Talking Jesus Doll Stirs Debate

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This is sort of on the heels of the "cartoonist-drawing-a-picture-of-Mohammad" thread but I thought it might be interesting to follow this sort of story from the beginning and see what sort of responses it produces from secular and religious folks alike. I pulled the link off of CNN but it's a story from a local Phoenix, Arizona (USA) TV station:

http://www.kpho.com/news/14502043/detail.html

Opinions?

 

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to be honest i think they can do what they want just because someone believes in god, the easter bunny or the tooth fairy why should everyone else have to be governed by their beliefs. If i want to draw mo i'll draw mo.

Grim

 

Just a question..... What does your response have to do with the article?

 

This looks like a tempest in a teapot if you ask me. A Jesus doll that quotes Bible verses? So what? No one is saying, "Worship this", or "This doll is holy". I don't have a problem with it all. There are certainly dolls/action figures for kids to play that teach far worse things than this one does.

 

i have no problems with a jesus doll if it's fun for the kids or "educational" i just don't like being forced to do or not to do because of other peoples beliefs.

can one buy a mo doll ?

grim

 

For me it's not even a tempest in a teapot. It's just a sort of odd novelty using a religious iconic figure. I don't relate it to the real Jesus, not even a little. There are other faiths however, that if one of their religious iconic figures was turned into a talking doll, would likely become quite upset and vocal. I'm interested in a couple of things here:

1. How will secular and religious groups of all faiths react to a Messiah/Savior/Prophet figure being turned into a doll?

2. Is it possible to take such an event and have most people simply ignore it, thereby resulting in the issue not ever becoming blown out of scale and thus, the toy eventually just "going away" due to lack of interest?

If point 2 can be demonstrated, then it will be an illustration that the best way to handle situations where religious iconic figures are displayed in the media is to just ignore them. Eventually, they'll go away as opposed to drawing lots of outrage and thus lots of attention (books have been made into best sellers this way).

 

Uh oh...
Here we go again...

 

I have absolutely no problem with the doll or the idea at all. If it's simply a way of introducing the concept of religion and a selection of bible quotes/stories to children, it's nothing that they wouldn't be taught in school. If it was being used as a tool to promote one religion above other religions eg Jesus was quoting some of the more 'colourful' bible stories or said "Love me and follow my religion or you're going to Hell" I'd want it off the shelf but it sounds as if the manager of the company making them has his head screwed on right. I can't see anything overtly religious on the website but there don't appear to be any religious toys outside of the bible stories. Personally, I'd love a talking Kali or Shiva....

For a bit more backgound;

The manufacturers website

A piece on the same story on the Guardian website

But just to prove that religion is a funny old thing at the best of times;

Chocolate statue of Jesus pulled from exhibition

Just so everyone knows, I'm not in the slightest bit religious and as far as I'm concerned people can persue whatever faith they like. I do have a problem with people who stir up trouble by claiming their God is the one true God etc..... Life is too short, just be happy

Sorry, that turned into a bit of a long post!

Lord Deckard.

 

Actually, I hope not. I'd rather have a more focused and less long lived thread. I just want to follow the story in the media and see if it goes anywhere and if it doesn't (which I hope), to perhaps draw some conclusions about what happens when the religious community ignores something like this. I hope this story (and this thread) both don't last too long.

 

OK, well I can give you my view on the subjetct.
I'm not trying to be controversial or two offend anyone, just give my honest views.
I hope you can all appreciate this in the spirit with which it is intended.

I consider myself an agnostic, despite (or perhaps bacause of) being brought up in an Anglican boarding school.
That always struck me as odd by the way, being taught sciences by men is dog collars.

Anyway.
I don't see any real evidence to proove that Jesus was a real person.

I do think he 'existed', but not as we currently see him. He may have been more than one person, or the embodiment of a belief.
Therefore, in my mind, he is a fictional character.

So I don't see any difference between a Jesus action figure and an Obi Wan Kenobi action figure as an 'object'.

I do however find it interesting that such a thing should be in demand.
The company which makes them claims to do so because they are concerned with the lack of morals and ethics in toys.

