Counting on - Season 4, part 3 - Lying but not Laying while camping

[SassyPants]

@Helena Handbaket- I don't think Jessa even has a GED-

@Fluffy14- It's called slipping out of the lazy assed Duggar chute.

[2manyKidzzz]

I was so impressed to hear DWreck speak about Austin being ready to marry Joy and that Austin needed to focus on being a provider. That was funny. Quite funny.

And when Joy had on the blindfold there was a cliff right there. 

[VelociRapture]

http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/19-kids-and-counting/michelle-duggars-blog/homeschooling-milestones/

From 2014. I rolled my eyes so hard at that bit about a Michelle never wanting her kids to stop learning.

As far as GEDs, I believe Josh and Jill have them. I’d assume John has one as well (because pilot?) and we now know Jana was working towards her’s back in late 2006 when they were interviewed by police regarding the molestations.

[meowfundiecatz]

In their books, they say all of the older kids have their GED, so yes, Jessa would have hers.

[Helena Handbaket]

19 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

I don't think Jessa even has a GED-

Yes, she does.  There was a flashback in an  episode : She has a party and they presented her with the diploma she earned months before.  I believe it was the one when they discussed Jessa taking over the teaching when Michelle was busy with "Little Baby Josie".

 

[brusselsgriffon]

1 hour ago, Buzzard said:

Joy - I didnt really like him all that much, he was young and immature

If they're going to flat out lie, can they at least remember what they said in the episode that was literally right before this one? Didn't Joy say that she had always liked Austin, but he didn't have feelings for her until more recently??

[calimojo]

boring episode, again.  How much longer can they keep this up?  I get that they are a big family, but that doesn't begin to explain that warehouse.  How and why do they have so much stuff?  Didn't they sell a lot of stuff from the warehouse at some sort of charity rummage sale a few years back? 

 

And it would seem that Joy has had more freedom.  She drove on her own last week to meet Kendra, and it seems very possible she could have swung by the house that Austin was working in for some alone time.  They have a familiarity with one another that suggests they had more time together than what we have been shown, which is a good thing since some of the married couples didn't seem to know each other all that well before the wedding.  I think Joy is right when she says Austin pushes her out of her box of comfort.  Hopefully he will respect the times when Joy really doesn't want or have interest in something he wants to do, instead of just insisting she do it anyway.  It is good to have friends and family who will challenge you, but also good to have friends and family who respect boundaries and are not overly pushy.

[ATimetoDance]

1 hour ago, Fluffy14 said:

Oh and Jessa doesn't cook much? Has she got a secret I don't know about?  How can you be a stay at home wife and mother and get away with not Cooking? 

 

You be on a TV show that provides craft services.

[JordynDarby5]

Wait, so a kid was crying and Jessa went to deal with it? Not Jana? Even though Jana was there?

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

6 hours ago, Beermeet said:

Start at the beginning,  of course!

Have fun sis @allthegoodnamesrgone!

Sis. Beermeet 

You & @Nikedagain? The hole I fell down, not enough   I knew I'd regret asking. I'm not sure I can ever look at gravy or weens the same ever again. 

[cascarones]

It seems like a tradition to state the girls' love story with their husband at seeing him give his testimony to the Lord. We've heard Anna say it, I believe Jill, I think Jinger varied to seeing his servant's heart in action and now Joy. Is that a very fundie phrase tied into not giving away parts of your heart in crushes before your future spouse? I know there's a lot of common phrases, but I don't follow the Bates or families as closely and in my conservative Christian family the phrasing isn't as narrowed. Truly curious since there is a lot of overlap between practices.

[eveandadam]

Can I just say something? In the last couple of episodes Laura was very often shown sitting or standing next to Jana, especially in the talking heads. I don't like this at all because probably this is all made by TLC to stir some internet rumors. She was only introduced as a family friend and wedding coordinator for Joy and the rest about her is just a mystery: does she live with the Duggars? What is her role in the household and in Jana's life? Weird....

