Well, this conversation is getting stranger and stranger. I don't want to derail the string of posts below with a new topic, so I'm posting it here at the top of the board. Byron, you said:
"Even the practice of kids with dolls appears to be quite pagan because, 'idols' is where the word, 'doll' comes from. I suspect that among children in the Israelite camp anyway, that they simply played games with one another."
First of all, wrong about Israelite kids having no toys. You might want to open a Bible reference book such as "Jesus and His Times" pg. 98 where it says, "Children played ball games and what appear to have been hopscotch and jacks. Evidence of whistles, rattles, wheeled animals, hoops, and spinning tops have been found by archaeologists. Older children and adults played various kinds of board games, including a form of checkers."
I supposed you would call the toy "wheeled animals" idols.
Second, "doll" does NOT come from the word "idol" as you mistakenly guessed. The comprehensive "Dictionary of Word Origins" by John Ayto says on page 179:
DOLL: Doll comes form the name Dorothy; the changing of 'r' to 'l' in personal names is a common English phenomenon of long standing, from Shakespeare's Prince Hal (for Harry) to the currently familiar Del and Tel (for Derek and Terry).
Bryon, I never in my life expected to hear a non-Family member take such an extreme and unfounded stand on children's dolls and toys. I do remember, however, that back in the early days of the Family there was this brother who went around taking and destroying children's dolls.
My kids have lots of dolls and fluffy animal toys. They especially love the fluffy animals. I can't imagine declaring those toys as gateways to the occult and idol-worship.