Your Own Religious Views VS. Your Dolls Religion

All of my dolls are characters, and as such -- just like real people do - they have their own views on what religion is, what it may or may not be, and how they as characters choose to spiritually identify or better themselves, if at all. Given that many of my characters do not come from the same universe as we do, their particular worlds often are created with several 'religious' systems with varying degrees or sects that interpret the 'laws' of that religion differently from one another. Meaning, even if the god, goddess, or spiritual head of note isn't mired in a specific religion recognizable by human earth standard, they are treated in a similar way as if they were religions in reality. For example, Abrahamic religions on earth have very many variations and interpretations -- Christianity, the Muslim faith, and even Mormonism are all Abrahamic religions - with followers who in themselves vary with their approach to religion. My characters are often the same. The denizens of my stories are like that; they all believe something different, even if they are looking at the same thing, because each of their experiences in life are different and it is from pure experience that we often draw conclusions on spirituality, or most of our points of view regarding subjects akin to religion. (Politics and economics come to mind, here.)

And just like real people, I have characters who reflect no faith at all, even if they themselves are spiritual beings (like devils, demons, muses, etc.) and stand awkwardly in the eye of reasoning if they were not created 'alongside' some spiritual belief or another.

As for me, I am fascinated with religion, spirituality, and occultism. My own beliefs are varied, and although there are some characters who may believe similar to what I do, or are else symbolic representation of my own strange faith, I also make certain to reserve my beliefs solely for me. A part of me goes into every character I create, but they are not me. They do not have my exact experiences and therefore cannot believe even a parallel version to my own spiritual system.

Now, that being said about specific organized religions and their dynamics, I also draw a LOT of inspiration for my stories from mythology and bibiology. I like mirroring specific themes -- I am obsessed with the spiritual ideas behind twins, for example, and use a lot of mythos surrounding Artemis and Apollo to echo these themes in my stories - to put cohesive statements together if I like the imagery associated with it in my mind. The same is true especially for witches (not the Wiccan kind, but the occult, feared kind fabled in the medieval ages especially, the dark arts and blood arts) and to be fair, I do have a LARGE amount of those in my stories, both earthbound and otherwise. So, in those instances, you could say that I put those characters there not because I wanted to be true to real life religions and wanted apt room for religious commentary, but because of pure hedonistic want of things I find pleasing, rather than correct or even accurate takes on what a religion or even a cult may be like.

I don't often see earthbound (meaning physically present on earth during a modern time period or based on our current reality) dolls with stories who reflect a lot of religion. When you have a doll who is supposed to be an average teenager, most owners don't put spirituality into what they're portaging because I feel it doesn't cross a lot of minds. In a story about a wannabe musician in high school, it just doesn't tend to be a focal point. Even in stories where the characters are demons (from what I understand of the dolls I've seen in a modern day setting) the character is an antithesis to a generic good or a generalized 'Devil' or 'God' figure. The story often focuses on these mythological brings living 'normal people' lives, and religion doesn't often actually take a primary role in that character's time. I have also seen some characters who are exactly the opposite, but still fervently preach to other. Hats gets about a generalized spiritual system (more often then not, the system of Good or Evil) without Amy specific named gods.

Then you get the stories of doll characters who are supposed gone gods themselves. In this, you kind of have an opposite effect going on: there are specific names and maybe one or two specific daily rituals mentioned, but I find that many characters made as named Gods are used to subjugate and to play a 'Master' role in interaction with the plot's other characters. The religion itself often has little to do with the actual story.

I don't think people often hesitate to give a character a religion because they are afraid of insulting someone with it. In the various ways I described above, even in my own, religion is a device for character development. So is warfare and crime. These things might be offensive to readers but the writer puts it in anyway because they feel it pertinent to the story or characters involved, wether they themselves as the writer believes in the activity written or not.

I don't get offended by how others portray religion in dolls unless the whole story is used to portray a hate campaign against another person's real life religion (like in the case of Chic Tracks or whatever they're called, they're illegal here), which I've never actually seen happen in a doll community before. I am more insulted with how doll owners can fetishize other minorities or types of relationships, or mental health issues, or the looks of a certain minority than over religious issues. My belief cannot be insulted unless you are actively trying to spite it - which had happened before - with disrespect to me in having a difference to your own beliefs.

