John David is courting Abbie Grace Burnett

[Greendoor]

I think you are right, Alisamer.  Afterall this descent was due only to Jim-Bob and Michelle.  No sibling of theirs went crazy and started down this road.  Hopefully they can rise out of this.

 

[HereticHick]

Here's another  local newspaper picture of Abbie  and her nursing class from last spring. Curly haired blond on the right.  Looks like she is wearing pants (and real shoes, not flip flops. Rufus be praised)  but I'm not completely certain.  Also, I love the ethnic diversity of her class--white, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and African Americans.

 

http://www.theadanews.com/news/local_news/ptc-students-excel-at-leadership-conference/article_e0698209-76fb-5099-8177-3dffa09e2834.html

[Daisy0322]

1 hour ago, SassyPants said:

Babies make school, boards and jobs much more challenging,

Preach! I was 22 weeks pregnant when I graduated... was on bed rest so I couldn't take my boards. Finally I was able to study and take them when he was 7 months (super colicky baby. Just now when he is 10 months in getting my licensures updated and interviewing for jobs. It's just hard to study when you not slept more than 4 hours a night in 6 months and you have a screaming baby to tend to. It's possible just so not easy and Jill (and the rest of the Duggars) like easy.

[singsingsing]

1 hour ago, LilMissMetaphor said:

Hm.  A few things to unpack here, but I'll limit myself to suggesting that this post would benefit from a bit of compassion.  And punctuation.

I can only speak for myself, not the OP, but hoping that these people rebel and leave fundamentalism does come from a place of compassion - compassion for them and for all the other people negatively impacted by fundamentalism.

I can also compartmentalize my mind enough to experience different and conflicting emotions/thoughts when fundies continue to have babies. One compartment is the 'how sweet, cute new baby, they look happy, how wonderful for them' box, the other compartment is the 'cool, new fundie offspring, wonder what the name will be, can't wait to see how this affects Duggar Data, time to update the spreadsheet!' box, and the third compartment is the 'great, more fundies breeding, more future victims or abusers, more little soldiers for Christian dominionism, blech' box.

There are people here who generally only have the 'great, more fundies breeding, blech' compartment, and that used to bother me, but honestly? I understand it now, and I can't blame them. Perhaps it would be more morally honest/consistent of me to take a hard line like that myself, but I just can't. I can still respect where they're coming from, though.*

*To a point. When people start hoping for them to have unwanted hysterectomies or infertility or birth control forced on them, I just can't get on board - that's skating a little too close to eugenics for me and feels unnecessarily cruel. Like I said, my only hope is that they leave fundamentalism - not that they stay happy as fundies, but also not that they experience some catastrophe that eliminates their fertility against their will.

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, HereticHick said:

Here's another  local newspaper picture of Abbie  and her nursing class from last spring. Curly haired blond on the right.  Looks like she is wearing pants (and real shoes, not flip flops. Rufus be praised)  but I'm not completely certain.  Also, I love the ethnic diversity of her class--white, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and African Americans.

 

http://www.theadanews.com/news/local_news/ptc-students-excel-at-leadership-conference/article_e0698209-76fb-5099-8177-3dffa09e2834.html

That’s a cute picture of her. I hope she made friends with some of the non fundies in her classes. 

[IReallyAmHopewell]

19 hours ago, HereticHick said:

Didn't JD allegedly acquire a  fixer-upper house (not on the  family compound) several years ago--something odd about a bank giving it to him in exchange for some work?

Yes, he did. I was saying if he continued using that as a "rent house" for income and built a nicer home for his bride.

[nelliebelle1197]

On 6/26/2018 at 1:08 PM, Rachel333 said:

Right, just adding that being a nurse in itself does't necessarily mean that a woman will wear pants.

And I am adding that being an LVN, wearing pants and holding a job does not mean she is not as awful as the rest of the Christofascists.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

14 hours ago, amendgitan said:

 

When a child is segregated from people who think differently, is homeschooled and homechurched and only socializes with people who believe the way her family does, when they are taught over and over how bad it is for mothers to work, how on earth can it really be a choice for her? 

These women have been conditioned and brainwashed since birth.  

We expect a lot to think they will leave all they've ever known. Still, it can and will and is happen(ing) in the family. Remember the kids who are now married lived the true crazy--the hard-core, pre-tv Gothard years. They have lived the not enough to eat of Aldi's crappola. They wore the dreadful second-hand dresses. The wore thrift-store and garage sale clothes. They had the little black/white tv that rarely came out.  Look at how they are living now! Light-years from that in many ways. And it's too soon to tell with the girls if they'll have 10+ kids because most young couples today seem to want their kids closely spaced, so they may not really have that many in the end.

