Seewalds 43: Pants may Have Been Worn Or Not

[GuineaPigCourtship]

I have to give Jessa credit - she seems decent at giving birthday or anniversary shout outs to Ben that sound pretty sincere and are about more than his heart for the lord.  She really is the most social media savvy of them all.

[AprilQuilt]

12 hours ago, JDuggs said:

On Jessa’s birthday post for Ben, she implied that he’s done with college and received a degree. I wonder why they haven’t made a bigger deal about it. Maybe because it hasn’t led to any type of a real career yet.

I think Jessa is quite careful about the info she shares and she's probably made a conscious decision to keep quiet about what Ben studied, where, and whether it's done anything for him. Maybe just a privacy thing, but I think more likely because it's religious - and she KNOWS that fundie-dom is alienating for the broad fan base she's now vlogging to.

I was going to say that her 'witnessing' in her social media only really currently extends to the verses in her insta bio but I just checked and I see she's removed even that. I don't think she's ashamed to be a Christian, but she definitely knows that the brass tacks of her personal faith don't have broad appeal.

[SassyPants]

I hope the Seewalds can eventually move away from the fundamentalism and live more enriching lives. They seem like they would do well as fundie lights, living in the real world. I hope their kids get to experience real school, have friends, play sports, the whole enchilada. 

[Idlewild]

4 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

I hope the Seewalds can eventually move away from the fundamentalism and live more enriching lives. They seem like they would do well as fundie lights, living in the real world. I hope their kids get to experience real school, have friends, play sports, the whole enchilada. 

I think that depends on their ability to become financially independent. At the moment they have 3 small children, a house bought on very favourable terms and the patronage of TLC via JB. Apart from very limited occasions Jessa does not wear trousers publicly, sticks to the family brand message and gushes about her parents . If she wants to deviate from the IBLP principles she may find handouts and unlimited babysitting run out. Hopefully Ben has a paying job & her YouTube channel can make them stand on their own two feet.

[Pecansforeveryone]

Yeah, a lot of it (not all) comes down to money. Jessa likes her relatively comfortable life and hasn't had the challenges  Jill has had that might make her question her upbringing. 

[HereticHick]

Ben was supposedly pursuing a degree thru Moody Bible Institute. So we don't know if he finished his degree. Moody had a virtual commencement on May 5.   I watched their student tribute video at which has a bunch of new graduates in it, but Ben isn't one of them. Beware! Video is full of nose-ring wearing women, and students praising their female [*gasp*] professors.

  wh

[Snarkasarus Rex]

Ben was in an online program, so maybe those graduates weren’t included with the resident program graduation?

Her wording is curious tho...she said ‘wrapped up a four year degree’, not ‘graduated’.  Did he attend 4 years and not graduate?  Also, I’m not sure the ‘you’ she was referring to was actually Ben. It’s like she was pulling a Derick.

The family celebrated his AA completion....but nothing for a graduation from Moody Bible Institute? ?

[Born Skeptic]

On 5/20/2020 at 7:09 PM, JDuggs said:

On Jessa’s birthday post for Ben, she implied that he’s done with college and received a degree. I wonder why they haven’t made a bigger deal about it. Maybe because it hasn’t led to any type of a real career yet.

Graduation during a global pandemic is difficult.  If they had thrown even a small party or gone out for a celebratory dinner, they would have been roundly criticized even though they are not under social distancing restrictions in Arkansas.  Since they mention it without making a big deal out of it, he must not have graduated.  Most graduations are canceled or moved to virtual celebrations.  A lot of graduates have had job offers rescinded.  Their future is unclear.  I don't think the lack or an over the top announcement indicates anything other than the current world situation.

My oldest just received their PhD after a lot of years of study and sacrifice.  Their dissertation defense was done over Zoom.  Graduation ceremonies were moved to December since the cohort did not want a virtual graduation.  They are graduating into an economy they did not expect.  My kid's job offer was rescinded as the non-profit lost most of their funding to COVID 19 charities.  A huge celebration doesn't feel right.

Edited May 22, 2020 by Born Skeptic

[JDuggs]

@Born Skeptic In Jessa’s birthday post, she only said that Ben had “wrapped up his 4-year degree.” She didn’t mention when this happened and I thought it was somewhat implied that it wasn’t recent. She was talking about Ben being a life-long learner who continues to educate himself. I thought Ben wanted to pursue ministry in some way, but we’re not seeing any public acknowledgement of that. Jeremy and Derrick were both very open about furthering their education related to ministry. For some reason, Ben isn’t.

Even though I don’t think this relates to Ben, this month, I’ve seen plenty of photos of high school and college graduates in caps and gowns even though none of them are going through graduation ceremonies. Parents and families are trying to be extra creative to honor their graduates in a special way.

