Duggars have a special announcement!/Number 20 merged

[emmiedahl]

Jana did look happy, but she has been placed in indoctrination camps and such. I think "Happy" is her only mode now.

It will take a lot of therapy before Jana can ever be anything but happy.

[JenniferJuniper]

I wouldn't have pegged Josiah as the first kid to openly reject his parents' lifestyle, but it does make sense that it could be him in the next couple of years.

The middle kids have grown up with the show and all it entails (media coverage, trips across the world, book tours where they meet all walks of life in all sorts of dress). They didn't spend their formative years completely sheltered like the older kids and they are now at that normally rebellious, questioning age. When he was regularly doing Talking Heads, Josiah always seemed to be a bright little boy, if sometimes a little too honest for his own good. He doesn't fit the mold of the brothers immediately preceding him, and he was clearly close to Joy and now they've been forced apart by gender roles.

A boy probably has a better shot of blowing the whole facade wide open and Dim Bob likely knows this. I think we should be a little concerned about what might be coming next for Josiah.

[GryffindorFTW]

Jana did look happy, but she has been placed in indoctrination camps and such. I think "Happy" is her only mode now.

These "camps" seem to get mentioned pretty frequently on FJ, especially in regard to Josh's rumored indiscretion while courting as a teenager. Is there any detailed info on the reform camps in question, or hard evidence that various Duggar kids have been sent to them for behavior modification, or is it all mostly speculation?

[JenniferJuniper]

These "camps" seem to get mentioned pretty frequently on FJ, especially in regard to Josh's rumored indiscretion while courting as a teenager. Is there any detailed info on the reform camps in question, or hard evidence that various Duggar kids have been sent to them for behavior modification, or is it all mostly speculation?

There are indeed ATI Gothard camps. I don't recall the story of Josh's situation, and I'm not sure the full details are known, but here is blog entry from a girl describing her experiences in a Gothard program called "Journey to the Heart" in '09. You'll note she says the four Duggar girls were there. I believe Jana also attended a camp more recently.

An excerpt:

Oh, and the part about being busy in your mind: The day that happened was Thursday; The Day of Delighting in the Lord. It was a day of fasting and searching out the scriptures. There was a big emphasis on quieting of the mind and being silent. Waiting for God. Really waiting. I have been working on that on the train and since I came home. It really is an exercise!! It is absurd how many things you remember when you try to be still. Peace, my soul, be still.

http://abirdhouse.blogspot.com/2009/10/ ... art-i.html

[FundiesInMyFamily]

So, which Duggar kids would you all say looked genuinely happy about the announcement?

Josh seemed pretty happy, of course - I saw him go through the crowd to give Michelle a big hug.

[Lily]

They've been sent to ATI camps for many years, and in addition to that, there was actually an episode back in either 17KaK or 18KaK that centered around the Fab Four going with Dim Bulb to a "retreat" that looked like it had some pretty heavy handed stuff going on behind the scenes of horseback riding and bunking with daddy. I don't remember what it was called, but they had a website and I looked on it at the time, and included in their program aside from the camping fare for the camera, there was what basically amounted to 2x daily "training sessions."

[celestial]

There are indeed ATI Gothard camps. I don't recall the story of Josh's situation, and I'm not sure the full details are known, but here is blog entry from a girl describing her experiences in a Gothard program called "Journey to the Heart" in '09. You'll note she says the four Duggar girls were there. I believe Jana also attended a camp more recently.

An excerpt:

Oh, and the part about being busy in your mind: The day that happened was Thursday; The Day of Delighting in the Lord. It was a day of fasting and searching out the scriptures. There was a big emphasis on quieting of the mind and being silent. Waiting for God. Really waiting. I have been working on that on the train and since I came home. It really is an exercise!! It is absurd how many things you remember when you try to be still. Peace, my soul, be still.

http://abirdhouse.blogspot.com/2009/10/ ... art-i.html

That girl's description of Journey to the Heart is quite creepy!

[emmiedahl]

Creepy as hell. "Don't think, stay quiet and sweet and just wait." That is exactly what Jana seems to do lately.

