy, because they will forcefully go after cases like this and make sure people of different religions, or no religion, have just as many rights as  Christians do in the military.

And why in the world would the good folks at ALERT need a family photo? Seriously, the application demands "a family photo (any size) taken within the last year" along with 2 photos of the applicant.

I've just started reading this application and have a feeling I'm in for some comedy gold!

[formergothardite]

3 minutes ago, EyeQueue said:

And why in the world would the good folks at ALERT need a family photo? Seriously, the application demands "a family photo (any size) taken within the last year" along with 2 photos of the applicant.

This used to  be the requirement for pretty much any IBLP event. I can't say what the reason is, though. 

[EyeQueue]

Just now, formergothardite said:

This used to  be the requirement for pretty much any IBLP event. I can't say what the reason is, though. 

Could it be for Gothard to look for the types of young women he wanted to invite to work at HQ? That thought just occurred to me.

[formergothardite]

10 minutes ago, EyeQueue said:

Could it be for Gothard to look for the types of young women he wanted to invite to work at HQ? That thought just occurred to me.

It could be, but they also rejected people wanting to join ATI or go to events if a male member had a beard or facial hair in the picture. But that was in the 80's and 90's, I doubt they are that strict anymore. 

Did we know that IBLP has a free monthly children's character curriculum? This thing seems like it was designed by Steve Maxwell. I only  read January and April, but in both of those the curriculum ended with a story about death. Fun times for small children! 

http://iblp.org/programs/biblical-character/responsibility

[Dandruff]

4 hours ago, Shiny said:

The application wants to know the dates and types of your sexually transmitted diseases. And why does it possibly matter if you have been molested or physically abused?

My guesses:

Dates and types of STDs would roughly identify when the sin of pre-marital sex occurred.  The applicant also gets to be humiliated by having to provide these details.  I suspect that any applicant who reports STDs would also need to prove he's not HIV-positive.

Molestation and physical abuse would require that the applicant forgive his abuser...and possibly apologize.

[EyeQueue]

34 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

It could be, but they also rejected people wanting to join ATI or go to events if a male member had a beard or facial hair in the picture. But that was in the 80's and 90's, I doubt they are that strict anymore. 

Did we know that IBLP has a free monthly children's character curriculum? This thing seems like it was designed by Steve Maxwell. I only  read January and April, but in both of those the curriculum ended with a story about death. Fun times for small children! 

http://iblp.org/programs/biblical-character/responsibility

No--I wasn't aware they did anything for free, LOL!

And I just read the September module and it ends in....drum roll please...death.

Uzzah reaches out to grab the Ark as it's being transported and is shaking because of the oxen's movement, and he dies, because he's not being cautious enough.

Do they want to scare the daylights out of little children, or what? Oh...duh. Yes. Yes, they do because unquestioning obedience comes from fear.

[formergothardite]

February ends with the "dark needy continent of Africa." 

March ends with children being burned to death in a fire.

May ends with the story of David and Bathsheba's baby dying. 

 

Edited April 26, 2016 by formergothardite

[Dandruff]

If the numbers of family camp attendees are dwindling, then what are they doing to attract fresh blood?  If only a few families are providing marriage/breeding partners then the attendees will eventually all be cousins.

[Gimme a Free RV]

5 hours ago, nausicaa said:

My Dad was in Vietnam

@nausicaa, if your father is still around, please tell him that this complete stranger thanks him for serving our country in that war.

I am thankful for all our veterans and current military but there is something about the particular situations our soldiers had to face in Vietnam and the fact that I remember following it in the news that especially endears them to me.  That, plus our local VA cares for many of the Vietnam veterans.

[feministxtian]

My dad's dog tags read Episcopalian (I have daddy's dog tags). My son's read Christian. My husband's said "no preference".  

VietNam screwed up a LOT of men. Iraq did too. My dad was a flight line crew chief in a "safe" area during VietNam. My son was on the front lines in Iraq. My husband spent time on a ship in the Med and Persian Gulf...it all sucks. 

[LadyCrow1313]

6 hours ago, nausicaa said:

My Dad was in Vietnam and his dog tags are marked Catholic and the small Bible he was issued has "CATHOLIC" printed right on the front, so I'm assuming they issued Protestants a separate one. 

