The Botkinettes have surfaced and they're giving relationship advice again!

[Flossie]

1 hour ago, Palimpsest said:

'Scuse my ignorance, but what function does that thigh strap thing have - other than to draw attention to the groin.

Hey, now, if the thigh strap is good enough for Lara Croft, it's good enough for that little putz.

(I tried twice to put in a picture of Lara Croft, but it wouldn't work.)

[MamaJunebug]

Spoiler

https://goo.gl/images/uOHUCv

What the big-long-hanging-gun-barrel photo brought to mind. 

Image NSFW unless you work in the mythology department. 

[Marian the Librarian]

3 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

The laddie doth protest too much, methinks.

Methinks the same. I've been following his IG feed for several months, and the word that comes to mind, every time, is "puerile." (IG comments are loaded with swears and slurs, BTW. We can only hope it's kept away from the delicate eyes and sensibilities of the maiden SAHD sisters.)

Yep, I'd say there's more than a passing resemblance to ol' Lara Croft...

 

 

[nausicaa]

10 hours ago, AnnaSofia said:

Note to Lucas: when trying to look like a badass, don't pose with firearms wider than your actual arms.

Seriously. Dweeby McBananaPudding probably shouldn't be calling out dudes for not being masculine enough. 

[nausicaa]

5 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

'Scuse my ignorance, but what function does that thigh strap thing have - other than to draw attention to the groin.

A thigh strap is more stable than just a belt around the waist that can shift up and down, especially for a heavier handgun. However, for what he is doing, it really doesn't seem like he needs it. From what I've seen, non-assholey shooting enthusiasts would just use one gun at a time, and replace them in their cases before using the next one (because non-assholes realize that guns are expensive and aren't toys). He's a home schooled dork standing in a field in Tennessee, not Special Forces going cell to cell liberating the Son Tay Prison Camp. Take it down a notch, dude.

He's taken this to cosplay levels and young guys get a lot of eye rolls at shooting ranges when they show up dressed up like they're an extra from Mad Max.

Also, just a life tip, Lucas -- dudes who are great marksmen don't wear that stuff unless they are in an official uniform. Actual Navy SEALS would be laughing at you. It's like how the guy who actually sleeps with a lot of women is never the one constantly talking about it. Not that you'd know anything about that...

[Black Aliss]

On 1/13/2018 at 7:59 PM, Hane said:

I remember the time I decided to be a total twunt and emailed the “Western Conservatory” to inquire about tuition and dormitory accommodations. Strangely enough, I got no response. (Who would have known that the “Conservatory” was just a website?)

Oh, I thought they just meant they had a sun room on the west side of their house!

[CyborgKin]

Wait, was the screenshot posted above of the lucastrexarms instagram page?  Cos I don't see it there now.  Does that mean it's been taken down?

There is one that says 'EVERYONE IS KILLABLE' though.

[mydoggoskeeper]

I wore a leg/thigh holster every day for over a year (deployed military), and the straps that go around your leg are generally worn much looser than they are on Lara Croft.  Its hella uncomfortable to have them tight and it chafes like nobody's business in hot weather.  This goes for both men and women.  

[Howl]

2 hours ago, mydoggoskeeper said:

I wore a leg/thigh holster every day for over a year (deployed military), and the straps that go around your leg are generally worn much looser than they are on Lara Croft.  Its hella uncomfortable to have them tight and it chafes like nobody's business in hot weather.  This goes for both men and women.  

Did anyone wear them crotch high and all up in his business, like Mr. Botkin? 

[hoipolloi]

Speaking of Botkins, just got the latest from the Western CON-servatory.

[Othello]

"having a little trouble... 

no further comment; other than that perhaps that name probably. shouldn't be next to a long, straight and pink-ish object.

[MamaJunebug]

On 5/23/2017 at 7:24 PM, ladyamylynn said:

Holy fuck, it might just be the 100% legal in my state cannabis, but this gave me a serious giggle.

Nothing but caffeine here and I’m still giggling!!!

[CyborgKin]

I immediately recognise the thumbnail images of Kevin Swanson, Scott Brown, and Ray "Banana Man" Comfort in that summit thing.

[Howl]

7 hours ago, CyborgKin said:

Ray "Banana Man" Comfort

You can't drop that without context.  Just no. 

[acheronbeach]

 

You're welcome.

[formergothardite]

The best part is that when that video was mocked all over the internet Ray tried to claim it was done as a joke. No, he was dead serious in that video. 

[Howl]

Thank you for this, @acheronbeach. 

It would be more obscene as a joke. At one point, the other guy in the video loses it a little and then pulls it back together.  You can see him re-compose his face. 

[acheronbeach]

10 minutes ago, Howl said:

Thank you for this, @acheronbeach. 

It would be more obscene as a joke. At one point, the other guy in the video loses it a little and then pulls it back together.  You can see him re-compose his face. 

You mean Kirk Cameron?

