Seewalds 24 - Bought the House from Grandma

[Four is Enough]

14 minutes ago, Playagirl said:

See this is what I absolutely don't get. I was raised catholic and now consider myself pretty-much athiest. I can appreciate and respect that others have faith in a higher being and I sometimes wish I could put aside my scepticism to get the comfort that others get from having a strong faith, but I absolutely can't understand why on earth some religions teach such a fear of their God.

In my humble non theologian  but Catholic through and through (ebil Catholic liberal that I am) opinion, I believe that "fear" of the Lord doesn't equate with actual Fear. in my Bible, although I haven't looked it up, I'm thinking that the same passage would have a word more akin to "respect" than "fear" I was raised to have a healthy respect for God, and while I had some of the "he's gonna get you, he sees all, knows all, is everywhere," etc.,, that was more "boogeyman" than God. The Duggars, and many fundies, with their Old tEstament take on everything, love their fire and brimstone "fear" of the LOrd.

[Georgiana]

6 minutes ago, Playagirl said:

See this is what I absolutely don't get. I was raised catholic and now consider myself pretty-much athiest. I can appreciate and respect that others have faith in a higher being and I sometimes wish I could put aside my scepticism to get the comfort that others get from having a strong faith, but I absolutely can't understand why on earth some religions teach such a fear of their God.  Jim Bob always mentions his girls have a fear of the Lord and he says it with pride, whereas I would be ashamed to admit that I had purposely instilled this fear in my kids. There's enough to be afraid of in this world already without adding to it. If I was to believe, I'd prefer to believe in a diety full of kindness, compassion and understanding rather than one standing by ready to smite me down for some perceived slight.

It's because their religion is full of arbitrary rules that are justified only by divine sanction and kept in place by fear. A loving God is an understanding God who will forgive you for or not care at all about your dress, sex Iife, friends, etc. 

Gothardism and fundamentalism of any religion is often held in place by a dynamic of fear and reward. You scare people so they still follow the rules when the rules don't work for them. You incentivize people to get them to buy in further and stop them from perceiving their oppression. It's an old game. 

Without fear, people tend to think for themselves. They tend to do what works best for them. Even with the best incentives, there are few things that convince people to surrender their autonomy. But people suspend certain higher thought processes when afraid or confronted with something they perceive as a threat. From religion to regimes, fear is often an integral part of control for this reason. Weaponizing fear is an old trick, but it's effective as all get out.

[PainfullyAware]

4 hours ago, Georgiana said:

Gothardism and fundamentalism of any religion is often held in place by a dynamic of fear and reward

Well put. That explains the legalism. Fear that not following the rules = hell. I think it's the main reason I've never been able to move beyond a general belief in a non-personified divinity. I just think that if I can imagine forgiving people for things that some versions of the Christian God won't....then I can't believe God is an omnipotent, loving being. Hell as a place and not just the absence of God (the latter being a great change in the modern Catholic doctrine IIRC) is something I can't get behind, especially for good people who just don't believe. I know of some liberal Christians denominations who don't have that fire and brimstone attitude, and in that case I understand their faith a lot better. But this is just my perspective! Everyone else is welcome to theirs of course!

[LovelyLuna]

The Lutheran’s lost me at age 6 when they told me in Sunday school that God/Jesus was my friend that I should think of like a father, who would hold me on his lap while lambs romp around in a green meadow.  Then, same day, I went to the ‘Big church’ and the preacher was yelling about damnation, fire and brimstone.  I decided I didn’t like liars.  I never really went back with a worshipers heart or mind.  

I just put a laundry drying rack on my wish list.  I really want to save energy and use my Southern California sun for all its worth. 

I should still eat spaghetti with out a shirt.  I still cut it up like a 3 year old.  I would be SEVERALLY embarssed to eat it in front of an Italian.  Spud, as always, is adorable as fuck. 

[AlwaysExcited]

6 hours ago, LovelyLuna said:

The Lutheran’s lost me at age 6 when they told me in Sunday school that God/Jesus was my friend that I should think of like a father, who would hold me on his lap while lambs romp around in a green meadow.  Then, same day, I went to the ‘Big church’ and the preacher was yelling about damnation, fire and brimstone.  I decided I didn’t like liars.  I never really went back with a worshipers heart or mind.  

 I remember being 5 and generally afraid of God, because church my parents attended was huge, dark and cold, and I couldn't understand a single word pastor was saying because of echo. According to parents, pastor actually said good speeches and all that. 
There was also Bible for kids with picture of Mary who wakes up and is surrounded by angels. I was afraid to fall asleep, because the idea about angels standing around my bed terrified me. 
Sunday school was nice, I think. I don't remember anything except being disappointed when my parents left the church after pastors changed (fun fact: the new pastor, the one my parents didn't like, is a Big Name in Christian circles now) and that for some time it was located in my father's childhood house. 

[louisa05]

21 hours ago, Four is Enough said:

In my humble non theologian  but Catholic through and through (ebil Catholic liberal that I am) opinion, I believe that "fear" of the Lord doesn't equate with actual Fear. in my Bible, although I haven't looked it up, I'm thinking that the same passage would have a word more akin to "respect" than "fear" I was raised to have a healthy respect for God, and while I had some of the "he's gonna get you, he sees all, knows all, is everywhere," etc.,, that was more "boogeyman" than God. The Duggars, and many fundies, with their Old tEstament take on everything, love their fire and brimstone "fear" of the LOrd.

