u/Crisp_white_linen

This article is an interview with author Laura Doyle on her books and workshops on how to have a successful marriage by being what she calls "a surrendered wife."

Though she's been spreading her message since 1999, this is the first I've heard of her or her advice. Even so, her advice sounds very familiar to me -- much like 1970s marriage advice books like Marabel Morgan's The Total Woman or Helen Andelin's Fascinating Womanhood. The part that doesn't sound familiar is that Laura Doyle considers herself a feminist.

The link here is a gift link to the article, so a paywall should not be a problem.

I would love to hear your thoughts on her advice.

(If this topic is not for you, please feel free to scroll on by.)

EDITED TO ADD AND CLARIFY: I am not endorsing Laura Doyle's advice. I personally do not endorse any "trad wife" advice; I find discussing it interesting. I am curious to hear what people think of Doyle's advice specifically because she claims to be a feminist and her spin on how to have a happy marriage is slightly different than older, 1970s anti-feminist advice on how to have a happy marriage.

Again, if you do not like this topic and it is not for you, scroll on by. (Anyone who attacks me for raising this topic for discussion will be reported to the group mods for breaking rules #1 and #3.)

I have never played video games online, and I'm thinking of trying a few. For those of you who enjoy playing video games online, which ones would you recommend I try?

(For those who do not like video games or do not think they are worth trying, please scroll on by.)

Someone I know has suddenly sold their home and abruptly moved several states away, with the help of First Harvest Ministries (FHM) church members, to live in Mississippi near the church. I had not heard of this church before and was surprised someone I knew seemed to be re-organizing their entire life around it, so I checked out the FHM website. It looks slick and advocates a Christian nationalist, MAGA viewpoint. (Not my cup of tea, but not really the point.) When I dug a little more, I started to wonder if FHM is a cult.

Shane Vaughn seems like a charismatic leader with a suspicious background, claims to being the only person to know "the truth," and encouraging behavior not rooted in the Bible. In a Reuters news article from 2021, he is described as follows: "Vaughn, who served a three-year prison sentence for fraud and had a stint running an auto dealership..." (Vaughn portrays this as part of a redemption arc for himself -- that after making mistakes, he was born again.) In an online forum on Facebook of former members of FHM, Vaughn is described as being a shady character. People observed that he claims to have extensive educational degrees, but has never provided proof. In his sermons, he has been heard to say that he alone has the truth, that what he is preaching will not be heard anywhere else. (A Christian minister claiming he alone has the truth seems antithetical to Biblical teaching.) He has installed a physical replica of the Ark of the Covenant and encouraged his church members to bow down to it (suggestive of idolatry, expressly forbidden in the 10 Commandments).

I also wondered because of the behavior of the person I know. Previously, this person had seemed like a sensible, intelligent, even-keeled kind of person. Now, they have abruptly sold off what they own and moved far away to be near FHM, which looks a bit like they are successfully being isolated and controlled by the FHM.

I am wondering, does anyone here have experience with FHM and consider them to be a cult, or no? Just trying to educate myself.

Thanks in advance for any information.

I have a friendship that is currently going through a rough patch. To keep it brief: my close friend told me that I had disappointed her a year earlier. She handled this disclosure poorly, and I was devastated. Eventually, we talked it out. But ever since, I have found it hard to feel about her the way I used to.

Has anyone else here had a friendship go through a rough patch and survive? What did you do to get to the other side of a difficult time with a friend?

Someone I once considered one of my closest friends picked a huge fight with me about a year ago. Eventually, we talked it out and decided to remain friends.

But ever since, I am finding myself really struggling with how much being friends with her now feels like work. And I hate it!

Anyone else have a good friendship go sour? Did it ever recover? If so, how did you get past the rough patch?

Grading has been more tedious and depressing than ever before, thanks to the number of students who used AI to write their final papers.

The use of AI is completely forbidden for these papers. Nonetheless, some students used it. I discovered this because they had incomplete citations, which, when I looked them up, turned out not to exist. Fake citations are a hallmark of AI use.

I have seen other people's posts the past few weeks expressing distress over student cheating, student AI use, and generally feeling like the point of academia has been lost. I am really feeling it myself right now.

No advice needed. Just wanted to say: this sucks, I'm dismayed, and I'm not sure what the point is anymore.