Lauser family: A Tale of Two Cousins

[NachosFlandersStyle]

Okay, I came across this interesting family while deep clicking through inactive blogs and even though everything here is a bit old, I figured I would write it up.

https://castinglargeshadows.wordpress.com/ is a blog by Lucy Audrin, who used her most recent post last fall to come out as a transgender woman. She has had a series of blogs under various pseudonyms over the years; in earlier posts on this one she uses the name "Mason Lynch" but that was never her legal name. Lucy used to be one of Regan Ramm's blogging buddies over at Kingdom Pen. She's also friends with Alecia Pennington and Cynthia Jeub. I recommend a read through her Casting Large Shadows blog; she goes into a lot of detail about how she left fundamentalism and the problems in the movement. A number of her posts have been crossposted to the group Patheos blog Removing the Fig Leaf.

She is the oldest child of Mark and Kathleen Lauser, who have eight other children and live in WA. Mark has a brother, Darren, who has eight children of his own with his wife Sherry. Darren fancies himself a filmmaker and has a website that still occasionally updates with posts about the Sabbath and the KJV. Sherry used to blog, too, although hers was mostly family updates and photos showing their impressive level of frump.

Darren and Sherry took their family to Ireland in 2008 or 09 because they wanted to live in a country where abortion is illegal. Guess how that turned out for them! After the referendum, two of the brothers were profiled in Irish media about their disappointment with the outcome. They claim that the vote was rigged and that they may or may not return to the US, depending on whether or not the "fraud" is found out and the referendum overturned. As far as I can tell, they have not moved.

This may be because perhaps they were not really motivated by abortion restrictions! 

In a post about the Josh Duggar scandal, Lucy writes that:

Quote

 Josh’s story is almost exactly the same as the story of one of my cousins. The difference, though, is that my cousin is in prison right now. Not because his crimes were handled correctly by his family; when he returned to America years later, he didn’t expect there to be an arrest warrant and police officers waiting for him because he didn’t know that charges were filed in his absence.

From a separate post:

Quote

I don’t criticize religion lightly. Every point I make is founded on my own experience and extensive study of religion. I spent the first two decades of my life so firmly embedded in conservative Christianity that I didn’t notice these problems until I left home and found that the world was not as I’d been told it was. I was the child raised in ignorance, I was the teenager who saw every prohibited thing equally, and I was the young man rationalizing his wrongdoing.

The day I learned my cousin had molested several young girls was the day I started to understand these things. Little by little I figured it out, until I’d figured myself right out of my religion. 

Indeed, Darren and Sherry's oldest son Jaymes was arrested on charges of child molestation in 2012. 

Here's what Darren has to say about it:

Quote

“[Jaymes] is single, 23 years old, and he is a missionary to a prison in Washington State. He did not choose this ministry. Some “friends” and relatives bore false witness against him, causing him to be unjustly convicted of a crime. We do not hold bitterness against them for their crime against Jay. And there can hardly be any clearer calling for the ministry God has for Jay, at least for the present. God's Light is shining through Jay, in a very dark place. I happen to know, quite confidently, that Jay is not guilty of the charges. I have neither the expertise, nor the money to hire the expertise, that would be needed to reverse this injustice, so I pray. You may be asking yourself, “why would someone falsely accuse him?” I could explain why, but it would be pointless, and unforgiving, for me to do so, so I won't. I pray for God to release Jay now, with a completely clear record, and for God to get all of the glory for Jay's release.”

As of 2018, Jaymes is free and has married a fundie maiden. Meanwhile Lucy is making a lot of smart posts on her public facebook page and seems to have the support of at least a few of her siblings. 

Edited January 10, 2020 by Coconut Flan

[VVV]

Holy smokes, Jaymes is full of himself. I assume his "time as a kitchen worker and chapel clerk" was when he was in prison. https://simbi.com/jaymes-lauser

Edited April 7, 2019 by VVV

[VVV]

Scroll about halfway down and see Mark and Kathleen Lauser's petition for legal separation. https://www.columbian.com/news/2017/oct/19/vital-statistics-988/

I wonder if that's related to this (image): 

 

[NachosFlandersStyle]

1 hour ago, VVV said:

Holy smokes, Jaymes is full of himself. I assume his "time as a kitchen worker and chapel clerk" was when he was in prison. https://simbi.com/jaymes-lauser

What are you talking about-- his core values are humility and honesty!

