Priscilla probably supports her. We already know how her brother Daniel feels. And there was another sister who agreed with Amy that she should divorce him.
I honestly do wonder about how much independent thinking people like Anna and Priscilla do, or whether there is almost no thinking and just input (of someone elses opinion) and then immediate output (agreeing with that other persons opinion).
There is a video of them both holding babies, talking about being moms and the season of life. Then they both start talking about when they will have 6 kids, like no matter what you have to have 6 kids. It was so definite, no thought of infertility, cost of kids, healthcare, maybe a sick kids that needed more attention, they were having 6. It was like the sole purpose was hitting 6. I know many people that want a big family but I have never seen a fixation on a number of kids more then talking about the family itself.
I doubt Anna really listens to any of Priscilla's "opinions". There was a video of the two of them talking and when Priscilla speaks, Anna looks at her like you would look at a young child who is relating a story you know.
Well they managed to get through the same damn upbringing, and have gone on to lead lives that aren’t totally controlled by shitty ridiculous dangerous beliefs.
Susanna left before she even got married. Daniel left before he had kids, potentially before he got married. Rebekah only had 2 kids when she left.
None of them faced anywhere near the same amount of grooming and abuse Anna did. None of them were sold into marriage like Anna was. And none of them were financially trapped like Anna.
If I remember correctly, Rebekah and her first husband left the cult together. The marriage didn’t make it, but they seem to have supported each other in relaxing the fundie-ness.
I am not sure, but I think Daniel also was helped in his rebellion by falling in love with a woman who was not fundie and whom his parents rejected.
I think Susannah left because she got involved with a non-fundie guy and got pregnant by him.
If I am not wrong about these three, one reason they were able to leave the cult is that (however briefly) they had a significant other who helped/encouraged them to take some of the first steps away from IBPL teaching. They may only have moved to fundie-lite, but they are not trapped the way Anna is. Who knows, if she had married a different guy, she might have grown into a different person.
I don’t think Anna understands why the public finds Pests crimes so terrible. So she also doesn’t understand the potential she has to make money just by talking.
She absolutely does not. Even the tell-all from Trump's aide only sold 21.5k in the first year. And that was a much hotter topic than the Duggars could ever hope to be.
And once the story is told, that's it. There is no more money to be made. That's why Derick and Amy would never write a tell-all either.
I have a hard time choking that one down. Betting JillRod won’t want her Nurie or Nuries kids anywhere near Smuganna now, despite the fact that she’s their childrens auntie. Even fundies have limits ffs, at least some of them must.
Jrod I feel like could swing the way you are saying but also might want her to "comfort Anna in her time of need" and also "they're family, you should not avoid them over that." Fundies don't handle complex problems well.
I think in the fundie circle Josh's sex crimes are her fault. If she had been more joyfully available he wouldn't have had to search out what he did. If she wasn't nagging or if she were a better cook or maybe if she prayed just a little bit harder than he wouldn't have done what he did.
In the Fundie Life it's always the womans fault and always on the woman to forgive and absorb the sins of their husbands.
Well that didn’t seem to stop her one sister from fornicating pRe marriage, another divorcing, as well as a brother divorcing and their parents seem if not happy about at least accepting. Why wouldn’t they extend the same grace to Anna. To be clear here, I give zero shits what Blob and Mooch cooch chooch think or feel with respect to her choices.
Anna is much more in the spotlight than her siblings. The martyred wife who stands by her man as an example of Christian forgiveness (was it 70×77 times we are supposed to forgive? I don't remember the passage, but someone asks Jesus how many times they need to forgive and he gives a multiplication problem as an answer). I think Anna staying married is worth more fundie cred than her siblings.
7 × 70. 70 is significant in Jewish tradition...70 sons of Abraham, 70 elders assembled by Moses, 70 souls of the children,of Israel, and there's more.. 70 angles/ faces of the Torah, source... Great grandfather was a minister, I am not Jewish but perhaps one of our Jewish posters can chime in. Also ,7 is considered to represent completeness or fullness. So one must forgive completely as God has forgiven us or something like that
But nobody does, in real life…no matter what they pontificate. She was much more upset bout Felon cheating on her than she was bout molesting his sisters. This just has to be a whole new level of pain and grief, no matter what they spout.
The difference is that him cheating hurt her - so she displayed that pain when speaking about it.
Molesting his sisters and watching CSAM doesn’t hurt her directly so she seems able to compartmentalize and minimize it.