Marking the dog tags makes sense, for last rites/burial reasons. But people should totally be able to put "No Religion" or whatever less known religion they are an adherent of. 

Does anyone remember the controversy with the soldier who was a practicing Wiccan and died in Afghanistan and his widow wanted his tombstone marked with a pentagram? The military put up a big stink about it, saying it would offend the Christian families with relatives buried nearby, but finally relented and let it happen. From what I've heard, there have been atheists who stated their preference for leaving their tombstones blank (they can also choose to have the atom symbol, one of 38 approved symbols, put there) but there is apparently a lot of pressure in military cemeteries to have a symbol put there, and then push back if it's not the "right symbol."

My stepmother was buried in a nearby military cemetery a few years ago, & I was very pleased to see pentagrams on the list of symbols that could be carved onto a headstone. 

[nausicaa]

1 hour ago, Gimme a Free RV said:

@nausicaa, if your father is still around, please tell him that this complete stranger thanks him for serving our country in that war.

I am thankful for all our veterans and current military but there is something about the particular situations our soldiers had to face in Vietnam and the fact that I remember following it in the news that especially endears them to me.  That, plus our local VA cares for many of the Vietnam veterans.

Oh thank you, Gimme a Free RV. That was really sweet. Luckily for my dad, he didn't see much action. He was quickly sent to Guam to work on engineering projects there and spent the rest of the war learning how to scuba dive and spending time with his Filipina girlfriend. 

I was part of a two month book club about World War I a few years ago. So it was me and about ten dudes born in the 1940s. We got off topic, as books clubs are wont to do, and started talking about Vietnam during one session. Nearly all of the guys had served and boy, they had some stories. It drove home how young most of these soldiers were, how they were pressured to go from WWII era parents who thought it was just the thing one does, how they were betrayed by the military leaders, and how they still often get no respect for their service. 

[LadyCrow1313]

2 hours ago, Dandruff said:

If the numbers of family camp attendees are dwindling, then what are they doing to attract fresh blood?  If only a few families are providing marriage/breeding partners then the attendees will eventually all be cousins.

Reminds me of a Robin Williams quote from a special of his from many years ago: "Someone in the Royal Family knew someone in the Royal Family". I think this fits here. 

[zee_four]

2 hours ago, Gimme a Free RV said:

@nausicaa, if your father is still around, please tell him that this complete stranger thanks him for serving our country in that war.

I am thankful for all our veterans and current military but there is something about the particular situations our soldiers had to face in Vietnam and the fact that I remember following it in the news that especially endears them to me.  That, plus our local VA cares for many of the Vietnam veterans.

My dad was in Vietnam too. Grew up in a poor family and did rotc to pay for college. He said he figured he was going anyway so he may as well go as an officer.

He said he got spit on by a hippy in sanfran when he got back and punched them. He served his full 30 years and is a full bird colonel

[busdrivingmom]

38 minutes ago, zee_four said:

My dad was in Vietnam too. Grew up in a poor family and did rotc to pay for college. He said he figured he was going anyway so he may as well go as an officer.

He said he got spit on by a hippy in sanfran when he got back and punched them. He served his full 30 years and is a full bird colonel

My dad served during Vietnam, actually in Italy in Signal Corp.   He did ROTC through college and enlisted to avoid being drafted.  He did have orders to go to Vietnam given twice during his three years in, both were cancelled within hours of having to board the plane (one time my mom was waiting for the movers to pick up their belonging to go back to the US when my dad walked back in the apartment they rented).  He was one of many vets treated badly when he came back to the states.  He almost got arrested going after someone who called him a child killer and would not back down when my dad said he never went to Vietnam, but many of his friends did. 

If you are in the US, keep an eye on the Honor Flight program.  They have been making sure WWII vets got their day of honor for their service and it was recently opened to Korea Vets.  My husband and I have a short list of friends and my father that we are going to put their names in when they start honoring the Vietnam Vets.  Its free for the vet, but the companion is $500 for the day and I think it would be worth it.  

[quiversR4hunting]

49 minutes ago, zee_four said:

My dad was in Vietnam too. Grew up in a poor family and did rotc to pay for college. He said he figured he was going anyway so he may as well go as an officer.

