Josh, Anna and the Ms 15: now with Mason

[RosyDaisy]

The women in my family and social circles can't keep a secret. Pregnancy announcements are made before the pee stick dries. Sex reveals are made within an hour of finding out. Therefore, no parties until the baby shower.

We are Alabama fans, so of course there were Crimson Tide onesies and a few accessories. But nothing outrageous or overboard.

[lomo6]

I don't know if you're palling around with Richard Dawkins or something, but I would guess that 80% of my social circle is atheist or agnostic and it literally never comes up. OK, maybe I've had a discussion with a close friend or two over the years about whether we believe in God. But I can't even think of one instance in which that kind of convo rose to the level of friendly argument. And believe me, I have gotten into arguments with family and friends about a lot of other topics. So yeah...curious where you're meeting these universally obnoxious atheists. 

Also, I think gender reveal parties are tacky, don't like the extreme pink/blue divide, and I'm down with gender-nonconformity. But I fail to see how these parties are "kinda hurting the fetus" considering that the fetus won't even know it's happening. And now that I think about it - a militant anti-atheist who thinks it's harmful to assign babies a gender at birth based on their genitals? That's a combo you don't see every day.  I'm curious what country you're from.

6 hours ago, SorenaJ said:

Are there Americans who are complete lefties, as in queer rights, ethnic minority rights, (much) higher taxes, free healthcare, free education, free childcare, pro immigration, no guns at all law, paid (at 90 % or higher of your salary) maternity leave. 

Are there Americans like that that you just don't hear about?  

And finally, do you actually think that there are no Americans who fit this "complete leftie" profile? Because you basically just described all my friends, and most under 50 urban dwellers I know. Unfortunately we're not the ones in charge at the moment. 

[RosyDaisy]

Are there Americans who are complete lefties, as in queer rights, ethnic minority rights, (much) higher taxes, free healthcare, free education, free childcare, pro immigration, no guns at all law, paid (at 90 % or higher of your salary) maternity leave. 
Are there Americans like that that you just don't hear about?  

Hi. My name is RosyDaisy. I live in Alabama. I am all of the things you described above. I'm also a liberal Christian. I'm rather surprised that you think there aren't others like that.

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

Gender reveal parties are insane, IMO, but what ever. When #1 was discovered to be male I handed my parents ultrasound pics and said "look at your grandson" that was our gender reveal. 

Guns on any cake is weird to this American, 

No not Not all of America are gun loving gay hating assholes, sadly the gun loving gay haters just have bigger mouths and don't mind pissing people off by screaming their views loudly and frequently. 

[SorenaJ]

9 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

@SorenaJ, meet the majority of the American posters on Free Jinger.   

Free Jinger, meet an ignorant asshole.  I'm not sure from where @Sorena originates but I doubt they are representative of that nation.

Not one person is gonna be representative of a nation? The fuck? Any why does that make me ignorant? Those people are clearly not a majority, if so your country would look a lot different? 

And when has attacking the person not the argument ever led to a good debate? Seriously, just shoo. 

[SorenaJ]

2 hours ago, lomo6 said:

I don't know if you're palling around with Richard Dawkins or something, but I would guess that 80% of my social circle is atheist or agnostic and it literally never comes up. OK, maybe I've had a discussion with a close friend or two over the years about whether we believe in God. But I can't even think of one instance in which that kind of convo rose to the level of friendly argument. And believe me, I have gotten into arguments with family and friends about a lot of other topics. So yeah...curious where you're meeting these universally obnoxious atheists. 

Also, I think gender reveal parties are tacky, don't like the extreme pink/blue divide, and I'm down with gender-nonconformity. But I fail to see how these parties are "kinda hurting the fetus" considering that the fetus won't even know it's happening. And now that I think about it - a militant anti-atheist who thinks it's harmful to assign babies a gender at birth based on the genitals? That's a combo you don't see every day.  I'm curious what country you're from.

And finally, do you actually think that there are no Americans who fit this "complete leftie" profile? Because you basically just described all my friends, and most under 50 urban dwellers I know. Unfortunately we're not the ones in charge at the moment. 

It might just be age though? (some of) My friends are of the age where they are quite obnoxious about whatever they believe in. 