But as far as religion goes? I don't get upset with others' creative liberties on such an abstract concept with so many different possibilities. Some I terror stations may be more juvenile or 'plot device-y' than others, but they're someone rose's intellectual property that doesn't effect me as a person.

 

If you give your dolls a character and personality, do you consider giving him/her a religious belief? Or do you not? Why/why not?
I have both given them a religious belief. Kayren is an Angel and is a Christian. He believes in God and serves him until the day he dies.
Damiën is a demon, but is somewhat Christian too. He doesn't always agree with the Angels and God, but still believes.

If you give them a religion, do you just give them the same as what you believe? Why?
Yes, but my other dolls do not have a religion. So it's not that I wanted them to have the same religion as mine. I just thought it would fit their personalities. However, I wouldn't make them Buddist, or an other religion, because that would go against my own believes.

Do you give them another religion than your own? Why?
My other dolls don't have a religion, simply because I never thought about it.

Do you think that people avoid giving their doll a religion beause they are afraid to insult anyone?
Yes and no. It really depends on the person, some just don't think it's neccessary.

Have you ever heard of someone that has given their doll the religion you have, and been insulted by it?
No.

 

If you give your dolls a character and personality, do you consider giving him/her a religious belief? Or do you not? Why/why not?
I do. Certain characters have religious faith, others have a cultural affinity with their countrymen's faith but don't believe themselves.

If you give them a religion, do you just give them the same as what you believe? Why?
My characters live in a different world to the one we inhabit, but some religions are similar to our world religions. My doll Gwenllian, follows a religion which is very much like 18th century Welsh nonconformist Christianity. I am Welsh and a Christian myself, so this is putting my heritage into my story.

Do you give them another religion than your own? Why?
Oh yes! Morideryn is a tribal princess and her people's religion is animist (they believe that all things have a spiritual essence.) Mafonwen is not religious herself, but people from her country believe in worshipping their ancestors and praying to them to intercede with a whole pantheon of different gods and goddesses. I have always been interested in other religions and what better way to make your own world more 'real' than by giving different groups of people different religions?

Giving my dolls different religions doesn't insult my own faith or make me worship a false god. I am writing about a fantasy world and I know the religions are made up just for the story, even if they may have similarities to real world religions.

Do you think that people avoid giving their doll a religion beause they are afraid to insult anyone?
No, I think one reason why people may avoid giving their doll a religion is because they don't feel it's important to the character in any way.

Have you ever heard of someone that has given their doll the religion you have, and been insulted by it?
Nope.

 

If you give your dolls a character and personality, do you consider giving him/her a religious belief? Or do you not? Why/why not?

All of my dolls have a religious belief, either a religion they follow (real or fictitious) or atheist/agnostic. I think it adds a dimension to their character as I think most people have a belief of some sort even if it is only apathy towards religion.

If you give them a religion, do you just give them the same as what you believe? Why?

I'm agnostic - at least I think that is the correct term. I believe in something but not in any of the organised religions. I would say that my beliefs are more like a mixture of several different religions Some of my dolls follow this same stance, but most don't.

Do you give them another religion than your own? Why?

Some of my dolls are Christian, one is pre-Islamic Arabian (so pagan, really), several believe in the faery religion I invented and a couple are completely atheist or apathetic. I tried to give them religions that would reflect their era of origin or character. For example, my two French Revolution characters are Christian (Catholic nobility, to be exact), my pre-Islamic Arab is a very old vampire from that area and my three modern-day mage characters are atheist.

Do you think that people avoid giving their doll a religion beause they are afraid to insult anyone?

Some probably do.

Have you ever heard of someone that has given their doll the religion you have, and been insulted by it?

I don't really think this applies, but I wouldn't be offended if someone made a character that covered all of my (rather varied) beliefs even if it was used in a negative way and/or based directly off my beliefs (which I rarely talk about but have done on occasion).

Religion is often a touchy subject and I don't expect this hobby to be any different. However, I do feel that most dolly people are quite tolerant even of this I have written about my characters in many places and some people have corrected me on my use of religion in certain places and I'm really grateful for that because I don't always understand religious concepts that I don't share so it's helpful to have people who share those beliefs to help me make my stories more accurate ^^ I try to use religion in a respectful way because even though I don't believe in anything specific myself I do also believe that having faith of some kind is very important.