Seriously, that is some MAJOR spin he's putting on his prison time. Let's hope he doesn't find a calling in politics.

[ViolaSebastian]

“Radical Laissez Faire Libertarian” 

[Soulhuntress]

1 hour ago, NachosFlandersStyle said:

What are you talking about-- his core values are humility and honesty!

Seriously, that is some MAJOR spin he's putting on his prison time. Let's hope he doesn't find a calling in politics.

Lifetime registration as a sex offender and radical libertarian huh..

.

[SolomonFundy]

So, if I'm following the timeline here, Darren and Sherry moved to Ireland the year their eldest son turned 18. Ostensibly, this was because they wanted to live in an abortion-free utopia, but in retrospect maybe they realized that things were about to hit the fan with Jay's victims. However, they didn't fully immigrate, because even years after moving, the older children were still unable to get jobs because the family was there on the basis of their father's work visa. When eldest son Jaymes decided to return to the states (for work?) in his early 20's, he was immediately arrested on the basis of charges that had been filed "in his absence" years earlier.  This apparently came as a surprise. He went to prison for about 5 years for molesting at least two children, and his immediate family went full Craptain Bret, and blamed the victims for "false testimony". Jay gets out of prison, and marries a Fundy Honey, and is now a deep-state internet blogging neckbeard who has somehow found a way to make "went to federal prison for sexually abusing children" sound like a extended seminar at an all-male evangelical retreat.

Darren and Sherry are still drinking the Kool-Aid in Ireland, but Mark and Kathleen have initiated a divorce. Lucy's parents (Mark and Kathleen) have 7 other children, at least some of which support Lucy's new life, her statements about the repressive nature of fundamentalism, and the factual evidence of Jay's criminal history. Presumably, some do not support any or all of this. 

Darren's website is about what you'd expect from someone who blames children for getting molested, but never fear, he's ignorant in other ways too:

Quote

When government strays from their focus on punishing crime and forcefully takes our resources to “give” to the needy, this is a prohibition of love.

Whatever that means.

And then there's Patrick, the second eldest son, who is presumably still in Cork, has a facebook dedicated to anti-choice scree (please do yourselves a favor, and check out the numerous pictures of newspaper ads he's posted that say shit like "MEN SAVE LIVES!!! Don't abort them!"), and a Patreon that seems to offer some sort of full-service "creative" experience in exchange for your financial backing. He will make a video of himself singing "a Christmas Carol in brilliant Sunlight" if he gets at least 5 backers. Or you can read his thoughts on the things he plans to write. 

As the cherry on this grass-clippings sundae, here's his Patreon tagline:

Quote

Patrick Lauser is creating Creative Culture

He's CREATING, okay??

Wow. You weren't kidding about "impressive levels of frump", @NachosFlandersStyle. Those poor girls. Sherry's blog was... something. I wonder why she kept insisting that the twins were so identical? She constantly refers to it, and insists that they even fooled the immediate family. They do appear to be identical twins, but they have pretty obvious differences in their features all the same.

My ex-SIL's were a set of identical twins, and their mother would also do that. Even if you could easily tell them apart, you had to pretend to be awestruck by their... twinningness? identicality? or she'd get super butthurt. 

[browngrl]

10 hours ago, VVV said:

Holy smokes, Jaymes is full of himself. I assume his "time as a kitchen worker and chapel clerk" was when he was in prison. https://simbi.com/jaymes-lauser

Good Grief! Did he just yada yada his imprisonment? SMH 

[SrMaryEloquentia]

whenhisvoiceisheard.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/dayinthelife.pdf

(link broken, not sure if that is still a rule?)

