Maxwell 28: You Can Leave Your Vest On!

[HoneyBunny]

I’ll never forget that post Anna wrote about not going to college. It infuriated me more than anything a Maxwell has ever written (and there’s been some competition for that honor). I was on a cruise and sat in our tiny bathroom in the middle of the night composing a comment and then paid for internet to upload it to Tits2. It never saw the light of day, of course, but it was incredibly healing for me. 

I’m telling you...Jesus wept after reading Anna’s post. What a waste. 

[mango_fandango]

With the Anna-not-going-to-college post, you can tell she’s just totally swallowed what Steve has told her. Same with Jesse and homeschooling. 

I can understand the posts on their beliefs (homeschool, debt-free, no college) and meal planning being popular posts, but the stainless steel appliances one? Really??

[freethemall]

Man this 2500 post thing has gotten us all on a nostalgia rabbit hole, right?

Choice quote from the Mary orthodontist debacle:

"Imagine for a minute what it would be like in your home if instead of teaching your young children to listen to your direction and instruction, you encouraged them that they were their own person."

Why yes Terri, as a parent of a toddler myself I thought that was the whole point of parenting, to encourage them to be their own independent people. While also learning to follow direction, because they're not mutually exclusive. Guess I'm wrong?

She then talks about how if she left her kids to make their own decisions they wouldn't do anything right. Way to underestimate your spawn.

[Elegant Mess]

1 hour ago, mango_fandango said:

With the Anna-not-going-to-college post, you can tell she’s just totally swallowed what Steve has told her. Same with Jesse and homeschooling. 

I can understand the posts on their beliefs (homeschool, debt-free, no college) and meal planning being popular posts, but the stainless steel appliances one? Really??

Yeah, the appliances post surprised me, too.

As far as posts from the kids are concerned, I agree it's all just parroting of Steve.  It's not like they've been given sufficient freedom to really explore their options.  If they did make a choice that went seriously against the grain, could they be shunned for it?

[Foudeb]

Jesse thinks homeschooling academic standards are higher and also that evolution is not real. Which he knows for sure because he's never been exposed to any real science because of the simulacrum of schooling he's been stunted by. 

He's also pretty confident about what homeschool will entail for someone who's not likely to be doing any of it (isn't that a woman's job?)

Their own posts really highlight how arrogantly ignorant they are. 

I guess that's fine. You don't need to know much to polish stainless steel appliances once a week after all. 

[Markie]

I like how in the letter to her parents about homeschooling the boys, Teri said it would free up time to allow the kids to follow their interests. It must’ve been later when Steve yanked baseball away from them. 

[treemom]

51 minutes ago, Markie said:

I like how in the letter to her parents about homeschooling the boys, Teri said it would free up time to allow the kids to follow their interests. It must’ve been later when Steve yanked baseball away from them. 

They were still going to a real church back then and in a homeschool community group that had tons of activities.  Steve chipped away at anything fun, interesting, or anything anyone expressed interest in for a few years before they ended up as isolated as they are now.

 

 

[SPHASH]

As infuriating as the Naysayer posts are (Goofy Anna eschewing college, Forgotten Jesse and homeschooling, Smug Joe living at home til marriage) no post has infuriated me as much as this one: https://blog.titus2.com/2017/05/14/voice-for-the-speechless/

[Black Aliss]

On 2/1/2019 at 12:20 PM, socalrules said:

 Their burritos look tiny. I would make something like that from leftovers when there is only enough left for a snack. I am hoping that each person doesn’t just get one of those burritos. I would have to have at least four. Admittedly, I am a bean and cheese burrito addict. I also don’t get why they can’t just freeze the beans and make the burritos themselves on the day they are going to eat them. They would taste so much better. I would also hate to have to open them up to add the sour cream. I hate re-rolling burritos.

Ummm, whatever gave you the idea that the Maxwells add sour cream or [god-forbid] salsa to their burritos? Or even cheese, for that matter? WYSIWYG: beans and slightly freezer-burned flour tortillas.

[freejugar]

« I don’t want to learn the things that are being taught in colleges»

Damn Anna, this is the saddest thing I've read on this blog

 https://blog.titus2.com/2011/01/08/am-i-going-to-college/

[Lgirlrocks]

Anna could have gone to community college and paid for it out of pocket if she worked. College is such a wonderful experience. Meeting new people, some with the same beliefs and some with different ones. Learning  and growing as a person. Taking classes to learn new skills. To bad none of the maxwell kids ever got to experience this. I hope some of the grands get to. 

