Old-School Smiths

[PBrooke]

So apparently a lot of the same Smith videos found on their site and youtube are on Godtube (hilarious), uncut. This is one I haven't seen before, though - from a "camp meeting" they had in 2006. I haven't watched the whole thing yet, because Bret makes me nauseous, but it's already fascinating - tiny and young Kressant! Jeanine Morton, younger and all zealous! I feel like this might be a good insight into the origins of the crazy, and it'll probably also be a good reminder of what these people REALLY believe. http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=J0FJ2JNU

[ricky_ticky]

PBrooke you always have the best video links! This one is way up there on the creepy meter.

[jaelh]

duty of nations to acknowledge god. indeed.

the intellectual gymnastics required to hold some of these points of views astound me.

[Vex]

At about the 4 minute mark, there is a woman who talks for a while... but I swear, she didn't actually say anything. I couldn't follow what she was talking about at all. It was almost Taryn-like.

[jaelh]

At about the 4 minute mark, there is a woman who talks for a while... but I swear, she didn't actually say anything. I couldn't follow what she was talking about at all. It was almost Taryn-like.

I thought she... was the best of all of them to that point. The menz were waffling about how good it was to hang out with dudes just like them; the woman actually commented on the substance of talks. (Taryn is in a class of her own. This woman was profound and utterly coherent beside Taryn :) )

[Vex]

Nobody will ever truly compare to Taryn, but she did remind me of her in the way she leapt from one subject to the next. To be fair to this lady, she was obviously switching from topic to topic because she was talking about the different lectures, whereas Taryn just makes random schizophrenic leaps from topic to topic because... well, she's Taryn.

I think it was her flip-flopping and waffling that got me. There was the whole thing about how they were delivering messagest that were simple... yet complex... yet simple... yet complex. Yes, we get it, they're messages that seem simple on the surface but are actually very complex. And then, the whole thing about going backwards to go forwards. There was more, but my brain was too numb to absorb any more by that stage.

It's totally true that the men weren't saying anything either, though. I also fail to understand who is saying modern Christers are too 'soft' to go to campmeetings (whatever they are, I'd never heard the term before). Plenty of Christians go camping. I question the 'hardness' of a 'campmeeting' that takes place in a garage with pastel quilts on the walls to be honest.

Now I'm waffling on. Damn you, Smiths, and your incoherent attendees!

[Guest Anonymous]

.....kinda creePy.........

[PBrooke]

That woman is Jeanine Morton! Crazy, no?

[salsa]

I admit I only listened to a bit of it. What stood out to me is the self-stroking involved. "A lot of pastors think Christians are too soft for camp meeting..." It may refer not just to the camping component, but the old-time revival of Campmeeting (which is a bigger thing in the South). Still, there are historic campmeetings that have been meeting for 170 and more years and are still going strong!

The thing is, "revival" is typically preached to like-minded believers who nod their heads in agreement. I've been to several campmeetings and the preachers who the people in the congregation view as "telling it like it is" rely on knocking down straw men. It's easy to preach in rural Georgia about all those homosexuals in Atlanta who are out to corrupt your children, as one preacher preached for an entire week. I'd be much more impressed, if that's your belief (to be clear - it's not mine), if you actually went to Atlanta and preached to the Gay Pride parade.

[PBrooke]

Oh. My. This one takes the cake. I've heard of this video before, but never bothered to watch it. First of all, you'll hear it referred to as a "movie" by Cap'n Bret, as in, "we filmed a movie." The allegory is like being hit over the head with an anvil, but just in case, there's "Commentary by the director," Cap'n Bret, afterwards. There's about five minutes of movie, five minutes of credits, and nearly ten minutes of commentary.

But man! Young Rachel, young A. Vawser, some of the Pethtel family - a who's who of fundies. http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=DW7YYGNX

Whether the blathering "commentary" is worth it depends on how you feel about this quote: "I'm not a socialist! I don't want my children to be 'socialized'!"

EDIT: Never mind, it might be worth it to hear what he says about Alan at around the 14-minute mark. Cholera?!

[PBrooke]

It's like each one is better than the last. Here's a "music video." Beforehand is a lecture on how children are a blessing. The smug is a bit overwhelming.

But then the video itself. I'm not sure I have the words. It's from 2003. The Smith girls are all young as hell, and they're all wearing black pants, tanktops, hats and sunglasses. They all, including Mrs. Smith, have short hair. This is what I mean when I say the Smiths never had a full-on frumper stage, unlike the Mortons - they moved to the "modern modest," "cosplay the past" ideals of about five years ago, and then have loosened up even since then. By the way, since the video itself also has clips of scenes that look like they're from Anne of Green Gables, then cuts to them wearing pants and tanktops, this just reinforces that it WAS indeed like cosplay, dressing up.

And the choreography. Dear God, the choreography.

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=J09F0JNU

[MamaJunebug]

Oo, boy that nasty trumpet-playin' (!!!) Cap'n Bret shaking his bonbon to persuade me to impure thoughts but I stand firm! Heaven in the house, I already have a husband with a pot belly who likes to dance.

How did those kids keep straight faces. A mystery for the ages.

[divadivine]

Oh. My. I need brain bleach. STAT! My eyes- they burn after seeing Captain Bret "dance". I think I was defrauded.

[donks]

Has it been removed?

[ricky_ticky]

At about the 4 minute mark, there is a woman who talks for a while... but I swear, she didn't actually say anything. I couldn't follow what she was talking about at all. It was almost Taryn-like.

That was a woman?

[SimplyMe]

Someone on an actual computer- have the videos been removed or will they just not load on my phone? If they've been removed, I think we have pretty good proof Mr. Smith is lurking here!

[darkplumaged]

The videos are all still there.

The "Cap'n" doesn't strike me as the sort who would take down stuff if he found out people were laughing at it. That's more Lina's style.

[ladypuglover]

I need a drink now. Seeing those children with handguns to show God's love. :shock:

Are they even reading the same bible as the rest of the sane world?