Maxwell 14: Editing Out Fun-Loving

[LurkerOverThePond]

12 hours ago, SPHASH said:

You mean when FJers were humping him I take it.

Yes. 

That was such an epic encounter - the whole surprise visit to the conference I mean - that it made my day. No, it made my WHOLE YEAR  

The most bizarre part was when Treemom told the Maxwell kidults they were suffering from Stockholm syndrome, Mary said "but I love my daddy!" and MADE A HEART WITH HER HANDS! What the ever loving fuck was that?!? I still haven't gotten over it. 

[Captain Obvious]

20 minutes ago, LurkerOverThePond said:

Yes. 

That was such an epic encounter - the whole surprise visit to the conference I mean - that it made my day. No, it made my WHOLE YEAR  

Oh wow. 

Did you post about that at the time? I need to read it!

[lilith]

10 hours ago, mango_fandango said:

Don't the Bontrager guys do cooking sometimes too? Don't think they cook an entire meal by themselves, though, but I suppose it is something... And even the Maxwell men make breakfast on Christmas morning, although after this year it'll only be Steve and Jesse doing it. That's the only time we ever hear about the Maxwell men cooking. 

Yes, they cook, but it seems to be a special occasion thing rather than a regular activity. Chelsy seemed quite impressed that they left 2 boys behind while they toured earlier in the year and they didn't starve. Those boys cooked the rest of the family a big welcome back dinner.

[Howl]

16 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

I hate to break the news to you, but Uriah the bus was named after Uriah the Hittite because he had a servant's heart.

Uriah Heep is a fictional character.  David Copperfield might be semi-autobiography but it still counts as fiction. Fiction is not real and far too much F+N! 

I'm a legend in my own mind.  I googled and realized I'd made joking post about Uriah Heap on a Maxwell thread back in 2014 or something.  I'll let myself out, thanks.  *slinks off to make tea*

[LurkerOverThePond]

1 hour ago, Captain Obvious said:

Oh wow. 

Did you post about that at the time? I need to read it!

It wasn't me (I'm on a different continent, and would never have guts to do something so epic ) but three FJ members ( @treemom was kind of a leader of the group) who visited one of the Maxwell conferences in Tennessee, I think. It happened back in 2012, right after Joe's first failed engagement. The FJ ladies took photos on a parking lot literally humping dusty, poor old Uriah and giving him the time of his life!

After sweet fellowship with Uriah they attended the actual conference. I don't know if they originally were going to make a scene or not, but Treemom got fed up with their bullshit. During Q&A session she stood up and confronted Steve. She told who they were (Steve's facial expression revealed he recognized FJ) and accused Steve for fucking up his family. Among other things she said how their Perfect Godly Model had led to two broken engagements (Pristopher & Joe) and how Steve just said something like yes, yes, and stared at her intensively. Joseph was grinning smugly like a maniac, and none of the Maxwells were able to come up with anything to say. Having said all that had to be said the FJ trio left the church and on their way out encountered the girls in the hall behind their book selling table. Treemom told them their dad was denying them normal life and experiences and that they were victims of Stockholm syndrome. That's when Mary did the immortal heart shaped hand gesture and told "but I love my daddy!". 

You probably find the original thread in Maxhell archives (autumn 2012). I would try to find it but I'm leaving soon for local beer festival. Cheers, Stevus 

[nomoxian]

Now I could never work out to something as boring as the Bible, but since I doubt the Maxhells listen to hard or up*beat* stuff like Industrial or Psytrance, couldn't they listen to a Bible on tape as they walk on the treadmill and dust fans? That would clear up a whole chunk on their schedule! Perhaps they could finally fit in some time to tell us how to prepare lettuce with a pizza cutter...

[daisyjane1234]

3 hours ago, SPHASH said:

New post up.  Griselda Teri talks about Bible Time and throws shade on Coward Steve's parents for not installing it in his young life.  Fuck you Teri.

I realize this has been said about a million times before, but reading Teri's posts is downright  painful.  That woman simply cannot write a decent sentence.