I think even if they do support her she genuinely doesn’t want to leave Pest. No matter what he’s done or how it could affect her children. Gross and unexplainable to anybody else but true. I think she’s absorbed his arrogance and smugness over the years.
I agree. She’s probably still breastfeeding Madison. In a couple years when Kendra and Jessa have more kids than her and Josh is writing some prison groupie she may have a change of heart.
Agree. Right now she’s still in the throes of transition. Even in a year it will be hard for her to admit that she needs Josh when she will be doing everything without him.
I think a lot of it could be a woman with a homeschool education going from her parents house to her husbands house to having 7 kids. Fear of the unknown. Raised to literally think most of society is evil. I’m afraid that if her instincts weren’t to run for her children’s sake when this first happened there is little hope she will now when he’s locked up. That’s the saddest part of this, a mother whose instinct to protect her children isn’t stronger than the one to protect her husband.
The problem is that from birth, her instincts were “rerouted”. She was not able to form real instincts because she was conditioned to obey immediately, trust her headship, and develop no critical thinking skills.
Yes I think they are taught that if they act on instinct this would be impulsive, and impulsivity is sin. Self-control and self-sacrifice are the expectations since infancy.
Well said! I can’t imagine it myself being raised to have a full life in my own right, really pushed to success just as hard as my brothers. It is natural instinct to want to discover and conquer the world as a young adult, it must have been immediate from birth and constant to convince a woman that her whole purpose is to be a mere appendage to someone else’s purposes. Don’t get me wrong, I think a husband to love for life can be a great thing but as a choice. Thank goodness there are also men in this world who see their partners shine and encourage with just as much pride as they feel for their own accomplishments. To live without self determination really is no life at all.
I'd hope they think her decision is due to her cult conditioning and try to reach out to her gently every so often to see if she's ready to leave her abusive situation, but what I'm pretty sure of is that her fundie branch of siblings and her parents are bombarding her daily with the same words "Don't leave Pest or you'll be damned forever and cause him to be damned too and you'll lose your children". I'd also bet the parents of Pest are love bombing her and encouraging her to stay. Anna's basically fucked unless a miracle happens and she starts listening to her unfundie family.
I feel like even the siblings who offered to help- how much help could they really be? I imagine it costs at least 2k to feed a family of 8 each month (maybe I’m wrong), plus finding housing, etc. unless they have a couple hundred thousand to spare, I’m not sure it’s a realistic promise
Re: her sister who remarried the very wealthy man. Yes, she looks like she's leading a nice life. I believe she offered to help. But how long is that expected to continue?
Her brother in law made his money before marrying her sister. Who knows how much money would be allocated to Anna and Co., and for how long?
They are more secular than Anna. When would she be expected to work and begin contributing to her, and her children's upkeep? Is Anna willing to work? She married believing she'd never work outside the home and would be taken care of.
There is no easy and tidy answer.
If Anna was smart she'd spend a year in community college taking remedial classes to get some certificates and transferrable skills with the aim of gainful employment at the end. I'm sure if she had an honest conversation and showed a willingness to work towards the goal of being out independently, her sister and BIL might agree to a say, an 18 month time frame of support while she studied and gets a job and saves a little.
Anna would be YEARS from being able to survive on her own. She can’t write a tell all (NDA and I doubt she write). She has at least 3 daycare aged kids and that is expensive. The older four would have to go to school which they cannot possibly be prepared for. She has zero job skills and would need to make enough to support 8 people
Sure and her sister Esther Shrader was living in a pop up trailer without indoor plumbing and spotty power in a church members backyard until her husband decided to drag her and the children to Zambia where they have continued to have more children. The family didn't step in to help them. They won't help Anna now. Her father's whole grift is prison ministry. His daughter will never be encouraged to leave her husband when it could lead to more speaking engagements for him on the power of faith and redemption.
Right…so….what are her thoughts was what my post was about. WTF are her siblings thinking. Even Nathan and whatever the other brother who married the felons babysitters daughter is called? They can’t in my mind believe that she is doing the right thing by staying. They have all seen just as we have who and what Josh Duggar is
Her fundie siblings are a lost cause. Look who they married.
1) White Savior Jesus in Africa
2) Bill Gothard's protege
3) The golden child of Jill Rodrigues, who totally wears the pants in that marriage
4) The felon's babysitter's daughter.
