John Minus Kate Divided by 8

Well, its over. America's favourite Christian couple has called it quits, citing personal differences and the strain that raising such a huge number of children has put on their relationship. Never mind all of those conspiracy theories about them having actually filed for divorce two years ago (not true) and claims that they've been cheating on one another. That's not what I want to discuss today. I want to attack their personal view that somehow god was the agent behind them being able to 'pull through'. If they feel that god was the one that got them to this point, how is tearing their family apart part of his marvelous plan? No, you may not use the "God works in mysterious ways" cop-out.

You might not guess it from the show but if you give their book "Multiple Bles8ings: Surviving to Thriving with Twins and Sextuplets" a read, you'll see that they're a strongly christian family. Taking a glance at some of the reviews for the book on Amazon.com, you can see that their religious views have really been highlighted in this book. Unfortunately I don't have a copy in front of me to take any quotes from, but some enlightened reviewers have said:

"This book really shows that you should turn to the Lord in tough times."

"Most importantly, I think Kate is a great witness of the Christian faith. Her devotion to God and her family is demonstrated throughout the book. As a Christian and a mother, I learned a lot from this book on patience and love."

"I especially liked that Kate is very forthcoming about her strong faith in God and how He alone brought them through their trials in dealing with twins and sextuplets as toddlers and infants. God's timing is truly perfect, and I found myself moved to tears by some of the miraculous little stories Kate shared."

I'll save you reading the book and give you the truism they're trying to communicate in this book: "If shit gets messy, throw up your hands in defeat and let God take over. Give yourself to christ and everything will work out just fine. See, look, it worked for us!" Wow, how inspiring. This is the part that really grinds my gears: whenever hardship is overcome, you hear them saying "Thanks to God for giving us the strength to get through it". Name one thing that god did, besides exist as an idea in your mind. You could get the same strength in an invisible friend named Grover if you could delude yourself enough to think that he was really there. I can't stand it when people who achieve success credit their work to god instead of themselves and those who really did help. Sports teams who thank god for helping them win the superbowl, or musicians who get up on stage to accept an award and thank god for getting them to where they are. Do you understand how self-serving and ridiculous this sounds? Why did god choose your team, or your band, or your family over all the other ones out there? I guess you just prayed harder, right? Wow, and you thought atheists were arrogant. I've got a better idea: stop trying to look humble via god and give credit where credit is due!

Buy my book so I can feed my kids!

Not to mention this show sets a disturbing precedent of promoting massively large families. It has already inspired copycat shows like 18 Kids and Counting, a strange show about a family that glorifies the idiocy of the Quiverfull movement, which is basically just Christianity for people who love to fuck and want to dump their twisted views on as many minds as they can influence or create. On an unrelated note, if you want to read up on how I feel about overpopulation, check out my previous post on what I think will bring about our demise on this planet.

You know the ones I feel the most sorry for are the kids here. They've been put on display for the world to watch, just like many multiple births in the past, and I can't see how anything positive will come from continuing the family circus. They've got enough money to raise the family, and the fame is already starting to rot the core and tear them apart. If they really did care about their kids, they'd put an end to this right now. They're not an inspiration, they're a trainwreck, and perhaps now that their family is crumbling, they'll take a moment to wonder if THIS was all part of god's big plan too.

I'm not holding my breath though. It seems like the crappier things go for people of faith, the more they claim the event has 'only strengthened their faith in god'. Wake up people! He didn't get you in this mess, and he's not going to save you either.