Well, you know lomo6, if you stabbed in the back or shot from behind, you won't know what's going on either, doesn't mean it's not gonna hurt. Gender reveal parties are harmful. 

Well, Hi. I am SorenaJ, from Britain. I am a liberal Christian, and get annoyed when people shove their religious or non-religious beliefs down my throat. I'm not anti-atheist, I am pro-believe whatever the heck you want. I find new parents' obsessions with genitals really weird, because you are basically saying 'genitals are relevant'. 

For the last bit, see the next reply just below. 

50 minutes ago, RosyDaisy said:

Hi. My name is RosyDaisy. I live in Alabama. I am all of the things you described above. I'm also a liberal Christian. I'm rather surprised that you think there aren't others like that.

 

If I thought there weren't any like that, I would not have asked the question. You ask 'cause you think there are, but you just haven't come across any. If I genuinely thought that was not the case, I would not have asked. But again, clearly you are the minority, because those views are not reflected in your country. 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

39 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

Those people are clearly not a majority, if so your country would look a lot different? 

 

23 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

But again, clearly you are the minority, because those views are not reflected in your country. 

Funny thing, but 2.9 million more citizens of the USA voted for Hilary Clinton than for Donald Trump. A majority of the voters who turned out voted for Mrs. Clinton. And yet, who is our frelling president? 

Another funny thing, but I understand that a great many UK FJers and that many younger UK citizens voted against Brexit. And yet, 1.2 million more UK voters voted to leave the EU than to stay. A majority of the UK voters who turned out voted to leave the EU. Do those anti-EU voters represent every person in the UK, because they are the majority?

Well, I frelling voted for Hilary and I was in the majority then and I believe that I'm in the majority on other things, too. Just because the haters yell louder, it doesn't mean that there are more of them.

[SorenaJ]

9 hours ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

This is a bit over the top considering that less than 1% of the population will consider themselves to be gender fluid. Odds are your child with a penis will always be a boy and your child with a vagina will always be a girl.  Now I'm all for not enforcing color stereotypes and gender specific toys, i.e a truck doesn't have to be pink for a girl to play with it and a doll doesn't have to be a solider for a boy to play with it.  Just let your child naturally mature into what they will be, and be supportive of whatever the child is.

You can still be non-binary even if you are not gender fluid. And you shouldn't assume the gender of your baby, just because one scenario is most likely, doesn't mean it couldn't be another. 

And just to posts I've seen: You don't find out the gender of the baby. You find out the sex. Making gender reveal parties further ridiculous and you know, wrong. You cannot reveal the gender of a fetus. They will do that themself as they grow up. 

As for a gender neutral pronoun: Oh I don't know, how about they?

4 minutes ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

Well, I frelling voted for Hilary and I was in the majority then and I believe that I'm in the majority on other things, too. Just because the haters yell louder, it doesn't mean that there are more of them.

Just because someone voted for Hilary doesn't mean they are a leftie (pro queer/ethnic minorities/immigration/refugees, free education, universal healthcare, free childcare, paid maternity leave, zero guns etc etc). Hilary is not a leftie. She is still very much right wing. 

[elsiedindin]

36 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

And just to posts I've seen: You don't find out the gender of the baby. You find out the sex. Making gender reveal parties further ridiculous and you know, wrong. You cannot reveal the gender of a fetus. They will do that themself as they grow up. 

What do you want people to call it, a sex reveal party? Inviting Grandma might get awkward.

Obviously people grow and develop, and they may find that they do not identify with their biological sex. But to pretend that nothing can be known about the fetus in utero is a little naive. With all the awful bullshit in the world right now, I can't possibly begrudge anyone a party.

And as for "they" being a gender-neutral pronoun-- it's probably the best we can do for now in English, but it's rubbish. It's plural and nonspecific in conversation. I think it would be great to have a gender-neutral singular pronoun but I think it will take time for one to come into common use. The sooner the better.

46 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

Just because someone voted for Hilary doesn't mean they are a leftie (pro queer/ethnic minorities/immigration/refugees, free education, universal healthcare, free childcare, paid maternity leave, zero guns etc etc). Hilary is not a leftie. She is still very much right wing. 