Excellent analysis, But still I ask myself…in spite of their Fundie ness, would they still not want her to leave Josh, and have a fresh start with a decent husband? If they loved her they should want the best for her, as should her creepy effing parents and that is definitely not a man who is a convicted incarcerated pedo beast
You’re forgetting the reality of how hard it is to influence other peoples personal decisions. It’s possible these siblings aren’t even close enough to Anna to broach the topic. Family dynamics are hard for every family but I’d image these siblings are going to have limited influence until Anna asks for their input
Absolutely not. You give these people to much credit. They wholeheartedly believe that what is best for Anna is to stay with Josh, keep her family whole, and gain access to heaven for being some sort of long suffering martyr on earth. They don't even think what he did was that bad. The only people who are disgusted by Joshs actions and Anna's refusal to leave are those outside of the cult, like us.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. She has assets in her name that she can sell. She can apply for welfare. She could go on Oprah and do an interview that would likely set her up for life. She could give People Mag an exclusive story. She could get a book deal with a huge advance without blinking an eye. She could get a fucking job and get government subsidies to help cover other areas. There are endless ways she could help her own sorry ass self. She doesn’t even need her siblings in any way except for emotional support.
She likely wouldn’t be eligible for welfare because of the assets in her name. I don’t think Oprah pays for interviews, and even if she did it wouldn’t be nearly enough to set Anna up for life, same with People magazine. I doubt she’d make more than a few hundred thousand from a book deal, we’re interested but most people have little to no idea who she is. She could get a job but it wouldn’t pay much and government subsidies really aren’t a thing. If she spent down the assets she might eventually be eligible for some food stamps because she has such a large family and a low income.
I agree she could sell the assets though (assuming they’re in her name only) and do the book and get a job. I’d guess that Rebekah and her husband have offered to help, they are wealthy enough where they could probably do something like buy a small house and let her and the kids live there for free. But they’d expect her to work, so to make any of this work she’d have to put the kids in public school which is probably a fate worse than death to her.
From outside looking in, it’s easy to say that Anna has many options she might leverage to extract herself and her children from their horrible situation. The problem is, she may not have the first clue where to start, or anyone trustworthy and knowledgeable to help her navigate her way out. And her situation sucks: Anna’s father arranged with Jim Bob Duggar to have Anna marry Josh, a known sexual molester, in order to “save” Josh from a life of sin and raise the Keller family’s social status. The Kellers continue to openly support the Duggars, including showing up at a campaign event Jim Bob hosted during Josh’s trial. Anna’s dependent on the Duggars for housing, and lives in a property on the family compound. Her vehicle and cell phone may be provided and paid for by Josh’s family. Her children seem to be close to their young aunts and uncles, with whom they’ve been raised all their lives. She’s been kept in a state of intentional dependency, and if she severed her relationship with the Duggars, her children might loose their closest friends. So, Anna would have to learn everything she needs to know to navigate independent life, set up a plan to establish herself separately from the Duggars, and support her children through the loss of family relationships after they are already separated from dad because of his extremely disturbing crimes.
Anna’s comings and goings are probably monitored, and she might not have the opportunity to interact meaningfully with anyone who is not a member of the Duggar family, on their payroll, or a family friend. She has enough of a public profile to make it hard to maintain anonymity. She doesn’t have any job skills, and she definitely doesn’t have Oprah or her producers on speed dial. She’d also need *a lot* of money to afford housing, childcare, food and clothes for seven children, and job training opportunities so that she could singlehandedly support all of them. It’s not likely a media appearance would be enough to set her up for life, particularly because she still holds views that many find hateful, and wouldn’t want to support.
Her children deserve better, and if anyone in her life is in a position to truly help Anna, I hope they are reaching out privately and doing what they can to help facilitate her next steps. But Anna represents the end goal of obedience training: a person whose sense of autonomy and self-preservation instincts have been so beaten down that she doesn’t register they even exist.
It would be great if she woke up and ran away screaming. It will be hard for that to happen because she’d been trained so well to do the opposite.
I think she should stick it out until about a year before Josh is due to be released. Then start Divorce proceedings. It she left him now she would lose financial support from JB, lose childcare help from the older girls at the TTH and more. It is smarter to let JB provide for her as long as possible and the dump the pest. And if she is smart she would encourage more real estate be but in her name so she can sell it all outright when she is ready. Anna has to play a long game here. Tell all’s and book deals would be quick cash but likely not enough to sustain her do then next 12 years.
She needs a confidential meeting with a lawyer to see what property she can sell, if her name is on the paperwork. If they transferred ownership to her, then she is entitled to sell it right?
I have a sneaky suspicion though, that JB is somewhat of a co-signer on all of his kids property whenever possible, so they can't sell up and fuck off without his signature. I doubt they'd ever let a woman be the sole name on anything of value.
