Anti-Religious Sentiment in Video Games (have you noticed?)

[MechaBlue]

I think it's just easier to write a strawman theist into a game than it is to write a strawman atheist.

A strawman theist is someone who brainwashes people into doing what they want by saying it's what god wants. In this situation, it's the people who have to show them that no, there is no god/cults are bad.

A strawman atheist is someone who does believe in a higher power but doesn't want to be bothered by moral constraints. More often than not, they get what's coming to them by god/society punishing them in some way. Unless we're playing as god, that doesn't write well into a game plot. The boss would get what's coming to him off screen or through social interaction. If the player kills him or ruins his life, he's going against the teachings of most religions. The player would be robbed of the satisfaction of putting an end to his evil, athiest schemes.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

of course they have an anti-religious thing, the second religion is brooched as a subject nowadays people kneejerk and start screaming about the insidious way the right wing is trying to force dogma on them. When people can mature a few fucking shades then maybe something interesting with regard to religions can occur in the medium, until then the fuckwits will make sure atheism is forced on people.

Wait, who's forcing atheism on to who? I'll leave my retort to the "when people can mature..." comment until you've replied.

OT: I like the way Assassin's Creed openly tackles it and virtually announces that there really is no god. As for Dragon Age, I don't see what's anti-religious in it.

The templars. They track down adn murder heretics to their cause? The mages? They are even named after the group that went to jerusalem and murdered loads of muslims for being heretics, the knights templer. Although a templer could describe any holy warrior and as we see some of them are good the fact they are murderers one and all is brought up as an issue multiple times. If you play as a mage you ca get into confrentation with the templer in your party about it.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Maybe the people who'd overreact to video games mocking religion don't play video games?

 

[kidwithxboxlive]

Fallout 3 has groups which pretty much symbolize how nutty religious groups can be and what they worship.

hellz yea...worship tha dave

 

[Woodsey]

of course they have an anti-religious thing, the second religion is brooched as a subject nowadays people kneejerk and start screaming about the insidious way the right wing is trying to force dogma on them. When people can mature a few fucking shades then maybe something interesting with regard to religions can occur in the medium, until then the fuckwits will make sure atheism is forced on people.

Wait, who's forcing atheism on to who? I'll leave my retort to the "when people can mature..." comment until you've replied.

OT: I like the way Assassin's Creed openly tackles it and virtually announces that there really is no god. As for Dragon Age, I don't see what's anti-religious in it.

The templars. They track down adn murder heretics to their cause? The mages? They are even named after the group that went to jerusalem and murdered loads of muslims for being heretics, the knights templer. Although a templer could describe any holy warrior and as we see some of them are good the fact they are murderers one and all is brought up as an issue multiple times. If you play as a mage you ca get into confrentation with the templer in your party about it.

OK, so it's taking actual events from history and applying some of it to that universe. That's not anti-religious.

 

[Thoric485]

I felt quite religiously inclined while playing Call of Juarez.

 

[Kurokami]

OT: I like the way Assassin's Creed openly tackles it and virtually announces that there really is no god.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqWqNtrmblE

 

[Josdeb]

There was this one time I noticed, in Bayonetta, when I kicked God in the face, then threw her into the Sun.

I don't think the game was really making a point of "Ooooooh, Religion is bad". It was more exploring the idea of Religion as seen from the other side of the Good/Evil spectrum, and you had to have a significant final boss I guess

 

[Woodsey]

OT: I like the way Assassin's Creed openly tackles it and virtually announces that there really is no god.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqWqNtrmblE

Yeah. Not God.

Alright, I'll expand on that.

Minerva was part of an advanced civilisation that created humans "in [their] own image". Now since they look very similar to humans, one can assume that they created them from their own DNA or whatnot. They're only gods or deities in the sense that humans are deities in comparison to ants (only there's a far less extreme difference).

As time goes on, they're forgotten and humans become the dominant species on Earth. The fragments that are left of them lead people to label them as gods.

When the Roman empire collapsed and eventually people came across their ruined cities and buildings again, the people claimed that the buildings must have been created by gods because they were far more advanced than anything they'd ever seen before.

If course, they were just buildings that had been created by a group of people who were far more advanced.

 

[Kurokami]

OT: I like the way Assassin's Creed openly tackles it and virtually announces that there really is no god.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqWqNtrmblE

Yeah. Not God.

We really gonna start splitting hairs over the definition of god? Oh well.

 

[Woodsey]

OT: I like the way Assassin's Creed openly tackles it and virtually announces that there really is no god.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqWqNtrmblE

Yeah. Not God.

Alright, I'll expand on that.

Minerva was part of an advanced civilisation that created humans "in [their] own image". Now since they look very similar to humans, one can assume that they created them from their own DNA or whatnot. They're only gods or deities in the sense that humans are deities in comparison to ants (only there's a far less extreme difference).