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

A neighbor kid, gradated from a local University, I know this because the university mascot (a bulldog) was at his house with a big sign and they took photos. The school is Drake University, every spring (except this year) they have The Drake Relays a huge track & field event, huge school celebration, and their new mascot is crowned for the for the next school year. 

Hulk us such a good boy & so happy he won.

 

I got this pick on a public website, so I'm guessing Hulk's human's are ok with sharing. 

Edited May 22, 2020 by allthegoodnamesrgone

[JanasTattooParlor]

Yeah this time is really tough for graduates. My fiancé just graduated with his Masters and can’t find a job anywhere despite having a degree in data analytics that should have gotten him loads of job offers. He’s really bitter about it, but got lucky that one of his professors knew someone who needed a part time intern. So for the next few months, he’ll be a part time intern until hopefully the job market recovers and he can find something full time. I feel so bad for him because my job, a math teacher, will never not be needed so I’ve never had to worry about a job. My best friend also just got her MBA and is living on her savings while applying to be even a secretary since that’s all that’s available. I hope things get better sooner than we think for all the graduates who never expected to graduate into this. 

[Born Skeptic]

8 hours ago, JDuggs said:

@Born Skeptic In Jessa’s birthday post, she only said that Ben had “wrapped up his 4-year degree.” She didn’t mention when this happened and I thought it was somewhat implied that it wasn’t recent. She was talking about Ben being a life-long learner who continues to educate himself. I thought Ben wanted to pursue ministry in some way, but we’re not seeing any public acknowledgement of that. Jeremy and Derrick were both very open about furthering their education related to ministry. For some reason, Ben isn’t.

Even though I don’t think this relates to Ben, this month, I’ve seen plenty of photos of high school and college graduates in caps and gowns even though none of them are going through graduation ceremonies. Parents and families are trying to be extra creative to honor their graduates in a special way.

Different people are going to handle  personal disclosures differently.  Just because his Brothers-in-law freely discuss their educational and career goals doesn't mean that Ben wants to or has to do the same.  

Similarly, different people are going to handle graduation disappointment differently.  Some will respond with over the top car parades, photo shoots, huge yard signs, etc.  Some would shudder at that thought. Others will opt for more subdued responses.  Many of the approximately 7.6 Million US high school (3.7 million) and college (3.9 million) graduates have their caps and gowns and (if applicable) graduation regalia.  Some will happily don this gear and do a photo shoot, others are not interested in doing so.  I too have seen some graduation pictures on social media and elsewhere but not many considering the number of high school, college, and graduate school students I know.  This doesn't mean that those who chose a more subdues track didn't graduate or aren't extremely proud of their academic records.  

[JDuggs]

I just found it interesting how in her birthday message about Ben, Jessa slipped in the fact that Ben at some point in time finished his college degree, information that I don’t think has been divulged before this time. (Of course I very well might be mistaken that this is new public information.) I don’t think the Seewalds have any obligation to share any information they don’t want to share. But now that it has been very vaguely shared, I wonder when he actually did finish and if he still hopes to work in ministry. Maybe he is working in a ministry job, but they are keeping it private. Totally their right to disclose or not disclose.

[Meggo]

On 5/21/2020 at 11:10 AM, SassyPants said:

I hope the Seewalds can eventually move away from the fundamentalism and live more enriching lives. They seem like they would do well as fundie lights, living in the real world. I hope their kids get to experience real school, have friends, play sports, the whole enchilada. 

I read this too fast and read "have friends, play sports, have enchiladas" and I thought "MAN - they can't even eat enchiladas????" 

Phew... 

[just_ordinary]

I will go out here and say I am not sure that Ben did actually graduate with a degree. Yes, they have been VERY private about his education/jobs (understandably- didn’t people make fun of him for ages for being JB‘s toilet cleaner) but they are also very well known for careful using words to imply one thing when in reality facts are pretty different. I don’t think they wouldn’t have made it known if he actually graduated. It’s a big thing especially if he wants to stay in that line of work. It would also have been a prime moment to create positive news even with the more critical crowd. But then, that’s all speculation and there is still a chance he completed the whole 4 years and now holds a degree from a real college (still don’t get the us system. Either you can hand out degrees or not. I don’t think any employer here would accept a sheet of paper from what you call unregistered colleges).

Edited May 29, 2020 by just_ordinary

[Snarkasarus Rex]

2 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

I will go out here and say I am not sure that Ben did actually graduate with a degree. Yes, they have been VERY private about his education/jobs (understandably- didn’t people make fun of him for ages for being JB‘s toilet cleaner) but they are also very well known for careful using words to imply one thing when in reality facts are pretty different. 