The confirmation curriculum we use at my Catholic parish defines it for the kids as "awe". 

[feministxtian]

The "fear" of God that a Christian should have is more like awe, respect, realizing that He's God and you ain't. 

Our pastor had an interesting start to his sermon this morning. He went off on the "white power" idiots...saying that if you have "white pride" and think that other people are inferior just because of skin color then YOU have a problem, and you better NOT be claiming you're a Christian. By claiming you're better b/c you're "white" you have forgotten WHO made YOU and need to realize that you had absolutely no choice in the matter. Our church is multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-language. Pastor T. made it quite clear that if anyone held those sorts of racist attitudes they needed to hit the door because they were NOT welcome at our church. Nobody left. I seriously doubt those sorts of idiot ideas are terribly prevalent in a place like "sin city" anyway. 

[sawasdee]

15 hours ago, feministxtian said:

Our pastor had an interesting start to his sermon this morning. He went off on the "white power" idiots...saying that if you have "white pride" and think that other people are inferior just because of skin color then YOU have a problem, and you better NOT be claiming you're a Christian.

Surely this is the sermon EVERY christian church should be preaching? Looking at you, SBC......and many others.

[Buzzard]

So, historically speaking, Jesus wouldnt have qualified under the genetic lineage that the white supremacists seek to revere.  Sooo... how can you be a christian and a white supremacist if you think youre better than the son of god?

[Carm_88]

#buyusedsavethedifference; oh boy just to prove that they still do it! Anyway, Spurgeon is concentrating!  

[feministxtian]

4 hours ago, sawasdee said:

Surely this is the sermon EVERY christian church should be preaching? Looking at you, SBC......and many others.

We belong to an IFB church...our church is multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-lingual. Many (most, IME) SBC churches are heavily segregated. There's the "white" church and the "black" church. I've also seen this in some of the non-denominational "mega-churches". 

[Carm_88]

Watching the eclipse with no glasses? Or trying to make people think that. Hmmm...

[seraaa]

On 8/19/2017 at 9:30 PM, louisa05 said:

The confirmation curriculum we use at my Catholic parish defines it for the kids as "awe". 

Awesome wonder, and all that.

Ironically, a hymn used in pretty much all of the Christian denominations I'm familiar with

(also this performance is like, PEAK Songs of Praise. Aled Jones, inclusive)

[ClaraOswin]

56 minutes ago, Carm_88 said:

Watching the eclipse with no glasses? Or trying to make people think that. Hmmm...

Science schmience.

[justoneoftwo]

 I have to say, its a good photo.  

It also seems like a large number of people are looking directly at it . . . does it damage everyone or is there just a chance?

[singsingsing]

A large number of people are idiots. It can cause serious, permanent eye damage. Even if Jessa wasn't actually looking right at it, everyone's been hit over the head with the 'DON'T STARE AT THE SUN' message so much by now that she's making herself look awfully foolish.

[justoneoftwo]

Yes, she looks stupid (even if I think it makes for a need photo) but I suppose my question is how likely is the damage?  The number of people I've seen looking makes me wonder.  If its really likely optometrists are going to make a killing.

[Karma]

Just as an aside, family legend (actually his 90yo auntie) has it that my husband's grandmother's terrible eyesight was due to looking directly at an eclipse as a teenager.  

Maybe Jessa believes that God will protect her eyes?

[fluffernutter]

Did you guys see the pic of Trump looking at the eclipse with no glasses?  

[Seculardaisy]

21 minutes ago, ClaraOswin said:

Science schmience.

Haha I was just coming here to post this photo. A visual representation of the Duggar's knowledge about science.

[Queen]

The washing machine discussion was fascinating! Here, we often store them in our bathrooms, which means no showering when the machine's on or you'll die  My machine is pretty basic but it still has like 10 different settings for different materials, and I can choose temperatures from 20 to 90 degrees Celsius. (Don't ask me what it is in Fahrenheit!) 

I'm glad that they haven't announced a 3rd pregnancy yet, I'm hoping they would take a small break until they continue with the baby train (from my perspective two small kids seems exhausting), but they probably won't. Gotta make those sweet soldiers for Jesus! 

[justoneoftwo]

How quickly did they announce before?  I would have expected them to yet, even if she is pregnant as fast as last time.  I could be wrong with my dates though.

[AlwaysExcited]

45 minutes ago, ClaraOswin said:

Science schmience.

Who needs science when you have Jesus? (Or you happen to be Donald Trump.)

[singsingsing]

6 minutes ago, justoneoftwo said:

How quickly did they announce before?  I would have expected them to yet, even if she is pregnant as fast as last time.  I could be wrong with my dates though.

Jessa? I think, but don't quote me on this, that she waited until she was out of the first trimester both times. 

[SamuraiKatz]

On 7/19/2017 at 10:34 PM, Bethella said:

@allthegoodnamesrgone I think you're confused. Ben and Jessa now own the little house. I doubt they would have bought it just to turn around and sell it to Joe and Kendra.

I think Benessa will keep this property.  It sits right off a highway ramp that is getting/has its very own stoplight. There is a pretty large piece of land that goes with the property.  They will flip it when a developer offers them the right amount of cash to move on to another hopefully larger home.

5 hours ago, Carm_88 said:

#buyusedsavethedifference; oh boy just to prove that they still do it! Anyway, Spurgeon is concentrating!  

Grandma D is a wise woman.  These are perfect toys for little ones.  I hate toys with batteries.