The Botkins are attending the 2016 Providential History Festival

[hoipolloi]

Just got an update from Geoff Botkin, renaissance man from TN, telling me that I need to attend the 2016 Providential History Festival in Omaha, NB this August.

Quote

 

Dear friends,

Please consider joining me and my family at this Providential History Festival in Omaha, Nebraska this August. Two things you and your family really need right now: a clear and hopeful understanding of today’s crisis and what you can expect, and allies with whom you can go through the confusing days to come. You’ll find both at this important conference. Let me strongly encourage you to come and get a handle on the future by getting a handle on the past.

Yours in Christ,
Geoffrey Botkin

 

At $25 per family this is definitely a bargain compared to other Western Conservatory scams conferences & tours although all of those Chik-Fil-A sandwiches & lunch plates could add up quickly!

 

[Howl]

Family Integrated conference:  getting the next generation ready to fleece.  

Quote

 

The Providential History Festival is a two day event with a fast-paced method of moving through an interesting mix of drama, short speeches, table displays, insight by experts, music, and games, which is attracting a broader age range than typical conferences. Instead of being limited to a program of “professional” speakers, imagine entirely new faces being groomed to be the next generation’s historians, researchers, writers, performers, orators and presenters.

Imagine two days of being immersed in the glory and delight of seeing God’s sovereign and providential hand directing all of history as explained by the research and experience of the mature and the enthusiasm and participation of the young and their families.

 

 

[gustava]

Damn.  I have to do my nails that day.

[Coconut Flan]

16 hours ago, Howl said:

Family Integrated conference:  getting the next generation ready to fleece.  

And meet market all in one. 

[Howl]

Something that chaps me about these folks is that the 'traditional' nuclear family is the only context. Widows, widowers, single people, divorced singles, people who are unable to have children -- anyone with no immediate family or relatives close by -- don't exist for these people.  It's as though -- you didn't follow the rules and generate huge numbers of spawn who are sticking close by or still living under your roof,  therefore you don't exist.  

11 minutes ago, Coconut Flan said:

And meet meat market all in one. 

There, fixed it for ya. 

[docmom]

21 hours ago, hoipolloi said:

a clear and hopeful understanding of today’s crisis and what you can expect

Which crisis would that be I wonder?

[Marian the Librarian]

1 minute ago, docmom said:

Which crisis would that be I wonder?

The crisis that the entire world is not being controlled by Geoff Botkin.

[louisa05]

So the church where this is being held has people I know from the Christian school on its staff...Ugh. 

Also, not that it is incredibly important, but the postal abbreviation for Nebraska is NE not NB. Actually, it can sometimes be important. If you are trying to rent a car in the U.S., things will go awry if the rental car people put in NB as it is the code for New Brunswick and renting a car if you are from Canada is more complicated. Learned this once. Took forever to get the guy at the desk to just put in the right abbreviation.  

[docmom]

55 minutes ago, Marian the Librarian said:

The crisis that the entire world is not being controlled by Geoff Botkin.

That's definitely serious.

Will there be dressing up in historically accurate tights manly leg coverings?

[THERetroGamerNY]

God orchestrated history, huh? So we have no free will?

[Peas n carrots]

Oh wow that is close to home, however I regret I'll be at Yellowstone during that time.

[nickelodeon]

From the program for the 2012 event:

Quote

Teach your children providential history. Not the history of the pagan textbooks, where God is absent and history is just a highway from nowhere to nowhere. And not the history of the majority of Christian schoolbooks where God is only present to legitimize certain agenda or interpretation for a specific historical event; with Bible verses on the side.

A scant two pages later, in a spiel about the Titanic:

Quote

To a culture which had begun to embrace Darwin's survival of the fittest, feminism and secular humanism, the Titanic heralded gospel centered living as men laid down their lives.

Yup, no agenda-pushing or shady interpretations here, nosirree!

[December]

4 hours ago, Howl said:

Widows, widowers, single people, divorced singles, people who are unable to have children -- anyone with no immediate family or relatives close by -- don't exist for these people.

From what I understand, at least in some fundie circles, an inability to have children may be seen as the sign of some sin they need to make up for. 

2 hours ago, docmom said:

Which crisis would that be I wonder?

Something imaginary, like the fear-mongering over trans* people attacking women and girls in public bathrooms.

The mentions of all these historical independence/pioneer movements give me a "let's go off the grid and further separate ourselves from evil secular society" vibe. But someone correct me if I'm wrong! 