And honestly: Jana (and JB) need to be very careful; these weird talking heads and camera frames could destroy Jana's reputation within her commmunity. Is TLC subtly throwing Jana under the bus? Not good! They need to be careful!

If TLC wants to portray this Laura D. as a mystery, it's fine, but don't get Jana in the mix, TLC!

 

 

 

[PumaLover]

Haven't read through everything yet but just wanted to state that I started watching, and then decided that coming here to read instead would be much more interesting!

[laPapessaGiovanna]

Just a friendly reminder of the guidelines

Do NOT post speculation concerning the sexual orientation of any minor children or adult children still living in their parental homes.

 

[Firebird]

If this TV show is their "ministry" why do they do nothing but lie? If they're so afraid to show ANYTHING real about themselves you'd think some level of common sense would say enough is enough. It just makes me more suspicious of them after everything that came out about Josh. I don't see the Duggars as a pillar of society anymore. They're more like the pole to a circus tent.

[AnnaRuk09]

@Firebird It’s not their ministry. Christians don’t make $30K at each “ministry” event. “Ministry” is just a cover up word for this business deal with stupid TLC. 

[saywhat7]

I haven't watch the whole episode but in my opinion Joy is becoming much less likable. I personally have nothing against homeschooling. I think it can be done great but the kids I know that homeschooled went onto to be successful in college and have great careers. One now is a stay at home mother but that was her choice after college and a career. We all knew they were sheltered but the argument has been that since they travel they are less sheltered. She doesn't even realize a lot of people have parties to celebrate their high school graduation AND celebrate them going onto college or starting a career.  What was she celebrating, moving on to help her mother and waiting for a husband. 

Also these people are getting so boring that even this site doesn't move as fast as it has. 

[singsingsing]

I don't think Joy lied. She said she liked Austin for a really long time, but he only recently started liking her back. Then she said that when she first met him she didn't like him very much because he was young and immature. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

[PainfullyAware]

The Duggars rationale for what they do is that their show is a form of ministry because they model what a Godly family looks like. I think putting ministry in quotation marks is a pretty accurate description of the show. Clearly it's a self-serving rationale but it's also important to talk about what they say they're doing as well as what they're actually doing. 

I think the Josh Scandal really broke down the fourth wall of the show. It highlighted the hypocrisy of saying "our ministry is being this great role model on TV for other families" but "we never said we we're perfect". 

The problem with the joy statement about initially thinking Austin was immature and then developing a crush on him is that they never told us a detailed story of their relationship. We got generalizations like Joy has liked him for a long time but no anecdotes along the way. It seems kind of bizarre to have a reality show where you try to hide reality from viewers. Things end up sounding contradictory that might have a perfectly normal explanation if they would actually explain.

I know reality show isn't actually reality but a heavily edited and scripted version. The Duggars just don't seem capable of remembering what the edits are. It would go so much better for them if they stuck to the truth, and just didn't talk about things they want to keep private -rather than talking around things they want to keep private. The Kardashians seem to do much better job of sticking to the plot they put out there. When I've watched their show they just straight up ignore things they don't want to discuss, like Kanye West's mental breakdown last year. That way they don't end up tripping all over themselves trying to obfuscate.

[singsingsing]

4 minutes ago, PainfullyAware said:

The problem with the joy statement about initially thinking Austin was immature and then developing a crush on him is that they never told us a detailed story of their relationship. We got generalizations like Joy has liked him for a long time but no anecdotes along the way. It seems kind of bizarre to have a reality show where you try to hide reality from viewers. Things end up sounding contradictory that might have a perfectly normal explanation if they would actually explain.

But what you're talking about are exactly what you're claiming they lack: anecdotes along the way. It's hardly some kind of malicious or calculated deception to say, 'I liked him for a really long time' and then to say, 'I didn't really like him at first'. There's nothing inconsistent about either statement. The Duggars bend, obscure, and leave out the truth on a regular basis. It's not bizarre at all to have a 'reality' show where you hide reality from viewers: that's what reality shows are. But this isn't a good example of that at all, because there's absolutely nothing contradictory or deceitful about her statements. Plenty of people dislike their future spouse at first and then fall in love. It's so common that it's often not seen as anything worth remarking on.

