Contentious doll names - gods and so on.

EXTREMELY offensive to me. If I wasn't painfully aware of the fact that it's ignorance talking and you don't know better, I'd say it was unpardonable.

I am Kemetic Orthodox. I worship Egyptian deities. I have for over eight years. To some people, religion means everything to them. I am one of those people who very deeply feel and care about my beliefs. It might surprise you to know my church spans nearly every continent and has oh, probably over 500 members by now. And that is just OUR branch of the Kemetic faith. There are countless others AND the pagan/wicca observances of those gods. So, clearly those gods mean a lot to a lot of people and the religions is NOT dead.

Why don't you follow your own advice: "These names mean so much to many people, we could at least respect that." and show some respect.

That said, I do not mind in the slightest if people choose Egyptian names for their dolls. It's neat. But, let's have a little consideration about other people's beliefs.

 

I suppose you're right with that. I'm mean,I'm no religion junkie but my focus is of the spirit of how it's done as you've said. I mean, if I ever see a Jesus BJD I'm not going to trash it or anything. I guess I wouldn't care as much as I thought but I would be curious as to why they decided to make the doll Jesus and all that jazz because...
I don't know...it's weird. (weird to me at least...please don't take that any wrong way ^^; )
At the end of it all,If it's only the name,I don't mind but a doll...eh...I guess it would be a toss up of how it's depicted and how it's done whether they did it to be offensive or just because they liked it.

 

To all the people who pointed me out that gods as Loki are still worshipped, for me that is enough reason not to use those names. I am not a religion-expert, nor do I clame to be one. If I hurt anyone, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.
As for names like Jesus and Mohammed.. I know that they are given names in many cultures, I was talking about how I didn't use them, because in my culture (I'm Dutch) Jesus is not a common name. And I wouldn't use Mohammed for a doll, 'cause I know my friends would be seriously offended if I'd use that name for an inanimate object.

But looking at the explosion of responses I got.. it's all the more proof for me that using names that belonged to gods is (I don't know how to say it in english) 'something to be careful about'.

 

It would also be a bit weird to me, to meet a historically accurate Jesus BJD, but then I'm all about original characters, so it's a bit strange to me to see so many accurate dolls of other people's characters. I don't judge, it's just not my thing

It's definitely all in the spirit of how it was done. You can tell when someone has done something out of love/hate/ignorance, so if someone made a Jesus or Buddha BJD out of admiration I wouldn't have a problem with it!

 

At the Awashima Shrine in Japan, there resides a doll - ball jointed in fact, but more than that.

It is a life-size wooden statue of Kannon (Kuan-Yin, Bosatsu of mercy) from the early 12th century with a jointed skeleton, entire internal organs modelled in wood and leather, eyeballs, brain etc. The statue is not simply called Kannon, it *is* Kannon to the worshippers who follow the faith.

One of our own dolls is named for my little sister and treated as such, for it is now - in my own faith - inhabited by her.

Sharing respect and regard for the divine by calling to spiritual power to inhabit a physical vessel is appropriate and profound for a number of faiths and I think this is what we all draw upon when we give our babie names which might seem a little nerve-jangling to others.

As a consequense, for me (and to a lesser degree, the fat one, who follows the Old Faith) it is perfectly fine to draw on names which have significance for us, so long as the reasoning behind is not absolutely rooted in disdain, hatred or even ignorance.

I offer respect to others and their ways, and all I ask is respect from others for mine (assuming that neither party is actually injuring the other).


Yuko

 

This, a million times this

Yuko, you put it so perfectly.

 

Hmm...I'm not offended by religious names, I think it would be different if someone named thier doll Jesus and made him look like Christ and did rude things with the doll itself. I don't see it really as any different than have the statues and figurines, but to me, it's meh. I have Los who is my devil, and Yeshu, who is god in my stories, but they aren't traditional christian views, I have a whole theory that is different...

I think it's all context...

 

To create a doll of a modern, 'living' deity (be it a traditionally pagan figure or not) and do it out of spite would just seem so... it's kind of abhorrent, in a really reflexive way for me. Why did you MAKE it if you only want to mock it? It'd be like getting together 9 friends and ordering a Minimee of someone you know to dress up in ugly clothes and pose in humiliating ways. Not just hateful but foolish too.
Nautilus said everything else perfectly, but the thought of that boggles the mind.

