Unbelievable
Saturday, December 19th, 2009
So, you have a child fighting for his/her life in the NICU. What should be the LAST thing on your mind? How about worrying about whether or not one store in a wet county gets a liquor license?
In light of the prayers and concern that have been heaped upon this family, what do you think of this latest escapade? (Sunset Avenue in Springdale is a high traffic area. It is not like it is just down the road from their place in Tontitown.) To me personally, it comes across as very flippant. Does anyone who has actually been in a similar situation have any light to shed on this? It just seems to me that they have a lot more important things to worry about. Washington County is a wet county. You can get alcohol in so many places, that it seems hardly worthwhile to campaign against one store, especially considering how two Wal Marts in the same area were approved the same night.
She said it was because she didn’t want it so close to her kids. Well, Michelle, legal drinking age is 21, so no matter where it is, your innocent babies won’t have access. Heaven forbid they have to look at it and know it’s there! Do you hide the condoms before you let them go into the convenience store, too? Though it seems as if you and JB don’t have a problem resisting that temptation! So maybe some of us can resist the urge to get a six pack and drive, too!
I don’t know why this annoys me so much. I just know that when I had my perfectly healthy baby, my entire focus was on her. If she had been sick, I would have never left her side to go to a meeting over something so petty. I guess, too, because people have defended their choices, prayed for them, and who knows what kind of gifts and other support they have received. To me, it comes across as so entitled to think that everyone should cater to your whims, especially when you have a child whose life is on the line. I guess your child in the hospital can wait, though, when God’s work is to be done! Thoughts? Someone want to tell me to shut up? I guess it means Josie Duggar is doing just fine, though! And I suddenly feel a lot less mean for writing my last post explaining exactly what I thought about the Duggars. Oh, yeah, and the one before that, too.
Next comment I get where someone says, “Why can’t you leave the Duggars alone? They aren’t hurting anyone!” I am just going to say, “I’ll leave them alone when they leave everyone else alone, too!”
(Edited a bit.)
Tags: Duggars, Duggars liquor, Josie Duggar, Michelle Duggar, Michelle Duggar alcohol
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December 19th, 2009 at 1:35 am
I expect all the wonder of a new baby has gone out of it after so many births. Besides, that baby is just learning about JOY (Jesus first, others second, yourself last) extra early.
That poor child. -_-;
December 19th, 2009 at 4:17 am
People like that should be chemically castrated. I’m not joking.
December 19th, 2009 at 5:00 am
Wow. Just…wow.
Of course, I live in a state with liquor aisles in the grocery stores. And drive-through lanes on the liquor stores.
I can’t imagine she has the time or interest to worry about that.
December 19th, 2009 at 8:24 am
Ugh. Shut up already! I really like their show up until they start using it to preach their craziness. I feel so bad for that poor baby… and for the poor women in their household who will never get to experience anything on their own.
December 19th, 2009 at 8:36 am
I guess she figures if she can’t have a drink (which she desperately needs) why should anyone else be able to.
December 19th, 2009 at 10:49 am
What the hell does “quiverful” mean, anyway? I’m English, I don’t understand all that batshit crazy stuff!
December 19th, 2009 at 11:09 am
It’s a philosophy that one should have as many children as God will give. It’s based on a verse in the book of Psalms or somewhere that says something along the lines of “happy is he whose quiver is full” of children, or something like that. It’s been awhile. Basically, the reasoning for many couples is two-fold: 1) Children are a blessing, and 2)the conservative Right is losing the culture war. So what they can’t win by logic, they will win by sheer numbers. Seriously. They don’t talk about #2 on 18 Kids and Counting, though! Just #1!
December 19th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Dear, sweet, holy flying spaghetti monster….
December 19th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
The more I read about this family, and their self righteousness, the more I believe that Jim Bob and Michelle are mentally ill.
December 19th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
It’s beyond self-righteous. It’s completely self-entitled. You can get alcohol just about anywhere in this area, and two Wal Marts in Fayetteville were approved the same night. So it seems to me that it’s not about how close it is to home in the general sense, but too close to HER home. It seems that with all the positive media attention they’re getting, perhaps they are relaxing enough to let the extreme, radical side of their beliefs start to show. Like protesting ONE store when you have a one year old at home with a birthday and another in the NICU. Most parents just teach their kids responsibility rather than trying to shelter them from it entirely.
The most amusing comment I’ve seen agreed with Michelle because if people get it at the liquor store, that will encourage them to DRIVE. Um, how do they think people get alcohol to their houses if they buy it at the liquor store? Hehe, just a funny thought to break up the seriousness.
December 20th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Mrs. Duggar can’t win.
I’ve seen criticism of her that all she can do is make babies and take care of kids – that she has no other interests.
