Religious BJDs - character and clothing

I'm sort of wondering what Christian garments are.
If you're talking about the robes way back when, especially the ones depicted in artwork (eg The Last Supper, Leonardo), then that was old-school Israelite wear. Pegans, Samaritans and Jews wore them. Honestly, I think seeing doll clothes like those would be cool. I love when people appreciate different clothing styles, especially historical. Who cares if the doll's character isn't from that time? I can understand why people don't like seeing slutty nuns or other religious figures posed or depicted in offensive ways, but I do not see what the clothing has to do with it. The clothing is there just to help identify.

I love seeing monk dolls and other such religions--it means people are out there studying, and expanding their world. Thinking that particular religion is false has nothing to do with that enjoyment. I love seeing things appreciated. As for my own religion, I'd want people to show respect as far as doing their research on what they're creating, whether it be satire or serious, but I'm anal about research in every aspect in life. I'd prefer people only wear crosses if they understood the meaning behind it, but hey, crosses are aesthetically pleasing. I'd probably wear them anyway if I weren't a Christian. People who wear pentagrams wear them for different meanings. I'd be a little worried about non-religious folk/dolls wearing crucifixes though, cause those are kind creepy. :/

E.Hadrian~ completely agree. Part of that is that Jewish people run a lot of the media and entertainment system (not saying that is a bad thing, guys), so I wouldn't blame them if they didn't want people making fun of them. But it certainly does seems like a "Oh. Christians." when something comes up!
I know a lot of Christian folks who are easily offended, and would be offended by Christian wear on "creepy dolls", but I don't count them as people who really understand their own faith, either. My parents had no problem with my displaying crosses on my doll's stuff when I displayed him around the house. Guess it depends on the person, and how easily they are able to look at their own religion from an outsider's point of view.

 

My sister and I base some of our dolls on ancient goddess (Persephone and Skadi) and may use mainstream religious themes in future but only in a lighthearted way.
I would actually find it laughable if somebody got seriously offended over a piece of clothing on an adult human let alone on a doll! People need to lighten up as we are in serious danger of living in a police state!

 

Talking as an owner of a catholic priest...I would really like to see other "religious" dolls

But I think it's very rare because other religions are not so known in the west or as exotic than Christianity in the east. (Someone posted links about Catholics in Anime...and yeah, I think they just seem to be interesting and exotic, and that's why they always tend to use such things in Anime, Doll clothing e.t.c. in Japan).
I would be worried having a Doll being a religious character without actually really knowing the religion very well or being a part of it. Making mistakes and offending people is way easier then ^^'

And I'm not offended by other Doll-Owners with religious Dolls; I mean...we are all trying to copy "reality" with our Dolls, and there have always been persons like Priests, Monks e.t.c., even in fantasy/scifi fandom. As long as you are not trying to offend it's definitely okay...Religion is a very important part of people's life and that's why you should handle such a topic very careful.

But the other people should be a little bit more open minded too, especially when the doll is just portraying a member of the religion. It's a honor and not something to be annoyed about, as long as people not try to make fun about the faith of others.

And really...why should a Tibetian Monk or a Rabbi be a problem when HUNDRED of Doll owners have Lucifers, Satans, fallen Angels, Demons and what not XD

and @ enedving: I'm sort of wondering what Christian garments are.
Cassocks, as example?
They might be just a thing for a Priest ( or other people working in the church and being allowed to wear one), but it's still "Christian". And also other typical clothes worn in the church, like the clothes of Altar servers :3
Or maybe...a Rosary? (not actually a garment, I know X'D)

 

I agree with what the others are saying, I am a chirstian and im not offended by people dressing their dolls in "Religious clothing" its their doll to do with what they want. for that matter there is a newer bjd company that has a Cross and angel wings as their logo, I did e-mail them and ask if they were a christian company, they said no and apoligised if they offended me. I dont mind im not going ot get offeneded. If someone gets offended at a doll wearing religious clotheng they they are probably offended at half the dolls on this site, the demons and other "gods" and such. theres to much to worrie about in life, than what some doll is wearing.

edit: my friend is muslum and he thinks the dolls in religous clothing are awesome, I showed him a priest and he went :O lol.