Jill has experienced life in a radically different culture. It terrified her, but it helped her grow. Her husband, in spite of saying what he really thinks of somethings and not giving the PC answers, went to college--that's huge. Jinger has now lived totally apart from the family, too. Her husband went to college AND played a pro sport--John and Joe had only pick-up broomball for sport!! In spite of idiotic In Touch magazine slamming every food picture, these girls ARE giving their kids way better food. Who cares if they have a lunch made of tuna fish and mayonnaise? Pre-foodie-culture we all ate that!

5 minutes ago, nelliebelle1197 said:

And I am adding that being an LVN, wearing pants and holding a job does not mean she is not as awful as the rest of the Christofascists.

No, that doesn't change anything of her beliefs that we know of. Girls can work and can wear pants IF DADDY approves.

[Rachel333]

Just a general FYI, "bachelor to the rapture" is a Christian saying and not something John David made up.

[Glasgowghirl]

I think all the Duggar kids are going to differ from Michelle and Jim Bob in one way or another. I have always liked JD as a person but I do not see him going against his parents beliefs that much, I have sometimes gotten the vibe from him that he doesn't completely agree with all the rules his parents have set, I can see him being more laid back with rules but he will definitely be fundie or conservative Christian.

[Nikedagain?]

On 6/27/2018 at 11:46 AM, Kelsey said:

I'm thinking a late October wedding with Zach Bates as the best man. For the show, Joe will serve as best man since Zach can't be shown on TLC. No Josh in the wedding party.

If Abbie is able to be licensed in AR, I think she'll work prn a couple shifts per month once pregnant.

He seems to be better friends with Nathan, doesn't he? They have been flying a lot. Also, I still have this feeling that one of those boy twins (the curly haired one!) is going to be courting Kendra's sister. 

[justmy2cents]

42 minutes ago, Rachel333 said:

Just a general FYI, "bachelor to the rapture" is a Christian saying and not something John David made up.

And let's face it, there's only one true 'bachelor to the rapture ' and that's Bill Gothard!

[freshlemonade]

Begrudgingly, I like JD more than a lot of the Duggars.  His lack of enthusiasm towards the whole horse and pony show is sometimes pretty funny.  And he really did seem happy in the video with Abbie. He seemed to be excited about talking and not just "ho hum I'll do what they want me to and then be done with it."  They said they've known of each for several years, correct?  Not that they've known each other.

What exactly does JD do for a living?  Does he have a paying job other than working for JimBob?  I thought all that firefighter and constable stuff was part-time volunteer work.   Does he have an actual construction job?  

How many times has JD been a groomsman?  Will he have to have all of those men in his wedding party plus his brothers?

So many questions.

Also betting that CO has talking heads where they ask the cast to list all of the peach-flavored foods they can think of (picture Bin listing peach stuff like Bubba listing types of shrimp in Forrest Gump).

 

[nickelodeon]

3 hours ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Her husband, in spite of saying what he really thinks of somethings and not giving the PC answers, went to college--that's huge.

It's... more significant that he sat in classes at Oklahoma State than that he constantly tells everyone that gay families are a travesty, women don't own their own bodies, and trans girls are boys? Girl...

[Kelsey]

3 hours ago, Nikedagain? said:

He seems to be better friends with Nathan, doesn't he? They have been flying a lot. Also, I still have this feeling that one of those boy twins (the curly haired one!) is going to be courting Kendra's sister. 

Kelly said JD was a big part of Zach healing from his broken first courtship and that JD and Zach were berries.

[JermajestyDuggar]

6 minutes ago, Kelsey said:

Kelly said JD was a big part of Zach healing from his broken first courtship and that JD and Zach were berries.

That’s actually pretty darn sweet. You would think Josh and Zack would be better friends since they are so close in age. Has Josh ever had a best friend? That says a lot in my opinion. 

[IReallyAmHopewell]

23 minutes ago, nickelodeon said:

It's... more significant that he sat in classes at Oklahoma State than that he constantly tells everyone that gay families are a travesty, women don't own their own bodies, and trans girls are boys? Girl...

I've lost this post twice! I botched what I was trying to say. He says what he believes. His views don't shock me--I don't agree, but they don't shock me. What does shock me is that Jim-Bob picked a graduate of a secular university to marry his daughter.  Better?

13 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

That’s actually pretty darn sweet. You would think Josh and Zack would be better friends since they are so close in age. Has Josh ever had a best friend? That says a lot in my opinion. 