As time goes on, they're forgotten and humans become the dominant species on Earth. The fragments that are left of them lead people to label them as gods.

When the Roman empire collapsed and eventually people came across their ruined cities and buildings again, the people claimed that the buildings must have been created by gods because they were far more advanced than anything they'd ever seen before.

If course, they were just buildings that had been created by a group of people who were far more advanced.

OT: I like the way Assassin's Creed openly tackles it and virtually announces that there really is no god.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqWqNtrmblE

Yeah. Not God.

We really gonna start splitting hairs over the definition of god? Oh well.

Just quoted my expanded reply to you. And yeah, because gods are seen as other-worldly beings. "The ones who came before" are just an advanced race.

 

[RobCoxxy]

of course they have an anti-religious thing, the second religion is brooched as a subject nowadays people kneejerk and start screaming about the insidious way the right wing is trying to force dogma on them. When people can mature a few fucking shades then maybe something interesting with regard to religions can occur in the medium, until then the fuckwits will make sure atheism is forced on people.

I'd rather force Atheism (well, as a Man of science, it's more logical) than the concept of an all-knowing bearded deity that controls everything.

 

[Kurokami]

Just quoted my expanded reply to you. And yeah, because gods are seen as other-worldly beings. "The ones who came before" are just an advanced race.

I appreciate that, too often I'm responded to without quoting and I just never really get around to it.

Minerva was part of an advanced civilisation that created humans

I don't know what exactly your definition of god is, for me its whatever being(s) created us.

If god is simply a 'higher being', as gods are often described, to me they fit that description perfectly. More advanced, more powerful, judging from that clip they seem to be omniscient as well, even if all those things were granted by advanced technology, that doesn't make them any less so to me.

Obviously your definition can differ to mine, but I don't think god has to be defined as something so (seemingly) far fetched that it can simply avoid any reason.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

SNIP

I see your point there. It just tends to be the negative things religions do that revieve the most focus in games. For example teh templers in AC AND Dragon age. Both may be taken from history but its a bit of a negative focus. It isnt directly anti religious no.

 

[Terminate421]

There have been articles on the catholic religion claiming pokemon is satanic. Thats bullshit.
http://www.cephas-library.com/save_our_children_pokemon_booklet.html

 

[Woodsey]

SNIP

I see your point there. It just tends to be the negative things religions do that revieve the most focus in games. For example teh templers in AC AND Dragon age. Both may be taken from history but its a bit of a negative focus. It isnt directly anti religious no.

The Templars in AC aren't religious at all though so that sort of cancels it out. Err, kinda.

 

[Kenko]

The best way to stop racism is to ridicule it and mock it.

Same thing goes for idiocy like religion. Ridicule and mockery. Plus added education for the lesser humans that follow said religions.

 

[Woodsey]

Just quoted my expanded reply to you. And yeah, because gods are seen as other-worldly beings. "The ones who came before" are just an advanced race.

I appreciate that, too often I'm responded to without quoting and I just never really get around to it.

Minerva was part of an advanced civilisation that created humans

I don't know what exactly your definition of god is, for me its whatever being(s) created us.

If god is simply a 'higher being', as gods are often described, to me they fit that description perfectly. More advanced, more powerful, judging from that clip they seem to be omniscient as well, even if all those things were granted by advanced technology, that doesn't make them any less so to me.

Obviously your definition can differ to mine, but I don't think god has to be defined as something so (seemingly) far fetched that it can simply avoid any reason.

I think it does (need to be something far-fetched) though, if not everything's a god and nothing's a god in relation to the perception of others.

I see your point, but I just think that to be a god there must be some sort of divine natural ability in place. If you say that technology raises them to the levels of gods, then surely anyone who can use that technology is a god if they can get their hands on it?

 

[LuckyClover95]

Lots of games and films do that and as Christian it makes me sad I don't find it stupid or offensive if people don't believe in what I do because I understand why people wouldn't believe in a God, but when people become anti-religion its upsetting. I could say 'religion isn't hurting anyone so why hate it' but I get that some of the leaders of religions can be harsh and whatnot, but the general people of religion, the ones not in media or high in a church hierarchy aren't like that (usually). You see the bad ones on tv because they're being bad. But in a lot of video games, there's some religious person who are often seen as crazy because they are radical and strange, just making people accociate religion with it.
It does seem like media religious figures can cast a bad image - the other day a girl said to me she hated Christianity because they were homophobic, and I said they aren't all homophobic but genuinely didn't believe me because ".... told her that there were Christians at LGBT Pride Protesting" and I was like "I was at Pride, with the person who told you that,the people that were protesting were not the whole of Christianity...." But for some reason she found it kind of hard to grasp that not all Christians believe the same thing, because Christians she's seen in the media are homophobic.
But anyway yeah, back to the main subject, I think video games can give people bad images of religion because religion in games tends to be evil or crazy. Its nice that it still kind of bothers you despite it not affecting you, it shows you're quite an open minded person