Maxwell 8: Not Riveting Our Attention

[Elegant Mess]

6 hours ago, kpmom said:

Hmmm, the Bontragers have some nice looking young adult sons in that picture.

When is Steve going to get on the stick with getting Anna and Mary married off?

You know, a Labor Day picnic on a farm sounds kind of nice until you realize you have to listen to Steve Maxwell speaking (twice!), listen to singing, and can't even play volleyball without fellowshipping.

At least it's the Bontragers who are doing the singing!  I *still* cringe after hearing the Maxwells singing at Christopher's wedding.  

[Black Aliss]

On 4/9/2017 at 3:58 PM, bertnee said:

Ha! My thought was, "Why would they order from Pizza Hut?!?!" It's the worst of the big pizza chains IMO!

Yeah, I thought all good fundies ordered from Domino's because Tom Monaghan, while a papist, is so very pro-birth.

[PennySycamore]

Except that Tom Monaghan doesn't own Domino's anymore.  He hasn't since 1998 when he sold out to Bain Capital.  I'd think that Papa John's would be much more their style.

[SPHASH]

1 hour ago, PennySycamore said:

Except that Tom Monaghan doesn't own Domino's anymore.  He hasn't since 1998 when he sold out to Bain Capital.  I'd think that Papa John's would be much more their style.

Or Pizza Ranch which is a Midwest chain.

[Naga Viper]

4 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

This is going to sound harsh, but the Bontragers appear to socialise far more than the Maxwells do (due to their touring, which itself is due to actually being decent musicians).

For that reason, the boys will know  enough young women to have many better options than a Maxwell girl. And by "better", I mean "better looking", because in their world being a decent SAHD doesn't really count for anything above the usual, and that's all the Maxwell girls can really offer.

Not that Anna and Mary are unattractive, but there are surely prettier opinions that don't involve negotiating with Stehovah.

John on the other had has a job, useful skills, will no doubt be able to buy his own home debt free and is also pretty hot. I'm sure he's considered a catch, even as a Maxwell, and I'm also sure he's next.

Also, one of the potential Bontrager husbands is named Joshua Maxwell, and that would just be far too confusing.

Well, no—he simply becomes Joshua Marie. Problem solved!

[anniebgood]

On 4/9/2017 at 7:44 PM, SPHASH said:

Add Anne Frank house and Normandy to that list.

My older half-brother was shot and captured at Normandie. When I went there in the early 70's there were still ruts from the tanks in the fields. When I saw all those crosses at the cemetery I cried, all those lives lost ( I also cried at the cemetery in Honolulu). 

[FloraDoraDolly]

7 hours ago, HereticHick said:

Desperate-to-marry Chelsy Bontrager (I think she is 25 or 26) might be interested in getting to know Hot John-- but I wouldn't wish Maxhell on anybody. Although maybe he could bring his irrigation business to Eastern Iowa.

I think Chelsy would be Elizabeth Munck all over again.

[Captain Obvious]

14 minutes ago, FloraDoraDolly said:

I think Chelsy would be Elizabeth Munck all over again.

While I don't know the full Munck story, weren't they a less-than-fundie family who got sucked into the Maxwell orbit before realising they'd made an awful mistake?

With the Bontrager family, they used to be Mennonite, so despite looking outwardly like they have more relaxed beliefs, I wouldn't be so sure. 

Anyway, the fact the Stevie let the younger kidults socialise with them sans parents, and now he's deigning to latch his ministry onto theirs, says he's approved them as being of the same anti-worldliness level.

[FloraDoraDolly]

1 hour ago, Captain Obvious said:

While I don't know the full Munck story, weren't they a less-than-fundie family who got sucked into the Maxwell orbit before realising they'd made an awful mistake?

With the Bontrager family, they used to be Mennonite, so despite looking outwardly like they have more relaxed beliefs, I wouldn't be so sure. 

Anyway, the fact the Stevie let the younger kidults socialise with them sans parents, and now he's deigning to latch his ministry onto theirs, says he's approved them as being of the same anti-worldliness level.

From what I remember of the Muncks, their level of fundiness fluctuated over the years. At the time Elizabeth got engaged to Joseph Maxwell, they seemed to be at peak fundie.

While the Bontragers are more consistently fundie than the Muncks, they seem to be rather social. I question whether any of them would be able to stand the no-fun-allowed isolation of the Maxwell monastery, especially if it meant only sporadic contact with the other Bontragers.

[Captain Obvious]

5 hours ago, FloraDoraDolly said:

While the Bontragers are more consistently fundie than the Muncks, they seem to be rather social. I question whether any of them would be able to stand the no-fun-allowed isolation of the Maxwell monastery, especially if it meant only sporadic contact with the other Bontragers.

I'm not so sure about the whole "no fun allowed" thing, as it relates to adults, though. The Maxwells have never been that clear what they believe children should be allowed to do once they reach adulthood. After all, they're considered successs as adults so long as they remain virgins, still live in the parental home and follow Steve-approved careers, schedules and spending habits until marriage.

I'm not saying that Steve is suddenly going to allow his brood to take up cosplay or roller derby - but we have seen the Maxwells play games and sporty things in Colorado, and other than hiking/walking their main activities are ministry, "fellowshipping",  "music" and manual work activities.

Which doesn't make them that different from the Bontragers, who at least superficially resemble a frumper-less version of what the Maxwells were like 7-8 years ago, when large amounts of their time was occupied with touring - and the socialising that comes with that.

The main difference appears to be that the Bontragers have allowed their kids to pursue higher education (by correspondence/online), don't worship a schedule, have actual musical ability and have a mother and father without clinical depression and pathological narcissism respectively. Those things are important, but I suspect are less important to the actual families than they should be.

