Maxwell 11: Anna Marie Has Conceived - Again

[Eternalbluepearl]

The comment I'm about to make is horrible and probably not something I should say "out loud" and I really don't want to offend anyone but...Can you just imagine if it turns out there really is no God, no Jesus, No Savior, No treasures in heaven, nothing. And Steve could have been enjoying hobbies like flying, enjoying sports, saying happy birthday to someone without mentioning the day they were saved, etc. Instead he chose to 100% fully commit himself and his family to this idea that Jesus matters above everything else to the point of lunacy and in reality...it might just be a story in a book. That fascinates me. I apologize for being horrible. 

 

And FFS Sarah..."Godly heritage?" 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

@Eternalbluepearl I don't think your comment is horrible in the slightest. Only extremely narrow minds never have doubts. I think true believers sometimes think "what if it was only a man made story?" and then they choose for their own reasons to believe anyway, that's true faith imho. If you eliminate the uncertainty from faith what sort of faith is it? (btw I'm agnostic so not much of a believer in anything). People like Stevhova who can't accept the existence of doubt and deal with it in a sane way are fucked up extremists. They present their beliefs as certainties because they are scared by uncertainty and thus they eliminate faith that is trust in the unknowable knowing that is unknowable. 

[Palimpsest]

@Eternalbluepearl, I don't think your comment was horrible either.

And just to shock the underpants off Steve if he's reading today:

 

[Foudeb]

54 minutes ago, Eternalbluepearl said:

The comment I'm about to make is horrible and probably not something I should say "out loud" and I really don't want to offend anyone but...Can you just imagine if it turns out there really is no God, no Jesus, No Savior, No treasures in heaven, nothing. And Steve could have been enjoying hobbies like flying, enjoying sports, saying happy birthday to someone without mentioning the day they were saved, etc. Instead he chose to 100% fully commit himself and his family to this idea that Jesus matters above everything else to the point of lunacy and in reality...it might just be a story in a book. That fascinates me. I apologize for being horrible. 

 

And FFS Sarah..."Godly heritage?" 

I don't see why you think it horrible. I don't believe in God, I do believe it's a man-made story, and I strongly believe Steve and other cult-leaders are depriving their followers of their lives by selling them the myth of another life after death.

[Four is Enough]

I found at least two grammar mistakes in Sarah's writing. Steve did NOT "determine" to do whatever she said, he "BECAME DETERMINED".

And "each and every one of the Maxwell spawn" IS grateful, ffs.

signed, the Grammar Police.

 

[Hane]

This weekend I was at a play with a Jewish friend. In the play, the term olam ha-ba ("afterlife") was used. I asked her about it, realizing that Judaism doesn't believe in life after death the way Christianity does. She told me, "Nobody knows for sure--that's why we have to live life to the fullest and take care of each other."

ETA I couldn't resist posting this;

"I'm confused. In Steve's parents' obituaries, their devotion to God and their churches was mentioned. How can it be that he grew up 'not knowing the Lord'?"

Bet it never sees the light of day.

[SPHASH]

I wish I could email Roseanna the obit links, here is her comment:  Happy Birthday, Mr. Maxwell! I had assumed that such a Godly man must have been raised by good Christian parents, so I was surprised to read that your parents were not Christians and got divorced. You overcame so much to become the strong Christian role model you are for your kids and grandkids!
>>>>>
Thank you. Our God is so very gracious.

[Jana814]

I think some of the comments are going to give Steve an even bigger ego then he already has. I just don't understand why people think he is such a great person. 

[anjulibai]

What strikes me about the obituaries for both of Steve's parents is that they lived very full lives. Both enjoyed the world while maintaining their beliefs. What the hell happened to Steve? 

[nomoxian]

7 minutes ago, anjulibai said:

What strikes me about the obituaries for both of Steve's parents is that they lived very full lives. Both enjoyed the world while maintaining their beliefs. What the hell happened to Steve? 

Some people deal with trauma differently, and what is traumatic for one person might be a blessing for another. 

When my parents split up, I had to get used to a new school, but my general living situation was way better than it had been before. I guess I could say I was traumatized, but that was from the stuff that preceeded the divorce. Still, I didn't deal with it by becoming a bible thumper.

[anachronistic]

Maybe his childhood made him feel that he wasn't in control, so he determined to always be in control. Of everyone. And everything. But honestly, plenty of people had crappy upbringings, and we don't turn into spiral-eyed cult leaders keeping grown women and men infantilized and never allowed to grow up, like Steve, and the Arndts, do.

[kpmom]

Steve has spoken so bitterly about his bio dad leaving his mom for another woman that I always assumed that is why he took his stepfather's last name, even though he was a teenager at the time.

I can understand being traumatized by that, especially if it came out of the blue.

But, i always wondered about his relationship with his mother.  Her name was Mary so maybe his youngest daughter was named after her?