(I hope it's okay for me to add that bit on the end even though it doesn't really match any of the questions! If not a mod is welcome to edit my post or tell me to edit it )

 

If you give your dolls a character and personality, do you consider giving him/her a religious belief? Or do you not? Why/why not?
Some of mine have religions they believe in and some don't... it all depends on the character. Just like real people, it's all a matter of what's right for them.

If you give them a religion, do you just give them the same as what you believe? Why?
Do you give them another religion than your own? Why?
Again, it all depends. I do have a couple who are a similar religion to my own... and some who are very, very different from it. ^__^ It's up to them (their character) what they believe.

Do you think that people avoid giving their doll a religion because they are afraid to insult anyone?
I can't claim to know why others do or don't. It could be out of fear of offending others... maybe they just don't feel it's important... maybe their character/doll doesn't want it. No idea.

Have you ever heard of someone that has given their doll the religion you have, and been insulted by it?
I have a few with my religion, and have met a few people who's dolls had the same. I'm not offended in the least. The only way I would be offended would be if this person was making false statements or claiming incorrect "facts" about it without bothering to do research or ask questions. That said, I've actually answered questions for others about it. ^__^

 

If you give your dolls a character and personality, do you consider giving him/her a religious belief? Or do you not? Why/why not?
Yes, some sort of religious belief; I think this is a fairly important part of any person, regardless of which belief they hold, it's always there. So it should be with the dolls as well.

If you give them a religion, do you just give them the same as what you believe? Why?
Well, in my case, my dolls are characters from a Fantasy world, with gods that I have made up, and that I don't actually believe in, of course... but that whole religion is based on my view of the supernatural, so I suppose in a way, the answer is yes.

Do you give them another religion than your own? Why?
I don't confess to a religion, as such, but I do give them one (well, the only doll I have at the moment is an atheist, but the others will have other beliefs). It's because they need these beliefs for my story to make sense.

Do you think that people avoid giving their doll a religion beause they are afraid to insult anyone?
I'm sure someone does that, but I think it's sad and they shouldn't have to.

Have you ever heard of someone that has given their doll the religion you have, and been insulted by it?
I've never heard of anyone who's given their doll the same belief as me, and I wouldn't be insulted, far from it, it'd fascinate me that someone has reached the same conclusions I have about the supernatural

 

If you give your dolls a character and personality, do you consider giving him/her a religious belief? Or do you not? Why/why not?
My dolls are based on characters I've written (a scenario town just for them LOL) So they have a variety of spiritual beliefs, akin to how a group of geeks interested in cosplay WOULD have in a real-life similiar setting.

If you give them a religion, do you just give them the same as what you believe? Do you give them another religion than your own? Why?
I have created a group that has a LOT in common w/groups I'm involved in (interests I have) so my characters/dolls are very similiar spiritually to those real groups of fan/geek/whatevers I actually know. So quite varied! Agnostics, atheists, pagans, Catholics, Christians (working on a Fan for Christ type character based on the group that goes to Dragon Con every year!) - don't have a muslim at the moment (I mean, its a little town in Georgia...) or Hindi - but I've got Buddhists & Shinto
I myself am Pagan - Religio Romano/Celtic plus eclectic LOL - & there is one character of mine that is something like me - but how boring if all the rest were just the same!

Do you think that people avoid giving their doll a religion beause they are afraid to insult anyone?
Who knows. The whole PC thing gives me a pain - if I'm not being derogatory or better yet misrepresenting something or someone, then I DON'T CARE if someone somewhere is upset because of leaving a group out or including one. I have based my characters on people I have seen/researched/read about - real people (I don't mean every one of my characters is a copy of some person but that the character has a combination of personality traits/opinions/beliefs/styles that I've seen in real life). Its how I've always written. So I don't have a Muslim at the moment... DEAL. I have witches...DEAL. I have a devout Catholic...DEAL!!!! I've not managed to represent EVERY ethnic group.... OMG DEAL.

 

If you give your dolls a character and personality, do you consider giving him/her a religious belief? Or do you not? Why/why not?

Right now, out of my whole collection, I can say only one has a really strong religious belief. This character was a Crusader, so he was part of the Catholic church. His beliefs evolved a little bit in time but he still believes in God and he is, pretty much, my only lawful good character. Everything is either black or white for him.

If you give them a religion, do you just give them the same as what you believe? Why?

