Dillards 44: Still Pretending to Missionary to College Students

[RubyRei]

12 minutes ago, Free Them All said:

I believe all of these white privileged males who want to be preachers/missionaries are mentally ill.  

I feel like this has already been said but arrogant, selfish, holier than thou =/= mental illness and I think we should stop perpetuating the negative stereotype that awful people must have a mental illness instead of just being.... awful people. 

[Cleopatra7]

1 hour ago, Drala said:

Derwick posted the following quote from Gregg Matte (whoever he is) not too long ago on twitter.  It says everything about how he conceptualizes living the gospel and  the proper role of missionaries.  The church is there to "'help" with material needs, but not to substantially transform human habitation of the planet.  I'm compelled to snark about such piss-poor kingdom theology that essentially says, "if you believe right, there's pie in the sky when  you die -- and a piece or two on earth to whet your appetite while you're waiting  to feast at that great desert tray in the hereafter."      

 

But this is what I don’t get; if the point of ministry is to save souls from hell rather than make earth a better place, what then is the point of have eleventy children for Jesus or obsessing over saving fertilized eggs from being aborted? If getting to heaven is more important than worrying about the present life and you also think Jesus is about to return any day now, there’s really no point wasting time having children who will more likely than not end up in hell. This was the response of the early Christians to their pagan interlocutors who accused them of being bad citizens. Similarly, why should Christians care if the US or any other country is being run by godless heathens  or having an army of children to win back the country if heaven is our real home? Many anti-abortion Christians seem to think that aborted zygotes and the like go straight to heaven because they are the most innocent of human life, so isn’t being aborted really doing them a favor, as they get to enjoy the ultimate prize without having to do. anyhting to earn it? 

[AtlanticTug]

I think that they are more lazy and self-absorbed than mentally ill.

Aside from the Duggars and the Bates who have managed to monetize their fertility, most of the others are pretty poor. Think of the Rodrigues' babies and toddlers sleeping in closet cages in an RV, the Anderson kids squeezing into that (dirty) little house while their father is off preaching hate, the Nauglers in unspeakable conditions, even Anna's family grew up in a tiny home clearly in poverty. But they unfortunately manage to find ways to either grift or rely on their fundie communities/churches who are full on enablers of this behaviour. I am not saying stop helping them so those kids starve, but the reality is that so long as these people can manage to get by, why not have kid after kid after kid?

The women don't know any better and are brainwashed and unfortunately mostly young and fertile. The men are super lazy for the most part and apparently without any shame.

[Carm_88]

Being full of hate is not a mental illness, it just makes you an asshole. Derick seems to be in the category of just an asshole. I mean Jesus is the answer to everything right? 

[Georgiana]

4 minutes ago, RubyRei said:

I feel like this has already been said but arrogant, selfish, holier than thou =/= mental illness and I think we should stop perpetuating the negative stereotype that awful people must have a mental illness instead of just being.... awful people. 

Agreed.  It is also important to note that the VAST majority of people who suffer from mental illness are a threat to NO ONE but themselves.  When we start to assume that every aggressive asshat is mentally ill, we are perpetuating the stereotype that mentally ill people are, well, aggressive asshats who cannot control themselves.  That is simply not true.  Most are gentle, kind, and sweet people who try their hardest to keep their issues from harming others.  It's very important that the face of mental illness be changed so that the stigma can be lessened and more people can feel safe to admit they are struggling and seek help.  

Derick MIGHT be mentally ill.  I don't know.  I'm not his doctor.  But he is ALSO clearly a douchecanoe.  And even if he were mentally ill, I know of no mental illness that FORCES you to tweet dumb and hateful things...but that's pretty much the bread and butter of being a dickhead.  So that's where I think the blame needs to be placed.  Derick is a bad person who tweets bad things.  Mental illness, if it is there, is not the operative force.

20 minutes ago, AtlanticTug said:

even Anna's family grew up in a tiny home clearly in poverty.

I always gotta chuckle at this.  Anna's family lives on acreage where they have their own tennis court and I believe a pool.  They might even have other sports courts as well, but the tennis court is the only one I've seen for sure.  Yes, they live in a small pre-fab or modular home.  But that's COMMON in many areas of the country, especially in rural areas where the cost to source materials and build is astronomical.