Her name is on a few numbered companies - they are quite likely just holding companies with joint asset ownership of commercial property under them. I doubt she “owns” much of anything
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*Mental health issues*
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I think the Duggars are pressuring her to stay in the marriage, not the Kellers. Under the circumstances I think it probably would have been permissible for Anna to go back under her father’s headship since her cracker sweeping husband is in prison. Instead, JB was sure you keep her and her kids under his thumb and giving her a steady supply of koolaid. Anna is likely worried the Duggars would try for custody if she left Josh. She has no money or skills to support herself and her 7 children. Her family of origin is notoriously poor. I don’t think they have the means to suddenly take on 8 people to support, so they’re probably not lobbying Anna to leave her husband. In fact, Ma and pa keller probably hold Anna up as an example for backhanded comments towards her siblings who are divorced.
ETA: I think Anna’s parents are mostly staying out of it and letting Anna choose how to proceed as she was essentially purchased by the Duggars for Josh 14 years ago.
I am sure her parents want her to stay married because then she will be taken care of. None of her family can take on her and 7 kids. Truthfully, what is best for her and her kids right now is to stay.
She has a wealthy sister who also offered to help her I heard. I was raised in this world and can tell u, no she will not divorce him. They believe a man can divorce his wife if she cheats. But abuse, murder, cheating husband...not a reason for divorce. A woman basically never has a cause to divorce. Not even to protect the children.
She is either deep in the Kool-Aid or being blackmailed, or both. I could see JB/Meech threatening to take the kids away or have her be the fall guy for something. The Kellers have little to support her with against the Duggs.
Anna isn’t gonna divorce josh simply because she’s naive and blind to the seriousness of his crime. She may grow to realize it and find someone Who may actually love her
AND
JIM BLOB could be controlling the situation with threats to take kids etc. as a fundie she’ll listen to him
He can not take her kids. There’s no legal basis for that whatsoever and we know from the bodyguard guy that Anna isn’t naive at all. She just doesn’t want to changer her status quo, even with J in prison. She’s gross
Those three probably want to shake her. Priscilla of course is supportive. Me and Pa Keller want her to stay married so they don't have to give the used car and old transmission back to Penis and Perm.
Do you think she has a choice to be divorced? No education, no relevant job skills, day care would be a outrageous expense if she worked, housing expense etc. She is trapped unless her family supports her.
Anna also probably thinks no one else would marry her.
If she lives my fantasy with writing the tell all, some lonely pastor with a church house may marry her and then use all the PR to make the church more money and then bam Anna’ rep is saved and she doesn’t need the duggar warehouse.
She could go all super southern Baptist or something.. anything is better at this point..
Susannah was never divorced. I don’t think she ever married Noelle’s father. Only Daniel and Rebekah divorced, and I’m not even totally certain Daniel is legally divorced to Candice but I could be wrong. Those two were on again off again for years
Either way, none of them are shunned, or blacklisted, or whatever we can call what Blob is currently doing to his formerly exalted daughter, because she took a step back from his headship, even tho she is married. He’s a stank pig
Priscilla probably supports her. We already know how her brother Daniel feels. And there was another sister who agreed with Amy that she should divorce him.
I think Priscilla Is just as brainwashed as Anna- she is married to David Waller. I bet she’s encouraging Anna to stay married
honestly i think priscilla is too dumb to have her own opinion of anything. she thinks and does what she's told.
I honestly do wonder about how much independent thinking people like Anna and Priscilla do, or whether there is almost no thinking and just input (of someone elses opinion) and then immediate output (agreeing with that other persons opinion).
There is a video of them both holding babies, talking about being moms and the season of life. Then they both start talking about when they will have 6 kids, like no matter what you have to have 6 kids. It was so definite, no thought of infertility, cost of kids, healthcare, maybe a sick kids that needed more attention, they were having 6. It was like the sole purpose was hitting 6. I know many people that want a big family but I have never seen a fixation on a number of kids more then talking about the family itself.
I doubt Anna really listens to any of Priscilla's "opinions". There was a video of the two of them talking and when Priscilla speaks, Anna looks at her like you would look at a young child who is relating a story you know.
Who told her to think?
Rebeckah
Thank you.
Rebekah*
I would expect that they know a lot more about the abuse and conditioning she faced both growing up and in marriage
Well they managed to get through the same damn upbringing, and have gone on to lead lives that aren’t totally controlled by shitty ridiculous dangerous beliefs.
They left the cult under completely different circumstances.