She was mentioned now and again on the blog (she found and fixed up a violin for Anna to learn how to play, the Maxwell's visited her now and then at her nursing home), but i wonder why he insists she wasn't a Christian when it appears she was.  Not his brand of Christianity, but still.

One thing I always thought was pretty shitty, his mom apparently drew the pictures for Sarah's earliest Moody books.  At some point they had a family friend draw and replace those pictures in an attempt to update the books (as if).  His mom might have been deep into dementia by then and didn't know, but it still doesn't seem right.

[Palimpsest]

24 minutes ago, anjulibai said:

What strikes me about the obituaries for both of Steve's parents is that they lived very full lives. Both enjoyed the world while maintaining their beliefs. What the hell happened to Steve? 

My theory is that Stevie Doom saw "something nasty in the woodshed" as a child.   

Perhaps it isn't about the divorce and remarriages at all.  Perhaps his own, obviously more mainstream Christian, parents and step-parents didn't like his descent into extreme controlling Fundamentalism and said so.

His attitude to both of his parents is odd.  It seems he'd rather people forgot all about Mr Barger but he took his stepfather's name.  I'd bet he thinks Maxwell sounds posher than Barger.

However, he seems to have embraced Teri's parents whole-heartedly.  He applauds Teri's dad for serving in the military but neglects to mention his own father's service completely.  

[Jana814]

I think sometimes when something traumatic happens to someone they try and over compincate in their later years. Steve's father left his mother so he vowed to do different. He shunned the outside world and raised kids to fear it. 

An ex-friend of mine had parents who should not have had children.  So she lapped onto something that she could control. 

An ex-client of mine over dose it with her children because she didn't have a great childhood. She allows them do to what ever they want with no fear of getting in trouble.   

[Corntree]

This makes me think of how James and Stacy McDonald's children from their previous marriages don't acknowledge their other bio parent at all. James and Stacy are their parents, end of story. Now, they very well could have been hurt by their bio parents, and I understand that sometimes you have to kick toxic family members out of your life, but it kind of seems like an image thing too. Maybe something cultivated by James and Stacy. The perfect Christian family. I'm kinda getting that vibe from Steve, too. The Maxwells do have this "everything is wonderful" front. Maybe Steve really was hurt by his bio dad's actions, I understand that, but there is such a thing as Christian forgiveness.

[Jana814]

58 minutes ago, Corntree said:

Maybe Steve really was hurt by his bio dad's actions, I understand that, but there is such a thing as Christian forgiveness.

I don't think Steve can forgive his father. He is against women who work outside the home. I'm sure his mother had to get a job after the divorce and after reading her obituary it seems as though she did work. I'm sure because of this he was determined to find a woman who was willing stay home and not work and he kind of forced his son's to marry women who didn't want work either. 

[anjulibai]

Didn't his step-father also leave his mother? Or am I mis-remembering things?

[Hane]

Hi, Steve! By agreeing that your parents "weren't Christians," you're bearing false witness against them. I seem to recall there's a commandment against that.

Something to think about. Seriously.

[onekidanddone]

55 minutes ago, Hane said:

Hi, Steve! By agreeing that your parents "weren't Christians," you're bearing false witness against them. I seem to recall there's a commandment against that.

Yo Steve. Not only are you bearing false witness you are not honoring your mother and father. Just say'n.

[nomoxian]

He is also telling a lie. Isn't that the big thing that the Good Person Test goes after people for?

[SPHASH]

New post up.  Calia takes a trip.  She also loves dogs.

[Coconutwater]

It looks like they went to a beachy area and Joe doesn't have the obligatory two shirts on! Maybe they are the ones breaking away? Very normal selfie there. 

[Dark Matters]

Calia is adorable but why do they always seem to put those honkin' big headbands/bows on her head?

[Palimpsest]

1 hour ago, Coconutwater said:

It looks like they went to a beachy area and Joe doesn't have the obligatory two shirts on! Maybe they are the ones breaking away? Very normal selfie there. 

Good grief.  Joe and Elissa are practically nekkid in that photo.  Not only is Joe only wearing one shirt but I can see Elissa's arm almost up to her shoulder too.

What is clever about having a toddler ride on a rolling suitcase?  Genuine question.

39 minutes ago, Dark Matters said:

Calia is adorable but why do they always seem to put those honkin' big headbands/bows on her head?

Because they can?  She really is an adorable looking child under the bows and headbands.

Sarah's grammar lesson for today:

Quote

I’m not sure who Calia gets more of her personality from!

 "I'm not sure from whom Calia gets more of her personality."

And perhaps Callia is just herself.

[SPHASH]

1 hour ago, Palimpsest said:

Good grief.  Joe and Elissa are practically nekkid in that photo.  Not only is Joe only wearing one shirt but I can see Elissa's arm almost up to her shoulder too.

I can't see Smug Joe and Invisible Elissa having any personality.