 

I'm respectful of other people's opinions, but don't find it offensive at all, myself. Human beings of every culture wear religious clothing. Dolls are semi-realistic depictions of human beings, so why not let them wear clothing of religious significance too? I think as long as you are doing you're research and being respectful to the culture at hand, it can be a very good thing.

 

Interesting topic. I have plans to make a nun's outfit for one of my dolls, but the character is not a nun. My aunt is a Catholic mother superior and she is also a lover of dolls. Throughout my childhood she used to send me pictures of dolls in nun's outfits and even gave me a doll with a nun outfit (from her region). Therefore, I'll be using the outfit style of her region and when I told her about this project she was quite happy. XD I showed her the doll I'll be using as a model and she said, "She's like the very modern nuns--even wearing makeup!" (which has recently been happening more and more where we're from).

 

Actually religious clothing of most kinds are traditional to all doll clothing. bjds. plastics and porcelain. I've got a couple bjd guys dressed as a priest and a cardinal right now, and my newest puki is going through a buddhist monk phase. It's all for fun and a lot of research as well.

 

I do like religious clothing, but I agree with what AdiaKatarina said about the fine line between accuracy and offending someone. Another example would be having a female Buddhist nun wearing the same saffron robes as the monks do. In a lot of Buddhist monasteries, women are not allowed to wear the same colour as the men, even though they've basically taken the same vows. This could offend someone too.

Then again, having a doll dressed as a Catholic cardinal and the character being a complete baddie might be offensive to certain members of the forum. When you bring religion into a hobby, I think it has a greater power to divide and offend than it does to bring people together. To play around with religious clothing requires a great deal of cultural understanding and sensitivity. There is a bit more to it than wrapping a towel around a doll's head and calling him a Sikh

 

I have a bjd who's going to be an Afghani girl, as I always loved the Afghani Nomad Dress the girls wear... Since she's 12 years old she will definitely be wearing a Hijab, as all proper Muslim girls do. I've always admired the Middle Eastern world, and though I was raised by an Atheist feminist in the militant '70s mode, I admit I'm fascinated with the idea of modest attire (it applies to men too, of course). So my doll will be this aspect of myself.

Raven

 

I don't think it really matters. It's a personal choice and a personal opinion. I would certainly not be insulted or offended if I saw a doll in traditional Buddhist monk clothing, or dressed as a Nun.
However the doll is dressed is often an indication of it's character. Much like a character in a movie, book, TV show.

 

I also agree that when a doll is going to be dressed up according to a specific role in a religion, it should be dressed properly. I don't think it will offend anyone as long as some people, who might be offended, aren't exposed to it. Maybe even some orthodox people might appreciate the outfit when it's done right, others might ridicule the fact a doll is wearing it. Anyway, don't let it bother you. If your doll is supposed to play that role, dive into it I mean, a priest could have his own accesories, chapel and the works . A girl doll could be a Roman Catholic priest for that matter. It's an idea I might do because personally, I think the pope and his buddies do not fully comprehend what the 'herd' really needs. And I'm a protestant anyway so I can't be excommunicated for being a rebel, already am from birth :P.
Btw, I should probably think of some carnival costumes for my boy, even though next year's carnival still far off. In Holland and surrounding countries, dressing up as monks, priests and nuns for this event is commonplace.
Dolls in Middle Eastern outfits will look great. I think you can really do a lot of great things with colourful eastern style fabrics. There's a market every saturday here in my town where you can buy lots of the stuff.
But since my boy is going to be a larper, he could get several priest or palladin outfits connected to LARP settings where I play.

 

I myself have a doll whose character he represents is a Catholic Priest. He has the century-accurate rosary to his time, a cassock and a Roman collar, though does not have stole or surplice, because I have not yet decided which would be more appropriate (though his character is ordained, and a simple stole would be acceptable.)