This precious piece written in 2013 by Darren Lauser treats us to insights into his life in Ireland such as this:

Quote

For example, I have a place to store a nine-pack of toilet paper in each of our two washrooms. I also have some lose rolls sitting near each toilet. Whenever I am in one of these rooms, or even walking by, I check the supply near the toilet, to ensure there is always some handy when the dispenser runs out. When the package runs low, I put it on my shopping list, so I buy some more next time I am shopping.

Back to this 164 page pdf, who knows what else I might learn?

ETA: Fun fact: Lauser is German for „full of lice“, usually referring to an unwashed and unruly little boy. 

[Howl]

Quote

“[Jaymes] is single, 23 years old, and he is a missionary to a prison in Washington State. He did not choose this ministry. Some “friends” and relatives bore false witness against him, causing him to be unjustly convicted of a crime. We do not hold bitterness against them for their crime against Jay. And there can hardly be any clearer calling for the ministry God has for Jay, at least for the present. God's Light is shining through Jay, in a very dark place. I happen to know, quite confidently, that Jay is not guilty of the charges.

Basically James has gamed everyone in his family about his "innocence" (can't be a molester because Godly!) and is now married and in a position to molest his own children.  This scenario has played out so many times in fundie-dom.  And I'm very glad the he had to do prison time, although obviously not enough. 

Does anyone know what state the family lived in before they decamped to Ireland?  I'm guessing Washington state since that's where he's living now and he's likely still on parole. Wherever it is, it's a state that believes victims and is willing to prosecute offenders. 

 

Edited April 7, 2019 by Howl

[Four is Enough]

The level of denial in this group is unbelievable.

I'll admit that when the charges came up against my son, I didn't believe them either, and I do  think that's a valid first response. But I couldn't refute it. He did it. We could only support him, accept the consequence, and resultant therapy. Why is that so difficult for some people? Truth is truth.

 

I didn't move across an ocean to escape his peccadilloes.

[ViolaSebastian]

54 minutes ago, SrMaryEloquentia said:

whenhisvoiceisheard.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/dayinthelife.pdf

(link broken, not sure if that is still a rule?)

This precious piece written in 2013 by Darren Lauser treats us to insights into his life in Ireland such as this:

Back to this 164 page pdf, who knows what else I might learn?

ETA: Fun fact: Lauser is German for „full of lice“, usually referring to an unwashed and unruly little boy. 

Oh man, the self-importance of his genealogy is too much. Adam...an Irish King...a gap of 4,000ish years...me!

Also apparently there are no large cities in Ireland? Ooook. 

[EyesOpen]

So this is the fundie MO? You commit heinous sexual crimes against childrennand your family claims persecution and that you are how a ‘missionary’ in a prison? That’s some f’d up theology right there. I thought it was unique creepy captain bret but apparently he got the playbook from other families. Grotesque.

[Howl]

12 hours ago, VVV said:

Holy smokes, Jaymes is full of himself. I assume his "time as a kitchen worker and chapel clerk" was when he was in prison. https://simbi.com/jaymes-lauser

This guy is so full of himself in a damned  annoying way.  The "I Feel Pretty" song from West Side Story keeps popping into my head while reading this guy's self hagiography. 

And this? This self adulation totally chafes my chaps: Meekness - keeping his strengths under control 

Aside from being a recovering addict and registered sex offender,  Isn't he just the most amazing guy and so Godly! 

There are several references to addiction recovery programs: 

"he was not legally able to get a regular job there, but he filled his time productively with several ministries including the Reformers Unanimous Christ-based addiction recovery program"   Um, clarification on your status vis-a-vis this program, please?

"He also finished the 12-step Celebrate Recovery program and served as its Small Groups Coordinator."

ETA: I wonder if the dad's job and their living situation in Ireland will be at all affected by Brexit. 

Edited April 7, 2019 by Howl

[SrMaryEloquentia]

Holy animal cracker, there is some Maxwell level of food control going on:

Quote

On work days, breakfast consists of seven almonds and some fruit, usually bananas, sometimes apples and dates. We have some other fruit on the weekends, so I will mention that later. 

What if someone wants 8 almonds?!

