I'm not Christian myself, so I thought I'd get some feedback from those of you who are.
If a company had made a game where the object of the game was Muslims killing non-Muslims, you know there would be a backlash from the Muslim community.
Yet soon to be on sale is a video game where Christians will be killing non-Christians if they refuse to be "Born Again".
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/29/195855/959
Christians come forward: What is your reaction to this game?
I'll comment on this soon, once I've calmed down to the point where I can actually formulate an argument.
For now, an argument isn't needed. This is as completely un-Christian as you could possibly get, and the reason that the "megachurches" are the only "Christian" places that they expect to find a decent target market is probably that they're completely unscriptural as well.
I'll be back when I'm more normal.
That is the most fucked-up thing I've ever read about in my life. I'm torn between not wanting to give it more attention and weight (by ignoring it and hoping everyone else does too) and the need to stand up and yell NO! THIS IS NOT WHAT WE ARE!!
I finally got around to reading the article linked, and I have to say "Congratulations, you've just become part of the marketing tool for this game."
The game is obviously designed to engender controversy; because controversy creates free publicity. The writer of the article (and, to a smaller degree, all of us discussing it) is "spreading the word". He's exposing the game to a wider audience--and audience that most likely wouldn't have heard about it otherwise.
And a lot of these people will buy the game. And they'll play the game. And they'll probably enjoy the game...
...But not because of anything to do with its supposed message. They'll enjoy it because it's a cool shoot-'em-up with realistic graphics and lots of violence. 10-to-1 odds say most of the teens that play it choose the side of evil.
As for the supposed message? The "rules" say that Catholics and "mainstream Christians" are the enemy. Approximately 50% of Christians worldwide define themselves as Catholic. And while "mainstream" is a somewhat nebulous term, I'll make an off-the-cuff estimate that probably another 45% of protestants would be considered "mainstream". So this isn't about a "Christian viewpoint".
What it's about is a "bank account viewpoint". It's capitalism at its finest (or worst--depending on [i]your[/i] viewpoint). It's the "old boy's" version of viral marketing.
The video game is, of course, not Christian as everybody else has already made abundantly clear. I had an interesting (?) thought: A mass-marketed game like that is no more a true representation of Christianity than the 9/11 terrorist plot is a true representation of the Islam faith.....
...did anybody really expect anything really different? Most of the people I know that would be into this game are pretty much elitist and bigoted fools who only use religion as a battering ram to cover for their own inadaquacies. It's more pathetic than anything because you know the people who slurp this up probably haven't done anything else with a Bible than slap people around with it.
And you just know that somewhere in the code, outside of the spyware? A Hot Coffee mod where you can screw Jesus. ;)
Joined: 2006-05-20