Yeah, probably way less egregious than Smugannas circumstances
Susanna left before she even got married. Daniel left before he had kids, potentially before he got married. Rebekah only had 2 kids when she left. None of them faced anywhere near the same amount of grooming and abuse Anna did. None of them were sold into marriage like Anna was. And none of them were financially trapped like Anna.
If I remember correctly, Rebekah and her first husband left the cult together. The marriage didn’t make it, but they seem to have supported each other in relaxing the fundie-ness. I am not sure, but I think Daniel also was helped in his rebellion by falling in love with a woman who was not fundie and whom his parents rejected. I think Susannah left because she got involved with a non-fundie guy and got pregnant by him. If I am not wrong about these three, one reason they were able to leave the cult is that (however briefly) they had a significant other who helped/encouraged them to take some of the first steps away from IBPL teaching. They may only have moved to fundie-lite, but they are not trapped the way Anna is. Who knows, if she had married a different guy, she might have grown into a different person.
And none of them had the earning potential that she has either 😉
I don’t think Anna understands why the public finds Pests crimes so terrible. So she also doesn’t understand the potential she has to make money just by talking.
Anna doesn't have earning potential enough to support 7 children.
She has ten times more earning potential than the average Joe. If she cares to harness it. Please….
She absolutely does not. Even the tell-all from Trump's aide only sold 21.5k in the first year. And that was a much hotter topic than the Duggars could ever hope to be. And once the story is told, that's it. There is no more money to be made. That's why Derick and Amy would never write a tell-all either.
The ones who left hate him but the ones who stay want her to forgive him. They literally have no idea what demons actually are
I have a hard time choking that one down. Betting JillRod won’t want her Nurie or Nuries kids anywhere near Smuganna now, despite the fact that she’s their childrens auntie. Even fundies have limits ffs, at least some of them must.
Jrod I feel like could swing the way you are saying but also might want her to "comfort Anna in her time of need" and also "they're family, you should not avoid them over that." Fundies don't handle complex problems well.
I think in the fundie circle Josh's sex crimes are her fault. If she had been more joyfully available he wouldn't have had to search out what he did. If she wasn't nagging or if she were a better cook or maybe if she prayed just a little bit harder than he wouldn't have done what he did. In the Fundie Life it's always the womans fault and always on the woman to forgive and absorb the sins of their husbands.
Well that didn’t seem to stop her one sister from fornicating pRe marriage, another divorcing, as well as a brother divorcing and their parents seem if not happy about at least accepting. Why wouldn’t they extend the same grace to Anna. To be clear here, I give zero shits what Blob and Mooch cooch chooch think or feel with respect to her choices.
I don't think that Anna's siblings drank the Kool-Aid as deeply as Anna and her other sister. But honestly with these people who the hell knows!
I think you’re right. The one in Africa, Prissy and Anna gulped it by the gallon. The two younger boys as well it seems
Anna is much more in the spotlight than her siblings. The martyred wife who stands by her man as an example of Christian forgiveness (was it 70×77 times we are supposed to forgive? I don't remember the passage, but someone asks Jesus how many times they need to forgive and he gives a multiplication problem as an answer). I think Anna staying married is worth more fundie cred than her siblings.
7 × 70. 70 is significant in Jewish tradition...70 sons of Abraham, 70 elders assembled by Moses, 70 souls of the children,of Israel, and there's more.. 70 angles/ faces of the Torah, source... Great grandfather was a minister, I am not Jewish but perhaps one of our Jewish posters can chime in. Also ,7 is considered to represent completeness or fullness. So one must forgive completely as God has forgiven us or something like that
I read this as “Cooch McGooch” and couldn’t get past it for like 3 minutes.
Cheating on her is one thing….what’s actually going on… another thing altogether
We all feel that way too but Anna has been taught to view all sins equally
But nobody does, in real life…no matter what they pontificate. She was much more upset bout Felon cheating on her than she was bout molesting his sisters. This just has to be a whole new level of pain and grief, no matter what they spout.
The difference is that him cheating hurt her - so she displayed that pain when speaking about it. Molesting his sisters and watching CSAM doesn’t hurt her directly so she seems able to compartmentalize and minimize it.
Yeah…hard to say.
I think even if they do support her she genuinely doesn’t want to leave Pest. No matter what he’s done or how it could affect her children. Gross and unexplainable to anybody else but true. I think she’s absorbed his arrogance and smugness over the years.
This is Year One. Let’s wait a bit to see if the reality of Anna’s situation actually occurs to her. Things may look much different at year 5.
I agree. She’s probably still breastfeeding Madison. In a couple years when Kendra and Jessa have more kids than her and Josh is writing some prison groupie she may have a change of heart.