They seem to eat a pretty reasonable, mostly plant based diet - a lot of rice and beans, which I guess is fine, but is served with some crazy amount of health woo. This seems to be one of the intersections of fundiedom and the crunchy health nut types…

[Howl]

Interesting take on food restriction for children: FOOD RESTRICTION: WHAT IT REALLY DOES TO KIDS

The only food restrictor on jf that I can think of is Erika Shupe. 

Maybe J-Rod, but she seems like an oblivious twit who is almost starving her children through oblivion to the nutritional needs. 

[Soulhuntress]

He was a state inmate and he changed spelling from James to Jaymes.  Hmmmm 

[Dandruff]

4 hours ago, Howl said:

There are several references to addiction recovery programs: 

"he was not legally able to get a regular job there, but he filled his time productively with several ministries including the Reformers Unanimous Christ-based addiction recovery program"   Um, clarification on your status vis-a-vis this program, please?

Isn't that where Joshley went was sent?

[anjulibai]

In what world is it a plus to put going through an addiction program on your list of accomplishments?

[VVV]

15 minutes ago, anjulibai said:

In what world is it a plus to put going through an addiction program on your list of accomplishments?

I think he is intending to imply he was a counselor in said program. He is engaging in some PhD-level turd polishing.

[Howl]

4 hours ago, Soulhuntress said:

He was a state inmate and he changed spelling from James to Jaymes.  Hmmmm

Honestly, who among us hasn't changed the spelling of our first name when we got out of prison?  I know I certainly....oh, wait. 

[refugee]

6 hours ago, SrMaryEloquentia said:

whenhisvoiceisheard.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/dayinthelife.pdf

(link broken, not sure if that is still a rule?)

This precious piece written in 2013 by Darren Lauser treats us to insights into his life in Ireland such as this:

Back to this 164 page pdf, who knows what else I might learn?

ETA: Fun fact: Lauser is German for „full of lice“, usually referring to an unwashed and unruly little boy. 

I’ve heard people referred to as “anal”, but this is ridiculous.

5 hours ago, Howl said:

Aside from being a recovering addict and registered sex offender,  Isn't he just the most amazing guy and so Godly! 

My dyslexia read the last part as “so Goldy”—strangely appropriate, if Jaymes is possibly the parents’ golden child...

[lilith]

2 hours ago, Dandruff said:

Isn't that where Joshley went was sent?

Yes.

[picklepizzas]

19 hours ago, VVV said:

Holy smokes, Jaymes is full of himself. I assume his "time as a kitchen worker and chapel clerk" was when he was in prison. https://simbi.com/jaymes-lauser

THANK YOU FOR THIS GOLDMINE. my eyes almost got stuck rolling so hard at his self satisfied description of how he’s interested in everything except those plebeian topics, “sports and celebrity gossip.” His academic interests were just oh so charmingly precocious - including “the writing craft”, with “a little bit of particle physics thrown in.”

I love how he tries to defend his years bumming around Ireland by saying he wasn’t legally allowed to work...he was a legal adult and not in college, it’s not like he was being *forced* to immigrate to a place where he conveniently couldn’t hold a job  

And I also loved how he slipped in completing a 12 step program into his list of accomplishments, without mentioning any fault or problem that might have landed him in that program. (Which I’m assuming he did in jail, another convenient omission from his life story)  

And lastly it tickles me that after that whole boastfest he listed his first “core value” as humility. 

[VVV]

6 minutes ago, picklepizzas said:

THANK YOU FOR THIS GOLDMINE. my eyes almost got stuck rolling so hard at his self satisfied description of how he’s interested in everything except those plebeian topics, “sports and celebrity gossip.” His academic interests were just oh so charmingly precocious - including “the writing craft”, with “a little bit of particle physics thrown in.” (snip)

And lastly it tickles me that after that whole boastfest he listed his first “core value” as humility. 

1. I would bet money that he never even learned trig, let alone the calculus necessary to understand particle physics.

2. That first "core value" demolished my irony meter.

Edited April 7, 2019 by VVV
added one word