As We Suspected, No Reading for Pleasure at the Maxwells

[hoipolloi]

Welcome, colt13!

Also a lifelong reader, and can't imagine a life without books, or as poorly furnished with books as Steve Maxwell has mandated for his family.

Too bad none of the M's understand that this is all about Steve's delusional selfishness, and nothing about God, Jesus, or religion in general.

[carolinabekah]

I LOVE books! I cant imagine not being able to read for fun. My parents never restricted my reading material and I've always been a bookworm

I also can't imagine living without fun....God wanted us to enjoy His creation! The Bible frequently talks about being joyful and dancing and singing....not to mention Jesus's first miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding!

I think people like the Maxwells go against everything God wants us to be.

[denimjumper]

I think what Steve meant is what they were reading right THEN, at 2pm in the afternoon.

To get through their homeschool they had to read something, surely, a text book, American History, something. Terri likes text books.

[Austin]

My kindle has changed my freaking LIFE. adore. I didn't think i'd be down with it, because as others have mentioned, i love and truly respect a "real book", but man, have i changed my tune.

we have massive bookcases, stuffed to the gills, and there are few things in life i love more than poking around a used bookstore, but for my rate of reading and varied interests, the kindle has been magical.

I had to make the same journey in my mind, because I do so love an actual book. I was a bit lukewarm on the whole kindle/e-reader idea, but then my guys got me one for my birthday, and it changed everything. It's amazing to me when I'm holding it in my hands that I'm holding more than 300 books! And if I think it, I can get it immediately (assuming I have the $), which is another miracle of technology (to me)!

Not every single book is available on kindle, however, so I still buy a few actual books :D

[anniebgood]

I've downloaded some of the free classics you can get for the Kindle on my Itouch. It's handy for sitting in a waiting room where the magazines are 2 years old. I'm reading Pride and Prejudice again in spurts.

[Prek teach]

Anyone download an HTML book to their Kindle or Nook...LOL

[ems]

Ha, yes, after you mentioned it I went looking for it myself! The url is http://www DOT titus2 DOT com/corners/9-08-d.htm

That article gives a lot of insight to Papa Maxwell's idea of why having fun is a sin. He laments the old days when he took his young, impressionable family to an atmosphere of drinking and immodesty - professional baseball games!!! GAH, that is one of our most favorite things to do as a family and I never once thought about how we are taking our kids to an atmosphere of "drinking and immodesty." I always have a beer or two, and I suppose wearing shorts and tank tops on a hot summer day is immodest. Sigh...

Wow, this article is so sad :(. I really had no idea how depressing this family was, not really following them and their boring pictures of frumper-clad maidens, but...yeah, I had no idea. I was slightly amused by their ball-games= immodest havens of drinking, but mostly saddened.

Another thing I noticed that is pretty typical of fundie-dom is all the "we, we, we." No one in the family is allowed to have an individual voice; it's all Pa Maxwell speaking for them and all the bible times he is so sure they find so pleasurable.

Good old fundies taking everything to extremes...I do think that American culture is a little obsessed with entertainment, but this other extreme seems far sadder.

On another note, for those of you fellow bookworms who do like to be entertained, look up the "I like big books" parody of "Baby Got Back" on Youtube. I may have come across that from someone on FJ, actually.

[ems]

From that Dad's Corner: "Sadly, every minute that is wasted on fun, is time stolen from something profitable and the duty to which we are called."

What a sad, lonely way to view life. Steve sounds like someone who can't tell himself no or moderate his time/consumption when it comes to having fun so he threw out all of it and forced his family to join him. It's like when a family member goes on a diet and insists that all the junk in the house be thrown out because the person can't control themselves, never mind that everyone else might still want some cookies or chips once in a while.

Or Pepsi, anyone? :lol:

[ems]

I LOVE books! I cant imagine not being able to read for fun. My parents never restricted my reading material and I've always been a bookworm

I also can't imagine living without fun....God wanted us to enjoy His creation! The Bible frequently talks about being joyful and dancing and singing....not to mention Jesus's first miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding!

