Fundie Reenactments Going Mainstream

[GenerationCedarchip]

I've met Civil War reenactors of all stripes - love of history seems to be the main common thread among them. However, a lot more of the fundie reenactments of various events (not just Civil War) have been going on around VA and neighboring states, and I've been noticing more and more mainstream folks jumping into those. I'm seeing more and more crossover between love of history/reenacting and the fundie crowd as I see some decidedly non-fundie friends go to Titanic dinners, colonial events, etc..., not knowing much about their hosts beforehand. I could definitely see this being a kind of outreach to pull people into the lifestyle. Do you all see this going on, too?

[Witsec7]

My cousin plays dress up with some fellows that do revolutionary war stuff in NJ. He and his group are all gay and he's mentioned that they are the last called to some events since fundies have taken the upper hand in some of this stuff.

[gustava]

I know heathen re-enactors. My guess is that many of those who are drawn to the Civil War in particular are also strongly Christian. Just guessing.

i do think Dougie is an aberration......on many levels.

[FlorenceHamilton]

It is a big thing to reenact Washington crossing the Delaware River on Christmas morning. Folks from PA and NJ line up along the banks of the river and on the tiny bridge that goes across. It really is quite nice and as a non-Christian gave my family a fun thing to do on Christmas morning. There are women dressed in period garb on the NJ side serving hot apple cider out of a colonial building.

There are always a fair number of gay people who attend and participate because although this spot is where Washington crossed, the soldiers actually crossed starting a bit north where the bridge between New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ currently stands. These towns are both known for their art and antiques and trendy shops and restaurants.... therefore many gay folks.

[mama_bear]

I didn't realize that the Titanic event was going to be a fundie event. I live in the area and there was extensive advertising leading up to the event. I don't recall any of that advertising emphasizing the women and children first element that I later saw emphasized on the blogs talked about here. I'm not familiar with the other reenactments.

[Witsec7]

It is a big thing to reenact Washington crossing the Delaware River on Christmas morning. Folks from PA and NJ line up along the banks of the river and on the tiny bridge that goes across. It really is quite nice and as a non-Christian gave my family a fun thing to do on Christmas morning. There are women dressed in period garb on the NJ side serving hot apple cider out of a colonial building.

There are always a fair number of gay people who attend and participate because although this spot is where Washington crossed, the soldiers actually crossed starting a bit north where the bridge between New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ currently stands. These towns are both known for their art and antiques and trendy shops and restaurants.... therefore many gay folks.

Most notably my cousins group was shunned and disinvited to a Battle of Monmouth reenactment.

[FlorenceHamilton]

Tell them to come on down to the Crossing. They are gay-friendly by necessity!

[Godlesspanther-2-]

There are many events that have happened through American history that would be fun and interesting to reenact. Regardless of the religious preference of those who produce it.

If it is an all-fundie production I would be suspicious. I'm thinking of David Barton and his revisionist history that is nothing other than fundie propaganda. They will insert some bogus revisionism into the production in order to promote the "Christian Nation" garbage.

[GeoBQn]

I'm reading "Man of War" by Charlie Schroeder, in which he spends a year visiting with a variety of historical reenactment groups. At a Civil War reenactment, he attended a church service given by a group that has a mission to evangelize to Civil War reenactors. A group of Roman legion reenactors are in it for the history, but they found there was a demand for their demonstrations among church groups. It seems there is a running current of conservatives among these groups--at a (non-Nazi) group looking to reenact the Nazi march on Stalingrad, he asked someone to define what a Nazi is, and the person answered, "Someone who's a member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. You know, like Obama. Someone who wants the government to run everything."

[IamCanadian]

My cousin plays dress up with some fellows that do revolutionary war stuff in NJ. He and his group are all gay and he's mentioned that they are the last called to some events since fundies have taken the upper hand in some of this stuff.

Love it.

I wonder if this revolutionary war stuff is more of an American thing. I've never seen this in Canada outside of a national historical site with paid dress-up people. Granted, we haven't really had a revolutionary war...

That being said, there's a lot of War of 1812 stuff going on up here this summer for the bicentennial. I'll keep my eyes peeled in case Dougie crosses over the the Great White North.

[Witsec7]

Love it.

I wonder if this revolutionary war stuff is more of an American thing. I've never seen this in Canada outside of a national historical site with paid dress-up people. Granted, we haven't really had a revolutionary war...

