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I was thinking recently about the Duggars, the family with 19 children that has their own show on TLC. Besides the 19 KIDS(!!) they seem to be typical of evangelical Christian families. Their children are home schooled, they strictly monitor TV and movies and they shelter their children from values that don't fit in with their own belief system. They even go so far as to avoid the beach, because they think people in swimsuits are being immodest.
Growing up in the south, I've had a lot of experience with people like the Duggars. I have neighbors, friends, acquaintances and family members who choose to live their lives like this. On the surface, I find them very kind, faithful, charitable and joyful. But on deeper inspection, I find that they have this irrational fear of the outside world. They steadfastly protect their children by putting them in a bubble. Everything around them is evil. TV, Movies and Music are pornographic and lustful, public schools are bastions of liberal and secular propaganda and everything around them is temptation from Satan.
Is it really responsible for families like the Duggars to shelter their children like this? Is it God's desire for all of us to grow fearful of people who think, look or act differently than us? Are they doing a big disservice to themselves and their children with this lifestyle?
I was thinking recently about the Duggars, the family with 19 children that has their own show on TLC. Besides the 19 KIDS(!!) they seem to be typical of evangelical Christian families. Their children are home schooled, they strictly monitor TV and movies and they shelter their children from values that don't fit in with their own belief system. They even go so far as to avoid the beach, because they think people in swimsuits are being immodest.
Growing up in the south, I've had a lot of experience with people like the Duggars. I have neighbors, friends, acquaintances and family members who choose to live their lives like this. On the surface, I find them very kind, faithful, charitable and joyful. But on deeper inspection, I find that they have this irrational fear of the outside world. They steadfastly protect their children by putting them in a bubble. Everything around them is evil. TV, Movies and Music are pornographic and lustful, public schools are bastions of liberal and secular propaganda and everything around them is temptation from Satan.
Is it really responsible for families like the Duggars to shelter their children like this? Is it God's desire for all of us to grow fearful of people who think, look or act differently than us? Are they doing a big disservice to themselves and their children with this lifestyle?
Perhaps in the future we should place all children in some sort of cookie-cutter politically correct (for the time being) incubator factory until age 21.
I learned from my mother at a young age that you should never tell another parent how to raise their kids. If they come out to be decent productive human beings and members of society, that's all I'm happy for.
Everything around them is evil. TV, Movies and Music are pornographic and lustful, public schools are bastions of liberal and secular propaganda and everything around them is temptation from Satan.
There is no irrational (without reason) fear.
They probably just "know" what is what.
What what?
You don't know that America has been involved in an unWar for over ten years, invading two Asian nations, whose governments and people did not attack Americans or their property? (I do not think that "defending freedom" by destroying the persons and property of people who didn't harm you is sufficient grounds, but I could be mistaken.)
And you don't know that FICA instituted voluntary national socialism that destroyed the rationale for marriage and family unity? (You do know that there is no law compelling participation nor punishing non-participation in FICA/ Socialist InSecurity.)
And you don't know that you were tricked into surrendering your birthright of sovereignty, freedom and independence, in exchange for government privileges and entitlements ?
And that now you have to ask permission (get a license) and pay a tax to do that which your ancestors did as a right?
And you don't know that usury (charging any interest) has been condemned for "only" 3500 years, proscribed by all religions, mathematically unsustainable in a finite money token system *(due to the exponential equation, an infinite money supply is necessary), and almost universally embraced as "standard operating procedure"?
And you probably are unaware that the national debt, in excess of 16 trillion dollars, cannot be paid with "dollar bills" (IOUs) that have no par value, being repudiated since 1933. (See: House Joint Resolution 192, June 1933). And that by law, the debt computes to over 800 billion ounces of gold, stamped into coin, whereas the world supply is only 5.2 billion ounces of gold bullion. And this impossible to repay debt cannot be challenged pursuant to clause 4, 14th amendment, USCON.
I think "irrational" would most likely apply to America, not folks like the Duggars.