Yes I did. Even though he's not the best at representing it (the fact that he's a vampire... ).

Do you give them another religion than your own? Why?

N/A

Do you think that people avoid giving their doll a religion beause they are afraid to insult anyone?

I have never thought about it, so I can't state an opinion. I gave this doll my same beliefs, because beside maybe a couple more, I don't know much about other religious... Although I like researching about them. So I could end up insulting someone if I did attempt creating a character with a religion I don't know much about.

Have you ever heard of someone that has given their doll the religion you have, and been insulted by it?

Hum, I don't know many religious people who collect dolls to be honest. There was this owner with what seemed to be a Christian doll, but it did not offend me at all. I thought it was cute.

 

If you give your dolls a character and personality, do you consider giving him/her a religious belief? Or do you not? Why/why not?

I only have one doll where religion is part of their background. He believes in Christianity, though he is a vampire. With my other dolls, there are sides of light and darkness to which they belong, which would relate to the powers of Heaven and Hell. However, the dolls I own would eventually end up being on the same side. I couldn't imagine any of them being actually evil.

If you give them a religion, do you just give them the same as what you believe? Why?

Yes. It's because that's what I know. I wouldn't want to give them a belief that I don't understand or couldn't represent well.

Do you give them another religion than your own? Why?

I kind of answered that in the previous question.

Do you think that people avoid giving their doll a religion beause they are afraid to insult anyone?

I'm sure that some people are afraid of that. Personally, I don't think it would upset anyone.

Have you ever heard of someone that has given their doll the religion you have, and been insulted by it?

Nope, I wouldn't be offended, unless it was intended to be demeaning. I've heard of/seen Christian dolls, and they have all used the religion in a respectful manner. In my opinion, that is an honor that someone would use my religion to represent their doll and character

 

If you give your dolls a character and personality, do you consider giving him/her a religious belief? Or do you not? Why/why not?
I never have, though I don't know why. Maybe it resonates with my own beliefs, or it's part of why my character creation is lacking, but neither of my dolls have a religion.

Do you give them another religion than your own? Why?
I'm currently interested in creating a doll based around the Skyrim universe. It would seem odd to me to not incorporate the religion from the game into the doll's character.

Do you think that people avoid giving their doll a religion because they are afraid to insult anyone?
Maybe. I know I do, but that's how I am with any belief or behavior I haven't had personal experience with. Even when I research until my eyeballs bleed, I never feel it's enough. Sometimes, it's due to the nature of the actual thing I'm looking into.

Have you ever heard of someone that has given their doll the religion you have, and been insulted by it?
No - not yet, anyway. Unless it was used to demean the religion, and portray all believers as a stereotype, I wouldn't be bothered.

 

If you give your dolls a character and personality, do you consider giving him/her a religious belief? Or do you not? Why/why not?

Not before my new dolls started to come in. My new dolls are Faeries, so I did give them a religion, based loosely off of Keltic and Druidic Paganism.

My previous characters didn't have a religion because well...coz I didn't think of it. xD



If you give them a religion, do you just give them the same as what you believe? Why?

Kiiiinda. I'm a Christian, but I'm leaning towards rural earth-based religion these days. Why did I do that? Because it's historically interesting, and also because I think it's beautiful. A lot of Keltic ideas are based off of the seasons and what is in-season at that point, flowers, trees, snow, vegitables, etc.

So, in that sense, yes, my new Faeries do reflect my religion (kinda,) and that's because I want to photograph my faeries religiously practicing, for example, Beltane, or Solstace. It's like... a photographer's wet dream... Soooo pretty o u o



Do you give them another religion than your own? Why?

It's pretty, and also because it's interesting! Religion inspires people. I don't think my dolls have to reflect my own personal beliefs for them to be inspiring. ^__^


Do you think that people avoid giving their doll a religion beause they are afraid to insult anyone?

I'm not going to not do something because I'm worried it'll insult someone else, I'll take that issue on should it arise. I'm not rude by nature so I don't think it'll happen. ^_^


Have you ever heard of someone that has given their doll the religion you have, and been insulted by it?

Nope. But, I've been insulted by dolls before, and I eventually got over it.

I don't actively seek out discussing these matters with people, because I think both parties are prone to getting their feelings hurt. I'd rather critique than criticize.