That being said, there's a lot of War of 1812 stuff going on up here this summer for the bicentennial. I'll keep my eyes peeled in case Dougie crosses over the the Great White North.

He says the gay guys like the revolution and playing British soldiers because of the costumes. :lol: One time I went to see his group do a reenactment and I was introduced to a bunch of lesbian women who were playing camp followers :lol:

[IamCanadian]

He says the gay guys like the revolution and playing British soldiers because of the costumes. :lol: One time I went to see his group do a reenactment and I was introduced to a bunch of lesbian women who were playing camp followers :lol:

How did they all find each other? Was there an ad on Craigslist saying something like:

Do you look smashing in a scarlet waistcoat? Do you enjoy dressing up? Are you available on weekends? Are you gay? Yes? Then do we have the club for you!

Honestly though, if Sean Bean ever showed up at one of these things to revive the character of Sharpe, I'd be there in a flash wearing whatever he wanted me to :whistle:

[Witsec7]

How did they all find each other? Was there an ad on Craigslist saying something like:

Do you look smashing in a scarlet waistcoat? Do you enjoy dressing up? Are you available on weekends? Are you gay? Yes? Then do we have the club for you!

Honestly though, if Sean Bean ever showed up at one of these things to revive the character of Sharpe, I'd be there in a flash wearing whatever he wanted me to :whistle:

He and three other fellows perform in a period quartet that requires extensive costuming. They are all history buffs of some kind and another friend sewed period revolutionary costumes for a some straight reenactors. Word of mouth got around and now there are 27 from up and down the state. They refuse to bivouac and only do daytime events.

[DowagerDuchess]

As a costumer and reenactor I am disappointed to hear and learn of the fundie involvement in events. to my knowledge we all sorts of people in our costume group, and every kind of religion/faith system you can imagine, and we have large turnouts at events.

For costumers it is a hobby just like any other hobby one might have. It's an expensive hobby and making all the costumes is not cheap. Personally, having one regilous group try to take over a secular activity such as reenacting is rediculous. We all do it because we love to dress in costume and pretend for a bit we are a character in another time.

We had a larger Titanic event and there was no religion involved at all. I do know many came from church services as they shared that they wore their costumes to church and had to answer many questions. Nothing said to imply we all needed God.

Maybe the west coast is somewhat more liberal in their thinking? Perhaps we can be because the east coast has so much more history than we do out here?

I would love to see Dougie try and have fun at one of our costuming events following the direction of someone else, most likely a woman.

[IamCanadian]

Maybe the west coast is somewhat more liberal in their thinking? Perhaps we can be because the east coast has so much more history than we do out here?

I would love to see Dougie try and have fun at one of our costuming events following the direction of someone else, most likely a woman.

I don't know...I'm from a place that's as far east as you can get in North America that goes back to 1497, so loads of history, but few reenactments.

Too bad though. I always wanted to have a summer job dressing up in a frock and churning butter for tourists (although where I come from, it would have been dressing up in an apron waterproofed with bear grease and gutting codfish.) There are a few places that do this stuff in the summer, but there are no hobby groups.

And as for your last point, LOL Doug.

[Sweetpea1]

Another Sean Bean fan - i'd be right there, too.

[GenerationCedarchip]

My cousin plays dress up with some fellows that do revolutionary war stuff in NJ. He and his group are all gay and he's mentioned that they are the last called to some events since fundies have taken the upper hand in some of this stuff.

That's sad. I've known more than a few Civil War folks and one of the things I liked about them was that at every reenactment, I met such a varied group of people. There is definitely a fundie presence, though, and with all of Dougie's reenactments and similar sorts of events I've seen advertised in reformed fundie circles, I had started to wonder if that was growing.

[Pudicitia]

I've always been slightly bemused by reenacting in America being a fundy thing. In the UK, it tends to be a pretty heavy-drinking, beardy kind of thing which (in my experience at least) strongly overlaps with the same demographic as D&D!

[tankgirl]

I've always been slightly bemused by reenacting in America being a fundy thing. In the UK, it tends to be a pretty heavy-drinking, beardy kind of thing which (in my experience at least) strongly overlaps with the same demographic as D&D!

This is true in the US if you look at the older period, mostly European History, reenactors. You see more fundies the later and more "American History", the period being reenacted becomes. For instantance Viking/early Norman period, drunk geeks, early Western Expansion "Pow Wow" type stuff, more Christians then you can shake a bible at. At least that has been my experience.