I remember... I'm a pixel doller (not a particularly good one- though :: pimp pimp :: my site is at http://www.freewebs.com/alice-anathema ) and there are many devotedly Christian dollers out there who make that quite clear with their choice of site design. Someone I know has a doll on her site of her and a representation of her idea of Jesus/God standing side by side and hugging, and the first time I saw it, it shocked me- because I'd never seen it before and it just seemed... unusual. But on later reflection it was totally heartfelt and I really did come to like it. That's how I would feel about a doll of Jesus or Buddha done with the right intent, even by someone who isn't part of that religion strictly speaking. I'd be shocked, but it would be clearly from the heart.

 

I, personally, wouldn't be offended at all about a Jesus or Buddha doll. I'm not a religious person, so there isn't much for me to be offended by. I would be a little shocked, but if it's truely what the person wants, then that is ultimatly their choice.

I can see how some people would get very offended, but as Nautilus had said, as long as they're not doing such in a malicious manner, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. If someone wishes to make their religion 'come to life' so to speak, it is merely how they want to worship.

However, if someone does it as a joke/to disrespect other religions, I might actually a bit annoyed, now that I think about it.

Over all, I think that if it is done with respect, there shouldn't be an issue.

 

The following is an unpaid announcement from the 'Order of the Mike'

In order to lighten this thread up a bit, I hereby declare that the name 'Mike' for a doll is hereby off limits.

If you have a doll named 'Mike', 'Mickey', 'Michael', 'Miguel', 'Michel' or 'Mikey' you now are in breach of allowable doll names and should henceforth cease and desist all references to the aforementioned doll (heretofore to be named 'M').

Should you continue to misuse the 'M' name, I shall personally come visit you and demand an apology, lunch and/or tea, depending on the time of day.

Thank you for your support in this very important endeavour.

<M>

 

Being pagan, I try not to name a doll after anyone I don't want to accidentally invoke.

 

lol, now i want a Jesus doll...and I'm Christian!!!

 

There are hundreds of thousands of Christian men named "Jesus".

 

i'm a big fan of greek & roman mythology; along with william blake and shakespeare's work...

so naturally, i picked up the name 'hecate' from all three of those sources.

i never once entertained the idea that it could be offensive to more 'antique' romans and greeks.

i honestly just named her out love for ancient rome and greece; along with their unique mythology.

of course i never meant offense, but if the name is used out of love, with respect and admiration, i dont think it should be a problem. only when someone makes a doll with a god's name then makes the doll do disgraceful things should be it become a problem.

forgive the TL;DR, to sum it up:
if owning a doll named 'hecate' offends someone, i am deeply sorry. i named her with the most respect and admiration.

 

So... go for it! By all means.
I'm a Christian too, but I think the experience would be much too... unusual for me? Maybe not on my first doll.

 

I have no desire to name a doll "Jesus". Especially considering that all my dolls are part of a vintage French bordello theme.

 

A good friend of mine said, after I asked her how to name my doll, just: Judas Iscariot.

You know, the guy who betrayed Jesus :/ At first I was like "LOL, yeah, as tribute for the Iscariot Section from Hellsing", but after a time this joke (in her eyes it wasn't, in my eyes it was) become more and more...yeah, serious for me. I'm really not sure if this is not a name that fits totally for my boy.

 

You know, I really like the name Judas. And you can shorten it to 'Jude', which is equally as nice a name.

 

Uh, I think Jude is short for something else, too. But Judas is a perfectly feasible name, if you don't mind its implications. I'm thinking of Rimmer from the show Red Dwarf- first names being Arnold Judas. Unfortunate.
To get religious on you, he had his part to play in God's plan just like anyone else. And he WAS an apostle. But as a tribute to Hellsing- among anime fans, that'll probably be a ton more easy to explain.

 

Yeah, he was an apostle...but many people just see in him the betrayer of Jesus. And I think like you: It was his part in God's plan, he was important for the whole "Jesus-People-Sins"-Thing, If you know what I mean

I think I call him Judas. It fits to his character (he will be a priest, that's something I decided before I even had a suitible Doll for me) and I like the name. No matter how shocked people be.


and, Jude sounds cute too. Yeah, his name wil be Judas