My aunt/uncle and cousins live IDENTICALLY to the Kellers.  Small, pre-fab home on acreage.  The boys' rooms were so tiny they barely fit the bed.  But that was OK because the family prefers to be outside gardening, working in their large shop, on their archery range, or in the woods.   The house wasn't where they were spending their time.  

The Kellers aren't RICH by any means, but their house just wasn't their priority.  They put their money into their land, which makes sense in FL.  I just think it's a bit funny to call folks who have their own sports courts impoverished.  

[flycat]

2 hours ago, Drala said:

 

Derwick posted the following quote from Gregg Matte (whoever he is) not too long ago on twitter.  It says everything about how he conceptualizes living the gospel and  the proper role of missionaries.  The church is there to "'help" with material needs, but not to substantially transform human habitation of the planet.  I'm compelled to snark about such piss-poor kingdom theology that essentially says, "if you believe right, there's pie in the sky when  you die -- and a piece or two on earth to whet your appetite while you're waiting  to feast at that great desert tray in the hereafter."      

 

Oh wow, I actually know Greg Matte. He ran a campus ministry when I was in college that got loads of people there every Tuesday for worship songs and a short message. He isn't the fundie type (or wasnt when I used to go years ago).  He is actually a really nice guy. 

[Lurky]

31 minutes ago, Georgiana said:

Anna's family lives on acreage where they have their own tennis court and I believe a pool.  They might even have other sports courts as well, but the tennis court is the only one I've seen for sure.  Yes, they live in a small pre-fab or modular home.  But that's COMMON in many areas of the country, especially in rural areas where the cost to source materials and build is astronomical.

My aunt/uncle and cousins live IDENTICALLY to the Kellers.  Small, pre-fab home on acreage.  The boys' rooms were so tiny they barely fit the bed.  But that was OK because the family prefers to be outside gardening, working in their large shop, on their archery range, or in the woods.   The house wasn't where they were spending their time.  

I understand this when there are, let's say, 3 or 4 kids.   Sharing small bedrooms but idyllic outdoor situations to play in is a lot of what a part of the Tiny Home movement is about.  But how does that work when there are 8 children living there?   And they seem to be full-on QF, so would the daughters have been able to play outdoors?   Would they have been ok to swim, or would it be full-on modesty-wear, even at home?   And if it's the equivalent of a tiny home, how did they homeschool 8 kids at a time?

I have so many questions!  I'm always confused by the Keller's home, because it's described as everything from a pop-up caravan, in the FJ family summary, to a trailer, to a Double Wide, to a PreFab house (and I've loved learning the differences, as they're so different to how we describe them here!).   The photos from the recent family reunion looked like there were sleeping areas behind the table, Rodrigues-style, but I don't know if they were just because the family were coming back, or if even with three (?) sons still at home, there isn't enough room for everyone to sleep in a bedroom.   Are there Keller-experts who can point me at good places to find out more?

[Georgiana]

2 minutes ago, Lurky said:

I understand this when there are, let's say, 3 or 4 kids.   Sharing small bedrooms but idyllic outdoor situations to play in is a lot of what a part of the Tiny Home movement is about.  But how does that work when there are 8 children living there?   And they seem to be full-on QF, so would the daughters have been able to play outdoors?   Would they have been ok to swim, or would it be full-on modesty-wear, even at home?   And if it's the equivalent of a tiny home, how did they homeschool 8 kids at a time?

I have so many questions!  I'm always confused by the Keller's home, because it's described as everything from a pop-up caravan, in the FJ family summary, to a trailer, to a Double Wide, to a PreFab house (and I've loved learning the differences, as they're so different to how we describe them here!).   The photos from the recent family reunion looked like there were sleeping areas behind the table, Rodrigues-style, but I don't know if they were just because the family were coming back, or if even with three (?) sons still at home, there isn't enough room for everyone to sleep in a bedroom.   Are there Keller-experts who can point me at good places to find out more?