Goalposts move in politics. What you are defining as "lefty" is on the very far fringe of leftism in some countries and right down the middle in others. A country of 300 million people will obviously have a very wide range of political viewpoints, and typically the more extreme views get the most airtime on the news. No one seems to want to read about sensible people with moderate views. That doesn't get hits or sell  papers.

And anyway it's pot, meet kettle: Do you consider the Daily Mail mainstream? What about Ukip? I know the Daily Express folded awhile back but if you recall that was an outright racist paper sold up and down the high street. The BNP ought to have paid them for fre advertising. Some days the Telegraph isn't much better. From the press coverage, you'd think Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson were perfectly typical of UK politicians and mainstream political views. You can't possibly ignore the wave of nationalism that's swept through Britain as well as the US. 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

@SorenaJ you're an asshole.

Signed someone who according to your categorisation is a left wing Italian (I am qualified to be left wing right? mine is one of the few Western countries currently ruled by a left wing party, a bunch of assholes but they're lefties). 

BTW if I were you I'd read around FJ a bit, most of all the political forum. You can find out interesting things. Not that you care to actually read what posters say otherwise you'd know that @Palimpsest is a Briton living in the US and that most of FJ skewes very liberal.

Also I'd like to invite you to ponder what the fuck you're doing on a US based website since you're so anti-American that you can't fathom that so many Americans are actually liberals. In case you didn't notice FJ was founded by Americans who felt the need to discuss the dangers of fundamentalism, religious bigotry and right wing idiocy. If you can post here without insulting the majority of posters I'm sure you'll find that the purpose here is to spread a culture that prioritises education, social welfare, tolerance and solidarity.

[SorenaJ]

15 minutes ago, laPapessaGiovanna said:

@SorenaJ you're an asshole.

Signed someone who according to your categorisation is a left wing Italian (I am qualified to be left wing right? mine is one of the few Western countries currently ruled by a left wing party, a bunch of assholes but they're lefties). 

BTW if I were you I'd read around FJ a bit, most of all the political forum. You can find out interesting things. Not that you care to actually read what posters say otherwise you'd know that @Palimpsest is a Briton living in the US and that most of FJ skewes very liberal.

Also I'd like to invite you to ponder what the fuck you're doing on a US based website since you're so anti-American that you can't fathom that so many Americans are actually liberals. In case you didn't notice FJ was founded by Americans who felt the need to discuss the dangers of fundamentalism, religious bigotry and right wing idiocy. If you can post here without insulting the majority of posters I'm sure you'll find that the purpose here is to spread a culture that prioritises education, social welfare, tolerance and solidarity.

Last time I checked I was more than my rectum, but alright. Whatever floats your boat. 

Contrary to belief, I have a life outside FJ, and don't have time to have extensive background knowledge on every single poster on here. Sorry not sorry. 

I can perfectly fine fathom that many Americans are liberals, doesn't change the state of your country, though. Not everyone is gonna praise America. If you get insulted, move on. I get insulted about 100 times a day. Guess what I do? I move on. 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

15 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

Last time I checked I was more than my rectum, but alright. Whatever floats your boat. 

I'll go with imbecille if you prefer

16 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

Contrary to belief, I have a life outside FJ, and don't have time to have extensive background knowledge on every single poster on here. Sorry not sorry. 

You didn't need to read the whole Fj to find out. She told you some posts ago, replying to you. If you can't be bothered to read even the replies you get and keep this community members straight it's a problem of yours.

20 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

I can perfectly fine fathom that many Americans are liberals, doesn't change the state of your country, though. Not everyone is gonna praise America. If you get insulted, move on. I get insulted about 100 times a day. Guess what I do? I move on. 

Then why did you ask if there are liberal Americans and acted as if you never heard of any? And it's not MY country!

[nastyhobbitses]

27 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

 

Last time I checked I was more than my rectum, but alright. Whatever floats your boat. 

Contrary to belief, I have a life outside FJ, and don't have time to have extensive background knowledge on every single poster on here. Sorry not sorry. 

I can perfectly fine fathom that many Americans are liberals, doesn't change the state of your country, though. Not everyone is gonna praise America. If you get insulted, move on. I get insulted about 100 times a day. Guess what I do? I move on. 