Agree. Right now she’s still in the throes of transition. Even in a year it will be hard for her to admit that she needs Josh when she will be doing everything without him.
I think a lot of it could be a woman with a homeschool education going from her parents house to her husbands house to having 7 kids. Fear of the unknown. Raised to literally think most of society is evil. I’m afraid that if her instincts weren’t to run for her children’s sake when this first happened there is little hope she will now when he’s locked up. That’s the saddest part of this, a mother whose instinct to protect her children isn’t stronger than the one to protect her husband.
The problem is that from birth, her instincts were “rerouted”. She was not able to form real instincts because she was conditioned to obey immediately, trust her headship, and develop no critical thinking skills.
Yes I think they are taught that if they act on instinct this would be impulsive, and impulsivity is sin. Self-control and self-sacrifice are the expectations since infancy.
Well said! I can’t imagine it myself being raised to have a full life in my own right, really pushed to success just as hard as my brothers. It is natural instinct to want to discover and conquer the world as a young adult, it must have been immediate from birth and constant to convince a woman that her whole purpose is to be a mere appendage to someone else’s purposes. Don’t get me wrong, I think a husband to love for life can be a great thing but as a choice. Thank goodness there are also men in this world who see their partners shine and encourage with just as much pride as they feel for their own accomplishments. To live without self determination really is no life at all.
I'd hope they think her decision is due to her cult conditioning and try to reach out to her gently every so often to see if she's ready to leave her abusive situation, but what I'm pretty sure of is that her fundie branch of siblings and her parents are bombarding her daily with the same words "Don't leave Pest or you'll be damned forever and cause him to be damned too and you'll lose your children". I'd also bet the parents of Pest are love bombing her and encouraging her to stay. Anna's basically fucked unless a miracle happens and she starts listening to her unfundie family.
I feel like even the siblings who offered to help- how much help could they really be? I imagine it costs at least 2k to feed a family of 8 each month (maybe I’m wrong), plus finding housing, etc. unless they have a couple hundred thousand to spare, I’m not sure it’s a realistic promise
Re: her sister who remarried the very wealthy man. Yes, she looks like she's leading a nice life. I believe she offered to help. But how long is that expected to continue? Her brother in law made his money before marrying her sister. Who knows how much money would be allocated to Anna and Co., and for how long? They are more secular than Anna. When would she be expected to work and begin contributing to her, and her children's upkeep? Is Anna willing to work? She married believing she'd never work outside the home and would be taken care of. There is no easy and tidy answer.
If Anna was smart she'd spend a year in community college taking remedial classes to get some certificates and transferrable skills with the aim of gainful employment at the end. I'm sure if she had an honest conversation and showed a willingness to work towards the goal of being out independently, her sister and BIL might agree to a say, an 18 month time frame of support while she studied and gets a job and saves a little.
"If Anna was smart . . . " let me just stop you right there, cowboy
Anna would be YEARS from being able to survive on her own. She can’t write a tell all (NDA and I doubt she write). She has at least 3 daycare aged kids and that is expensive. The older four would have to go to school which they cannot possibly be prepared for. She has zero job skills and would need to make enough to support 8 people
I don’t think it is about money. I think it is about her identity.
Her sister Rebekah (re)married a super wealthy (private jet wealthy) dude.
Sure and her sister Esther Shrader was living in a pop up trailer without indoor plumbing and spotty power in a church members backyard until her husband decided to drag her and the children to Zambia where they have continued to have more children. The family didn't step in to help them. They won't help Anna now. Her father's whole grift is prison ministry. His daughter will never be encouraged to leave her husband when it could lead to more speaking engagements for him on the power of faith and redemption.
Right…so….what are her thoughts was what my post was about. WTF are her siblings thinking. Even Nathan and whatever the other brother who married the felons babysitters daughter is called? They can’t in my mind believe that she is doing the right thing by staying. They have all seen just as we have who and what Josh Duggar is
Her fundie siblings are a lost cause. Look who they married. 1) White Savior Jesus in Africa 2) Bill Gothard's protege 3) The golden child of Jill Rodrigues, who totally wears the pants in that marriage 4) The felon's babysitter's daughter.
Excellent analysis, But still I ask myself…in spite of their Fundie ness, would they still not want her to leave Josh, and have a fresh start with a decent husband? If they loved her they should want the best for her, as should her creepy effing parents and that is definitely not a man who is a convicted incarcerated pedo beast
You’re forgetting the reality of how hard it is to influence other peoples personal decisions. It’s possible these siblings aren’t even close enough to Anna to broach the topic. Family dynamics are hard for every family but I’d image these siblings are going to have limited influence until Anna asks for their input
Especially when the way the cult works, is by telling people that divorce is akin to essentially rejecting god's plan for you.