[Bazinga]

1 hour ago, singsingsing said:

But what you're talking about are exactly what you're claiming they lack: anecdotes along the way. It's hardly some kind of malicious or calculated deception to say, 'I liked him for a really long time' and then to say, 'I didn't really like him at first'. There's nothing inconsistent about either statement. The Duggars bend, obscure, and leave out the truth on a regular basis. It's not bizarre at all to have a 'reality' show where you hide reality from viewers: that's what reality shows are. But this isn't a good example of that at all, because there's absolutely nothing contradictory or deceitful about her statements. Plenty of people dislike their future spouse at first and then fall in love. It's so common that it's often not seen as anything worth remarking on.

I wonder more if it is less about Joy lying and more about the whole fundie love/courtship gimmick.

I notice in EVERY love story for a fundie, it's ALWAYS the same song and dance. They met 5 years ago, but she doesn't remember the first meeting. He liked her, she wasn't so sure at first. Then she noticed how Godly he was, dad gave the blessing......and so on. You never hear a girl saying, I thought he was hot and nice, so I went for it. (The only exception I know of is Michela publicly stating she was interested in Brandon for a long time, and prayed a lot that he might notice her).

I wonder if this has a lot to do with the notion that Prince Charming is supposed to find the girls? It would be deemed unacceptable for the girl to make the first move. Chances are Joy really did like Austin for a long time, but after she said it, the Duggar's realized this wouldn't follow the protocol for courtship. So now the story is, Joy wasn't interested in Austin at first.

I dunno....just throwing out my observations.

[Eternalbluepearl]

I'm not sure why courtship is such a big deal to fundies. Can't you date people, hold hands, kiss, and still be anti-abortion or whatever? It's like they put on these modesty shows for no one but each other. Oh we didn't even *touch* before the wedding day! That was your choice. Who cares. It's not the modesty olympics. 

[lumpentheologie]

25 minutes ago, Bazinga said:

I notice in EVERY love story for a fundie, it's ALWAYS the same song and dance. They met 5 years ago, but she doesn't remember the first meeting. He liked her, she wasn't so sure at first. Then she noticed how Godly he was, dad gave the blessing......and so on. You never hear a girl saying, I thought he was hot and nice, so I went for it. (The only exception I know of is Michela publicly stating she was interested in Brandon for a long time, and prayed a lot that he might notice her).

Erin Paine also said this about Chad -- she thought he was attractive and liked him right away. 

You're right that it seems to be rare, though. 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

2 hours ago, singsingsing said:

But what you're talking about are exactly what you're claiming they lack: anecdotes along the way. It's hardly some kind of malicious or calculated deception to say, 'I liked him for a really long time' and then to say, 'I didn't really like him at first'. There's nothing inconsistent about either statement. The Duggars bend, obscure, and leave out the truth on a regular basis. It's not bizarre at all to have a 'reality' show where you hide reality from viewers: that's what reality shows are. But this isn't a good example of that at all, because there's absolutely nothing contradictory or deceitful about her statements. Plenty of people dislike their future spouse at first and then fall in love. It's so common that it's often not seen as anything worth remarking on.

You also need to remember she's 19 a long time to a 19 year old is going to be very different than a long time to a 30 year old, as a long time to a 30 year old will be very different than a long time to a 70 year old. Time is relative in these instances.  The families have known each other for 15 years, she didn't like him at first, well duh she was 5 when they met. He started hanging around the house when she was 12, he was 16 and could drive to the TTH, she was still swinging from trees at 12 so she started liking him maybe 2/3 years ago, to a 19 year old that is a long time.

[nickelodeon]

13 hours ago, Buzzard said:

We're reminded how joy and austin got to know eachother on ministries.  When he was in mississippi at flight school he thought "what about joy" and it was god.

This sounds like the "love stories" that IBLP guys like the Staddon dudes or D-Waller tell. (At first they didn't give a shit about each other, but then, like Moses with the burning bush, they were sent A VISION by THE LARD who told them to go steady!)