[Captain Obvious]

35 minutes ago, LurkerOverThePond said:

You probably find the original thread in Maxhell archives (autumn 2012). I would try to find it but I'm leaving soon for local beer festival. Cheers, Stevus 

The thread's been deleted, but I found it on web archive. Yay!

http://web.archive.org/web/20120921022645/http://www.freejinger.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12814

[lilith]

From Teri's latest sanctimonious drivel:

"Steve has been a disciplined man who will choose to go to bed at night so he can get up early enough in the morning to have time in the Word and exercise before starting work".

What work has Steve actually done since "coming home" from corporate America so many years ago? He write a few paragraphs for "serious" dads every week or so (he's not faithfully keeping to his schedule and reliably churning them out in the allotted weekly 15 minute block). He preaches at the captive elderly and his captive family once a week - he doesn't do Wednesday night services or bible studies like most self ordained "pastors"). He leads his family "in the word" for a  hour a day and has weekly meetings to ensure his grip on his adult children's hearts hasnt slipped. And he, increasingly rarely, self publishes he occasional book and speaks at "conferences". Steve hasn't really worked for many years - in fact I have no idea how he manages to fill in his 15 minute blocks between the time in the word he rises so early for in the morning and family bible/brainwashing time at night. There's an idea for a "day in the life" that people may want to read, Sarah - I'd love to know what the hell your father does all day.

Now I'm sure he's not being frivolous and having what some might call fun, or binging on Pepsi whilst singing Row Row Row Your Boat, but his schedule must be jammed with busy work designed to make him feel holy and important.

 

[nomoxian]

From the thread Captain Obvious posted. I just feel it needs to be highlighted.

Quote

Steve is a cold and scary man. I briefly was in the same space as Charles Manson once (long story) and that is the demeanor. Cold, smooth and reptilian.

 

[Palimpsest]

2 hours ago, Howl said:

*slinks off to make tea*

Please make me a cup too.  I've been wrong more times than I can count.

26 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

http://web.archive.org/web/20120921022645/http://www.freejinger.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12814

Yeah, that was really funny but the bus humping was quite controversial at the time.  Some people acted as though poor Uriah was sentient!  Newer posters should also note that this incident was before we had the rule about no-one identifying themselves as representing Free Jinger.  Ever.

Treemom just blew up at Steve, and I truly can't blame her.   Mr. P and I went to one of the conferences having decided in advance that we would be polite observers.  We were polite, but lasted only an hour.  Mr. P went to Steve's session for men and it made him utterly furious.  He asked to leave during the break because he thought he would lose it with Steve too.

Steve in real life is very creepy.  He has superficial "charm" and a reptilian stare.

Also, you couldn't miss Uriah.  He glistened with cleanliness and was HUGE.  

[Jana814]

Fact is Steve is an ass!!  He needs to control anything and everything in his family. He acts like if other people don't raise their kids the way he has raised his they did it wrong. 

[lilith]

11 minutes ago, Palimpsest said:

Please make me a cup too.  I've been wrong more times than I can count.

Yeah, that was really funny but the bus humping was quite controversial at the time.  Some people acted as though poor Uriah was sentient!  Newer posters should also note that this incident was before we had the rule about no-one identifying themselves as representing Free Jinger.  Ever.

Treemom just blew up at Steve, and I truly can't blame her.   Mr. P and I went to one of the conferences having decided in advance that we would be polite observers.  We were polite, but lasted only an hour.  Mr. P went to Steve's session for men and it made him utterly furious.  He asked to leave during the break because he thought he would lose it with Steve too.

Steve in real life is very creepy.  He has superficial "charm" and a reptilian stare.

Also, you couldn't miss Uriah.  He glistened with cleanliness and was HUGE.  

The Uriah humping incident occurred at a very volatile point in board history - it was just as the Alecto issues came to light and the subsequent dramas, changes in board culture and accusations of cliquishness are well represented in that thread.

Edit - I know you're well aware of that @Palimpsest, I'm clarifying for others on the thread. 