[Lisafer]

19 minutes ago, freejugar said:

« I don’t want to learn the things that are being taught in colleges»

Damn Anna, this is the saddest thing I've read on this blog

 https://blog.titus2.com/2011/01/08/am-i-going-to-college/

And yet in that same post, she claims that she and her family are insatiable learners. HA.

[PennySycamore]

Does Anna have any idea of what she would learn in college?  At the University of Georgia, I took the usual English and math, but also 4 terms of East Asian history (a survey course and then 3 terms of Chinese history), two terms of medieval history (survey and intellectual history of the Middle Ages), two terms of classics, two terms of botany, Russian and Japanese languages, horticulture, criminology, and a number of courses in anthropology.  Some of these anthropology courses would blow Anna's mind though.    We did not learn about how much the Yanomani needed Jesus in Cultural Anthro and well, there was this class in Human Origins that had nothing to do with Adam.  At Furman, I mostly took sciences (Chemistry, Biology and Physics), but I also took a couple of history classes (Western Civ and History of the US from 1820-18900 and a course in modern Irish lit.   College is so enriching even if it doesn't make you rich.  

What did the Maxwells say about stainless steel appliances?

ETA:  I had one dear friend at UGA who was a Home Ec major.  (It''s not called Home Economics anymore, but I can't recall what they do call it.)  Home Ec majors could spend a quarter in one of the home ec cottages on South Campus.

[The Mother Dust]

On 1/19/2019 at 11:55 PM, mango_fandango said:

Omfg. Sarah spent a few hours ORGANISING HER DAMN CLOSET.

"Hello darkness, my old friend....."

 

[Alisamer]

How can they have any spiritual maturity at all if they are never questioned, never have to think through and explain their beliefs, never learn about other faiths, and are never challenged in any way at all?

of course, if they are isolated, they have no one to compare their lives to, no one to compare their parents to, and no one to ask them any questions unapproved by dad. I think Steve knows he's a failure, but his kids are sheltered enough not to realize it, by design.

[Elegant Mess]

24 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

Does Anna have any idea of what she would learn in college?  

What did the Maxwells say about stainless steel appliances?

Anna has probably been fed the propaganda that college is guaranteed to turn you into a laundry list of things, such as Darwinist, socialist, atheist, man-hater, and baby killer. 

As far as the appliances go, in the original post, they asked their readers for opinions on whether black or stainless steel was more advantageous.  In their follow-up post, they state that they've been mostly happy with the stainless steel appliances, but they have required more maintenance than expected.

[Ozlsn]

2 minutes ago, Elegant Mess said:

Anna has probably been fed the propaganda that college turns you into a laundry list of things, such as Darwinist, socialist, atheist, man-hater, and baby killer. 

Weren't her parents converted at college? How does that work then? 

 

5 hours ago, treemom said:

They were still going to a real church back then and in a homeschool community group that had tons of activities.  Steve chipped away at anything fun, interesting, or anything anyone expressed interest in for a few years before they ended up as isolated as they are now.

That is so incredibly sad. Steve apparently cannot deal with any potential threats to his cult leader status at all. I guess we should be grateful he's not particularly charismatic, so his cult has been pretty self-limiting (in more ways than one now I think about it.)

[The Mother Dust]

On 1/23/2019 at 3:17 PM, PennySycamore said:

Does anyone still use Crisco as lube?   I think that was big in bathhouses. (Randy Shilts referred to the cans of Crisco in bathhouses in And the Band Played On.)

So versatile ? ??Great....now all I can hear is Minnie sayin "wanna buttfuck in a bathhouse?  mmhmm. Crisco."  LOL   
 

Spoiler

 

 

[SilverBeach]

6 hours ago, SPHASH said:

As infuriating as the Naysayer posts are (Goofy Anna eschewing college, Forgotten Jesse and homeschooling, Smug Joe living at home til marriage) no post has infuriated me as much as this one: https://blog.titus2.com/2017/05/14/voice-for-the-speechless/

"Voice for the Speechless" was a stupid sounding title to me. "Voice for the Voiceless" would have sounded much better. Still drivel either way.

