Vyckie Garrison Podcast

[JMO]

So I found this on Youtube.  I poked around on FJ and don't see it having been shared before.  Very interesting.  I know of her but haven't read much on her blog etc.  I thought that this was a nice concise video of her history and her evolution.  She also talks about the Duggars. 

 

 

[Georgiana]

Vyckie is an....interesting....figure.  Even after leaving QF and starting NLQ, she's engaged in some very shady behavior.  I'm not sure I'm the best person to recap them if anyone is unfamiliar (a search and gander at past threads would probably serve you better), but I think that Vyckie is, quite simply, a crap person and that her QF stage was simply an iteration of her garbage.  After leaving QF, she didn't stop being terrible to her children, she didn't stop being terrible to other women...she just had a new way to draw attention to herself and be the "perfect martyr".  

[withaj]

She also was weirdly embroiled in the Razing Ruth fiasco and there are a lot of people around here that don't trust a word she says.

[Palimpsest]

Vyckie starting No Longer Qivering was a good thing.  She was a good spokesperson - but she has some flaws.  She has a one-sided feud with FJ and has done some things that made me lose respect for her.

The thread below covers the RR situation and some people's feelings toward her.  My post on page 3 of the thread pretty much sums up my opinion at least - it hasn't changed since then.  I hope all her children are well and happy today.  Especially Angel - who went through so much and deserves her privacy.

 

[refugee]

There was more than a feud with FJ, recently. There was also that whole business of her dismissing HA and the testimonies of now-adults who had grown up in fundie homeschooling families. I don't remember exactly how it started, (oh, wait, there was something about speculating about the gender identity of famous homeschooling kids on FB, and when people protested that her "joking" could put kids in danger, she thumbed her nose -- wasn't that it?) but I do remember a number of people requesting that she take their testimonies off her site, and then she removed them all and stated that *she* had decided to change focus, and her site was going to be all about the recovery process for homeschool moms.

I think I got this right. Feel free to correct anything I remembered wrong.

[Palimpsest]

8 minutes ago, refugee said:

I think I got this right.

Pretty much.

Vyckie royally disgraced herself there.  It's first generation survivors against second generation survivors now.  She loves feuds and will never, ever, apologize or admit she was wrong.

The relevant thread here: 

 

 

[Georgiana]

I think Angel said it best when she came here and mentioned that when Vyckie received her Atheist of the Year award, it was JUST like when she was QF and won Family of the Year.  Different movement, same schtick, same motives.  

I think Vyckie is about any cause just as much as it makes her look good.  That's why she turned on survivors so easily...because it was never about the survivors. It was about VYCKIE.  

I'm not saying she hasn't done some good things.  She has.  But she's never had the right motives, and I think it continues to show in her behavior.  

[JMO]

Interesting! Thank you.  I only know her as the person that started NLQ.  I actually just watched her speech at the atheist conference.  I find her explanations very enlightening.  Too bad she has done some shady $#it. 

[withaj]

22 minutes ago, JMO said:

Interesting! Thank you.  I only know her as the person that started NLQ.  I actually just watched her speech at the atheist conference.  I find her explanations very enlightening.  Too bad she has done some shady $#it. 

I met someone recently who knows her through the atheist speaking circuit. She had nothing but good things to say. Unfortunately, that's not her only pastime.

[fundiefan]

I tend to shy away from things Vyckie related. There is always an agenda; there are always extremes; there's always victimizing - just, drama. So. Much. Drama. She left one world and entered another, but nothing has changed about her except the circles she inhabits. It's actually kind of sad. I thought she initially had something to offer others leaving fundamentalism. Then, the attention went to her head and she lost sight of anything not directly related to he and her experiences and her perspective. That doesn't help anyone in any circumstance, but it actually hurts others in the recovery circles she spins around in.

[Palimpsest]

29 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

it actually hurts others in the recovery circles she spins around in.

This.  In a nutshell.

I think we all want to support survivors.  I don't expect them to be perfect - but when they become damaging to others then they should be called out for it - loud and clear.

Vyckie and Callulu (Suzanne) have jumped the shark and cause damage to others in recovery.  I've called them out before and will continue to do so.

[THERetroGamerNY]

By-the-by, she takes all the credit for the recent ousting of Mr. Olman and his child-trafficking incident, which irked me.

But the Quiverfull alarmism she goes on about is just absurd ... she keeps insisting that it is this rapidly-spreading cult that has seeped into basically every aspect of Christianity. Statements like "you probably know a QF family in your area... everybody does." Makes me roll my eyes so hard when she says that crap.

She also trawls the internet a lot, looking for some tidbit to latch onto, get all hysterical about, and write-up a questionable Raw Story about. I've even seen posts by her appear on my FB feed that basically just amounts to her trolling Christian groups with comments like " Jesus Christ!" (This was in response to some marriage-oriented scripture a group had posted, which she clearly meant as sarcasm, but she got Likes on it because the members took it as praise!)

That's just ... immature trolling. Nothing more.