I agree and I think that's exactly what happened.  He went to school for 4 years-ish but doesn't necessarily have a degree to show for it.  I thought 'wrapped up' was a strange way to refer to ending a college education...most people would use 'graduated', 'finished' or 'completed'.  I too think they would have made a bigger deal about it, because it doesn't obligate them to divulge what his next step is (does he still work at their church in Siloam Springs?)

If that's the case, I wonder what prevented him from graduating?  

[Pecansforeveryone]

The Duggars love to brag every time they tie their shoelaces. Humble they are not. It's why I am skeptical that Ben actually graduated. 

[nst]

On 5/21/2020 at 11:37 AM, HereticHick said:

Ben was supposedly pursuing a degree thru Moody Bible Institute. So we don't know if he finished his degree. Moody had a virtual commencement on May 5.   I watched their student tribute video at which has a bunch of new graduates in it, but Ben isn't one of them. Beware! Video is full of nose-ring wearing women, and students praising their female [*gasp*] professors.

  wh

I can't believe I watched this....

what was I thinking 

I should have believed you but I got all excited about a red hat

no need 

carry on......

On 5/22/2020 at 5:14 PM, JDuggs said:

I just found it interesting how in her birthday message about Ben, Jessa slipped in the fact that Ben at some point in time finished his college degree, information that I don’t think has been divulged before this time. (Of course I very well might be mistaken that this is new public information.) I don’t think the Seewalds have any obligation to share any information they don’t want to share. But now that it has been very vaguely shared, I wonder when he actually did finish and if he still hopes to work in ministry. Maybe he is working in a ministry job, but they are keeping it private. Totally their right to disclose or not disclose.

wasn't there a video and pictures of Ben graduating from something way back Jessa was pregnant with Spud?

 

[SassyPants]

23 minutes ago, nst said:

I can't believe I watched this....

what was I thinking 

I should have believed you but I got all excited about a red hat

no need 

carry on......

wasn't there a video and pictures of Ben graduating from something way back Jessa was pregnant with Spud?

 

Wasn’t that when he graduated from community college?

[marmalade]

13 hours ago, SassyPants said:

Wasn’t that when he graduated from community college?

Yes. TLC filmed it, but it was part of the Lost Season after Joshgate. Can you believe it's been five years? ?

[16strong]

I'm not even sure that Ben attended for 4 years. Could have attended for just 2 or 3. Maybe he attended off and on. All Jessa implied (to me) is that Ben was on a four-year degree track and wrapped up his time there. Doesn't mean he graduated, doesn't mean he was there for 4 years. The Duggars are masters at lying by omission and doublespeak, and they're also masters at the mental gymnastics it takes to justify it as not lying.

[Melissa1977]

No offense, but why a father of 3 makes such a big effort of studying a religion related degree, instead of studying something that helps finding a job? A degree or a trade or get a professional certification of some sort. Don't get me wrong, everybody should to study what pleases them, but raising 3 kids is exhausting, so study takes an incredible effort! Considering he has not a job, not a career/trade, spending 4 years like that is losing his time and money IMO.

I think Duggars encourage non-useful studies for their children and in-laws. Now, it makes them feel godly and speshul, but sooner than later they will realise their fail.

[tabitha2]

Duggar daughters don’t want a man who works a regular hours steady paying  job as Daddy is the ideal to them and he has has not worked like that in over 20 years. 

[Idlewild]

1 hour ago, tabitha2 said:

Duggar daughters don’t want a man who works a regular hours steady paying  job as Daddy is the ideal to them and he has has not worked like that in over 20 years. 

They do give the impression that the only acceptable employment is self employed house flipping or car dealing or being a ‘minister’. Even Jed, who has political ambitions, doesn’t seem moved to study or work in any public service which might give him an insight into how communities function etc.

Derick didn’t last long At Walmart after his marriage & had he & Jill not decided to socially distance from TLC/Duggar ministry I doubt he would have got approval for his legal aspirations unless he combined it with some hateful political ambitions. 

[nst]

4 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

No offense, but why a father of 3 makes such a big effort of studying a religion related degree, instead of studying something that helps finding a job? A degree or a trade or get a professional certification of some sort. Don't get me wrong, everybody should to study what pleases them, but raising 3 kids is exhausting, so study takes an incredible effort! Considering he has not a job, not a career/trade, spending 4 years like that is losing his time and money IMO.

I think Duggars encourage non-useful studies for their children and in-laws. Now, it makes them feel godly and speshul, but sooner than later they will realise their fail.

it's his passion or whatever. I remember. but we know he is no jeremy and he must find a way to support to himself without the boob 

they won't fail if he has the boob to give him a job. 

thank goodness no more flame specials....