Fundie Class System

[Not That Kind of Dr]

celestial wrote:

GenerationCedarchip wrote:

The nobility:

the Bauchams

the Fuentes (Wise Woman)

possibly Lydia Sherman (?)

the Bradricks

the Morecrafts

Potter the ABD

the In a Shoe family (forget their names)

they might allow the Duggars since they're famous

the Crawfords

the Farrises (head of HSLDA)

Very interesting, thanks! I had always sort of wondered where the In a Shoe family fit in on the fundie totem pole. They are the Coghlans, by the way.

The father (Perry Coghlan - thanks for reminding me of their last name) is a manager at the warehouse for Vision Forum. From what I gather online and from the fundie end of the family, they are all very well-liked and respected but not real power brokers. They do not attend BCA and I get the impression they are a little more laidback than some of the rest of the VF crowd.

The impression that I've always gotten about the Coghlans is that they're very much in the good graces of Doug Phillips (I first found Life in a Shoe when Phillips linked to Kim's liveblogging of Perry Jr.'s birth), but they'll never be VF nobility, let alone royalty, because they're simply too blue collar/working class. Maybe I'm grossly misunderstanding what Perry Sr. does as manager of the VF warehouse, but it sounds like he actually works for a living rather than hoodwinking the masses into giving him money. Plus, I don't remember any Coghlans ever going on those VF-sponsored European jaunts, which I took to mean that they simply couldn't afford them. Father-daughter weekends, yes. Even the occasional historical dress-up event, yes. Scotland or Normandy, no. I wonder why they don't attend Phillips's church, though. I always had assumed that they did until a recent post about where they attend services.

[Sola]

I think the Duggars are supposed to be the acceptable public face of quiverful fundies. Same with the Bates; they have been brought in to show, 'look, we're not the only ones'. What we see on TV about the Duggars is a carefully scripted and sanitised version. In reality they are just the same as all the others, but they cannot be seen to be too extreme as that will turn the viewers off and stop the money coming in. Who knows, if that happened, Jim Boob and Smugger would have to get proper jobs!

[hoipolloi]

Not only does the dad work fulltime, he frequently brings in one or more of the kids to "help" out in the warehouse, especially at Christmas time.

I'd put him in between serf and freeman in the VF/fundie scheme of things, given this account from a couple of years ago: inashoe.com/2009/06/crisis/

[GenerationCedarchip]

I'm not sure I'd rank them as serfs. I think they're further up in the good graces of VF than that. Also, the father was one of the big dress-up players at the Reformation 500(and he's the son of founders of a private school in the suburbs of Nashville). I didn't really take the lack of Europe trips as a sign that they're further down the chain; I just figured someone had to keep the VF empire rolling along while Dougie is out on his jaunts.

[Not That Kind of Dr]

I'm not sure I'd rank them as serfs. I think they're further up in the good graces of VF than that. Also, the father was one of the big dress-up players at the Reformation 500(and he's the son of founders of a private school in the suburbs of Nashville). I didn't really take the lack of Europe trips as a sign that they're further down the chain; I just figured someone had to keep the VF empire rolling along while Dougie is out on his jaunts.

That's interesting about Perry Sr.'s family background. I somehow missed that tidbit and assumed that he'd grown up like his wife had: dirt poor. I remember his dressing up like Oliver Cromwell. They've certainly taken to God's Executioner. They even gave their last boy the middle name Cromwell. In any case, I suspect that the truth about their place in the VF hierarchy will become clear when one of those pretty teenage daughters of theirs marries in the next two to five years. What kind of coverage will the event get?

[hoipolloi]

That's interesting about Perry Sr.'s family background. I somehow missed that tidbit and assumed that he'd grown up like his wife had: dirt poor. I remember his dressing up like Oliver Cromwell. They've certainly taken to God's Executioner. They even gave their last boy the middle name Cromwell. In any case, I suspect that the truth about their place in the VF hierarchy will become clear when one of those pretty teenage daughters of theirs marries in the next two to five years. What kind of coverage will the event get?

Hadn't realized who Perry's dad was - thanks for that info. Can't say that the school looks very high power (one of the teachers trained at Doug Wilson's fake college in Idaho & most of them went to fundie-flavor schools), but I imagine it makes a tidy living for the senior Coghlans.

Perhaps you're right, and a Coghlan girl's wedding in the next few years will reveal the true nature of the family's status vis a vis fundie royals & nobles.

[Want More Babies]

I thought Perry & Kim attended Boerne Christian. I will have to do more research on that. I know that Kim has said they are second generation homeschoolers and Perry is a native Texan. They have lived in San Antonio for 8 years and before that lived in Ohio for 11. They are both the oldest children of large families.

Perry does from time to time attend homeschool conferences and works the VF booth. I wouldn't think of them as Fundie Royalty.

As for Lady Lydia, I have never seen or heard of her anywhere but online. She doesn't show up at any events that I can tell.

[MamaJunebug]

No, I distinctly remember someone reporting that Kim blogged that while Perry works for Phillips, they belong to another fella's congregation.

OK, so I'm about 0 for 3 on commenting on issues, not people, but I confess that I looked up Perry as Cromwell at Reformation D.

On my way to the video, I saw many comments by Kim about the exquisite tailoring and costuming that was being invested in, on behalf of a perfect depiction of the Big C.

So I get to the video, ....... and in addition to a sumptuously made costume, he's wearing big, square, wire-rimmed, 2008 or 2009-era eyeglasses.

Oh, bless my soul, I shall now retire for the evening with a big, snarky grin on my face.... :mrgreen:

[Not That Kind of Dr]

On my way to the video, I saw many comments by Kim about the exquisite tailoring and costuming that was being invested in, on behalf of a perfect depiction of the Big C.

Does this mean that they affixed plenty of warts to his face too? Cromwell was quite insistent that portrait painters depict him literally "warts and all."