I think people like the Maxwells go against everything God wants us to be.

Steve Maxwell would have been one of the loudest ones calling Jesus a drunkard and a glutton...and the worst of all: a FUNLOVER!

[ladypuglover]

Or Pepsi, anyone? :lol:

But who says fun does not equal something profitable? I'm sorry but fun comes in all shapes and sizes of different but still valuable packages. You learn and grow from having fun, whether you are reading, surfing, working crossword puzzles, knitting or playing crazy 8's. And having fun with someone you care about is priceless. Has anyone ever laid on their death bed saying,"Gosh, I wish I hadn't wasted my life having fun and enjoying life to it's fullest."?

[anniebgood]

I wrote in a comment once that the way they behave reminded me of the Pharisees who stood outside and said because you aren't like me you're a sinner and I am so much better than you are....I'm paraphrasing here but still. Some thing is going to happen to this family and it will surely fall apart piece by piece when one of the children realizes that life can be fun and you still can worship the Lord, read a good book, have a glass of Pepsi and not be heading down the road to perdition. :roll:

[Guest Anonymous]

My limited-capacity brain fails to comprehend why they can't have both. :( Is that why they're all into push-ups lately, did they just figure "well there's no way anyone's ever gonna think push-ups fun" and go from there?

I have a personal trainer client that pays me in workouts designed to help me regain my health and even he cannot make pushups fun. (For the record, E. can make almost anything fun.)

[Patsy]

Please don't post spoilers about Book 7 of the Moody Family series in this thread.

You are a legend.

[Elle]

Deprive the children of any books other than the bible and toddler fodder and it's easier to prevent them from realizing they have rights.

[Lillybee]

If things that are fun, take away from making a profit, could Steve be a Frengi?

[Justme]

I wrote in a comment once that the way they behave reminded me of the Pharisees who stood outside and said because you aren't like me you're a sinner and I am so much better than you are....I'm paraphrasing here but still. Some thing is going to happen to this family and it will surely fall apart piece by piece when one of the children realizes that life can be fun and you still can worship the Lord, read a good book, have a glass of Pepsi and not be heading down the road to perdition. :roll:

Did they respond?

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

As far as sex for f*n, I seem to remember reading a bio of all the family members on their website which referred to Mary as "the last child that the Lord has given us..." That would indicate, for one reason or another, that they know for sure that Teri cannot conceive again...right? Or does Steve just cite Sarah and Abraham and go on his merry way?

[loveandwar]

So why is the commandment that appears most often in the Bible, "Sing?" And why do the great festivals of God's people revolve around food and wine? And why was the queen reproved for telling David not to dance for joy? And why was Jesus' first public act providing top-quality booze for a party at which everybody expected to get schnockered?

Why did God make a world stuffed full of flowers, chocolate, singing birds, dreamy summer days, delicious breezes, sparkling snow slopes perfectly angled and packed for sliding, fascinating tide pools, things that make you silly-happy when you eat or drink them, and the impulse of every child on Earth to sing and dance for joy before they can even speak or walk--if we're not supposed to enjoy them?

THIS x 10000!!! :clap:

[Guest Anonymous]

I think what Steve meant is what they were reading right THEN, at 2pm in the afternoon.

To get through their homeschool they had to read something, surely, a text book, American History, something. Terri likes text books.

Nah, he was answering a more general question "What do the Maxwell's read, apart from the bible". Noone was reading the bible in the 2pm shot so it makes no sense for his answer to be in the '2pm photoshoot' context.

Clearly, books which contain OTHER PEOPLE'S IDEAS are just plain threatening to Papa Max's absolute authority. :twisted:

I wonder what the Max boys have secretly downloaded onto their ipad/whatever gadgets they read the bible on. There is no way those IT savvy boys won't have found a way round Mama Max's internet filters..... :lol:

[jockosmom]

I think Teri was probably just sitting on the couch, dozing, with the pencil and paper as a prop in case she had to look productive in a hurry.