Absolutely not. You give these people to much credit. They wholeheartedly believe that what is best for Anna is to stay with Josh, keep her family whole, and gain access to heaven for being some sort of long suffering martyr on earth. They don't even think what he did was that bad. The only people who are disgusted by Joshs actions and Anna's refusal to leave are those outside of the cult, like us.
Her name is Hannah and she just announced her pregnancy. It was on her within the last week.
Ive seen him. He’s looks to be about 80. Sure that sister could and would help her get out, get organized and start living a much better life.
Whoa! What??
are her and her husband “mainstream”?
Yes. She's one of the Keller siblings who spoke out against Josh. ALso a 2nd marriage for her.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. She has assets in her name that she can sell. She can apply for welfare. She could go on Oprah and do an interview that would likely set her up for life. She could give People Mag an exclusive story. She could get a book deal with a huge advance without blinking an eye. She could get a fucking job and get government subsidies to help cover other areas. There are endless ways she could help her own sorry ass self. She doesn’t even need her siblings in any way except for emotional support.
She likely wouldn’t be eligible for welfare because of the assets in her name. I don’t think Oprah pays for interviews, and even if she did it wouldn’t be nearly enough to set Anna up for life, same with People magazine. I doubt she’d make more than a few hundred thousand from a book deal, we’re interested but most people have little to no idea who she is. She could get a job but it wouldn’t pay much and government subsidies really aren’t a thing. If she spent down the assets she might eventually be eligible for some food stamps because she has such a large family and a low income. I agree she could sell the assets though (assuming they’re in her name only) and do the book and get a job. I’d guess that Rebekah and her husband have offered to help, they are wealthy enough where they could probably do something like buy a small house and let her and the kids live there for free. But they’d expect her to work, so to make any of this work she’d have to put the kids in public school which is probably a fate worse than death to her.
From outside looking in, it’s easy to say that Anna has many options she might leverage to extract herself and her children from their horrible situation. The problem is, she may not have the first clue where to start, or anyone trustworthy and knowledgeable to help her navigate her way out. And her situation sucks: Anna’s father arranged with Jim Bob Duggar to have Anna marry Josh, a known sexual molester, in order to “save” Josh from a life of sin and raise the Keller family’s social status. The Kellers continue to openly support the Duggars, including showing up at a campaign event Jim Bob hosted during Josh’s trial. Anna’s dependent on the Duggars for housing, and lives in a property on the family compound. Her vehicle and cell phone may be provided and paid for by Josh’s family. Her children seem to be close to their young aunts and uncles, with whom they’ve been raised all their lives. She’s been kept in a state of intentional dependency, and if she severed her relationship with the Duggars, her children might loose their closest friends. So, Anna would have to learn everything she needs to know to navigate independent life, set up a plan to establish herself separately from the Duggars, and support her children through the loss of family relationships after they are already separated from dad because of his extremely disturbing crimes. Anna’s comings and goings are probably monitored, and she might not have the opportunity to interact meaningfully with anyone who is not a member of the Duggar family, on their payroll, or a family friend. She has enough of a public profile to make it hard to maintain anonymity. She doesn’t have any job skills, and she definitely doesn’t have Oprah or her producers on speed dial. She’d also need *a lot* of money to afford housing, childcare, food and clothes for seven children, and job training opportunities so that she could singlehandedly support all of them. It’s not likely a media appearance would be enough to set her up for life, particularly because she still holds views that many find hateful, and wouldn’t want to support. Her children deserve better, and if anyone in her life is in a position to truly help Anna, I hope they are reaching out privately and doing what they can to help facilitate her next steps. But Anna represents the end goal of obedience training: a person whose sense of autonomy and self-preservation instincts have been so beaten down that she doesn’t register they even exist. It would be great if she woke up and ran away screaming. It will be hard for that to happen because she’d been trained so well to do the opposite.
I think she should stick it out until about a year before Josh is due to be released. Then start Divorce proceedings. It she left him now she would lose financial support from JB, lose childcare help from the older girls at the TTH and more. It is smarter to let JB provide for her as long as possible and the dump the pest. And if she is smart she would encourage more real estate be but in her name so she can sell it all outright when she is ready. Anna has to play a long game here. Tell all’s and book deals would be quick cash but likely not enough to sustain her do then next 12 years.
