We seemingly have entered into a time in our collective lives in which group think wins and an outlier to popular opinion will be scorned, mocked and chased back into whatever corner is thought to be the nearest. It is one thing to engage in a political debate on Facebook; it seems to me to be quite another to attack a woman on a crafter's page who dared to state her opinion openly.
This particular crafter's page is one I ended up on, for reasons I am not too sure of at the moment, in which people who make things to sell post them as others generally give constructive criticism or encouragement. Most of what I see on that page is made from kits or configured with the trusty glue gun, and though I do not purport to be better than anyone, I see myself as an artist and not as a crafter in the true sense of the word. Artists create their own patterns and designs; crafters use the patterns and designs of others. I also feel it would take something away from my art if I started gluing on the buttons instead of sewing them on by hand. In any case, I would never impugn the work of someone who is trying to create something. We all have different expressions and abilities.
Yesterday, however, this crafter's page seemed to turn a corner.
A woman stated she would have to leave the page and would no longer be a part of whatever it is they are doing because she was so offended by someone's creation of a voodoo doll. She said it was evil and the practice of using a voodoo doll was hateful and she could no longer be associated with this page if someone was practicing the ritual of voodoo. Why she did not just take her leave, I am uncertain, but I have to believe that she felt the need to express why she was going, perhaps because she had enjoyed the fellowship this page had offered her, or maybe because she was truly concerned for the maker of such an item as she was for those who would unwittingly buy something with potential evil attached to it. I am pretty much making this up, but this is what I would like to believe.
Ok. On the one hand, this is hilarious. Having traveled to the birthplace of voodoo--Benin, West Africa--I can tell you that I even laughed there, when I saw a voodoo doll in a store. The idea of putting a spell on someone, however, I believe can be real, and black magic is not something I would ever want to mess with or encourage someone else to do so. But we each have our own minds to make up and I am not in charge of what anyone thinks, except for myself.
In response to this woman's earnest comment differentiating right from wrong within her own moral code were jeers and mocking comments of a ferocity that surprised me. Were these good-natured women at home quietly gluing buttons onto snowmen made of old socks and putting together one more identical teddy bear made from chenille or an angry mob with scissors in hand ready to attack? It seemed the latter was playing itself out among the pre-cut felt ornaments.
The woman must have left the page because when I went back to see the aftermath, her post, along with some 100 responses, has been erased. But not before these angry crafters let one of their own have it with the force of 20 bags of fiberfill. They told her she had no right to her own opinion, said she shouldn't promise to leave the page--do it already!, and then quite a few started posting photos of voodoo dolls and saying how badly they wanted to make them and how wonderfully cute they are. What the point of all of this was, in my mind, was really quite terrible. I imagine a God-fearing woman faithfully knitting together her own crafts to sell at her church bazaar while perhaps this new generation is knitting pussy hats for their next demonstration. Whatever way one needs to express herself is wide open. We live in a free country. Could we love each other just a little bit more?
To have her own group tear her to pieces because what she holds dear was found offensive by some members of the group does not mean she should be shunned. It is obvious to point out that perhaps because she is shunning the group by leaving the page that it is all good and right to do the same to her. I cannot be the judge. But there seemed to be a level above live-and-let-live that seemed a bit over the top this time.
It is for this reason I shy away from political, religious or personal opinions that may not be shared by others and may in fact invite severe criticism. Whatever happened to civil social discourse? If I write something, it is because it is my experience, something seen through my eyes, expressed by me alone. Like my art in which I create the design and the pattern qualifying it as an art and not a craft, what I write is of my own ideas, like what a friend said recently of my Christmas letter; it was very "Mary Ellen."
There is "nothing new under the sun," as is attributed to Solomon in the Bible. So maybe what this woman did, standing up against that which she perceived as evil, has always resulted in the same way. Look what happened to Jesus. Of course that angry crowd was probably not threatening him with knitting needles and crochet hooks.
Voodoo dolls, nevertheless, will be made from patterns, crocheted, and stitched (dare I say glued) together for the betterment (or not) of society. Some people will laugh while others will shun. Craft fairs will continue to offer dish towels and plaques, paint-by-numbers and the latest pre-fabricated whatevers. And somewhere out there is a woman who will be praying that evil does not ever overcome good. I, for one, hope her prayer is answered.
