Someone wanted a post on the Murch family??

[Caxpax]

I'd love any dirt on good 'ol Mary Jo. She's preggers with no. 3 and just as vapid as ever. Interesting that she's been ensconced into the Farm up in VA and seems to not see her family in FL ever. And what is up with Lauren? Where is she? What is she up to- her and the creepy street preacher? And how the heck is Ben supporting them with his stupid mailbox business?

(Found out recently that my brother has e-mailed with Ben- Bro worked for a mail order company that sold the mailboxes. Bro said he felt bad for the guy because they just didn't sell very well and it was clear he was expecting to be making ore money than he was. This was a few years ago, though, so maybe the biz is doing better now)

[mrs]

Who are the Murch's?

Do they have a blog?

[Sweetpea1]

Who are the Murch's?

Do they have a blog?

That - sounds snarkworthy.

[mrs]

I think I found it -> covenanthomemaking.com/

Edited to add:

Ben's blog -> homesteadblogger.com/birdhousereplica/author/birdhousereplica/

Edited Once more to add:

Ben's Parents Blog -> fullquivermission.com/index.php

[mrs]

Ok, I normally start reading a blog from its 1st entry forward. The oldest entry is from October 9th, 2009. She states that is has been a few months since she had last blogged on her site. But all the entries before October 9th have been deleted. What happened to make her remove them? I'm curious.

(I know some people will delete things, b/c they realized they were giving out too much information, ect.)

[Witsec7]

I love these fundy day in the life posts. These women spring out of bed and grab their bibles. They never pee, brush their teeth or even have morning sex with their headships. They just bible up and run.

[simplysweet]

I love these fundy day in the life posts. These women spring out of bed and grab their bibles. They never pee, brush their teeth or even have morning sex with their headships. They just bible up and run.

Morning Sex?! Never!!! It is only to be done at bedtime, all the lights off and mostly clothed. Imagine all they would see in the morning light!?!

:P

[gustava]

Could be worse. She cooks with wine, the kiddos watch DVDs.....

[jtufts]

I registered just to respond to this post!

The Murch family was one of the first Fundie families I followed. Ben's dad is Bruce Murch who has a ministry called Full Quiver Mission. There used to be a forum. He shut it down when traffic became slow and they just rehashed the same issues over and over. The Murches are strictly quiverfull and Reconstructionists and so were most of the individuals on the site

Bruce Murch and his wife were involved in Operation Rescue - abortion protestors that blocked clinics in the 80s. He participated in the campaign where abortion doctor pictures were distributed with targets placed over the doctors faces. He did not encourage acts of violence against abortion doctors nor did he participate directly in acts of violence (although the pictures could be considered as indirectly encouraging acts of violence), but he has stated that one could justify violence against abortion doctors as defending the defenseless. He, along with other protesters, lost a civil suit to Planned Parenthood. As part of the civil suit, he owes money to Planned Parenthood. Since that time, he has only earned income under the table, otherwise, his wages would be garnished.

The family continued an anti abortion ministry. They used to show up to college campuses and major events. Their children speak at these events and they use the really gruesome signs. I saw them once at the Philadelphia Marathon and again at a Pro Choice Rally in DC. The father has been arrested several times and sometimes the children. Lauren was one of 8 arrested during an abortion protest and there were concerns that she would serve time and it was uncertain whether she would serve it as an adult or child - but she ended up being released. Their ministry is very limited these days and now they have a little farm with a little family business.

His wife Beverly went through cancer and had a severe bout of depression. Critics of quiverfull can't help but contribute it to the fact that she had several children one after another and was raising them while battling cancer. Their daughter Lauren is married to a street preacher and lives in Florida and has two children now (I think) and you already have links to Amy Jo's Blog (Ben's wife). Of course, they home schooled. The girls were dress wearing, head covering, stay at home until married girls. The boys work at learning trades. The married kids had courtships, but unlike a lot of fundie families, the Murches did not trumpet the wonders of courtship and how special they were for going that path. They simply did it. They do not have a family blog and do not put their every day life on display (for which I give them some credit) to discuss how wonderful they are for what they do. They simply live what they believe (although I dislike 99% of what they believe). It also seems likely that they are discrete because their activities must be monitored to some extent by the FBI given their past history with abortion protesting and their connections to those who committed violence against abortion providers.

The forum was an interesting, yet sometimes disturbing read. It was amusing to watch the posters fight over minor theological detail but they also had ideas about society and family that could be deeply disturbing.