 

That isn't what we're asking you to do. We're asking you to stop making sweeping generalizations about a very large and diverse country, and to stop acting like the quite liberal American contributors to FreeJinger are somehow personally responsible for Donald Trump's ascent to the presidency and the conservative, nationalist tendencies of the country, even though there is a whole host of historical, cultural, socioeconomic, and geopolitical factors that led to those things. We're asking you to shut your gob and listen to people who actually live here, vote, engage in activism, and know what's going on far more than you do, instead of smugly assume that the entirety of America is a bunch of slack-jawed fundamentalist yokels.

[SorenaJ]

11 minutes ago, laPapessaGiovanna said:

I'll go with imbecille if you prefer

Then why did you ask if there are liberal Americans and acted as if you never heard of any? And it's not MY country!

Imbecile and asshole are not synonymous when it comes to insults. I'd actually prefer asshole, but you're the one insulting me, so go with what you prefer, I'd say. 

Omg. Just because someone is a liberal does not mean they have the views I outlined (free education, zero guns, paid maternity leave etc etc (see original post)). I know there are liberal Americans, do not put words in my mouth. I asked if there were Americans who were complete lefties. Liberal =/= leftie. 

@nastyhobbitses see above 

[nastyhobbitses]

7 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

I asked if there were Americans who were complete lefties. Liberal =/= leftie. 

Um, yeah. A lot. Sadly, because most of the country is quite conservative, they don't get voted into high office, and more left-wing politicians have to temper their views/go a bit more to the right to get their foot in the door. And there's a very ugly history of very strident anti-Communist propaganda that can make some people very hesitant to be very loud-and-proud about those sorts of views; if you read about McCarthyism, you'd know about how many left-wing people's lives were ruined because people assumed that holding left-wing views, no matter how innocuous, meant support for the likes of Stalin (though there are a few tankies in the US...I don't like them much).

I don't look at Theresa May and wonder if there are any left-wing people in Britain because a right-wing politician is in power and there are also a lot of right-wing people.

[SorenaJ]

21 minutes ago, nastyhobbitses said:

I don't look at Theresa May and wonder if there are any left-wing people in Britain because a right-wing politician is in power and there are also a lot of right-wing people.

We have left wing parties with potential to be in power, though. In US there are just two who stand a chance, and none of them are left. So not quite the same. 

Anyyyways, moving along, as I don't have all day, the aforementioned life outside FJ tends to get in the way.

whatshisface and Anna make awfully cute kids. Do J&A live at the TTH? The house is gonna get more and more crowded with all the grandkids there. 

[QuiverFullofBooks]

45 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

We have left wing parties with potential to be in power, though. In US there are just two who stand a chance, and none of them are left. So not quite the same. 

Anyyyways, moving along, as I don't have all day, the aforementioned life outside FJ tends to get in the way.

whatshisface and Anna make awfully cute kids. Do J&A live at the TTH? The house is gonna get more and more crowded with all the grandkids there. 

Yes, let’s get back on track. No, Josh and Anna live in Siloam Springs. It’s west of the TTH but not very far away. It’s not clear how much time Josh spends with his family, though the grandchildren are around fairly often.

[SorenaJ]

7 minutes ago, QuiverFullofBooks said:

Yes, let’s get back on track. No, Josh and Anna live in Siloam Springs. It’s west of the TTH but not very far away. It’s not clear how much time Josh spends with his family, though the grandchildren are around fairly often.

I wonder if they go to the TTH every day (this goes for Jessa as well - Jill and D live at the compound, yeah?). As in "everyone is up, now let's drive to TTH". If that's where they all hang out. 

[Exposedknees]

9 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

I wonder if they go to the TTH every day (this goes for Jessa as well - Jill and D live at the compound, yeah?). As in "everyone is up, now let's drive to TTH". If that's where they all hang out. 

The SOTDRT is at the TTH. Mack is school aged and similarly aged with Josie and Jordan. Anna has a newborn, it stands to reason that she could drop them off for "schooling" and Jana care. With the pix of Meri, Izzy, and Spurge in Jana's garden together, perhaps there is a PreSOTDRT-as well. 

