In order to be manipulative, deceitful, a liar, or even to have a strong level of confidence in your convictions, you must have at least a modicum of intelligience.
This man has none. Threfore, in my opinion, he cannot, by design, be capable of being any of those other things.
What I see in Dan is a vapid, mentally challenged individual. I do not, in any way shape or form, mean this in a derogatory way, any more than I would hold a retarded person culpable for their actions.
But that is exactly my point here.
Dan is not intelligient enough to be manipulative.
He lacks even the smallest level of cleverness required to manipulate others.
He is, in short, simply not smart enough to be deceitful.
Further, I would even go out on more of a limb here and state that Dan is not even lazy. He seems to work quite hard at whatever circuituous activity he invents in order to "hit it big". Of course, none of these grand schemes ever work out, because he simply does not know any better. No, this man is FAR from lazy. In fact, he is trying as hard as he can do to the best with what he has - which is, obviously, a very short deck.
I actually feel sorrow (not anger) for Dan. I believe Dan is too far gone to know right from wrong (his constant assertions that he believes he is "doing what he feels is the right thing" is testament to that).
The argument may be made that he is manipulative because he was able to "convince" or somehow "deceive" his wife into being his private child-rearing machine and to follow him down his certain path to misery, complete poverty and total ruin. However, Janna herself is also a trouble person. Just think about it for a moment - would ANY of you even for a moment believe ANYTHING that Dan says as being right, correct, in line with common norms, a "righteous path" etc.? If you do, then you are as easily led astray as Janna is (and seems to be quite content to allow to continue). The matter of the fact is, Janna is clearly also mentally incapacitated to a certain degree - how else could she be so effectively mislead, so easily, by someone who doesn't seem to have the mental capacity of a small child? Said differently, would you hire this man? Would you buy mangos, tropical fish or license plate "cover-up" paint from this person? If you have even a shred of common sense between your ears I would have to hope the answer would be "NO". With that said, how is it that Janna is able to somehow see with such clarity the clarity in Dan's Path of life" that seems lost on the rest of society with a working brain? Answer: Because she doesn't know any better either. The combination of Dan and Janna could be called "Dumb and Dumber" and not be too far from the truth.
Dan and Janna are apparently well-intentioned people. However, there have been throughout the ages legions of people who had good intentions in mind who committed atrocious acts. Having your heart in the right place when your brain isn't is a dangerous combination.
The children should be taken away from them, they should be put into foster homes, and Dan and Janna should be persuaded to seek immediate mental help. Nothing short of this will help these children from eventually becoming the victims of some as-yet unknown new "path" of Dan's twisted ideology.
(Original Air Date: 02/15/08) What happens when a parent’s agenda becomes so extreme that his or her children are forced to live a harsh, stoic existence? Dan and Janna are a college-educated couple married for 15 years with seven children, ages ranging from 2 weeks to 14. They have no income, no heat, no running water and are about to lose their house. Dan and Janna believe that their primitive lifestyle is God’s will, and that they are being led by the Lord. Janna’s mom, Carol, and stepdad, Rich, are worried about the health of their grandchildren. Are they eating enough? Are they warm enough? They say because the children are home schooled, they live in a cult-like home environment, and are not exposed to the outside world. Carol and Rich are willing to bail this family out one last time, but why are Dan and Janna refusing the help? After eight failed businesses, why won’t Dan get a job to support his family? Where will they go when they are forced out of their home? Talk about the show here.
