Religious faith in videogames

[Hatta]

So why are some of you so opposed to experiences in games that run counter to your faith? If your faith is strong, what risk is there in challenging it?

I'm not religious myself, but I do have some strong convictions. I'm very strongly anti-military for instance. Still, I have no problem playing military games. I'm also very strongly anti-prohibition, yet NARC is one of my favorite arcade games. I'm very strongly pro-rationality, yet religious motifs in games (positive or negative) don't bother me at all.

They're just games you know. Playing them won't make you lose your faith, and if it does it wasn't really that strong to begin with. How can you that your beliefs are strong (or in my case, that my convictions are well founded) if you never expose yourself to the other side?

[dgamemuster]

tempting.....isn't it.

[Inazuma]

So why are some of you so opposed to experiences in games that run counter to your faith? If your faith is strong, what risk is there in challenging it?

I'm not religious myself, but I do have some strong convictions. I'm very strongly anti-military for instance. Still, I have no problem playing military games. I'm also very strongly anti-prohibition, yet NARC is one of my favorite arcade games. I'm very strongly pro-rationality, yet religious motifs in games (positive or negative) don't bother me at all.

They're just games you know. Playing them won't make you lose your faith, and if it does it wasn't really that strong to begin with. How can you that your beliefs are strong (or in my case, that my convictions are well founded) if you never expose yourself to the other side?

Great point. Games are just fun fantasy worlds. Personally, I don't like murdering people in real life but I don't mind it at all in video games. As long as you can tell the difference between reality and fantasy, you should be fine.

[Limewater]

Great point. Games are just fun fantasy worlds. Personally, I don't like murdering people in real life but I don't mind it at all in video games. As long as you can tell the difference between reality and fantasy, you should be fine.

I think that the bigger issue is that by purchasing a video game with a certain message, you are directly supporting that message and its dissemination. It's pretty easy clear-cut in the case of murder. While a video game may allow one to commit murder, it's kind of hard to argue, in my opinion, that a video game is actually advocating murder. However, if you have strong political convictions, for example, you might not want to financially support media that preaches a political method contrary to your values.

[Dylan]

Another point of view is that some people don't appreciate being overtly insulted. While this is a matter of sensitivity, it's not an ungrounded one.

[dlmvii]

As long as you can tell the difference between reality and fantasy, you should be fine.

I think the media has informed us multiple times that we, in fact, cannot.

[Hatta]

I think that the bigger issue is that by purchasing a video game with a certain message, you are directly supporting that message and its dissemination.

You really think so? By playing Call of Duty I'm supporting militarism?

Another point of view is that some people don't appreciate being overtly insulted. While this is a matter of sensitivity, it's not an ungrounded one.

I don't think I've ever played a video game with the message "all christians are stupid". It's more like "in this fantasy world, god does exist, but he's evil, so kill him, isn't that epic!?". If you really take that as a personal affront to your faith, you have deeper problems than just a video game.

From what I can tell, far more games treat religion in a positive light than a negative light in the first place. I could be wrong though, what specific game do you feel is deliberately insulting the religious?

[Limewater]

You really think so? By playing Call of Duty I'm supporting militarism?

Do you think that "militarism is awesome; you should support it!" is the message of the Call of Duty games?

[Inazuma]

As long as you can tell the difference between reality and fantasy, you should be fine.

I think the media has informed us multiple times that we, in fact, cannot.

I agree with the media. From my own experience in life, I'd have to say that the majority of people are unable to tell the difference between reality and fantasy. But even after saying that, I think it's unfair to blame a video game for having harmful things in it such as violence, drugs, rape, religion, etc. If some idiot plays Call of Duty and then goes out and shoots someone in real life, that's their own fault. They were fucked up before they played the game, so you shouldn't blame the video game for the murder. Fucked up people who can't tell fact from fiction are going to make bad decisions regardless of the media they consume.

[Dylan]

I don't think I've ever played a video game with the message "all christians are stupid". It's more like "in this fantasy world, god does exist, but he's evil, so kill him, isn't that epic!?". If you really take that as a personal affront to your faith, you have deeper problems than just a video game.

From what I can tell, far more games treat religion in a positive light than a negative light in the first place. I could be wrong though, what specific game do you feel is deliberately insulting the religious?

To be fair, the religious systems and gods are often at least vaguely Judeo-Christian, of course with god and his followers being knowingly or inadvertently evil (SMT and BoF come to mind). It honestly doesn't bother me that much, I'm less impressionable than that, but makes sense to me why people would find it offensive.