[lomo6]

It's funny. I was recently in Europe, including the UK, and before my trip I was a bit nervous that people would assume I supported Trump and tell me about how terrible the US is, like happened to me many times during the Bush era. I was pleasantly surprised to find that almost everyone I interacted with assumed I thought Trump was crazy - there was much more sympathy than judgment. This was especially true in the UK, where the few people I got into political convos with seemed pretty humbled by the Brexit experience. But I guess there are still some people out there who are ignorant enough to assume whoever's in power reflects the character of an entire country. If that mindset gives you some comfort in your sense of superiority and self-satisfaction, @SorenaJ, then I guess no amount of information will change your mind.

Anyhow, back to Josh and Anna. They've seemed to be quite a bit more active on social media and the like recently. I wonder if they see an opening to take on a role in CO, now that the Dillards are going down in flames...

[SorenaJ]

11 minutes ago, lomo6 said:

'But I guess there are still some people out there who are ignorant enough to assume whoever's in power reflects the character of an entire country. If that mindset gives you some comfort in your sense of superiority and self-satisfaction, @SorenaJ, then I guess no amount of information will change your mind.

Are you absolutely fucking royally kidding me?? Nowhere, I repeat, nowhere, have I stated that I believe the entire country supports Trump. I think the majority thinks Trump is crazy. Again, do not put words into my mouth. Thank you. 

Anyways, moving on. 

[HarleyQuinn]

12 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

 

That said, my "favorite" gender reveal involved a big balloon filled with blue paint. It was "popped" by the dad, who shot the balloon with his 40 cal.

That might be the most redneck thing I've ever read.  

I saw one of those cakes being picked up at a bakery recently. I think it said "Rifles or Ruffles?" 

[singsingsing]

5 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

Are you absolutely fucking royally kidding me?? Nowhere, I repeat, nowhere, have I stated that I believe the entire country supports Trump. I think the majority thinks Trump is crazy. Again, do not put words into my mouth. Thank you. 

Anyways, moving on. 

Dude, you went on about how hating America is a hobby of yours, and then 'innocently' asked if there were any super leftie Americans. I don't think it was necessary to put words in your mouth, you pretty much did it yourself. You can keep acting shocked and offended, but when you insult an entire nation, whose citizens happen to make up the majority of this forum, you can't possibly be surprised when you catch flack (especially when the things you're saying are so nonsensical).

I also find it ridiculous that you seem to be implying that you have to be really far to the left to not be a shitty person and an 'ignorant American'. By your litmus test, I'm not even that far to the left, and I'm Canadian. There's actually an enormous gulf between 'Maybe free college for literally everyone isn't the best answer' and, 'I'm a white supremacist bigot who wants to suck Trump's dick'.

I'd really suggest thinking about how you'd react if the same attitude were turned on you by, say, a European, because God knows the UK isn't perfect and has its own set of issues (every country does, but someone from the UK shitting all over Americans because they're too far-right is a bit rich at the moment, don't you think? I absolutely do not believe that every person from the UK supports Brexit, Nigel Farage and his ilk, but that's my point - the majority of Americans didn't vote for Trump, and the majority do not approve of his job performance.)

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

59 minutes ago, SorenaJ said:

Are you absolutely fucking royally kidding me?? Nowhere, I repeat, nowhere, have I stated that I believe the entire country supports Trump. I think the majority thinks Trump is crazy. Again, do not put words into my mouth. Thank you. 

Anyways, moving on. 

You are a very narrow minded uppity little Brit who has probably taken 2 or 3 PolySci classes at Uni and thinks she can run with the big dogs.  All it shows is how little you really do know.  I've had similar 'debates' with my own 19 yr old.  Arguing for the sake of arguing isn't debating, and sticking to a shitty (and incorrect) POV to argue with just for the sake of being argumentative is just obnoxious.  One thing I've learned in my old age, it is some times better to listen more and talk less, you can learn a lot that way.

[Carm_88]

We can all take the worst of a country and run with it believing that all stereotypes are true, that makes you ignorant. If you continue to believe this despite people telling you otherwise, it makes you even more ignorant because you're refusing to learn. FJ is a diverse place, we come from many places and may backgrounds. You may not always agree with someone but you can learn from them.