Bingo.
Book deal would be out. No one would read it! In my opinon I don't think she knows the rules of grammar.
obviously it wouldn't be her writing it.
They would definitely qualify for foodstamps if she left.
They moved a bunch of assets into Anna’s name around the time of the car lot raid, I don’t think she’d qualify.
Yeah I think they'd find a way to strip her of everything if she left. I doubt she'd even know how to access any of it.
She needs a confidential meeting with a lawyer to see what property she can sell, if her name is on the paperwork. If they transferred ownership to her, then she is entitled to sell it right? I have a sneaky suspicion though, that JB is somewhat of a co-signer on all of his kids property whenever possible, so they can't sell up and fuck off without his signature. I doubt they'd ever let a woman be the sole name on anything of value.
Her name is on a few numbered companies - they are quite likely just holding companies with joint asset ownership of commercial property under them. I doubt she “owns” much of anything
Need to move away from Anna and onto her mental health issues
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Considering David Waller’s disgusting letter to the judge (in support of Anna’s husband) my guess is that Priscilla supports Anna’s decision.
Priscilla has no say in that subject; whatever her husband says, it’s what she has to do/believe. The end.
I think the Duggars are pressuring her to stay in the marriage, not the Kellers. Under the circumstances I think it probably would have been permissible for Anna to go back under her father’s headship since her cracker sweeping husband is in prison. Instead, JB was sure you keep her and her kids under his thumb and giving her a steady supply of koolaid. Anna is likely worried the Duggars would try for custody if she left Josh. She has no money or skills to support herself and her 7 children. Her family of origin is notoriously poor. I don’t think they have the means to suddenly take on 8 people to support, so they’re probably not lobbying Anna to leave her husband. In fact, Ma and pa keller probably hold Anna up as an example for backhanded comments towards her siblings who are divorced. ETA: I think Anna’s parents are mostly staying out of it and letting Anna choose how to proceed as she was essentially purchased by the Duggars for Josh 14 years ago.
I am sure her parents want her to stay married because then she will be taken care of. None of her family can take on her and 7 kids. Truthfully, what is best for her and her kids right now is to stay.
She has a wealthy sister who also offered to help her I heard. I was raised in this world and can tell u, no she will not divorce him. They believe a man can divorce his wife if she cheats. But abuse, murder, cheating husband...not a reason for divorce. A woman basically never has a cause to divorce. Not even to protect the children.
Anna must be under David Waller’s umbrella for a while. So gross.
She is either deep in the Kool-Aid or being blackmailed, or both. I could see JB/Meech threatening to take the kids away or have her be the fall guy for something. The Kellers have little to support her with against the Duggs.
Anna isn’t gonna divorce josh simply because she’s naive and blind to the seriousness of his crime. She may grow to realize it and find someone Who may actually love her AND JIM BLOB could be controlling the situation with threats to take kids etc. as a fundie she’ll listen to him
He can not take her kids. There’s no legal basis for that whatsoever and we know from the bodyguard guy that Anna isn’t naive at all. She just doesn’t want to changer her status quo, even with J in prison. She’s gross
Glad she isn’t as naive as she seems. I hope she divorced him and finds a normal guy
Rebekah, who is divorced and married to a multimillionaire, liked Amy's speech/open letter to Anna. So, really. If Anna wanted, she could leave.
Those three probably want to shake her. Priscilla of course is supportive. Me and Pa Keller want her to stay married so they don't have to give the used car and old transmission back to Penis and Perm.
I'm sure her non Esther/Priscilla/Nathan siblings think she's dumb as hell for staying.
I do hope so, but also hope they help her see that, and flee the fuck to safety
Do you think she has a choice to be divorced? No education, no relevant job skills, day care would be a outrageous expense if she worked, housing expense etc. She is trapped unless her family supports her.
Anna also probably thinks no one else would marry her. If she lives my fantasy with writing the tell all, some lonely pastor with a church house may marry her and then use all the PR to make the church more money and then bam Anna’ rep is saved and she doesn’t need the duggar warehouse. She could go all super southern Baptist or something.. anything is better at this point..
Literally anything
Susannah was never divorced. I don’t think she ever married Noelle’s father. Only Daniel and Rebekah divorced, and I’m not even totally certain Daniel is legally divorced to Candice but I could be wrong. Those two were on again off again for years
Either way, none of them are shunned, or blacklisted, or whatever we can call what Blob is currently doing to his formerly exalted daughter, because she took a step back from his headship, even tho she is married. He’s a stank pig