Before you either salivate in joy of being able to tout your atheism, or get mildly disappointed with me for using the phrase “Very Christian”, hear me out. I like getting opposing opinions, and I’m comfortable discussing belief and faith with people. However, this makes me uneasy.
Walmart are going to start selling games from Inspired Media Entertainment. Why might this be a problem? They make the Left Behind games. In Left Behind: Eternal Forces, you fight (with weapons) non-believers. Either kill or convert them. Praying after killing prevents you from sinning because in the game, killing in the name of Jesus is fine. In the game you fight an organisation based on the United Nations across New York. You also fight rock music and the anti-Christ. Interestingly in multiplayer you can play as the anti-Christ.
To get across my point about this game being about as open minded as a walnut, from Gamespot’s 2006 review:
Stereotypes are everywhere. New Yawkers speak with such cheesy accents that they should be driving Brooklyn cabs in 1954 while chewing on unlit stogies. Similarly, the game has a 1950s-style attitude about men and women. Only males can become priestlike disciples and handyman builders, whereas only women can become nurses. Female units are actually designated as such and given ridiculous titles like “Friend Woman” and “Medic Woman,” a sexual distinction that unsurprisingly isn’t extended to their male counterparts. Finally, the game isn’t politically correct when it comes to race, either, because a fair number of the bad guys bear Arab and African names.
I would like to see some religious aspects in videogames. It’s an interesting form of thought and one that could translate well into games. However, a game where you play a militant Jehovah’s witness should probably be saved for Mike’s Disregarding Demographics column. Or maybe I’m just being religionist.
Sources: reuters, Gamepolitics, Wired, Wikipedia
To start with: I’m a strong born-again Christian.
And that game sounds terrible.
There are so many people, stories, things that give Christianity a bad name. Stupid people doing stupid things because they think that’s what God wants them to do.
It makes the rest of us look bad.
A Christian game where it’s “OK” to kill people in the name of God is not something that I believe should be promoted as a ‘Christian’ game. It gives people the wrong impression of the religion.
It’s NEVER ok to kill someone. Ever.
That’s what I believe.
I’m not sure how I feel about this. I can’t imagine anyone of any religion being too pleased about their faith being portrayed as the “bag guys.” But then I also feel that games are a fun and interesting way to express religion in what some might describe as an art form.
I worry that very religious games will cause people to do thing they wouldn’t do otherwise, yet I have always thought that games influence peoples’ behaviour to a very limited extent. I just wonder what the added element of religion will do.
I’m kind of shocked that wal-mart would even consider stocking a game like that. Maybe it’s hypocritical, seeing as by and large I don’t mind violence in games and I’m pretty tough to offend, but the idea of a game that is more or less ‘Genocide for Fun’ bothers me. I just don’t see anyone making a game where you play as an Atheist and beat Christians to death with biology textbooks, so I don’t really understand why there’s a game about killing non-believers.
First off, I appear to have been locked out of my account, which is annoying, but I’ll fix it in a minute.
Secondly, totally with Corican. I have always been Catholic, but never to the extent where I’ve tried to convert/ridicule non-believers, totally okay with what anybody believes, and yet it’s people like this and these extremist viewpoints that give the more angry atheists (read: 90% of my school’s population) something to j*zz over. Not amused.
I’m a christian chap as well; and firmly believe that non of “us” should be allowed anywhere near game design, and this sort of thing makes me feel that my point couldn’t be more valid.
Now if someone were to make the video-game version of ‘The Passion of the Christ’ I’d be on it like a rash. I can put money on it that it won’t be one of the God squad making it though.
Far worse game ideas have had far worse transgressions.
Personally I think choices about religion are a bit to sensitive and important to be casually played out in a videogame.
I don’t believe in no God and I know most religious people aren’t like this and would probably be quite disgusted by this game.
I’d be perfectly happy for this game to be released and stocked by Wal-Mart if, hypothetically, they’d also stock games that put forward and obviously atheistic viewpoint…or even just another religion.
I can pretty much guarantee that they wouldn’t.
@Corican:
I have to tend to agree with you on, well, all your points except one. Yes, games and media like this in general give not just Christians but any religion (I remember one featured in a news story made by a palestinian game company about killing israelis). However, I’m in a introductory philosophy course and I disagree that there are some circumstances where killing someone is justified, there just aren’t many.