well I agree that people should welcome and care for any kids they create. But 18 is way over the top. Ordinarily I would say it is none of my business, but they make it our business by going on television and making their lives our entertainment.
Mother Pregnant With 18th Child
by snowbird 56 Replies latest social family
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BlackSwan of Memphis
Ordinarily I would say it is none of my business, but they make it our business by going on television and making their lives our entertainment.
This is what bugs me about these shows. There is another one, Jon and Kate +8, that also irritates me.
Why oh why is this entertainment???????
I really don't give a flying farce about people having oogles of children. As long as cps doesn't need to be called in to protect the children, fine. Whatever. I would Prefer that they consider adopting 18 children from starving countries or hell from the usa, but whatever. It's the fact that the Parents are turning their 'adventure in parenting' into a way to make money.
I wonder if it is Less child slavery and more child exploitation. I readily admit I could be wrong, I don't know any of these people, but as Hortensia said, by going on tv they are setting themselves up for some sort of judgement call.
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StAnn
Well, I probably shouldn't admit this, but I've met the Duggars. (One of my neighbors is a relative of theirs, they visit annually.) They are nice, normal people who are devoted to their family and who are entirely self-supporting. They live frugally and care for their children themselves. I see nothing wrong with their lifestyle. I guess they balance out all the childless-by-choice couples, of whom there are many more than there are mega-family couples.
StAnn
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dinah
Two was enough for me!! I couldn't afford another one.....so I just kinda "adopt" their friends.
When my great-grandmother died, she had about 10 kids and over 60 great-grandchildren and grandchilden. She remembered every birthday. She NEVER forgot to call all of us and tell us happy birthday! She was an awesome woman. (Half Cherokee, she was beautiful too). She loved every one of us, and knew us well.
That was my Mom's grandmother (none of them are JW's praise the Lord). We are a close family. Grandma made sure we were. We count cousins past 4th, and we all love each other. I used to love going to her house 'cos she always had poundcake.
Dinah (of the so glad this thread ain't political class)
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snowbird
I knew a family of 24! The kids were well-adjusted and quite nice as kids go.
Of course that was 40-something years ago when families lived off the land.
Sylvia
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Mary
Ya......Remember Andrea Yates? The mother who drowned all 5 of her kids in the bathtub? Guess what religion she and her then-husband Rusty belonged to? That's right, the Quiverfull's. Same religion as this family that forbids all methods of birth control. Forget the fact that some women simply cannot handle having 10, 15 or 20 kids---that's completely irrelevant. Best to keep breeding like rabbits whether or not you can afford this many kids or not.
I looked up some info on this religious group and found this:
"Quiverfull authors and adherents advocate for and seek to model a return to biblical Patriarchy. Families are typically arranged with the mother as a homemaker under the authority of her husband with the children under the authority of both. Parents seek to largely shelter their children from aspects of culture they as parents deem adversarial to their type of conservative Christianity........Additionally, Quiverfull families are strongly inclined toward homeschooling and homesteading in a rural area. However, exceptions exist in substantial enough portion to where these latter two items are general and often idealized correlates to Quiverfull practices and not integral parts of them."
In other words, keep the women and children uneducated, barefoot and pregnant and severely limit their contact with outsiders. Another nutty cult.
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Barbie Doll
My Aunt had 15 Children and they were poor. Her husband was a alcoholic he drank himself to death . It is hard to take care of that many children. You can't be a good parent to that many children. The little old lady in the shoe. That looks like my Aunts house. There was so many children, you couldn't even sitdown, with out sitting on one of the children. You know how paid for the children, we do.
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snowbird
Psalm 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
127:4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
127:5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
This is where the org gets its ideas.
Sylvia
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Mary
Mary, poor Andrea Yates is seriously mentally ill. I don't think it's quite fair to judge every Quiverfull family by her.
My point is: that screwy religion makes no allowances for a woman who's got serious mental health problems, to curtail the number of children she produces. It's a blanket doctrine that they apply to every member regardless of their state of mind. While Andrea obviously had mental problems, you think that the constant child bearing, the put-downs from their pastor along with severe post-partum depression didn't all contribute to what she did? Of course it did.
Not everyone can handle lots of kids but some people can. They should be allowed to do so, if that is their choice.
That's another point of contention: Members of that cult aren't allowed any "choice" of how many kids they want, simply because they're not allowed to practice birth control. If a couple wants to have 18 kids and they can handle it emotionally and financially, that's their business. But to apply the same rule of thumb to everyone when clearly, alot of people cannot handle it, has the earmarkings of being a very high control group and/or a cult.
As an ex-JW, I'm very concerned about people trying to force me to conform to their ideal of the appropriate lifestyle for me. Although I wouldn't choose the Quiverfull lifestyle, I think it's healthy that the Duggars are living the life they feel strongly is appropriate for them. They aren't hurting anybody else, unlike the JWs, and the children are well-fed and well-cared for.
This is just one family. Any religion can promote what appears to be a healthy, mentally and emotionally stable family----it doesn't mean that all is well behind closed doors. My concern after reading about this religion is that it is a very male dominated society where women are second class citizens, kids have very, very limited contact with the outside world and the whole thing seems very cloistered and secretive.
Don't be surprised if one of these days, we see a segment on 60 Minutes about abuse going on in this cult.
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LovesDubs
When I was growing up we lived in a neighborhood that was primarily Catholic and our square block was on the perimeter of the church property so families walked to the church and the school there. Having kids was what they did in the 60s and no birth control. The couple across the street, Marian and Joseph (no lie!) were pregnant the entire time I lived there...20 years. She had eight children who lived and she was pregnant 14 times. The older kids took care of the younger kids and they lived in a three bedroom home with one bathroom and a basement converted to bedrooms and the kids were stacked at night. Dad was studying at night to be a lawyer and worked during the day. Even though the two of them were exhausted, I swear Ive never met a happier more well adjusted family in my life.
They really taught the rest of what mattered...family, love, support, and their faith. So god bless this family with all these kids. If they can make it work, more power to them!
LD