[celestial]

There are worse parts, too... straight out of the Salem witch trials! For example:

It later became known that one of the girls had a family history of (and she herself used to dabble in) witchcraft. I became speedily inducted into a life of extreme spiritual warfare which I had not exactly believed existed. Many girls were sick, or felt like they were about to get sick. Much of the leaders times together was praying for their teams and binding the powers of iniquity (so we were told). I was pretty scared for a while. One of the girls on my team had a dark shape visit her every night for years. She could point to a spot in her room where it stood. Once, when I was writing out questions I had and issues I was working through, I began shaking. This had happened to me previously this year, and it usually became debilitating to the extent that I could no longer write. I asked Libby if it was because of bitterness in me, or anger, or some fear, and she figured it was an attack. When I write out things it helps me be able to process them more thoroughly, and it also gets them off of the slow-burner in the back of my mind. Libby said that it must be an attack to try to keep me stewing over them, or to keep my mind busy. That really got me scared, but I prayed (out loud) that Satan be bound, and the shaking slowly stopped. I am still scared by that. It did happen again twice, but when I prayed—it would stop.

[Lily]

Does anyone else think Josiah's treatment as of late has been more disturbing than is usual even for a Duggar kid? Nothing overt, they edit that out I'm sure. It seems like he's being cut off a lot when he's on camera, by J'Chelle, Dim Bulb or Jana and Jessa. When he does talk, it always reminds me a great deal of those tapes you see on the news where a hostage is in front of a camera "alone" and saying he's fine and his captors are treating him fine, just comply and he'll get out fine, but you're fully aware the whole time he's got 5 guns pointed at him. Joy has the same look. He seems to be ignored a lot by his brothers too, more than he was in earlier seasons. He and Joseph used to be pretty tight, they're certainly close enough in age, but now Joseph seems to rather ignore him. Him and Joy too, but now that they're both teens I suspect Dim Bulb and J'Chelle have put a stop to any bond they had, both to separate the genders and to keep the two kids who seem to think for themselves a little more than the others apart, so they can't plot or feed each other's willpower.

I wonder if Josiah's been identified as the next "sin in the camp." Like, the BIG sin, to fundies. I've had my suspicions for years, but I wonder if the Duggars are cottoning on to it now. :? Poor Josiah.

[Lily]

Does anyone have a link to the video of the 'telling the kids' thing?

[madpsych78]

How much do you want to bet that Josiah will be sent to one of those brainwashing camps and his head will be shaved in an upcoming episode, a la Josh in the early days?

[Terrie]

That girl's description of Journey to the Heart is quite creepy!

The Northwoods Conference Center is a lovely piece of ground owned by IBLP, which was redeemed from a past of Indian ritual and spiritism

It also pisses me off in parts. I'm always tempted to get a group together of any non-Christian religion and set about "redeeming" a church from it's past.

[Visionoyahweh]

I like how JD was so over the announcement he immediately started texting on his phone. Not into it at all.

[Jessica]

Here's a nice little tidbit from that scum known as Zsuzsanna...

"You just don't like that your 2.3 kids from two different dads are constantly at each other's throats."

Why is it that when anyone criticizes the Duggars people immediately jump to insulting people raising smaller families? I see it all the time. "Well they're doing better than some people with TWO kids are doing!" "Look at most families with TWO kids, the mom is out working and the kids are left in front of the TV and eating McDonald's for dinner!"

[emmiedahl]

I like how JD was so over the announcement he immediately started texting on his phone. Not into it at all.

Can you imagine that text?

omg mom is pg agin. fml! :o

[Visionoyahweh]

omg mom is pg agin. fml! :o

More like sexting Anna Hackel. :P

[CanadianHippie]

Here's a nice little tidbit from that scum known as Zsuzsanna...

"You just don't like that your 2.3 kids from two different dads are constantly at each other's throats."

Why is it that when anyone criticizes the Duggars people immediately jump to insulting people raising smaller families? I see it all the time. "Well they're doing better than some people with TWO kids are doing!" "Look at most families with TWO kids, the mom is out working and the kids are left in front of the TV and eating McDonald's for dinner!"