HELLO - they're toys!

But, as a company, they can only exist if they have more than a passing interest in making lots of money.
So, there must be a demand somewhere.

Which seems odd (although I'm sure Rod and Tod Flanders are getting one for Christmas).

Given that it is a sensitive subject among a lot of people, I would guess there are some places that buy them,
and at the other extreme, some places that will loot them from shops and burn them in the street.

This isn't the first Jesus action figure to be produced.
A whole range of biblical action figures has been available for quite a long time, but I don't think they were ever news-worthy.

There is a 'novelty tat' shop in Cardiff which sells a selection.
Being a university town, I guess most people buy them as a laugh or as a talking point.
Those wacky students!

As Trip says, it will be interesting to see where this one goes.

 

BTW.

I do try to respect the beliefs of others.

If you have a shrine to your God in your living room, fair play, I will admire the strength of your devotion.

If your shrine consists of a battery-powered plastic Jesus worth $14.97 which quotes the bible, I will laugh at you behind your back.

 

That's the point. What does that dislike of being forced to act outside of what you believe have to do with a thread about a doll?

It just seems to me that every time there is a thread that even mentions Christianity, you say the exact same thing. When was the last time a Christian went and got a cop and forced you to go to church, or forced you to act the they wanted you to?

 

This thread has zero to do with what you believe or don't believe, so let's not start discussing our theologies or philosophies. It has to do with any sort of attention this issue gets in the media and if it goes anywhere. It also has to do with the amount of attention this issue does or doesn't get by religious groups and whether or not that affects the lifecycle of this story in the media. My belief is that the less attention people give this issue, the quicker it will go away. Frankly, I'd like to use this to point out that if Islam as a body simply ignored silly cartoonists who choose to draw pictures of their prophet, the issue would die a sudden death and future cartoonists would lose interests in the subject. If you want people to caricaturing your religous icons, ignore them.

So far, I haven't seen any responses in the news about this issue beyond the original story, so perhaps this one will go the way I predict. Let's see what happens over the next day or so.

 

Well, this story stirs religious feelings because of it's nature.

I'll give you another example.
Say I decided to market a memorial princess Diana doll, in a little coffin, with a plaque.

I suspect the debate would be equally divided between being totally sick, funny, or a genuine attempt at remembrance.

(And before you say it could never happen, Viz just published a spoof ad for a replica wrecked Lady Di Mercedes - collector's edition).

So whenever you do something like this, people will either be:

Horrified and offended.
Genuinely moved and excited.
Tickled with laughter.

That's mankind for you.

 

i prefer buddy christ i mean he just looks friendly, all smiley and winking.

http://www.jayandsilentbob.com/budchrisdass1.html

 

i've always been told not to except gifts from strangers unless i get the lift in the car but at christmas i'm forced to open big shiny gifts from a bearded stranger who breaks into my house, eats all my mince pies, drinks all my sherry and legs it on his slay if that's not wrong i don't know what is.

some people might not realise this but i'm actually religious myself, i'm a follower of the force and in my free time i go door to door in my x-wing fighter

grim

 

I'd say that the Diana doll would probably be in worse taste than the talking Jesus doll but I can see where both could inspire an emotional response from some. The thing is, I'd probably raise a bigger squak about the Diana doll because it really would be disrespectful and in bad taste. I think the Jesus doll is just a bad attempt at trying to inject the secular marketplace with some religion...especially with Christmas less than two months away.

So far, I haven't seen one follow up story on the WalMart Jesus doll, so I suspect that the only places where this issue is still alive is on this forum and perhaps in various churches where they are using it as an example for how the world views their faith.

I repeat for those of you who may not have been listening...this thread is absolutely not about your faith, my faith, or anybody else's faith (or lack thereof). Please do not open the door to "the debate" again. I think I'm proving my point about how if we ignore a situation, it'll go away faster than if we keep commenting about it (hint, hint).

 

You started it...

 

do you think they'll release a god doll or would that be going too far ?

grim

 

He'd look just like this: