Quiverfull founder and blogger Vaughn Ohlman.

Once denied permission to hold the retreat, Ohlman and the Quiverfull cult began to cry persecution, believing that people’s horror over the idea of marrying off children has more to do with Christian religion rather than the idea that children are neither physically or mentally prepared for marriage. It was also the girls’ lack of choice that enraged many, as Ohlman himself wrote that “there is no decision to be made once the betrothal is final. There is no approval required or veto allowed.”

Once the Quiverfull retreat was cancelled, Ohlman took to his blog to express his own disgust at the “left wing” media and “anti-Christian” sites that expressed disgust over the idea of children marrying.

“Well our main blog and my daughter-in-law’s blog have been picked up by Raw Story, Free Jinger, and a dozen or so more left wing and anti-Christian sites. Words cannot describe how much we appreciate their well thought out, pleasantly written, Biblical commentary on our various posts. They are especially impressed with our proposed ‘Get Them Married’ retreat idea.”

Ohlman then tries to claim that arranged marriage forced upon children, as advocated by the Quiverfull movement, is preferable to what else is offered.

“The government schools and other organizations charged with managing the sexual lives of our children seem to believe that our children should learn all about the joys of anal sex at five years old, and by twelve should be getting condoms out of vending machines, rolling in the sack with their partner of choice, and then (when the condoms fail) going out and murdering their children at taxpayer expense without even bothering to inform their parents.”

Ohlman’s blog has since become protected, but he did make previous claims that the Bible “provides many reasons for marriage, and most if not all of them demonstrate that marriage typically ought to happen in the youth (as in, before the age of 20).” But, Ohlman claims that he and his fundamentalist Christian cult does have limits — the children must be over the age of 11. They also have to have breasts.

There’s more at Inquisitr. It’s good to shine a light on such things, but the downside is that they will simply go further underground, but this practice won’t stop. I wonder, will any women be able to get out in the future?

If you click the link for the Let Them Marry Retreat, this is what you see (click image for full size):

Note: Contrary to vicious Internet rumors we do not support or In any way condone child sexual activity of any sort, child marriage, or any other illegal activity. Nor do we support or condone forced marriages. We believe that parents should NOT seek a spouse for a child where that child has not actively sought for the parents to do so.

Don’t think this has gone away, though. It’s just oozing underground. On this page, you see Note: The November Get Them Married Retreat has been cancelled. Below that though…

Let Them Marry ministries is dedicated to educating the church in regards to the Biblical path to marriage. The goal has always been that this information would transform the hearts and lives of our readers and that there would be a resurgence of young, fruitful, Godly marriages. The public persona of the ministry has always been theoretical and theological. At the same time, off the radar, dozens- even hundreds- of people, mostly one on one, have come to talk about the specifics of their case: how can they get married?  How can they get their children married?

We’re hoping to be able to get people together for some ‘get to know you’ retreats, allowing families to meet, greet, and, hopefully, result in marriages, but we’re still working on the details

If you want to be notified about future Get Them Married Retreats, sign up below:

Note: We will only use the emails in this list to notify you about Let Them Marry and future Get Them Married Retreats. We won’t sell or give away your email address.

Who are you? *

Check all that apply

I’m a young man who needs a wife.

I’m a young woman who needs a husband.

I’m the father of a young man.

I’m the father of a young woman.

I’m someone else.

All this shit is going to carry on, they are  just going to be a bit more cautious about people finding out about it, and change some non-essentials, like ‘get to know you‘ rather than get them married, but it’s still going to be marriage farm. Looking over that little checklist, it would seem that women are good for one thing only – being auctioned married off and having those babies, babies, babies.

“The public persona of the ministry has always been theoretical and theological.” What the hell does that mean? Do they know what theoretical means? It wouldn’t seem so.

It seems that Vaughn Ohlman will have to do some hasty rearranging, or refunding, as the case may be. I have no doubt he’ll find some way to set up his marriage stock market, but for now, the Salvation Army has said no. The story of the upcoming marriage market has gotten a lot of publicity, including being picked up by Raw Story, whose readers were less than impressed by the Quiverfull ‘retreat’.

…The Raw Story article sparked outrage among readers and many were moved to action, demanding that authorities be notified in order to protect the children who were slated to be married off young for the purpose of procreating lots of babies for Jesus.

Readers discovered that Camp Hiawatha, where the retreat was planned to be held, is owned by the Salvation Army. I contacted a good friend who is a officer at the Salvation Army’s training school in Chicago, and she responded right away to let me know the Wichita corps has already denied access to Ohlman’s group for what would have amounted to a child trafficking “retreat.”

The Salvation Army of Wichita/Sedgwick County released a statement on the group’s decision:

The Salvation Army has denied a request by the Let Them Marry organization to conduct its event at Camp Hiawatha.
Our decision is based upon our long-standing concern for the welfare of children. At The Salvation Army, we work every single day to provide a safe, caring place for children, many of whom have been left vulnerable due to the actions of adults.

We remain steadfastly focused on our mission of advocating for and protecting children.

The full story is here.

Vaughn Ohlman, Quiverfull Patriarch, has now set up a ‘Get Them Married‘ Retreat, a place where Christians can look over stock, and arrange marriages.

“That our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace.”

Pardon me for not saying much, I clicked around on that site a bit too much, and I’m definitely feeling queasy.