[nastyhobbitses]

2 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

That is so incredibly sad. Steve apparently cannot deal with any potential threats to his cult leader status at all. I guess we should be grateful he's not particularly charismatic, so his cult has been pretty self-limiting (in more ways than one now I think about it.)

Though the other side to that is that the people in the cult are basically just his wife, then his kids/DILs/grandkids; they have no other support system or "landing" if they leave, and even if any of them wanted out, the FOG (Fear, Obligation, Guilt) Steve and Teri have stuck them in would trap them, because "it's family". At least in larger cults, some members have slightly more avenues open to them (experience in the outside world, non-cult-member family and friends) and thus a fighting chance to get the hell out. 

What I wonder is what will happen after Steve is gone. MAYBE Chris or Nathan would take up the mantle, but neither of them seem to have the "it" factor to be a new Steve. How will the next generation function? Will they just slowly dwindle to nothing? What will happen when the grandkids start to approach marriageable age? 

[danvillebelle]

8 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

Anna has probably been fed the propaganda that college turns you into a laundry list of things, such as Darwinist, socialist, atheist, man-hater, and baby killer. 

Unless you go to a small Christian college, which is what I did...and my faith grew there exponentially, and I met my life mentor who sparked a love of the written word in me that I didn't know existed, and I became an English major, and he taught me how to grapple with my faith while reading all those wonderful works...and I made the best female friend I've ever had, and I met my husband...and...

Oh, never mind.  It's the Maxwells.  Steve likes it = good, Steve doesn't like it = bad.  

[LilMissMetaphor]

Yeah, I'm really scratching my head over what they think they're gonna be taught at a Christian college that's so terrible and threatening to their already-held viewpoints. 

[Abstract]

19 minutes ago, LilMissMetaphor said:

Yeah, I'm really scratching my head over what they think they're gonna be taught at a Christian college that's so terrible and threatening to their already-held viewpoints. 

An “independent spirit” that would be incompatible with being a SAHD going to the nursing home church, babysitting nieces and nephews, and cleaning ceiling fans.

[Lisafer]

1 hour ago, LilMissMetaphor said:

Yeah, I'm really scratching my head over what they think they're gonna be taught at a Christian college that's so terrible and threatening to their already-held viewpoints. 

I feel like I might understand a little bit. My own family of origin was pretty opposed to the girls going to college, even Christian college. We were told that daughters should live at home under their father's headship, that college was expensive, and that we were supposed to get married and have children, so getting a degree was not necessary. Forget college--living outside the family home, even, would supposedly expose us to all sorts of evils. 

My parents were a little more relaxed about their sons getting an education or entering a profession, but secular college was looked down on for promoting sinful teachings, and Christian colleges were looked down on for not getting Christianity right. 

I think there's a huge amount of pride involved. Steve, like my own parents, believes that HIS brand of Christianity is the best, the closest to absolute truth. So why would a "Christian" like that send his children to a lesser institution, a place with less of the truth than Stevehovah himself?

It took me years and years to understand how much hubris and pride was really wrapped up in my family's practice of Christianity. I think I'm fascinated with the Maxwells because their hubris is so similar, their arguments so familiar. But my siblings and I, for the most part, broke free of the restraints placed on us, and the Maxwells haven't done that. So I read and think about them and wonder if it will come crashing down someday, for at least one of them.

[fundiefan]

On 2/1/2019 at 4:41 PM, daisyjane1234 said:

Following the 2500 post I went back and read Anna's post on why she won't attend college. While I don't agree with her choices, certainly one can respect not wanting to go into debt, or that college is irrelevant for her life choice of being a wife/mother -something that is as unlikely as college I think.  But she also noted that many college students return from college less "spiritually mature" than when they left and she does not want to risk such a thing.  

Does that mean she is fully spiritually mature now.  That's what she seems to be saying.  Once again Maxwell modesty and humility at play.

And we studied phases of spiritual growth as part of my MA in Theology.  The Maxwell's particular worldview would place them with the preschoolers.

I think it means she, like every other Maxwell, is lacking in security in their spirituality/religion/world view. If they were secure, they wouldn't feel so threatened  by things like living away from mom & dad while unmarried or going to college or watching televsion or reading the news or interacting with people other than those they hold hostage in the nursing home.