This particular crafter's page is one I ended up on, for reasons I am not too sure of at the moment, in which people who make things to sell post them as others generally give constructive criticism or encouragement. Most of what I see on that page is made from kits or configured with the trusty glue gun, and though I do not purport to be better than anyone, I see myself as an artist and not as a crafter in the true sense of the word. Artists create their own patterns and designs; crafters use the patterns and designs of others. I also feel it would take something away from my art if I started gluing on the buttons instead of sewing them on by hand. In any case, I would never impugn the work of someone who is trying to create something. We all have different expressions and abilities.
Yesterday, however, this crafter's page seemed to turn a corner.
A woman stated she would have to leave the page and would no longer be a part of whatever it is they are doing because she was so offended by someone's creation of a voodoo doll. She said it was evil and the practice of using a voodoo doll was hateful and she could no longer be associated with this page if someone was practicing the ritual of voodoo. Why she did not just take her leave, I am uncertain, but I have to believe that she felt the need to express why she was going, perhaps because she had enjoyed the fellowship this page had offered her, or maybe because she was truly concerned for the maker of such an item as she was for those who would unwittingly buy something with potential evil attached to it. I am pretty much making this up, but this is what I would like to believe.
Ok. On the one hand, this is hilarious. Having traveled to the birthplace of voodoo--Benin, West Africa--I can tell you that I even laughed there, when I saw a voodoo doll in a store. The idea of putting a spell on someone, however, I believe can be real, and black magic is not something I would ever want to mess with or encourage someone else to do so. But we each have our own minds to make up and I am not in charge of what anyone thinks, except for myself.
In response to this woman's earnest comment differentiating right from wrong within her own moral code were jeers and mocking comments of a ferocity that surprised me. Were these good-natured women at home quietly gluing buttons onto snowmen made of old socks and putting together one more identical teddy bear made from chenille or an angry mob with scissors in hand ready to attack? It seemed the latter was playing itself out among the pre-cut felt ornaments.
The woman must have left the page because when I went back to see the aftermath, her post, along with some 100 responses, has been erased. But not before these angry crafters let one of their own have it with the force of 20 bags of fiberfill. They told her she had no right to her own opinion, said she shouldn't promise to leave the page--do it already!, and then quite a few started posting photos of voodoo dolls and saying how badly they wanted to make them and how wonderfully cute they are. What the point of all of this was, in my mind, was really quite terrible. I imagine a God-fearing woman faithfully knitting together her own crafts to sell at her church bazaar while perhaps this new generation is knitting pussy hats for their next demonstration. Whatever way one needs to express herself is wide open. We live in a free country. Could we love each other just a little bit more?
To have her own group tear her to pieces because what she holds dear was found offensive by some members of the group does not mean she should be shunned. It is obvious to point out that perhaps because she is shunning the group by leaving the page that it is all good and right to do the same to her. I cannot be the judge. But there seemed to be a level above live-and-let-live that seemed a bit over the top this time.
It is for this reason I shy away from political, religious or personal opinions that may not be shared by others and may in fact invite severe criticism. Whatever happened to civil social discourse? If I write something, it is because it is my experience, something seen through my eyes, expressed by me alone. Like my art in which I create the design and the pattern qualifying it as an art and not a craft, what I write is of my own ideas, like what a friend said recently of my Christmas letter; it was very "Mary Ellen."
There is "nothing new under the sun," as is attributed to Solomon in the Bible. So maybe what this woman did, standing up against that which she perceived as evil, has always resulted in the same way. Look what happened to Jesus. Of course that angry crowd was probably not threatening him with knitting needles and crochet hooks.
Voodoo dolls, nevertheless, will be made from patterns, crocheted, and stitched (dare I say glued) together for the betterment (or not) of society. Some people will laugh while others will shun. Craft fairs will continue to offer dish towels and plaques, paint-by-numbers and the latest pre-fabricated whatevers. And somewhere out there is a woman who will be praying that evil does not ever overcome good. I, for one, hope her prayer is answered.