So she makes her view known of a local political issue and WHAM – she’s an uncaring Mom who doesn’t love her newborn.
Nothing she can do will make her detractors happy.
The rest of us just enjoy their show, wish them well, and keep baby Josie in our prayers.
December 20th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Hi, Elena, thanks for stopping by! I checked out your blog. You’re Catholic, right? I think there is a big difference in some of the Catholic doctrine and the movement the Duggars are part of, though I know relatively little about Catholicism. Maybe someone else on here can help me out. The Duggars portray a very watered down version of a fundamentalist, dominionist home. I grew up with similar values, though not quite so extreme. The television show doesn’t paint the whole picture. If it did, I wouldn’t care what the Duggars did. If you want 30 kids and can afford to pay for them, go for it. But there is more to the Duggar story. I live in the same area they do, so we hear a lot about them.
My problem with them stems from their doctrine, which I think can be very harmful to the individual, and chooses doctrine over family. I think we see a peek of that in this case. I never said that Michelle does not have or should not have interests outside her home. I never said she didn’t care, though I can see how it was implied. I don’t think she doesn’t care about or doesn’t love Josie at ALL. I DO think her priorities are mixed up. If she went home to see her other children or celebrate Jordyn’s birthday; if she went to church, or to a hotel room to get some sleep and a shower, I would have no reason to criticize. But if you choose to have a large family, then you should be prepared to put them first. If you lived in the area and could see just how many places you could buy alcohol, I think the pettiness of the issue might make a little more sense. She wasn’t on a crusade to keep alcohol away from family in general, she was on a crusade to keep alcohol farther away from HER family. That’s very self-entitled.
If you are Catholic as your blog suggests, I find your support a bit ironic. If you research the fundamentalist Protestantism, you find a widely held belief that Catholics are the world’s biggest cult and that most will go to hell. I can recall watching an entire video on how Catholics are not really “saved”, and therefore, will not enter heaven. And in that belief system, there is no purgatory. I wouldn’t know for sure that the Duggars themselves hold this belief, but I also don’t know anyone as conservative as they are who do not.
Too, if you want privacy and the right to live your life as you see fit without criticism, signing up for a “reality” television show is hardly the way to do it. What TLC shows is not much more real than ABC’s “The Bachelor.”
Anyways, not trying to debate you, just further explain where I’m coming from. Feel free to refute! Again, thanks for stopping by.
December 20th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
I really think she’s mentally disturbed, and that isn’t because she believes differently than I do. Fundamentalism is a sickness, and they want to make everyone else ill.
December 21st, 2009 at 12:36 am
Their idea of on your own experience is a Gothard reterat. As far as watered down, TLC is partly repsonsible . The Fundamentalist stuff had to be toned down some or they would be losing viewers, IMO. I caught part of 14 Kids and pregnant again and it is very different from what you see now. No one is saying she doesnt love her newborn. No one is saying she has no other interests. Its about priorities. Now if the article had said Michelle and several others fought the license it would make more sense to me instead of one person throwing their beliefs around. And Michelle shouldnt be up walking around so soon after 2 surgeries. I feel strongly about alcohol too but you cant control everything and something ar eore important than protesting. One can only educate their family and hope the best. I see more than just a religion issue here. Too much caffeine and junk food can harm your health too It is perhaps just as easy or easier for kids to get street drugs and view porn online than buy alcohol.
December 21st, 2009 at 2:23 pm
I’m really, really hoping that TLC cancels their show, but probably not, since TLC is fast turning into the Drama Network. “Next, on a very special 18 Kids and Counting, Michele’s health crisis and Josie’s birth…” I really can’t stand them.
December 26th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Why won’t you guys just shut up!!! I;ve met them twice and all of them are so nice and none of that is true so shut your mouths!!! I only live 45 miutes away from them!!
And none of you have met them so you can’t say one word word about them!! I love their show and I love them!! So just keep your opinions to yourselves unless there nice!!
December 26th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Hi, Hope! Here are my thoughts: 1) If they wanted to avoid criticism, they would have stayed out of the limelight. 2) I live near them, too, and meeting them doesn’t mean you know them intimately.
They are public figures, and that naturally draws criticism. Are you very familiar with the teachings of Bill Gothard, whom they follow? Because I am. Extremely scary stuff. What I criticize most of all is the watered down nice version of Gothard and the Quiverfull movement that TLC portrays. I’m quite sure that they are extremely nice people, but they also hold some extremely scary beliefs, or are at least associated with them. Incidents such as these bring those to light.
I’m also a very nice person, but many people do not agree with my viewpoints (obviously), and I am okay with that. Niceness is not a shield for criticism. It’s how we learn if we’re open enough to admit we might be wrong.