[CyborgKin]

He even has a book about it now!  How a demeaning nickname has opened doors for the gospel!! *rolleyes*

https://www.amazon.com/Banana-Man-Ray-Comfort/dp/1610361938

[Marian the Librarian]

botkinsisters.com has been updated (for the first time in 15 months) with a lengthy 6-part "Spiritual Self-Defense" article about sexual abuse. It is, of course, loaded with Biblical citations. I haven't had time to do more than skim, but thought my fellow FJ-ers might want to know. 

[CyborgKin]

Wow, this was unexpected!  So they have been working on something all this time.  But then why drop off the radar all this time?  It's bad marketing to let their audience forget them.  I wonder how many people other than us actually still check their site.

Oh, part 1 currently has one less than seventy shares.  More than I expected.

Also the parts were posted in reverse order (so part 1 is the newest, I guess to have it at the top of the page) in one big lump.  Not daily or weekly to build anticipation and expectation.  Just all done in one go with no indication as to whether they'll ever post again or will be back in 15 months.

[seraaa]

3 hours ago, Marian the Librarian said:

botkinsisters.com has been updated (for the first time in 15 months) with a lengthy 6-part "Spiritual Self-Defense" article about sexual abuse. It is, of course, loaded with Biblical citations. I haven't had time to do more than skim, but thought my fellow FJ-ers might want to know. 

#metoo

But seriously, can't hate on it (and now to read it)

[CyborgKin]

Okay, reading part 1.

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We’ve all experienced that moment of panic, that sense of paralysis, after a man just said something or did something to us that crossed the line. We’ve all faced the crisis of, “Was what he just did OK?” …followed by the next crisis of “What should I do?

And we will continue using 'we' in a general collective sense and avoid referring to ourselves individually and personally.  #wetoo

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As the hushed subject of abuse is increasingly forced into the open – and as the mountain of sexual abuse and harassment reports grows larger by the day – it’s becoming clear that this problem is both bigger and more wide-spread than anyone wanted to imagine

We follow the news closely, as we always have.

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And it doesn’t just threaten “bad girls,” “immodest” women, or black sheep who have stepped outside of some sort of “umbrella of protection”

Bill who?  We've never heard of this Gothard fellow, nope.  He must be the worst.  Aren't we great for knowing how wrong he is?

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The culture of victim-blaming has been a major culprit in keeping the culture of abuse alive, first by taking the responsibility off of the abuser and keeping his crimes from being taken seriously – but also by creating a fear of honest discussion about whether there is anything we potential victims could or should do to fight against abuse. And it’s important to tread gently here. Victims have already experienced the crushing power of blame-shifting, innuendo, false accusations, and guilt-manipulation; careless suggestions about how victims should handle things can further torment wrongly-tortured consciences, or trigger defense-mechanisms that are extra-sensitive for a reason. It’s a dangerous and sensitive business to discuss the critical question of how to arm potential victims against harassment or abuse, without causing past victims additional pain, or suggesting that any abuse suffered was “their fault” (which is never the case.)

As we have always known and said and acted and taught in all our former books and videos.

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Responding to the sins of others is actually a huge part of what the Christian life is all about. It’s not a bug – it’s a feature.

We have I.T. humour, aren't we hip?

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The whole subject of abuse is vast, complex, and composed of many facets and levels of problems, and this series won’t even attempt to scratch its surface. What we will be focusing on is one specific sliver of the topic: The spiritual side of the battle the average young adult woman faces as she encounters challenges with male friends, boyfriends, employers, workmates, etc. – challenges in which she does have a degree of agency and control, and where her own preparedness can make all the difference.

A topic which we, average young adult women who know many other average adult young women, are fully qualified to expound upon.

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For example: Bryan is pushing his girlfriend Emily’s physical boundaries. Emily says no, I don’t want to do this. Bryan pushes harder. Emily finally gives in, but reluctantly. Afterwards, she’s furious and devastated and blames him for forcing her. Bryan says, What are you talking about? You were going along with it the whole time, and besides, look how you were dressed. Don’t try to tell me you weren’t asking for this. It was half your fault; don’t you go trying to get me in trouble like you’re some victim here.

We have now demonstrated our close connection to the subject matter by inventing a vague scenario which truly captures the depth of our personal experience in this subject.

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Empowerment comes when we take full responsibility for all the things that are in our power, and that’s the first step to playing our part in tearing down this stronghold.

We've always been about empowering women.  Has our dad found husbands for us yet?  No?  Oh well, back to helping him fulfill his vision while we wait. 

 

(I can't speak to the usefulness/validity of the advice/teaching they give here since I am not at all qualified to do so.  So I've limited my snark to the way they are presenting themselves.  Or rather, avoiding presenting themselves, at least in part 1.  I doubt this will change in the later parts.  We shall see.  I hope someone does share some in-depth analysis of it, whether here or linked from elsewhere.)

[CyborgKin]

Part 2

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Even when it’s fully in our power to resist or stop an abuser, if we don’t know without question and without hesitation exactly where he crossed the line, and exactly what we should do about it, we often might just as well be bound and gagged. Our ability to resist evil is only as strong as our understanding of what actually is evil, and what specifically we’re supposed to do about evil.

