ideologyhunter
Contributor
I recently stumbled onto old video clips on YouTube of the Strode family from 1970/80s talk shows. I vaguely remembered them. They went on Sally Jessy and Oprah, and probably a lot of others. They were notorious in their little town of Marion, North Carolina, for screaming and hollering their Bible message at people on the streets, at paraders in Christmas pageants, etc. There were three children, headed by Duffey, the oldest boy, and the kids got into the hollering, including a disturbing number of whore and whoremonger references. The parents were vehemently anti-Catholic, anti-gay -- very Westboro-like. At school, Duffey was continually suspended for hollering his gospel message at the other children, at the principal, at the teachers, etc. This child had been turned into a strange and warped little individual. The clips of him "preaching" are nearly unintelligible, because the family style was to bellow nonstop. You need to see a clip to know how bad it was, but fifteen seconds of Duffey back in, say, 1977 is enough. And good luck understanding what he's saying. It's usually something about this whoremongering generation and how you're going to hell. Duffey constantly looks like he's five seconds away from a seizure.
There were allegations of parental abuse, to which I can't comment with any knowledge, but something was deranged among these people. And certainly, raising a child who stands and shouts a torrent of angry, threatening Biblediarrhea at his world is evidence of an unhealthy family setting.
Wikipedia says that Duffey broke with his family around age 20. He left their lifestyle behind, married a woman they disapproved of, and lost contact with his parents. I think he had a brief wrestling career, then became a factory worker. He'd be 47 now, and I'm guessing he doesn't go back and look at the old video clips of himself and the rest of the Strodes. I have no idea if the other family members are alive and if they are still a hateful nuisance where they live.
Worth a look to see what forms Christian family values can take.
There were allegations of parental abuse, to which I can't comment with any knowledge, but something was deranged among these people. And certainly, raising a child who stands and shouts a torrent of angry, threatening Biblediarrhea at his world is evidence of an unhealthy family setting.
Wikipedia says that Duffey broke with his family around age 20. He left their lifestyle behind, married a woman they disapproved of, and lost contact with his parents. I think he had a brief wrestling career, then became a factory worker. He'd be 47 now, and I'm guessing he doesn't go back and look at the old video clips of himself and the rest of the Strodes. I have no idea if the other family members are alive and if they are still a hateful nuisance where they live.
Worth a look to see what forms Christian family values can take.