The pop-up caravan was DEFINITELY the home of Esther and John, and while Esther is a Keller, I have never seen evidence that the Ma and Pa Keller Fam lived in one.  From the X Kids and Counting episode where they showed the Keller home (and from other sources such as Instagram photos and Jill Rod's fb posts), it's pretty clearly a double-wide.  

It's very tight fit for sure.  However, something to remember about the Keller fam is that their kids are more widely spaced than many of the other mega families.  So while there WAS a time when there were 8 kids in the home, some of those were very young children/infants.  I don't doubt that Rod-style sleeping arrangements happened, but they had room to set up a seamstress operation for weddings, so it couldn't have been TOO tight.  Of course, by the time we saw them at Anna's wedding, several of the Kellers had moved out.  Also, because they live in Florida, a lot of living can generally be done outside.  You're less confined by the size of the house than you would be in other areas.  

The girls DID play outdoors frequently.  Pris is actually really athletic.  

Good sources are the Waller's instagram, the JRod Anna DUGGAR Family visits, and the first season of Some number of Kids and Counting (remember that the space will look more cramped because there's a film crew crammed in there too...and some spaces don't read well on film.  My house is not cramped, but it appears to be so if I photograph it from the wrong angle).  There's also a REALLY good interview with a former Keller son in law who discusses the differences between how the family was portrayed on TLC and the truth.  He claims that TLC shot and edited selectively to make the Kellers and the Keller compound look worse than it actually is.  Instagram would back up his claims, so I'm inclined to believe he was telling the truth.  

I'm not saying they are rich at all.  They are not.  They certainly have limited funds and have to choose carefully how those funds are spent.  What I am saying, though, is that they aren't impoverished.  They have the money to invest in SOME luxuries, it's just not house luxuries that they have chosen.  Tennis Court Poverty is like something out of $chitt'$ Creek (which is a great show that everyone should watch)  

[DarkAnts]

Ellie and lili will not publish my comments about the what the first amendment really protects people from. I did not say anything offensive. I just replied to a poster who said Dericks constructional rights were being violated.

[SassyPants]

4 minutes ago, DarkAnts said:

Ellie and lili will not publish my comments about the what the first amendment really protects people from. I did not say anything offensive. I just replied to a poster who said Dericks constructional rights were being violated.

Nor mine from yesterday, last time I checked.

[SapphireSlytherin]

36 minutes ago, Georgiana said:

  They have the money to invest in SOME luxuries, it's just not house luxuries that they have chosen.  Tennis Court Poverty is like something out of $chitt'$ Creek (which is a great show that everyone should watch)  

Agreed. Many people overbuy/overbuild houses to keep up with the Joneses, but the Kellers have not. So what if it's a trailer/mobile home? Last time I checked, a person's house doesn't make a damn bit of difference about a person's amount of income or class (stereotypes notwithstanding).

As for Schitt's Creek - that's one of the best, most undiscovered shows of the past decade. Not even kidding.

Just found out Season 4 of Schitt's Creek starts January 24 on Pop. YAYYYY!

[VelociRapture]

2 hours ago, Free Them All said:

I believe all of these white privileged males who want to be preachers/missionaries are mentally ill.  

I’ll take “Vast Generalizations and Gross Stereotypes” for 600!

But seriously. Those of us with mental illnesses have enough shit to deal with without having people lumping Derick “I’m not really a work person” Dillard in with us. Laziness isn’t mental illness. Neither is being a bigot or an asshole or ungrateful or thinking you are God’s gift to the world. 

[Queen]

23 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

Bingo!  For people like Derick (and Jill) this is following God's Directive.  He has been called.  And only the bestest Christians are called to serve as a full time missionary, quit their job, and live "by faith alone."  For the uninitiated, "Living By Faith Alone" translates as live by begging for money because you are too Godly to hold down a job.

(bolding mine) New post count title?

[onekidanddone]

1 hour ago, VelociRapture said:

I’ll take “Vast Generalizations and Gross Stereotypes” for 600!

But seriously. Those of us with mental illnesses have enough shit to deal with without having people lumping Derick “I’m not really a work person” Dillard in with us. Laziness isn’t mental illness. Neither is being a bigot or an asshole or ungrateful or thinking you are God’s gift to the world. 