3 minutes ago, Jana814 said:

Fact is Steve is an ass!!  He needs to control anything and everything in his family. He acts like if other people don't raise their kids the way he has raised his raised his, they did it wrong. 

Of course they did. Their kids have probably moved to a whole different neighbourhood and are bound for hell - and it's all cause they weren't friends exclusively with their siblings, played team sports, and sang ungodly tunes like Row Row Row Your Boat. Goodness, their daughters might even be married!

[LurkerOverThePond]

This is probably THE conference in question: https://blog.titus2.com/2012/09/16/stop-1-germantown-tennessee/

From the post: "We loved our time with all who came." Yeah, I'm sure you did!

[MamaJunebug]

On 10/24/2017 at 2:56 PM, Coconutwater said:

I would be upset if I paid for a house and wasn’t allowed to move into it even if I had to throw a mattress on the floor while renovating if the bathroom and water is working. Instead of sleeping in a bunk bed and only being able to work on it on approved scheduled time. I get this is the Maxwells, but John is grown and it’s his house. Growing up how he did, I would probably be afraid to stand up to Steve too...

I’ll be the Stevil’s advocate here (see what I did there? Actually a pretty good nick for the old boy!)

Anyhoo, Stevil’s Advocate time: I’ve rehabbed a house while living in it, and IME having somewhere else to sleep and bathe is my first, second and third preference. IME, until you get the last of the drywall dust and suchlike finally and completely vacuumed up, it’s heck on the sinuses and actually the skin — I never felt really clean !!!!

 I know The Stevil is demanding control over every minute of S. John’s life for as long as he can, but on this one, I’d be AOK with bunking at the Fathership til all was perfect Chez Stud. 

On 10/24/2017 at 4:22 PM, Captain Obvious said:

they're not doing much music stuff any more. 

Let us all pause for a moment of thanks in our own ways.

[MamaJunebug]

On 10/24/2017 at 10:40 PM, lilith said:

she's written about not  wearing pants while in her father's home out of respect for her family and their standards, and she would almost certainly apply that to visiting the home of her fiancées family. Once she and John become their own family it's up to John.

“It’s up to John.”  How a woman dresses is up to her husband.

In the middle of the USA, in 2017 CE.

If I cringe any more, I’ll fall over backward. 

(Even though I get the feeling John couldn’t give a flyin’ fig....)

[singsingsing]

My intuition is kind of crap, except when it comes to identifying sociopaths. For some reason I'm great at spotting sociopaths. There are a handful of fundies we follow here who I believe may be actual, full blown sociopaths, but I generally won't name names because it's not based on much more than my personal intuition, and that a pretty strong label to slap on someone. 

But I will make an exception for Steve. I think Steve Maxwell is a legit sociopath. I'll qualify this by saying that I absolutely could be wrong, and I sincerely hope that I am. But whoa nelly, does he ever ring those alarm bells.

[mango_fandango]

Teri didn't grow up in a Christian home either. They both got saved in their early 20s after they were married.

And I bet they did grow up in a Christian environment, maybe going to church on Sundays and that being it. Problem is that their definition of "Christian" is very narrow, i.e. their way or the high way. You may profess to believe in Jesus, but if you don't read your Bible daily you're not a "true" Christian. Daily Bible-reading does not a Christian make. What do they actually do in their community? I don't really count OCC, that's just sticking stuff in shoeboxes with a side order of Jeebus. They've occasionally made pie for the elderly, but that's just for the residents of the nursing home where their church was. Carolling isn't "helping" anyone. Protesting abortion at the sides of roads isn't anything either. 

[anjulibai]

59 minutes ago, singsingsing said:

My intuition is kind of crap, except when it comes to identifying sociopaths. For some reason I'm great at spotting sociopaths. There are a handful of fundies we follow here who I believe may be actual, full blown sociopaths, but I generally won't name names because it's not based on much more than my personal intuition, and that a pretty strong label to slap on someone. 