[louisa05]

What is it with their obsession with the Titanic? 

Are they all teenage girls? Because when I was teaching, I encountered a lot of teenage girls, both before and long after that hideous movie, who were obsessed with it. 

[Hane]

A while back, I read an article comparing the sinking of the Titanic to the sinking of the Lusitania. The difference was that the Titanic sank slowly, while the Lusitania sank fast. When the Lusitania went down, all courtly "women and children first" bullshit went out the window, and it was every person for his/her/themselves.

ETA that it was in smithsonianmag.org, but I can't figure out how to link it via phone.

[Jellybean]

Libby Anne of Love, Joy, Feminism wrote about this a while ago: patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2012/08/vision-forum-women-and-children-first-myth.html

 

[refugee]

22 minutes ago, Jellybean said:

Libby Anne of Love, Joy, Feminism wrote about this a while ago: patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2012/08/vision-forum-women-and-children-first-myth.html

 

Wow. I was about to say just about the same thing, only she said it first. And better.

ETA: And I looked at the date on the post, and realized that DP was riding high as recently as 2012. Whew. I had forgotten exactly when his "ministry" unraveled.

[Howl]

1 hour ago, Jellybean said:

Libby Anne of Love, Joy, Feminism wrote about this a while ago: patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2012/08/vision-forum-women-and-children-first-myth.html

Thanks for linking Libby Anne's well researched and very powerful post!  

[pamplemousse]

Ooh. I'll be in Toronto that weekend. You know, in Canada, that godless heathen country that legalized same-sex marriage long before the US did. So I can't attend. I am so crushed.  

[Marian the Librarian]

5 hours ago, docmom said:

That's definitely serious.

Will there be dressing up in historically accurate tights manly leg coverings?

Geoff in tights...take that picture back...bleah...

New video is up on the Botkins' "Western Conservatory" FB page - Geoff (thankfully not in tights) instructing all Brits to vote to leave the European Union. Cuz God Geoff wants it that way, don'tcha know.

https://www.facebook.com/westernconservatory/?ref=ts&fref=ts

 

[Mercer]

4 hours ago, louisa05 said:

What is it with their obsession with the Titanic? 

Are they all teenage girls? Because when I was teaching, I encountered a lot of teenage girls, both before and long after that hideous movie, who were obsessed with it. 

They view the Titanic as an example of men being chivalrous protectors (the theory of "women and children first") and women as distressed damsels in need of rescue by their godly males - and of course the fancy period costumes don't hurt. Basically they see it as a historical affirmation of their belief in "traditional" gender roles. 

The pesky complications of class, ethnicity, immigration, and economic inequality tend to be completely glossed over. In their romanticized version of the Titanic story, you get the feeling everyone was a wealthy white passenger with a first class ticket.

 

[louisa05]

32 minutes ago, Mercer said:

They view the Titanic as an example of men being chivalrous protectors (the theory of "women and children first") and women as distressed damsels in need of rescue by their godly males - and of course the fancy period costumes don't hurt. Basically they see it as a historical affirmation of their belief in "traditional" gender roles. 

The pesky complications of class, ethnicity, immigration, and economic inequality tend to be completely glossed over. In their romanticized version of the Titanic story, you get the feeling everyone was a wealthy white passenger with a first class ticket.

 

I  am aware. That doesn't make it less stupid or less obsessive.

[Mercer]

19 minutes ago, louisa05 said:

I  am aware. That doesn't make it less stupid or less obsessive.

Sorry, I didn't realize it was a rhetorical question.

[Jasmar]

7 hours ago, THERetroGamerNY said:

God orchestrated history, huh? So we have no free will?

Since they're Calvinists, that's essentially true.

[Howl]

13 hours ago, Marian the Librarian said:

Geoff in tights...take that picture back...bleah...

New video is up on the Botkins' "Western Conservatory" FB page - Geoff (thankfully not in tights) instructing all Brits to vote to leave the European Union. Cuz God Geoff wants it that way, don'tcha know.

https://www.facebook.com/westernconservatory/?ref=ts&fref=ts

 

Geoff has an open obnoxious and extremely condescending letter to Syrian refugees.  There are a few interesting comments to both that haven't been deleted.  

There are also a ton of sale ads trying to unload Western Conservancy products. Black Friday! Christmas! Mother's Day!  Nothing for Easter, but that's not a big gift giving occasion.