I don't think DerTwit's behavior is due to mental illness either. He is a straight up shit pile.  That is not to say he doesn't have some kind of depression or other issue, I just think that is not the reason behind his being a dick wad. 

You are correct, laziness is not mental illness, but it can look that way. When I've been way down in the depth of the pit, I've just not been able to cope with keeping up with chores. When pulling yourself out of bed takes all you got, cleaning up seems beyond reach.

[Georgiana]

9 minutes ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

Agreed. Many people overbuy/overbuild houses to keep up with the Joneses, but the Kellers have not. So what if it's a trailer/mobile home? Last time I checked, a person's house doesn't make a damn bit of difference about a person's amount of income or class (stereotypes notwithstanding).

As for Schitt's Creek - that's one of the best, most undiscovered shows of the past decade. Not even kidding.

And the Kellers live in an area where it is likely impractical to build.  People forget that there are A LOT of areas like that in the country still, where sourcing materials costs an arm and a leg due to transportation costs and lack of infrastructure.  And THAT doesn't say anything about income because some people WANT to live in areas that are more wild.  Modular homes make SENSE in those areas because otherwise, the cost to BUILD a home is likely going to be more than the value of the structure.  

And I LOVE Schitt's Creek.  Everyone should watch it.  It's on Netflix! 

[Hashtag Blessed]

The only Mental Illness we can be sure Derick has is Chronic Asshole Syndrome. 

38 minutes ago, DarkAnts said:

Ellie and lili will not publish my comments about the what the first amendment really protects people from. I did not say anything offensive. I just replied to a poster who said Dericks constructional rights were being violated.

People who think the first amendment gives them the right to say offensive shit with impunity are thoroughly exhausting. Good for you for at least trying to spit some sense at them. 

[Sky with diamonds]

32 minutes ago, VelociRapture said:

I’ll take “Vast Generalizations and Gross Stereotypes” for 600!

But seriously. Those of us with mental illnesses have enough shit to deal with without having people lumping Derick “I’m not really a work person” Dillard in with us. Laziness isn’t mental illness. Neither is being a bigot or an asshole or ungrateful or thinking you are God’s gift to the world. 

Thank you for this, I absolutely agree! 

[Queen]

On 2017-11-13 at 12:21 PM, nastyhobbitses said:

@foreign fundie This isn't an "ethical" issue. Transgender/gender dysphoria is a legit medical condition. Neither Jazz nor just about anyone else who is transgender is doing it for shits and giggles. I'm sure that if Jazz could have made a choice, she would have been a cisgender boy and had a lot fewer struggles in life. It is not a choice. It is a real thing. You cannot "not believe" in it any more than you cannot "not believe" in arthritis or (le gasp) homosexuality.

Sure, you can criticize Jazz's family for putting her/themselves on TV. But kinda hard to do that when you were OK with TLC practically putting the cameras up your wife's snatch while she was in labor.

And I don't care what you think, it is ridiculously disrespectful and frankly petty (and even psychologically damaging) to call a trans person by pronouns they have said that they do not want to be called. A slip-up now and then if you knew them before they came out is understandable. Continually calling a trans girl you've never even met "he" when you know full well that she prefers "she" is just being a dick. It's like this (though with an extra sprinkling of more psychological damage because of the nature of what it's like to be transgender): imagine you're friends with a Chinese guy who's gone by Bob forever. But now, for various reasons, he wants to be called by his Chinese name (maybe he's gotten more in touch with his Chinese identity or something). He tells you this, tells you how to pronounce it, understands that you might get it wrong or have trouble getting used to it, and you say "nope, I'm going to call you Bob" and keep calling him a name he has told you he doesn't want to be called.

I don't care if you think that the Chinese government is evil. Or you think people shouldn't up and change their names. Or you just don't want to call him by a different name. You're being a dick. Derick, in much the same way (except also doing something that contributes to teenagers killing themselves), is being a dick. He is being a bullying dick by repeatedly and deliberately invalidating someone's identity. And validating it and just calling Jazz "she" would be precisely zero skin off his nose.

So yeah, he is a piece of shit.