Which is why we advocate for comprehensive sexual education, and why our examples are so specific and detailed.

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After all, are we sure what this man did was wrong? What if he’s a mature Christian who has studied his Bible and is assuring us that this is OK? What if he was in a position of authority over us – doesn’t God say we’re supposed to submit to authority? And besides, what are we going to do? Slap him? Call the police? Would telling someone else be gossip? If this gets out, how will it reflect on the church? Is that really what Jesus would do?

To expound on this further, we turn to our friend and star of Return of the Daughters... no nevermind let's just pretend that never happened.  Mentioning any specific cases involving people we were associated with would be gossip and would reflect badly on us the church.

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If our knowledge of the Scriptures primarily consists of some vague or misapplied concepts about forgiving, overlooking offenses, covering sin, obeying authorities, not gossiping, and having a gentle and quiet spirit, we are not ready to fight this battle. These are all important concepts, but removed from their context of “the whole counsel of God,” they could actually lead us to enable sin and abuse. And with weak or straight-up wrong teaching on how to respond to evil being so prevalent, we should all assume that we’ve got some false ideas to combat. The good news is that the answer to both ignorance and bad teaching is right within our grasp.

Our cousin Katie has a lot to say about this and Doug Wilson in particular on her blog, which you should all read.

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Ironically, the modern church tends to shy away from the parts of the Bible that contain God’s most practical instruction about how to restrain evil, protect the innocent, and help make victims whole, instead pulling solutions from more “uplifting” passages about “forgiveness,” “turning the other cheek,” and “not casting the first stone” – things God never meant to be the complete response to sin and abuse in our midst. To avail ourselves of His full counsel on this, we need to be willing to study parts of the Bible we may not have delved into much before.

By 'we' and 'the modern church' we of course don't mean ourselves.

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When Bryan began trying to entice her into sin, some new responsibilities came into play. (Note: we’re presenting these responsibilities as we believe they would apply to an adult woman, in full command of her faculties.)

Y'know, like we are and have always been.

Adolescents and preadolescences, we'll ignore because they're not really relevant and that's all their parents' responsibility, we're sure they'll take good care of them.  Which is why when they reach adulthood they'll desperately need to read this series of articles to protect themselves from abuse. 

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And don’t think you have to figure it out alone – where the rubber of specific situations meets the road of general biblical principles, most of us will still have a lot of questions, and we should not hesitate to ask a parent or trusted counselor, “Is it OK for a guy to…” or “How do you think I should handle…” Proverbs 11:14 and 24:6 tell us that “In a multitude of counselors there is safety.” Abuse thrives in secrecy, silence, and darkness – where there is no secrecy, abuse is immediately exposed for what it is – so the more light and accountability we can shine into our relationships, the better.

Because everyone has access to trusted advisors, and all Christian families foster an environment in which it is comfortable and encouraged to discuss 'such issues'.  Oh remember we're talking about adult women specifically.

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If Emily had rebuked Bryan the very first time he pushed his limits, and he had laughed her off and persisted, the right thing for her to do would have been to remove herself from danger, and remove him from temptation that he obviously could not handle. She should not have kept being available to him to keep sinning against her like this.

By which we mean she should quit her job, or move house, or shop somewhere else, or use a different library, or break off her courtship.  All of which need to be facilitated through her male headship of course.

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The cost of telling can be very high, and we can’t imagine anything giving a woman the strength to do it except the knowledge that God is the final judge, Who will execute justice on authorities for their oppression of the innocent. 

As evidenced by only Christians being able to report abuse.

Spoiler

We hope it goes without saying that things as serious as rape or incest need to be handled differently than creepy compliments or inappropriate physical affection.

Appearing to put words and touching in the same minor category shouldn't confuse anyone, right?  And we won't even mention enmeshment or covert emotional incest.  That's not at all relevant to us.  There's no such thing as 'Botkin Syndrome' which we've never heard of.

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Being a woman in such a vile, abusive culture might mean that we have a lot more opportunities to be heroines than we would otherwise.

Always look on the bright side of life.

[formergothardite]

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God hates the violence and cruelty to women that we’ve been taught to expect as a reality to live with and endure, and He does not call us to accept it quietly. He does not ask us to smile at debasing attention, suffer injustice silently, cover things up, fall down before the wicked, and be ignorant in the face of evil. He has actually given us specific instruction on how to be the kind of person who does the opposite of all these things.

Isn't quietly and meekly accepting that men are in control and that women have no ownership over their bodies what the Botkins preached? Where is this empowering strong women coming from?

 

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the systems that allow the strong to prey on the weak without being caught. 

I haven't read all the parts, but I'm gong to guess that they never acknowledge that they were spokespeople for that system of abuse. 

They seem to want to avoid the appearance of victim blaming with their Emily and Brian story, but it is clear they hold women responsible, at least in some cases.