She honestly thinks that she is this award-winning spokeswoman against the Quiverfulls of the world - despite the fact that she has had women who've escaped from this very nastily tell her "You do NOT speak for us." Clearly doesn't sink in when she somehow manages to get a news channel to do a worthless 30 minute

The Razing Ruth thing is bizarre ... if I understand it correctly, she basically said she knew that individual (which is impossible, for obvious reasons!) What possesses a person to make such a claim?! And then Suzanne Callulu basically displays the exact same Bizarroland logic. It clearly must be something in the water over there that makes them vouch for, and then quote and discuss, non-existent individuals. O_o

 

[MamaJunebug]

Ms. Garrison appears to be both a true believer in whatever she's following *and* a natural salesperson for her beliefs. She was, IIRC, a publisher & editor of a Quiverfull-promoting publication while she attempted that way of life. Now, she's a spokesperson for atheism and against Q'full. As someone who'd have a problem selling water to a thirsty person, I am amazed at and suspicious of that ability. But also IIRC her publication work was the family's main source of income and her appearances now may be serving in the same way. 

[Full disclosure: I don't like unsolicited evangelism for *any* cause. Completely different attitude if I approach someone of my own free will, looking for info.]

[TVR]

First post!
Years and years and years ago I was on the Above Rubies yahoo group with Vyckie.  She was a rabid follower of the QF lifestyle and often shamed other moms for not trusting enough or being good enough.  I bought her Christmas ministry pack (I can't remember exactly what it was called). 
She is exactly the same now as she was before - just her allegiance changed.

[notsocommon]

She is the same drummer. different drum.  Nothing has changed, really.

[apple1]

13 hours ago, THERetroGamerNY said:

She also trawls the internet a lot, looking for some tidbit ,,, That's just ... immature trolling. Nothing more.,,

Clipped for emphasis. Also, she puts herself out there to journalists with an inaccurate self-representation that she is representing victims and escapees.

TRGNY's post above. So much so. And the reason that an earlier poster in this thread thought that she has never been discussed here is because some of us won't even post her first name without spreading it out with spaces to reduce the likelihood of it being found by her trawling.

What a mess.

[Curious]

Remember that supporter of V's that had the Google alert set up and would appear like magic anytime her name was posted here?

[THERetroGamerNY]

Remember that supporter of V's that had the Google alert set up and would appear like magic anytime her name was posted here?

I'd bet that is the same supporter who wrote V's Wikipedia entry... :/

[apple1]

1 minute ago, THERetroGamerNY said:

I'd bet that is the same supporter who wrote V's Wikipedia entry... :/

Yep.

[Curious]

7 hours ago, THERetroGamerNY said:

I'd bet that is the same supporter who wrote V's Wikipedia entry... :/

I didn't even know she had a wiki entry.   I guess now I have to go look at some point.

[meda]

There are very few current or past patriarchy pushers I loath more than Vickie. I place her in the same catagory as Doug the Tool. She is a straight up grifter with pretty much zero capacity for empathy. She was not just QF, she published a homeschooling magazine and was a spokesperson for the movement who spent a good amount of time shaming other women for not doing the lifestyle "right". She acknowledges being abusive to  her first born, who was from a different relationship than her marriage, and used the girl as a sacrificial victim to her patriarchal husband.  This only became an area of concern for her when Angel started acting out and not conforming to the lifestyle. Quite honestly, if the husband (was his name Warren?) had not had health issues and been able to support Vickie as the patriarchy princess she aspired to be, Ithink she'd still be pushing skirts and submission. She always complained a lot more about how she had to support the family than she did about his treatment of Angel and the other kids.

Now she's reinvented herself as a professional victim and "spokesperson" for QF "survivors" and a professional Atheist-and she continues to act like a grifter with 0 empathy. I will say this for her: she certainly has the ability to land on her feet and thrive, regardless of the wreckage she leaves behind her. I cannot think of any one less qualified to speak for the women and children actually trapped in patriarchy by a lack of education, or abuse, or other bounded choice.

[Eternalbluepearl]

I just watched the video above. I don't know much about this lady but the whole time I was thinking...I hope Anna Duggar speaks out against quiverfull someday...

[theinvisiblegirl]

On 5/23/2016 at 6:03 PM, THERetroGamerNY said:

<snip>

The Razing Ruth thing is bizarre ... if I understand it correctly, she basically said she knew that individual (which is impossible, for obvious reasons!) What possesses a person to make such a claim?! And then Suzanne Callulu basically displays the exact same Bizarroland logic. It clearly must be something in the water over there that makes them vouch for, and then quote and discuss, non-existent individuals. O_o

I don't know much of anything about Vyckie's time during Razing Ruth because that was before my time at FJ. I'm still learning about different topics of FJ history (I'm currently reading up on the thing with AD, and that's kind of a shitstorm in itself that I have to go slowly to get through it), but what you said about Vyckie saying she knew Razing Ruth mirrors what's happening with the Sister Wives Catfish scandal. Robyn's friend Kendra swears that Sam Cooper is real, even to the point of doing interviews on "his" website. Some people will just believe anything and would rather continue the lie than admit it was all fake.

[Walking Cat Bed]

Vyckie is super, super shady.

 

She's a fundamentalist, regardless of her current ideology. 

 

She'll make claims -- like saying that Vaughn Olman "started" quiverfull or is the religious leader behind the Duggars -- without considering the truth. Sure, the Duggars and Olman are representatives of quiverfull, and both families teach their kids horrifying things. But they're not as "connected" as Vyckie claimed. 
 

Vyckie relies on half-truths that sound "true" enough for the general public and is STILL making money on others' suffering.

[infooverload]

I am wondering if a spotlight will be put on her for her questionable behavior in the same way which is going on with Sarah Morehead who was also an Atheist of the Year recipient. When I think of her the analogy of a woman who leaves an abusive relationship and then jumps into another relationship right away without taking time to recover and grow personally in a healthy way.