This month's steady flow of customers at Hobby Lobby was abruptly disrupted when several images created by artificial intelligence began to circulate on social media. The Satanic Temple member Jennifer Vinyard's intriguing paintings gave the appearance that the sizable Christian-owned arts and crafts chain was selling demon sculptures.
Vinyard created remarkably realistic renderings of the iconic demonic deity Baphomet using the Midjourney generative artificial intelligence technology, which were displayed as if they were being sold in the well-known aisles of Hobby Lobby stores. Social media erupted over the curious photo, which was shared with messages of confusion and fear for the youth.
Bizarre AI-Generated Images Suggest Hobby Lobby Sells Demonic Statues
According to the article shared in Church Leaders, the post garnered over 6,000 shares in a short period of time and a flurry of comments, which greatly piqued the interest and confusion of Hobby Lobby's enthusiastic followers and lovers. The largest social media platform Facebook soon disabled comments on the post, but not before the chaos had completely taken over the online world. One commenter, who was aware of the photographs' synthetic nature amid the flurry of replies, voiced their worries, claiming that Hobby Lobby would lose business if people thought the images were authentic.
In a conversation with Motherboard Tech by VICE, Vinyard conveyed her astonishment about the online uproar sparked by the images. She was taken aback by the significant number of likes and shares the photos received and found the comments especially amusing, particularly those from individuals who mistakenly believed the images to be genuine and consequently responded with anger. Vinyard even mentioned receiving some unpleasant messages through Messenger from some of these individuals.
Varied Reactions of the Community
According to the story in Vice, the responses were incredibly varied. Some quickly recognized the AI influence, others humorously suggested they'd rush to Hobby Lobby to purchase the unusual decor, while a few responded with fear and disappointment, disconcerted that their favorite craft store would feature such items. One commenter was seen voicing their dismay about how even "Christian owned" companies could be swayed given the right incentives.
Another user, reacting to the reposted images on Facebook, questioned if the Christian owners had compromised their values and were embracing 'woke' culture, which they found utterly absurd. This was a line they believed real Christians wouldn't cross.
'Woahthatisstrange,' a user on TikTok, reacted to the weird incident by presenting the AI-generated photographs and pointing out that Hobby Lobby appeared to have various statues resembling demons. They drew attention to the price tags that had symbols for pounds, indicating that these goods might be sold someplace in Europe. They weren't frequent visitors to Hobby Lobby, so they weren't sure if they were available in America.
The emergence of fascism on a global scale in recent years, together with other indications of instability, has increased the likelihood of a new period of Satanic Panic. God Daily Dot shared that in the last year alone, celebrities including Sam Smith, Kim Petras, Rihanna, Doja Cat, Damar Hamlin, Kylie Jenner, Danny DeVito, and even Elon Musk have been accused of spreading Satanism.
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