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Religious BJDs - character and clothing

Jun 29, 2009

    1. i think all religions need to lighten up and smile more....it all started with a seed that was planted in the ground and grew in to a huge tree that has branched out in many ways and those branches have branched out and so on. Look at the pagains and earth based relgions they have been traeted the worse for years. The jews where treated like floor mats and worse during world war 2. Every relgion has its good bad and the ugly. Every relgion is made fun of and torn down. Every relgion gets a finger pointed at it and told " your going to hell for not belveing in what i belive in"


      so in short do what you want you want just make people smile with it
       
    2. There are many members here who are very passionate about their beliefs. I like to think of my dolls/characters as fractions of myself. So, if I am passionate about my beliefs, so can't my dolls? Learning about others' beliefs interests me, so seeing dolls as priests, priestesses, monks, etc. does not bother me--I quite like seeing it. It is something that makes our dolls as unique as we are. As long as it is respectful and not distasteful, I have no problem with it.

      Kirsten
       
    3. Good Grief! Now we're supposed to worry about our dolls being or not being Christian? Wow. I'm outta my league here.
       
    4. Geez, claywimmin, didn't you get your doll baptized when you took it out of the box? What if it fell off a shelf and went to dolly hell? I imagine dolly hell is full of millions of mutilated Barbies and broken bisque dolls. And they want to torture your dolly's soul FOREVER.

      Anyway, as a baptized, non-practicing Catholic, rosaries as fashion accessories have never bothered me. If they were a huge deal, no one in the religious community would make religious jewelry. They do. I used to have a rosary bracelet. It was made to be a portable way to say a decade of the rosary, but I just liked how it looked. I have a rosary necklace for myself and one for my dolls. Which basically means ... a rosary.

      I don't project myself onto my dolls, so my dolls do not have religions. This doesn't mean they're atheists. It just means dolls are plastic and can't have religious beliefs. But if I wanted to dress one up in a habit or a hijab, as long as I wasn't doing anything overly offensive, I would hope no one would get offended ... but I wouldn't really care if they did. It's not the works of Sade or something. It's just clothing. And as far as a hijab, the doll could not be Muslim at all--she could just be traveling through one of those countries where hijabs are non-optional.

      If you wanted to dress your doll up as Jesus or something and make a dolly Last Supper ... hell, whatever. As long as Jesus and Judas aren't feeling each other up I don't think anyone could seriously take offense. (Well, they could, because some people like to pretend they're being persecuted and whatever, but ... I would say to ignore them.)
       
    5. As long as your dolls don't start a holy war, I have no problems with it.
       
    6. im a christian and ive never been offended by a doll wearing any religious clothing
      or satanic clothing
      it wouldnt really bother me if a doll wore an upside down cross, but if it had a shirt that said "christians suck" it would bother me.
      ya know? i mean, im NOT going to judge ANYONE by what they wear or what their doll wears unless it directly effects me, IE the "christians suck" thing.
       
    7. The way I feel about this is the way that I feel about most doll subjects that may or may not concern me, to be honest. Which is quite simply, "Freedom of expression is wonderful, so long as you try not to harm anyone."

      If something does offend you due to your own personal situation, it's much healthier to simply walking away and not let it be a part of your life.

      I've never really thought about my dolls having religious beliefs before regardless of the fact that I am a glutton for religious study, most likely because I am agnostic. That said, however, the doll that I am waiting for will be Shinto an an extent due to having a Japanese character, having it as part of his way of life and culture.
       
    8. I often wondered... how can someone call themselves a non-practicing Catholic? That would be like a non-practicing vegetarian, they eat meat. Either you are or you aren't.

      monkeycancer, your option could have been worded in a more subdued manner. Your detest for the Catholic and Christian faith is evident, but highly irrelevant. This is suppose to just get people's option's on how they feel about BJDs with Religions.

      Back on topic... I can't say I'm 100% fine with Religious dolls, because to often the owner simply adds the religion on as an after-thought, or just to further the dolls background. I've never felt the owner was being cruel for "forcing a religion" on his/her doll, not all dolls can be atheists. I suppose if someone modeled their doll's Religion after their own, then they're more likely to understand it, and less likely to use it as simply a character crutch.

      As far as clothing and attire go...
      Does it offend me to see a Nun or Priest BJD? No, not within reason. If the Nun doll is trampy, or the Priest, then yes, obviously. There's nothing I can do about that, though. People are more likely to rub something in your face if you don't agree with it, anyway.
      I'm not terribly familiar with Shinto figures, or what they have to do in order to become a Shinto Priestess or Priests (or Monks?), so it would be harder for me to relate to them in that respect, thus I'd probably be more lenient. This stems not from being biased, but pure ignorance on my part. I still would cringe if I saw any of the previously mention being slutty, but that goes for all BJDs. If the owner is being blatantly hateful in their manner, then that's their issue. I doubt anyone like that would care what someone else thinks, anyway.
       
    9. I'm fairly certain monkeycancer was just being sarcastic. I could be wrong. ;)

      <-- used to be a non-practicing Catholic too

      Anywho, I'm going to agree with Darky. Worrying over somebody's religious doll isn't worth the ulcers. I'd rather just walk away.
       