See these people fears may be spiritually founded as satan and his hoards can challenge believers who are yoked with unbelievers .......BUT This monastery behavior is outside the will of God as God requires his children to not be isolationist and reach out to the world to show God to others ......Plus this behavior will attract a dark spirit called irregular demons which can take over people , and these demons show themselves when they do go into the public ..... Then there is the rejection of the parable of the good Samaritan , .``.Where a broken robed man on the road , were a certain priest came along , and when he saw the broken man , passed by on the other side .... and another Levi Priest passed on by the other side , ..Then a Samaritan man came and helped the broken man`` ......See these priest would not help this man as he would be uncleaned and could corrupt the priest , just like people today who have fear of the outside world ... See God gives His people provision of His power to overcome the World and its corruption ...
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
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Originally Posted by workaholics
I was thinking recently about the Duggars, the family with 19 children that has their own show on TLC. Besides the 19 KIDS(!!) they seem to be typical of evangelical Christian families. Their children are home schooled, they strictly monitor TV and movies and they shelter their children from values that don't fit in with their own belief system. They even go so far as to avoid the beach, because they think people in swimsuits are being immodest.
Is it really responsible for families like the Duggars to shelter their children like this? Is it God's desire for all of us to grow fearful of people who think, look or act differently than us? Are they doing a big disservice to themselves and their children with this lifestyle?
Have known friends who grew up in similarly strict religious families, that were basically a world unto themselves, and for example my middle-aged buddy still has a huge cultural ''blank spot'' when it comes to references to Leave It to Beaver, Ozzie and Harriet, Elvis, etc..... because they never watched TV when he was growing up! But ironically he's also one of the most ''liberal'' people I know (...LOL)!
IMHO, the Duggars and others like them are doing their children a huge disservice by cloistering them... which sooner or later has to end when the children grow up... and then what, only to have them tossed into a world they're totally ill-prepared for (which BTW, is precisely what happened to my buddy for the first 10-15 years of adulthood)?!
On the other hand though, the relentless pace of change these days (in rights, gender roles, race, culture, sexuality, work, home, family, you name it), must really be tough on all these ''anti-modernist'' movements (the ''home schoolers'', Survivalists, Fundamentalists, Muslim extremists, Neo-cons, etc.).... who I suspect are simply personality types, that even on a good day, were probably never all that receptive to ''change'' or ''progress'' in their lives anyway!
The Duggars are an extreme example of irresponsibility as it concerns world population numbers and the negative result those numbers have on a finite supply of natural resources.
They breed for the sake of breeding without regard for anything or anyone else.
It is in their best interests to self isolate as to not cause the inevitable uproar that their stupidity would create in a public setting.
I was raised by evangelical parents and to this day don't "get" certain cultural references or have not seen certain movies or comedians or TV shows that "everyone" has seen. I think my upbringing cultivated (or perhaps just played into) a personal disinterest in a lot of what passes for pop culture. I have not felt any great urgency to update myself in these areas even though the taboos are long gone. It's not the highest bandwidth use of my time.
I watched an episode where the parents went to the Haight Ashbury district in San Francisco. They went into a head shop and talked with the shop keeper. Who was selling bongs. Both of them seemed quite cheery and they all seemed to have a nice little visit and exchange of ideas and thoughts. Seems to me Michelle thought the bongs were quite pretty. A person in fear of the outside world would NEVER go to the Haight to hang with the old hippies.
Isn't one of them a used car salesman? You can't have fear and sell used cars.
I think some ultra-religious do have a fear of anyone not like them. Some have contempt for anyone who doesn't believe as they do. The Duggars don't seem to be fearful or hateful. They just have a different set of values. They seem fairly benign, actually. Unlike some religious conservatives I've never heard the Duggars up on a soap box telling everyone else how to live and shaking their fingers at everyone. Just sharing how they choose to live. My guess is Michelle would be the neighbor to bring you soup when you're too sick to look in your cupboard to see what's there.
Last edited by DewDropInn; 01-01-2013 at 01:45 PM..
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