For the sake of adding to the discussion: I'm spiritual and I have somewhat Christian beliefs. I'm very open about it but it's not a big part of my life ^_^

The biggest religion my dolls have is a bit like Keltic or Druidic Paganism, which is....totally different than Christianity. > u <

I have dolls like this because it's a BLAST to photograph!

I love discovering new things, so having Druidic dolls is another reason to read more books about really awesome stuff I normally wouldn't read about.

I like reading new things and I like taking beautiful photos. So it works out for me in the end.

Would I ever have a doll who is a Christian like I am, or like my family is? Sure, why not?

 

If you give your dolls a character and personality, do you consider giving him/her a religious belief? Or do you not? Why/why not?
Yes, most of my dolls do have a certain sort of religious believe. but since 99% of my dolls are Fantasy/ancient cultures and do not live exist in this universe they tend to follow more nature based believes, whereby they simply believe in "the gods and goddesses" some greek in origin some completely different.

If you give them a religion, do you just give them the same as what you believe? Why?
99% of my dolls yes, I follow a nature based belief as well.
why? it fist their characters and their plane of existence.

Do you give them another religion than your own? Why?
Yes I still have that 1 1% doll , this is a doll I fell in love with complete with her background story
(which I was also alloud to adopt from the previous owner. I only changed her name)
Josephine's background story is that she was a 18th century french courtier (A lady in waiting with marie antoinette) and got killed in the french revolution.
Since she is 18th century french AND a courtier it is only fitting for her character to be a devout christian, so she is.

Do you think that people avoid giving their doll a religion beause they are afraid to insult anyone?
Maybe, i know I am carefull when writing about religious views of any doll, especially Josephine. since I have a doll that follows a religion I do not follow I am weary of making mistakes in her views. therefor with all of my dolls I usually do not write long stories about their personal believes.

Have you ever heard of someone that has given their doll the religion you have, and been insulted by it? There are enough dolls with nature religions out there, and there a also a great amount of different nature believes, So I do not feel insulted by any of the believes of these dolls, after all it could fit precisely in their form of nature religion.

 

All of my dolls, like myself, are atheists. I didn't actually plan them this way, but it's just how things shook out as their characters were developed over time. Most of them don't have a need for it in their lives and don't actively care about it, while two are demons who live fairly normal modern lives and find organized religion really hilarious. Another is interested in ancient mythologies and religious practices from a purely academic standpoint, but he himself doesn't believe in them.

Negative portrayals of atheists are sort of par for the course for Western media, so I generally just roll my eyes at it and move on if I see any.

 

None of my dolls have religious beliefs, and I don't plan on ever giving them any. I suppose that because I am an Athiest, and don't believe in any kind of 'higher power', I don't really think about religion as an important factor in the creation of a character. In English speaking countries outside of America, Atheism or being non-religious is pretty mainstream, so I don't think anyone would ever complain that my dolls weren't religious.

...And I suppose I wouldn't be associating with the kind of person that would complain about that sort of thing in the first place.

 

The same happens to me, I'm atheist (inside a most of religious family) and I can't think of my doll having a religion despite of that I always think about all the details about their lives to make their characters as real as possible. I never thought about that possibility and I know I wouldn't feel comfortable by giving them a "religion" because although it is something that I respect, I don't like them so I don't want it for my characters.

Btw, this is a very interesting thread! I'm surprised that I never thought about that part in the personality of my dolls.

 

If you give your dolls a character and personality, do you consider giving him/her a religious belief? Or do you not? Why/why not?
Yes, of course! I think what a character believes is an important thing to consider in their world view.

If you give them a religion, do you just give them the same as what you believe? Why?
Well, everyone's free to believe whatever they want so I wouldn't just assume they should believe the same as I do.

Do you give them another religion than your own? Why?
Yes, because the characters live in a different world where their gods have actually interacted with the world in such a way that there's no doubt that they exist. Whether they're beings worth worshiping is a different matter.

Do you think that people avoid giving their doll a religion beause they are afraid to insult anyone?
Maybe?

Have you ever heard of someone that has given their doll the religion you have, and been insulted by it?
No, nothing insulting about agnosticism.

 

Although the Debate subforum is more encouraging of less restrictive topics of discussion, we do still discourage discussing the fictional aspects of creating characters.

Thank you for understanding why this thread is being locked.