But I will make an exception for Steve. I think Steve Maxwell is a legit sociopath. I'll qualify this by saying that I absolutely could be wrong, and I sincerely hope that I am. But whoa nelly, does he ever ring those alarm bells.

I agree. He's just....I can't describe it, but he rings my alarm bells, too. I don't get the sense that he feels for anyone in his life, beyond what they do for him. 

[Eternalbluepearl]

16 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

 What do they actually do in their community? 

Okay, there is a line in the movie "Where The Heart Is" where Sister Husband says (paraphrasing)
"Harry, we're alcoholics, we're generally satisfied just to hurt ourselves." And this question made me think of the Maxwells. "Mango, they're Maxwells, they're generally satisfied just to help themselves."

 

Sorry that was so random. 

[lilith]

35 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

Teri didn't grow up in a Christian home either. They both got saved in their early 20s after they were married.

And I bet they did grow up in a Christian environment, maybe going to church on Sundays and that being it. Problem is that their definition of "Christian" is very narrow, i.e. their way or the high way. You may profess to believe in Jesus, but if you don't read your Bible daily you're not a "true" Christian. Daily Bible-reading does not a Christian make.

Yet they loudly proclaim that they believe in salvation through faith alone and that anyone who believes in works based salvation is a vain heretic.

[Hane]

1 hour ago, lilith said:

Yet they loudly proclaim that they believe in salvation through faith alone and that anyone who believes in works based salvation is a vain heretic.

Re “salvation through faith alone”: As a former Ebil Catholic and current Godless UU, I think this concept is nonsense—but didn’t Jesus command his followers to care for the poor and less fortunate? “Salvation” beliefs aside, what’s stopping the Maxhellions from doing so?

[mango_fandango]

They probably think they’re doing good when they go out proselytising at the county fair. 

I wonder how they’d react if their area/nearby areas were affected by natural disasters. Would they go out and help? Probably not. Or the guys might do something whilst the girls make burritos and pie for everyone.

[punkiepie]

15 minutes ago, Hane said:

Re “salvation through faith alone”: As a former Ebil Catholic and current Godless UU, I think this concept is nonsense—but didn’t Jesus command his followers to care for the poor and less fortunate? “Salvation” beliefs aside, what’s stopping the Maxhellions from doing so?

The salvation through faith alone is often misunderstood.  It's not that works aren't an important part, it's that works alone can't get you to heaven.  Once you are saved through faith, then the "fruits of the spirit" should appear and others should be able to tell of your rebirth in Christ because you are doing good for others, becoming a better person, etc.  If there are no "fruits," then this should make you question your salvation.  This has fucked people up for centuries.  The Maxwells, like many other fundies, have elevated the verses about not being part of this world over ones that command helping those who are less fortunate, not casting the first stone, etc. 

Funny story- there are some fundies who believe Bradford Pear trees are evil and of the devil because they are a fruit tree which produces no fruit. hahaha

[Bajovane]

As Christians, the Maxwells really suck at it.  They talk the talk, but do not walk the walk. 

Reading the bible (small b, I refuse to capitalize it) every single day for hours at a time over and over is my idea of hell.  Holy cow how boring can that be?!  The kids have no idea there is another way to live.  Stevil (love that nickname) and Terified have installed such a fear for anything secular that I have no idea how these poor kids are going to function when one day these two buy the farm.  Stevil shouldn't be so sure he's headed where he thinks he is.  I (my own personal beliefs) believe that God is going to have a special place for him and it certainly will not be by his side. 

The description of him being cold and reptilian seems so apt.  The evil (yes, Steve - EVIL) oozes out of him in the photos even when he is surrounded by family.  I've read other accounts of those who have met him and they pretty much say the same thing.  One stated he completely ignored her while he spoke with her husband - as if women are to be treated as second rate.

I feel much pity for his kids - especially the kidults as they have no escape.  The marrieds - even though they are out of the house, they are still very much under his control.   They have no idea just how stifling that really is. 

No matter how much you pray, how much you read that bible from cover to cover, you will never shed that evil, Steve.  God sees right through people like you.