    10. Religious dolls don't bother me. Actually, I'd really love to see a Jesus doll. I'm not a christian, but I find the story fascinating, and I think that Jesus was a great philosopher.

      Anybody have any links to pictures of dolls that are meant to be religious figures? I googled ball jointed Jesus Doll and nothing came up.
       
    11. I like the look of religion. I'm not christian, but I think the cross is pretty. I love the cute lil monks! The bald head and the outfits are nice. I think nameing your doll a highly religous name like God or Satan, or Jesus (not Hay-sus) might be on the risky side.
       
    12. Millions of people who belong to a certain faith or profession (Catholics, Jews, doctors, etc.) do not practice it, but haven't abandoned it either. They are called non-practicing.

      As regards dolls, since religion has a long history of being entwined with art, there's no reason that doll-based art shouldn't follow suit. (Such art falling within the rules of acceptability for its chosen forum, of course.) Whether it's illustrating a particular theme-- Adam & Eve, the Crucifixion, creation myths, etc.-- or whether it's simply a matter of a doll's character being religious enough to dress in religious garb-- hijab, yarmulkes, priestly robes, etc.-- there shouldn't be any barriers to expressing any of this. Nor should their be any barriers to the expression of atheism/agnosticism, for that matter.
      It doesn't seem right that our dolls "shouldn't" reflect the same broad spectrum of humanity, including all its facets & variations of faith (or the lack thereof), that we see in the world. If viewers dislike what they see online, there is always the Back button.


      [ETA a P.S. to xMadxScientistx! I know that Controversialdoll.com does feature one beautiful Soom Io done up as a suffering Christ; it's gorgeously, gorgeously done. Be 18+, sign on there, and look around the Religion subforum.]
       
    13. Thanks JennyNemesis! I'll be sure to do that.
       
    14. I don't have a problem with dolls either dressed in religious clothing or personifying a religious character as long as it's done in good taste. To dress such a doll as a comical character would be very disrespectable to me. We have members from all over the world here & I'm assuming that they cover a variety of spiritual basis' so to make fun of anyone's religion simply isn't called for.
       
    15. Both my Doll shall be Buddhist (like myself) and I am going to get them a Mala. But they were no monks so they are not in robes.
      By the way I love your Monk Doll littlepinkfaery oO.
      In other words it's completly ok with me to have dolls in any religious clothes. I mean the owner would not let wear his/her doll something they don't like and respect. As I would never clothes them as uhm...the Pope for example.
      But even if the owner dont respect the religion his doll is wearing. No harm done, it's a doll!
       
    16. I wanna see a religious bjd :p I have no religion, but I admire the aesthetics of many religions. Seriously, if you have a nun/hijab wearing/anything doll, please PM the pics, and I'll squeal like fangirl XD

      I don't have a problem with it is what I'm trying to say X3
       
    17. A non-practicing Catholic, Jew, Orthodox or whatever is simply someone who was raised in that faith, possibly baptised, etc. but currently doesn't participate in the religious observaments of their original faith.

      As far as adding a religion as simply a backdrop or addition to a character, isn't that what we do anyway whenever we create a character? It all originates in our imagination so whatever one chooses to be part of their character's backstory, including a particular faith, is a valid part of that character. It can add depth to the creation as their belief system will influence the character's thoughts & actions. And it doesn't have to be based on one own's religion or lack of it. There are plenty of books & internet sites to learn just about anything you care to learn about any faith.

      And even if you have a trampy nun or priest, well while it may not be in the best taste, such people do exist & some folks may choose to personify that in their characters. Personally, I would find that a bit offensive but that's because of my own belief system & religious experiences. Another person may well have experienced pain of some type at the hands of a religious figure & creating a less than positive version of such a person could also be a way of exorcising their demons. Or perhaps they simply don't find any religion valid & that also is their choice. If it offends me, I simply needn't look at it.
       
    18. Well I would like to name this one character I have in mind Morticai. He isnt evil or good, he is I guess both.
       
    19. I think it's defintly a personal prefrence. I belong to a little known religion called Hinduism, if i see a doll dressed in a religious hindu outfit, i know for a fact I personally wouldn't care. But if I see a Doll protrayed as a certain male blue skinned god and protrayed wrong I will most likely make a comment and try to instruct and enlighten the person on their error, But I will not lose sleep over it. As for trampy nuns, ever heard of Bible Black? I think the Christian Religion has become more like a Fad in Japan and people forgetwhat it really is. Trintiy Blood as well takes many Catholic notions. I don't think people really think about the religion the outfit portrays, just how the outfit looks.
       
    20. Part of my doll's backgrounds is that she is a practicing Buddhist and even though she is not wearing the Buddhist nun/priestess robes, I am planing to make her a mala bead chain, with the ohm sign charm at the end of it, so she can carry whenever she feels like or when she is meditating. But that is not all that she will have. I'm planning to get her a pentagram, with all the phases of them moon, and the eye of raw. She she will have different religions clothing because she and me respect and try to be understand the differnt types of belefies that people in the world and not to be small minded.