 

I agree with everything you say but the notion that Jazz would choose to be cisgender if she had a chance. I don't know about her specifically, that is up to her to share if she wants to, but many of us in the rainbow community do not wish we were anything other than what we are. Certainly, the bigotry can sometimes be unbearable, and there's nothing wrong with wishing you were straight and cis. I used to wish that too, when I was closeted. I wanted a boyfriend so bad, because then no one would ever realize I was a lesbian. I was afraid that people would think I'm disgusting and therefore abandon me.

Nowadays I feel grateful, even blessed, that I have the capability of being attracted to the same gender. Women are just so wonderful! My sexuality feels like a gift, almost. It's one thing I would never change about myself. And my religious family accepts me for who I am and love my girlfriend, which is probably the biggest reason why I do feel proud and not ashamed. I also have a wonderful second family in the local LGBTQIA group I'm in. 

[Queen]

16 hours ago, johnhugh said:

The issue as a gay man here, is that the transsexual community in the UK has lept aboard the gay, lesbian and bisexual community, added all these t and pluses to LGB.  I’m a masculine bloke I don’t relate to a transgender women.

I’m a Christian but sexuality and gender are different things, they should never have been grouped together.

I bet Chris Maxwell dresses up in NR Anna’s frumpers when she is not at home lol....

 

Even though sexual identity and gender identity are different things, it makes sense to group them together because the prejudice and hate we receive are a bit similar regarldess of which letter(s) we belong to. Trans people have done A LOT for our community and shown a lot of solidarity towards cis lesbian, gay and bisexual people throughout the years.

The T does belong, and so does the I (intergender), the Q (queer), the A (asexuality) etc. We are stronger together. We might fight a little different battles, but we are still under the same rainbow flag. I can't relate to exactly everyone, but I don't need to, I can still respect them and show support. 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

On 11/13/2017 at 2:23 PM, Sky with diamonds said:

The hypocrisies is staggering. Truthfully, I don't feel Derick thinks much at all before he goes into his Twitter rants.

Derick or Jazz. I know which person I'd rather be friends with and support.

I think Derick, like Trump, my father and millions of other American males suffer from something I call White Christian Male Fragility Syndrome.  These men fear losing their control on the world, so anytime they lose a right  have to stop being assholes to groups of society they deem less than, they flip the fuck out. Woah is them, the great white male that can't keep people under their thumb, they are persecuted and picked on. We should feel so very bad for them.  

[Jinder Roles]

1 hour ago, DarkAnts said:

Ellie and lili will not publish my comments about the what the first amendment really protects people from. I did not say anything offensive. I just replied to a poster who said Dericks constructional rights were being violated.

That's terribly ironic. I'm sorry you're being blocked from posting. 

[karen77]

1 hour ago, DarkAnts said:

Ellie and lili will not publish my comments about the what the first amendment really protects people from. I did not say anything offensive. I just replied to a poster who said Dericks constructional rights were being violated.

I've had a few posts on their blog that they didn't approve, even though they weren't inflammatory or anything, it was weird.

[Drala]

2 hours ago, flycat said:

Oh wow, I actually know Greg Matte. He ran a campus ministry when I was in college that got loads of people there every Tuesday for worship songs and a short message. He isn't the fundie type (or wasnt when I used to go years ago).  He is actually a really nice guy. 

SInce I don't know anything about Greg Matte, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.  I'd like to know more about the context of his statement.  I was more struck by how Derick retweeted a quote that seems to justify his narrow, utilitarian view of ministry.

[Sky with diamonds]

50 minutes ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

I think Derick, like Trump, my father and millions of other American males suffer from something I call White Christian Male Fragility Syndrome.  These men fear losing their control on the world, so anytime they lose a right  have to stop being assholes to groups of society they deem less than, they flip the fuck out. Woah is them, the great white male that can't keep people under their thumb, they are persecuted and picked on. We should feel so very bad for them.  

Trump and Derick have so much to learn about the real world. I don't see it ever happening. 

[SamiKatz]

I love all of the "Anonymous" replies to the Duggar Family Blog post about Derick's comments.

You don't support/believe homosexuality and transgenderism, but not enough to put your name on it.

Assholes.