He said he got spit on by a hippy in sanfran when he got back and punched them. He served his full 30 years and is a full bird colonel

@zee_four your dad made a great decision!

1 hour ago, nausicaa said:

how they still often get no respect for their service. 

My dad was drafted in 1968 and he did his 2 years, He was lucky, he had a math and industrial arts degree so he was able to stay stateside in Williamsburg, VA. He tested all the amphibious vehicles they were going to ship to the jungle. The testing grounds is now Busch Gardens. He did engineer work like @nausicaa's dad in Guam but instead of a GF my dad got married in 1969 and brought his new wife (my mom) back with him after a weekend leave. My parents lived off base. My dad couldn't wear his uniform off the base. My mom has one picture of my dad in his dress uniform, it is kind of blurry and in their trailer home on his last day in the Army.

My step-FIL had to go over to Vietnam. He stayed in the AF and then worked for the defense dept when he left the military and had the government pay for all his college. He is pretty normal but I have the feeling he has had nightmares about his time in the jungle. I was telling him about my dad getting to stay state side and I kind of said it apologetically and my step-fil said - "no need, your dad got drafted and did his time. I can't begrudge him having an education to getting him to be able to stay stateside." I think there is sometimes a rift between the draftees that got to stay in the States and the ones that went to the jungle.  

[CyborgKin]

15 hours ago, Gimme a Free RV said:

Gregorian Chant.  THAT's where it's at!

On a hunch I did a quick googling and found that as I suspected, Gregorian Metal is a thing

13 hours ago, hollyandivy said:

You forgot SUBMISSION - that HAS to go in there somehow!

That's what she said!

[Ungodly Grandma]

10 hours ago, Gimme a Free RV said:

@nausicaa, if your father is still around, please tell him that this complete stranger thanks him for serving our country in that war.

I am thankful for all our veterans and current military but there is something about the particular situations our soldiers had to face in Vietnam and the fact that I remember following it in the news that especially endears them to me.  That, plus our local VA cares for many of the Vietnam veterans.

What they faced it Vietnam, and what they faced when they got home.

People forgot many of those young men were drafted, it was not their choice to get involved over there.

[FundamentallyShocked]

20 hours ago, formergothardite said:

Oh how times have changed!

I think this is how most people think of IBLP events:

 

 

Are those KNEES I spy!!!?!?!  I thought patellas were Nike. My daughters would wear any of those. Good for those girls!

 

[nastyhobbitses]

2 hours ago, FundamentallyShocked said:

Are those KNEES I spy!!!?!?!  I thought patellas were Nike. My daughters would wear any of those. Good for those girls!

 

They all look very pretty. And holy hell is Ashley a gorgeous girl. I know it's horribly superficial to say, but she and Nathan are going to have a quiver full of striking children if they go that route (which they probably will, let's face it).

[Thorns]

On 26.4.2016 at 5:43 PM, Georgiana said:

I love and want all of those dresses (except the green one).  Anyone know where they are from?

They look very modcloth.com -y to me.

[HRM1216]

@Georgiana they look like a mix between Kohl's, Rue 21, Forever 21, and Target. If you look in the junior's section of any of those stores you'll find those dresses or at least ones very similar.

[Pianokeeper]

5 hours ago, nastyhobbitses said:

They all look very pretty. And holy hell is Ashley a gorgeous girl. I know it's horribly superficial to say, but she and Nathan are going to have a quiver full of striking children if they go that route (which they probably will, let's face it).

... but with Nathan as a father?

 

Not that either I or Mr Keeper will be winning beauty pageants or that it matters, but if we're talking just... aesthetic appeal, superficial attractiveness... well. No, don't see it in him whatsoever. 

[Casserole]

23 minutes ago, Pianokeeper said:

... but with Nathan as a father?

 

Not that either I or Mr Keeper will be winning beauty pageants or that it matters, but if we're talking just... aesthetic appeal, superficial attractiveness... well. No, don't see it in him whatsoever. 

 

to date, all Bates' grandbabies have been adorable so odds are he will contribute a cute gene pool... (and horrible beliefs) 

[EmiGirl]

Being pretty yourself unfortunately doesn't guarantee pretty kids.