[HereticHick]

The Bontragers are still very close with their giant extended Mennonite family. I wonder how Steve feels about that?

Another thing that makes the Bontrager guys attractive to fundy girls is that several of them have won serious cash prizes in the Bible Bee (as in $5,000 and more)

[crawfishgirl]

15 hours ago, Myfanwy said:

I looked up  how far it is from * Maxwill-ville to *Bontrager-land, and it seems to be around six hours drive. That is a long way to go for 2x one hour sessions.

 

* I just asked google for the distance from Kansas to Iowa so not actual locations. 

 

True, but still better than polishing cabinets.  They will have to jam-pack their cleaning schedules prior to the event to ensure that there is no dust on those ceiling fans!  But seriously, any type of excursion, even to Costco, must be a welcome change to them.  Like others have said, I wouldn't be surprised if matchmaking is involved.  The girls could do much worse in their (limited) circle - at least fun could be had by all...

 

[kpmom]

16 hours ago, Myfanwy said:

I looked up  how far it is from * Maxwill-ville to *Bontrager-land, and it seems to be around six hours drive. That is a long way to go for 2x one hour sessions.

 

* I just asked google for the distance from Kansas to Iowa so not actual locations. 

 

It is a long way to go, but at the bottom of the flyer @HereticHick posted there was a line in small print that said love offerings accepted.

That might be motivation enough for Steve to drive that far.

 

 

[Palimpsest]

 

16 minutes ago, kpmom said:

line in small print that said love offerings accepted.

That might be motivation enough for Steve to drive that far.

That and the opportunity to sell books and chore packs.  Steve will be there with bells on.  Especially if they get to stay overnight and fellowship the following day.

It's about 300 miles from Leavenworth to the Dutch Country Inn owned by the Botranger family.  They are very busy little bees, what with the hotel, farm and touring.

Mitchell Botranger might be a match for either Anna or Mary.  He's horribly preachy.  His wedsite  (in typo veritas.  I'm leaving it! )  is called "Men on Fire" and I always want to scream "Pigs in Space" when I look at it.

[HereticHick]

16-year old Denver Bontrager is one of the contestants on the National Bible Bee Game show that is being aired now: https://www.christiancinema.com/news/national-bible-bee-game-show-week-one-recap

[SPHASH]

New post up.  Poor Sarah had a good time in TX  encouraging her friends in the Lord Jesus.  At she didn't fly on United.

[Granwych]

3 hours ago, kpmom said:

It is a long way to go, but at the bottom of the flyer @HereticHick posted there was a line in small print that said love offerings accepted.

That might be motivation enough for Steve to drive that far.

 

 

Nobody will ever see the printed words "Love offerings are not needed, your presence is love enough."

[Naga Viper]

5 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

 

That and the opportunity to sell books and chore packs.  Steve will be there with bells on.  Especially if they get to stay overnight and fellowship the following day.

It's about 300 miles from Leavenworth to the Dutch Country Inn owned by the Botranger family.  They are very busy little bees, what with the hotel, farm and touring.

Mitchell Botranger might be a match for either Anna or Mary.  He's horribly preachy.  His wedsite  (in typo veritas.  I'm leaving it! )  is called "Men on Fire" and I always want to scream "Pigs in Space" when I look at it.

You're a better person than I am. The phrase "Men on Fire" doesn't make me think of religious fervor so much as something like this. (Putting it under a spoiler because while it's not exactly unsafe for work, it is mildly defrauding.)

Spoiler

 

[Palimpsest]

@Naga Viper, that guy in the middle.  Consider me thoroughly defrauded! 

[usmcmom]

2 hours ago, Naga Viper said:

You're a better person than I am. The phrase "Men on Fire" doesn't make me think of religious fervor so much as something like this. (Putting it under a spoiler because while it's not exactly unsafe for work, it is mildly defrauding.)

  Reveal hidden contents

 

HO-LEEEE SMOKES!!  

What were we talking about again....??

[Captain Obvious]

9 hours ago, HereticHick said:

The Bontragers are still very close with their giant extended Mennonite family. I wonder how Steve feels about that?

Genuine theological question: would there be religious differences with Mennonites that Steve or other fundies would object to?

Unless there are other fundie denominations that wear head coverings that I'm not aware of, there have definitely been Mennonites/Amish at Maxwell conferences, particularly in the northeast, so they definitely mix with them.

[Palimpsest]

31 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

Unless there are other fundie denominations that wear head coverings that I'm not aware of,

There are quite a few non-Amish and non-Mennonite sects that head cover. The Plymouth Brethren headcover, for example.  

You can also see some head coverings in photos of IBLP gatherings and on ATI "missions." It is a "personal conviction."

Check out the head covering 7 Sisters.  They are fun.

The Seppis, Lina, and other Messianic Jews wear head coverings too.  

I think the Botrangers are pretty committed IBLP followers today.  As Steve is now speaking at IBLP conferences he might not have a problem with their beliefs.

Mind you, I think there is a snowball's chance in hell that Stave is actively seeking spouses for his daughters.

 

[CyborgKin]

Men on Fire... so, Burning Man?

[Naga Viper]

4 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

@Naga Viper, that guy in the middle.  Consider me thoroughly defrauded! 

Truthfully, my first mental image of "Men on Fire" was, um...pornier. But "PIGS...IN...SPAAAAAAAACE" is way funnier.

 

[Odd1Out]

So Sarah went kayaking with 'a friend'. She doesn't single out any of the girls in any pics as her 'friend' (singular). Could the friend be a guy?