Josh was "engaged" or "engaged to be engaged" to a Holt girl at about 15. Best friend? Not allowed. Must be "family friends." Plus he spent his teen years working on that house, like it or not.

[JermajestyDuggar]

14 minutes ago, IReallyAmHopewell said:

Josh was "engaged" or "engaged to be engaged" to a Holt girl at about 15. Best friend? Not allowed. Must be "family friends." Plus he spent his teen years working on that house, like it or not.

But why would JD be close friends with Zack and not Josh? The families have known one another since Josh and Zack were very young. I believe around 7 maybe? Josh and Zack have more in common. They are both the oldest of 19. They are close in age. Yet JD is good friends with him. Speculation alert: it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Zack never liked Josh much. 

[Kittikatz]

46 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Speculation alert: it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Zack never liked Josh much. 

It wouldn't surprise me if nobody ever liked Josh much. 

That sounds mean of me, but most people have some form of jerk radar, which Josh's winning personality could well have pinged. I don't think that man has ever been anything other than a smug twat. Also, it wouldn't surprise me if the older Bates kids had a reasonable idea about what really went down with Josh, the Duggar girls and the babysitter when he was a teenager - they may have even felt like they had to protect their siblings from him. That could have made him even more repellent than his personality alone. 

[Glasgowghirl]

51 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

But why would JD be close friends with Zack and not Josh? The families have known one another since Josh and Zack were very young. I believe around 7 maybe? Josh and Zack have more in common. They are both the oldest of 19. They are close in age. Yet JD is good friends with him. Speculation alert: it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Zack never liked Josh much. 

I don't think he did like Josh, he was civil with him when he was around him but Zack and JD both seem to have similar personalities. JD did not say nice things about Josh after the scandals broke and I don't see him including Josh in his wedding, he will ask Zack or possibly Joseph or Josiah. I don't think JD was ever close to Josh either.

[LilMissMetaphor]

6 hours ago, singsingsing said:

I can only speak for myself, not the OP, but hoping that these people rebel and leave fundamentalism does come from a place of compassion - compassion for them and for all the other people negatively impacted by fundamentalism.

I can also compartmentalize my mind enough to experience different and conflicting emotions/thoughts when fundies continue to have babies. One compartment is the 'how sweet, cute new baby, they look happy, how wonderful for them' box, the other compartment is the 'cool, new fundie offspring, wonder what the name will be, can't wait to see how this affects Duggar Data, time to update the spreadsheet!' box, and the third compartment is the 'great, more fundies breeding, more future victims or abusers, more little soldiers for Christian dominionism, blech' box.

There are people here who generally only have the 'great, more fundies breeding, blech' compartment, and that used to bother me, but honestly? I understand it now, and I can't blame them. Perhaps it would be more morally honest/consistent of me to take a hard line like that myself, but I just can't. I can still respect where they're coming from, though.*

*To a point. When people start hoping for them to have unwanted hysterectomies or infertility or birth control forced on them, I just can't get on board - that's skating a little too close to eugenics for me and feels unnecessarily cruel. Like I said, my only hope is that they leave fundamentalism - not that they stay happy as fundies, but also not that they experience some catastrophe that eliminates their fertility against their will.

I do see what you're saying, but I maintain that knee-jerk reactions in general (whether they come in the form of "blech, women wearing pants, those godless sluts" or "blech, women popping out crotchfruit, those unenlightened breeders") are perhaps not the most helpful for opening dialogue.  

 

[MoonFace]

I'm willing to bet that there are many guys who'd snap Jana up in a heartbeat.   

I think she is probably happy not getting knocked up on a regular basis in case she marries someone who doesn't believe in birth control.  (by the way, how could a couple discuss this topic if they are never left along with each other and BOOB and ME monitor calls and texts?) 

And I'm sure she has concerns about anyone else would remember to put out paper plates with pretzels so that the howlers will have something to eat.   

 

[LovelyLuna]

holy flamingos!   I will reserve judgment for now, due to the let down I suffered after  the Derick Dillard Disappointment.  I am glad she is age appropriate and they look happy together. 

[Lgirlrocks]

Josh also married way before Zach and was sent to the working counseling construction thing in high school so they may not have had much in common after middle school.

[Don'tlikekoolaid]

9 hours ago, LilMissMetaphor said:

 

Hm.  A few things to unpack here, but I'll limit myself to suggesting that this post would benefit from a bit of compassion.  And punctuation.

Sometimes it's hard to get thoughts across and punctuation right when restricted to a cell phone. Thanks.