Religious faith in videogames

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Hatta
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Re: Religious faith in videogames

Post by Hatta »

Limewater wrote:
Hatta wrote: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?


No, but I've never played any games where the message was "religion is bad" for that matter. I've played games where a fictitious god in a fictitious universe is portrayed as evil, but that's not the same thing.
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Inazuma
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Re: Religious faith in videogames

Post by Inazuma »

Hatta wrote:
Limewater wrote:
Hatta wrote: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?


No, but I've never played any games where the message was "religion is bad" for that matter. I've played games where a fictitious god in a fictitious universe is portrayed as evil, but that's not the same thing.

If someone attempted to make a game that had the message "religion is bad", we all know it would be banned 10 times over before ever getting released. Sickening, isn't it? There are many evil people out there who make a living taking advantage of ignorant morons, so any attempt to correct that would be shot down immediately.
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Re: Religious faith in videogames

Post by jeffro11 »

I find a lot of games with lots of religious undertones to be... tiring. Games like Shin Megami Tensai: Devil Survivor threw me off instantly when I read the word "god" in the opening sequence. I understand a different view on a religion, devil's and things like that upsetting a person of religious mind, but to me I find it comical and very very tiring. Mind you, I am not religious in any sense so maybe this lends a hand to my opinion.

In my opinion discussing these things is usually a bad idea since in a lot of cases some of what people say may offend others who have different views... Anyways, that's my view on it.
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J T
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Re: Religious faith in videogames

Post by J T »

Hatta wrote:No, but I've never played any games where the message was "religion is bad" for that matter.


Hmmm. Perhaps it would be fun to play a game with Richard Dawkins as the hero. I'm just not sure what kind of genre would best fit him. Side scrolling beat-em-up against the bible thumpers gang? Perhaps a God Sim where everything just self-organizes without your input? Perhaps a branching conversation tree where you lose if you don't choose an appropriate mixture of logic and aggravating condescension?
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Re: Religious faith in videogames

Post by Limewater »

Inazuma wrote:If someone attempted to make a game that had the message "religion is bad", we all know it would be banned 10 times over before ever getting released. Sickening, isn't it? There are many evil people out there who make a living taking advantage of ignorant morons, so any attempt to correct that would be shot down immediately.


For realz. We can totally say that something that hasn't happened will happen and experience righteous indignation at the injustice of this expected offense. Just like the way the banned The God Delusion, God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, The Golden Compass, Kingdom of Heaven, etc... After all, if there's one thing we do in the United States, it's ban lots and lots of media!

Regarding games that could be considered to have an anti-religion message: I'm not really aware of many. I was thinking a little more generally about art forms and media. However, one could argue that Assassin's Creed, for example, has a message that the church is a scam. Final Fantasy X could be considered anti-religious.

And really, there are probably several more clearly allegorical negative depictions of churches meant to mirror ones that actually exist. Allegory has been a means of telling a story and delivering a message for about almost as long as stories have existed.
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Re: Religious faith in videogames

Post by Original_Name »

Whoa, whoa, whoa -- this thread died off way too soon.

Answer me this: if you guys had to make a video game that addressed the issue of religious faith, how would you handle the matter?
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Re: Religious faith in videogames

Post by lisalover1 »

Inazuma wrote:If someone attempted to make a game that had the message "religion is bad", we all know it would be banned 10 times over before ever getting released. Sickening, isn't it? There are many evil people out there who make a living taking advantage of ignorant morons, so any attempt to correct that would be shot down immediately.

So, you think it's right to "correct" it by calling these people morons and saying that they will be as such unless they follow YOU instead? Sounds like a bit of a double standard to me.
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Re: Religious faith in videogames

Post by CFFJR »

For realz. We can totally say that something that hasn't happened will happen and experience righteous indignation at the injustice of this expected offense. Just like the way the banned The God Delusion, God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, The Golden Compass, Kingdom of Heaven, etc... After all, if there's one thing we do in the United States, it's ban lots and lots of media!


You're forgetting that whole "video games are attacking our children!" paranoia scam that comes up in the media once in a while.

I'm just saying is all.

I don't think such a game would be banned, but I can promise a bunch of nuts would make a stink out of it just because its a video game.
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Re: Religious faith in videogames

Post by Limewater »

CFFJR wrote:You're forgetting that whole "video games are attacking our children!" paranoia scam that comes up in the media once in a while.

I'm just saying is all.

I don't think such a game would be banned, but I can promise a bunch of nuts would make a stink out of it just because its a video game.


No, I am not forgetting the people who cry, "video games are attacking our children." I was discussing the banning of games, not complaining about them. The religious right complaining about a game just gives it free publicity. Inazuma was making some claim that the heads of various churches would use their influence to cause a game to be banned. I disagreed based upon the fact that the United States is very, very hesitant to actually ban media.

I think that the reaction to such a game would depend a lot on the game itself. As far as I know, the church hasn't made a huge fuss about being portrayed as villains in a lot of games (e.g. the Thief series). I could be wrong on this point, though. I think that an anti-religious video game would have to be very overt and explicit to catch the ire of these people.
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Re: Religious faith in videogames

Post by GSZX1337 »

Limewater wrote:
CFFJR wrote:I disagreed based upon the fact that the United States is very, very hesitant to actually ban media.

From what I've noticed, the game's don't get banned, but most retail stores just don't carry them. (ie. AO-games)
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