Am I Catholic? Nope. Did I educate myself appropriately? I would like to think that I did. I could be wrong, but hey... if it comes to it, then I will correct his clothing. As long as I ensure that I am as accurate and respectful to the representation of the religion, I have satisfied my own personal requirements.

Conversely, I do find it a good bit insulting to wave the religion banner and not adhere to the principles. No representation of Catholic Priests dancing with fire at Beltane, please.

 

While I do have doll characters who are religious, it doesn't really tend to show with their clothing. The most religious thing anyone has is a small cross neckless, or a little rosary that can be stuck in a pocket or purse (and would therefore be out of sight anyhow). I don't think it's at all surprising that people have dolls who have outward religious trappings, since many dolls represent well developed characters and why shouldn't a well developed character also have a religion? Most of my dolls don't share my religious beliefs, it's a matter of what fits with their characters and their characters' fictional upbringing

Don't want to drag things too OT (especially when it's a potentially sensitive subject), but gotta say...It's really not so much about the media, but more the difference between being a religious minority and being the majority religion and having (or at least perceived to have) more power. If minority religions tend to be on the defensive, it's because they usually get stuck taking a heap of crap from some real scary wackos (you should have seen the leaflets some #$%^ left on all the cars on my street this week ).

 

Majority, or minority, it shouldn't really make a difference. That's like saying if some cafe in the south US opened a cafe and made it black-people-only, it'd be okay because the white people are the majority, and it's okay to discriminate against the majority.

Christians also take heaps of crap too, and not only from other religions but from people within their own (whatever leaflets you're talking about, I probably would also have found pukeworthy). We're no strangers to taking crap, since it seems to be 'cool' to bash Christians more than any other religion these days...

Wackos exist in every denomination, every religion, and minority religions get treated to it no more than Christians do...


I'd love to see an anime of a Rabbi running around in a yarmulke slaying pig demons but something tells me that would not go over well.

 

You might want to reread my post--no where did I ever make mention of fair or unfair/right or wrong--I was just correcting someone else's explanation of the situation that I didn't feel was accurate. I worried it might be taken the wrong way when I typed it, and it looks like it did.

Absolutely, and it's too bad--nobody likes to have to take garbage from other people. Though I'm not so sure that the experience of living in the US as a Christian vs a non-Christian is the same in some ways, and that may influence the sense that some subjects are more off limits than others (the post I was responding to dealt primarily with the media and that's what I was referring to). Of course that doesn't mean that you or anyone else doesn't have the right to be aggravated, or that you don't experience some general unpleasantness too.

There are actually more humorous things out there about Judaism than you probably think, but I doubt anime companies are aware enough about Judaism in general to want to bother with anything like that. When you start talking about anime, you add in other cultural factors that you don't have with US based film and animation companies. It's a whole nother can of beans.

 

There is a reason why we don't allow religious or political discussion on DoA, those debates always get heated very quickly!!

Please try to stay on the topic of ball jointed dolls, or we will lock this thread.

 

My planned dollie family is a mixed bag, religion-wise-- it doesn't include any dolls of the cloth per se, but I would definitely include signifigant articles of clothing for some dolls. Things worn for specific occasions. And though my personal religious feelings are anti-icon*, obviously my Catholic boys will feel very different. I would definitely do the research necessary to make sure that I got the details right when it came to any character's religious experience.

=^__^=
Anneko

*meaning I feel that revering the cross comes too close to worshipping an object, etc.

 

I feel that this is more of a personal thing with the doll and their owner. If it seems to the owner that the doll, for whatever reason, wants to be a bald monk, a covered up Muslim woman, or wearing the Jewish prayer shawl, or it is called for, then there should be an end of it.

 

I don't think it should matter what your doll wears. but if you don't want bizarre comments coming at you like crazy you might want to avoid the religion side of things.
I know some people hate me for my faith but it doesn't stop me from expressing it. our dolls have the right to express themselves too.