Okay, I understand.

I still think, though, that this is kinda "excessively PC".

I mean, 'cause, consider: here in San Francisco, there's the Church of Satan. And I mean, these guys, are genuine, honest, devil worshippers. You know, they even get decked out in black and red robes, and stuff like that.

And I mean, you know, if you start talking to any of those guys about Jesus, you're gonna get a stream of hatred like you've never heard before. But they're not gonna get in anyone's face about it, right? That's the point. The mere act of "creating" such a doll, is not the equivalent of walking into the AME Church during sunday services. It's only the equivalent of creating the statue of Christ with the urine, and I mean, yes if offends Christians, but so what?

I mean, really, the meta-point, is, that if your "belief system" is robust, then you're gonna be able to tolerate "any manner" of offense in that regard.

You know, I posted in another thread about this old Jewish guy I know, and how he responded when he happened to overhear someone saying that Jews were the source of all the evil and rottenness in the world. You know, the guy identifed as a human being "first", and I saw him sittin' there with his arm around the person who said that, consoling her 'cause she was so terribly embarrassed, and this guy was just tellin' her this story about the way things were when "he" grew up, you know, just to calm her down a little, and I mean, you know, this is the deal, right? Someone comes up to you and tells you you're the spawn of Satan, and you're gonna feel sorry for 'em and put your arm around 'em and say, "what's wrong? can I help?"

What's offensive, to me, is when "I" have to pay homage to "your" God.

Nah, I'm not gonna do that kinda thing. I'm gonna sit here and tell you that your God sucks, and then I'm gonna show you why, and I'm gonna do it over and over again until you understand.

See, I mean, there's something more fundamental in play here, than just "religious belief", and the idea that we shouldn't be "offending someone's sensibilities".

I mean, 'cause people have crazy sensibilities, right? Really wierd stuff. You know, the trivial example would be the little old lady who's gonna frown at anyone who's wearing blue jeans, and really frown if there's a tear in 'em anywhere.

So the way "I" look at that kinda thing, is, when I'm on the little old lady's turf, I'm gonna respect her "sensitivities". But when she's on mine, I expect her to do that same thing. And if we're on PUBLIC ground, I'm just gonna ignore her and do whatever I want, 'cause I have the Right to do that. (yep, the ol' "'cause I can" argument.... ) -

You know, and I mean, I'm sorry if it offends her, that I'm wearing blue jeans. But like, she has no Right to impose her beliefs in my space, or her morality, or anything else that's "private to her". You know, if she wants, she's entirely free to call the cops and try to have me arrested. I don't they'd do that, but it's entirely within her rights as a citizen to do that.

What wouldn't be in her rights, would be to shoot me on the spot. Or cut my head off. Or some such thing.

See, the problem with this kind of thing, in regards to We the People, is the children.

'Cause I mean, kids don't know nothin' from nothin', when they start out, and you know, the parents can't teach 'em "everything" before they have to let 'em go out into the real world, so like, you know, here's this innocent ten year old kid, and suddenly he's gettin' an earful from this old lady, about what a bad and rotten child he is 'cause he's wearing blue jeans - and I mean, old ladies DO that kinda stuff, and they ESPECIALLY do it whenever they think they can "get away with it", 'cause that's just the way a lof of old ladies ARE - you know, nothin' against 'em, it's just the way they ARE, it's a frog being a frog, and a scorpion being a scorpion, and an old lady being an old lady.

So it seems to me, that it's in society's best interest, if "I" as an individual, do my utmost to "de-sensitize" the old ladies, so that when my son starts wearing jeans, that he's less likely to come home crying 'cause he's just been told by some bitter old lady that he's a very bad boy. So, if "I" do my best to always run around in blue jeans everywhere I go, and make sure that I cross a lot of old ladies' paths in public places, then what's gonna happen is they're gonna start getting "de-sensitized" to the perceptual "reaction" they get when they see a pair of blue jeans. You know, after the 100th one, it's gonna be "there goes another hippy" instead of "there's that (*)(*)(*)(*) hippy again".

Is this "analogy" making sense?

So now, on to the "de-sensitization" concept.

Ah Jeez.... um.... I'm not quite sure I should even go where I think the obvious place to go is, on this one.... I'll just say one thing: do you remember the "Sambo's" restaurants? Well...... :eyebrow: They're all gone now, but is it possible that they could have served any kind of "useful purpose" in this regard, during their brief existence?

Yeah, I don't know about the "anti-Islamic rants" part - I was kinda envisioning that whole bit, coming "later". You know, that would be like, "de-sensitization Phase IV" or something. "Phase I" would just be introducing the dolls, without any speech. "Phase II" might be adding a little speech, like something very inoffensive. "Phase III" might be kicking up the volume a little, like maybe "My name is talking Tina, and I like Mohammed, and I like Jesus and Buddha too", you know, and then the full-on Phase IV would be the dripping syphilitic.... body-parts of the nearest pig saint, or whatever (which, by the way, is a very popular curse in Croatia, they're very "serious" about their religion over there - so much so, that they use that kinda thing to "lighten up a conversation" ) - and you know, you could have the doll holding a football or something in one hand, and the head of George Bush or the nearest Jew in the other.... You know, really "make a statement".....

Nah, look, I'm being, like, 90% facetious. But you see what I was thinking, right? You know, putting on my best "Karl Rove" hat (or Goebbels, or let's see, the soft version of that would be Madison Avenue), I'm trying to figure out how we go about changing the "stereotypes" over there. Right? Not "here" - we don't have a problem with that part (I mean, Bushie does, but most of the rest of us kinda understand what's going on). So, you know, you gotta be "sly" about that kinda thing. There are probably some "strategies" that could work in that regard. You know, like, make the first doll really friendly or something, and then pretty soon maybe you've got a whole array of dolls with different characteristics, like a collection of Hot Wheels or something - you know, so you've got the "good dolls" and the "evil dolls", and you set it up in such a way that the division there, can't be "perverted" or "spun" by the nearest Muslim Imam - yes?