I wonder how .3 of a kid fights...

[Kitty]

JD to Anna H.:

omg. mom is preg AGAIN. fml. im getting a vasectomy. if ne1 asks, im sterile bc josh kicked me in the balls 2 many times. k?

[Buzzard]

JD to Anna H.:

The fact that he was texting (we assume and not playing angry birds) is actually a good thing! It means that he is allowed to have conversations with people not directly in front of the slave masters! Now I'm dying to know who he's texting!!!

[lilwriter85]

Here's a nice little tidbit from that scum known as Zsuzsanna...

"You just don't like that your 2.3 kids from two different dads are constantly at each other's throats."

Why is it that when anyone criticizes the Duggars people immediately jump to insulting people raising smaller families? I see it all the time. "Well they're doing better than some people with TWO kids are doing!" "Look at most families with TWO kids, the mom is out working and the kids are left in front of the TV and eating McDonald's for dinner!"

I have noticed that a lot of times and it is annoying. The Duggar kids have shown that they aren't angels and also the Duggars don't have extremely great diets. Those types of comments made by the defenders are pointless.

[FloraDoraDolly]

I've been wondering about Josiah as well. He used to be one of the heavily featured kids, but we've barely seen him these past few seasons. At first, I thought puberty had made him camera shy-- some boys are very self-conscious about their voice changing plus other issues. Also, producers of TV shows and movies avoid putting awkward-aged kids in front of the camera in general. If the script calls for a 15-year-old boy, they hire a 21-year-old cutie pie who no longer has to deal with acne, braces, a squeaky voice, or a sudden growth spurt that makes him trip over his own big feet. The producers at TLC aren't dealing with actors, of course, but if they want a cute young blond boy onscreen, they have plenty to choose from in the Duggar household. So that's what I figured was going on with Josiah. But then whenever we did see him, he looked more and more miserable. Ditto for Joy.

I don't want to speculate about "sin in the camp." But Josiah strikes me as the oldest Duggar kid who truly needs to go to college. None of the available career paths suits him at all. I read somewhere that he is doing College Plus, but this kid should be in a high school that will prepare him for the real deal.

Does anyone else think Josiah's treatment as of late has been more disturbing than is usual even for a Duggar kid? Nothing overt, they edit that out I'm sure. It seems like he's being cut off a lot when he's on camera, by J'Chelle, Dim Bulb or Jana and Jessa. When he does talk, it always reminds me a great deal of those tapes you see on the news where a hostage is in front of a camera "alone" and saying he's fine and his captors are treating him fine, just comply and he'll get out fine, but you're fully aware the whole time he's got 5 guns pointed at him. Joy has the same look. He seems to be ignored a lot by his brothers too, more than he was in earlier seasons. He and Joseph used to be pretty tight, they're certainly close enough in age, but now Joseph seems to rather ignore him. Him and Joy too, but now that they're both teens I suspect Dim Bulb and J'Chelle have put a stop to any bond they had, both to separate the genders and to keep the two kids who seem to think for themselves a little more than the others apart, so they can't plot or feed each other's willpower.

I wonder if Josiah's been identified as the next "sin in the camp." Like, the BIG sin, to fundies. I've had my suspicions for years, but I wonder if the Duggars are cottoning on to it now. :? Poor Josiah.

[marmalade]

I think College Minus- has a program for high school homeschooled kids, but I have no idea what it could be, unless it's a way to take the CLEP tests prior to getting their GED, or possibly SAT prep or AP classes? I'm not sure how all that stuff works within the Christian homeschool -> online college community that is trying to circumvent the ebil, commie brick and mortar universities.

[ladypuglover]

After spending hours reading this thread to catch up all I can say is this frozen heart of mine is breaking for Josiah and the rest of the kids. I would take Jana on down and love them the best I could, but Siah I would give extra to. That poor young man. :(

[3 is enough]

Looking at those photos again, it occurs to me that Michelle was totally oblivious of the drama playing out around her. It really is all about her, isn't it? Mother of the year, my ass. She disgusts me.