December 28th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
We can only have nice opinions? It’s going to be quite the dull world if we all just walk around saying such nice things to one another. The world is not always a nice place, and people don’t always need to hear nice things.
IIRC, the Duggars aren’t actually Quiverfulls, but they sure do seem like it to me.
January 14th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
It is a mother’s duty to do what she feels is best for her Children. Since the NICU nurses and doctors are doing all they can to help baby Josie, and Michelle can’t be there around the clock anyway, she should absolutely be doing what she thinks is best for the rest of her children. Whether or not that is what you would do is beside the point. If she were spending all of her time with the new baby, you would complain that she was neglecting the rest of the kids. She can’t win!
January 14th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
Natalie, I do agree with you that Michelle cannot be in the NICU around the clock. (Trust me, I know, both of my girls where preemies and spent weeks in NICU, bringing my ex and I to near exhaustion!) What I fail to see is the logic behind driving, what I understand, is a few hours, and singling out a single gas station/corner-store. I realize that the Duggars, and many other families choose to abstain from alcohol, and I can respect that. What I do not respect is having those people that choose this lifestyle trying to impose those beliefs upon others. If you disagree with establishments that sell alcohol, do not give them your business.
I do not see how what Michelle did here is “best for her children.” Wouldn’t it be much better to teach your children how to make wise choices? After all, once they reach adulthood, and experience life in the real world, they will be forced to make those choices for themselves, and with no training of how to do that, the results can be devastating.
January 14th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
Exactly, apostate rebel. The thing is, she wasn’t with her other children or taking a shower or anything like that. My whole blog is about the consequences of not preparing your children for life outside the home. So yes, I do point out when someone does something like that, and no, I wouldn’t have criticized her for spending time with her other children. If that was all she was doing, it wouldn’t have made the news. I fail to see how what she did is any different than the same things people criticized Nadia Suleman doing when her children were in the NICU.
January 14th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Hi Laura. I remember when my girls were in NICU. My ex and I took shifts. Whatever time we had away from NICU was spent with our other child, or resting. We certainly had no thought of driving 3 hours to “take care of frivolous business.”
BTW, love the blog!
January 15th, 2010 at 7:54 am
“What I do not respect is having those people that choose this lifestyle trying to impose those beliefs upon others. If you disagree with establishments that sell alcohol, do not give them your business.”
This part of Arkansas perhaps is similar where I live in Ohio in that areas have to be zoned and licenses granted to be able to sell liquor? And if that is the case then I completely support the Duggars and anyone else who were within their legal rights to speak out against this.
My husband did the same thing about 20 years ago to the little corner store in our neighborhood that sold alcohol – it’s not the beverage per se that causes the problems but the people who come in to buy it which was definitely a more disruptive group then the people who were just their to be a few sundry items.
and aren’t the folks who want the stop and shop booze also trying to impose a lifestyle on the folks who don’t want it? Why can’t they just shop somewhere else? That door opens both ways.
As long as both groups were within their legal rights in exercising their freedom of speech I think we just have to respect that. It’s the outcome you may object to I guess but I think trying to shame and mock a citizen from exercising her legal rights just because she has other lifestyle issues you disagree with is absurd.
January 15th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
It’s not the exercising of their rights to speak out at the hearing, but the TIMING of the speaking out, I think, that has caused the controversy.
So often people with big families are criticized saying that Mom can’t possibly have enough love or attention for everyone, and Michelle Duggar just underscored it by going to the meeting while other children needed her in a very real way. After all, there are other people in the home over the age of 18 who could have spoken at the meeting.
OTOH, perhaps this is Michelle Duggar’s way of “getting away” and having “me time” away from the stresses of the hospital. Who knows?
January 16th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
I’m not making a deal out of the freedom of speech. As Milehimama said, it was the timing that was so bad. Also, that EZ Mart is neither that close to them nor so far away from other stores that sell alcohol. Also that the two Wal Marts in the area got their liquor licenses the same day, but there wasn’t a protest over that.
And if you choose to be in the public spotlight, you are choosing to allow people to view and comment on your lifestyle. She has freedom of speech, but so do I. Going by that logic, you shouldn’t criticize ME for exercising MY freedom of speech just because I don’t agree with your viewpoint. Freedom of speech doesn’t guarantee her the right to be shielded from criticism or from those who disagree with her anymore than it does the same for me. I understand that you are not trying to shame or mock me, but I am not trying to shame or mock her. I do get passionate about this subject because this kind of lifestyle has been very painful for me personally. Shaming and mocking? No. But criticism, definitely, yes.
The road goes both ways. You may criticize my beliefs, and I may criticize hers.
January 16th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
ah, wait, I see where you get the mocking part. It wasn’t my intent to mock, just insert some humor into it. Mocking was not my goal, but I can definitely see how it came across that way. My apologies.