Christianity in Games and other Media

[Caliostro]

I mostly see us portraied as nut case fanatics or just plain idots.

Eh... Honestly, I have a really hard time characterizing you people as anything else... I admit, there's some who aren't, and I'll even entertain in my mind the possibility that you're one of those who aren't, but the crushing majority have convinced me that that IS who they are... Blame them :/


On a more scientific/psychological explanation which you might not like and will probably deny but it's actually quite true: Nobody really likes religion...Really... Nobody honestly does... They either fear it, look for some false hope in it or "all of the above". Games are things you WANT to do, things you like.

 

[Buffoon]

I suspect there are far, far fewer positive portrayals of atheists (such as myself) than Christians in the media. It's true, there are a few religious nutjobs in games, but even in those cases the underlying premise is that extremism is bad, but 'spirituality' is good. I can't think of any games that tacitly endorsed a truly atheistic view of the universe.

That's not to say there haven't been any. Anyone got some suggestions?

 

[Amnestic]

Fallout 3's main story had a very christian ending...and it blew massive chunks.

Spoiler

Christianity didn't invent sacrifice and martyrdom.

BLASPHEMY! Heh.

Heh.

Anyway, if you're after games which put Christians in a favourable light, might I point you in the direction of some Christian games? List on the wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_video_games].

It's true, there are a few religious nutjobs in games, but even in those cases the underlying premise is that extremism is bad, but 'spirituality' is good. I can't think of any games that tacitly endorsed a truly atheistic view of the universe.

Admittedly it's been a fair while since I played it, but I think Grandia 2 had that sort of thing in it.

 

[Nivag the Owl]

I'm not trying to be total black-metal kid but I think a game with strong and positive christianity content would bore the life out of me. No offense.

 

[JediMB]

...The Belmonts are Christian, right?

 

[LisaB1138]

I guess (as a Christian) I'm curious to know what sort of "Christian values" should be presented. Most "values" tend to be universal: kindness, charity, loyalty.

I agree that Christians today have a "bad name" in that the idiots tend to be running the asylum--if modern media is to be believed. That's pretty much the only kind of "Christian" that gets on TV. My pastor calls it "fear-based Christianity."

I don't think you can claim that religious crazies ended with the Reformation. Martin Luther WAS a religious crazy in his time. What he did was very radical. It's difficult for us today to understand how powerful the Church was at that time, but a single monk taking on the Church would be like one guy standing in front of the White House shouting his argument and eventually winning. BTW, "Luther" is a very watchable movie on the Reformation that is actually very historically accurate for a movie.

I don't think any *cough* serious portrayal of Christianity in a video game would do actual Christianity any favors. While one is playing video games is not exactly the optimum time to make an impression, you know? I think it would always feel out of place, like obvious product placement in a movie or TV show. It's not the correct format for the message.

 

[Theo Samaritan]

I mostly see us portraied as nut case fanatics or just plain idots.

Huzzah! You just hit the nail on the head with what the larger christian world portrays muslims!

Personally I don't follow any set religion, my beliefs are close to Bhuddism but I have a few differences. Either or, the point I am trying to make is that every religion has fanatic nutjobs, even Christianity. And don't you dare claim otherwise.

And fanatic nutjobs are best suited in an equally nutjob role. Alot of the time religion is just a fallback because game developers can't decide on another legitimate reason.

EDIT: I must point out I have nothing against any religion, its your own path to make. It's just a case that most of the people I meet who are religious are very stuck up and refuse to admit that there are people just as bad in their religion as they percieve in others.

 

[GenHellspawn]

Well, Peanuts had some pretty strong Christian overtones, and that was pretty damn popular, if that's anything.

 

[dekkarax]

One thing I do know. Never connect to one of those "Christian Counter-Strike" or "Christian Call of Duty 4" servers. Jesus tits it's so bad.

I once stumbled upon one of those, it wasn't bad, but then again I did have voice chat turned off.

 

[Lord George]

I think its the fact that normal Christian people are a bit mundane and uninteresting, however if you have some nutty hell and brimstone extremist Christians in a game, then its fun, it creates controversy which sells better and of course its comforting to people who hate religion and helps justify their own views. I myself have nothing against normal sane Christians although my Christian friend does get a bit offended when I start slandering and insulting jesus.

 

[EnglishMuffin]

Spoiler

Christianity didn't invent sacrifice and martyrdom.

Oh, who did it before the christians?

 

[KaZZaP]

I've allways thought a cool game would be if you played the anti christ the main enemey was the rebirth of jesus but he was all crazy and started the apocalypse and starts killing everyone (like christans want) and then you as the anti christ have to save everyone.

 

[hellthins]

Spoiler

Christianity didn't invent sacrifice and martyrdom.

Oh, who did it before the christians?

People period sacrificied. But for a very specific one, read Homer's Iliad. Take note of when they're invading Troy. They know the first man to jump off of the boats will die. Some one takes up arms and charges anyways, earning himself a place in the Elysian fields for his sacrifice.

And for a case of death and rebirth, Osiris of Egyptian mythology died, was torn apart, and then rebuilt and became the god of the afterlife.

I suspect there are far, far fewer positive portrayals of atheists (such as myself) than Christians in the media. It's true, there are a few religious nutjobs in games, but even in those cases the underlying premise is that extremism is bad, but 'spirituality' is good. I can't think of any games that tacitly endorsed a truly atheistic view of the universe.

That's not to say there haven't been any. Anyone got some suggestions?

However often you might see a bad religious portrayal, a lot of people just don't seem to understand why some one can be an atheist since they tend to like their religion. And it's good that they like their religion, it just seems that people are kind of prone to just assuming that atheists are humorless pricks who suffered through a tragedy that made them into the Raging Bitter Atheist since that could be the only possible reason they aren't religious.

That or it's just due to the fact media portrayals of everything gets condensed into its simplest form for the most part.

 

[Silver]

Okay. Look at it from the other side. No, Christians are rarely portrayed favourably in games, you never see "christian saves the day!!!".

But then again, you never see that in real life either. It's "American saves the day!!!" or "Fireman saves lives" or "Russian transgender ballerina with a slight case of the plague saves kitten from tree". If you see anything about Christians specifically in media, it's because they screwed up. Badly. "Christians protesting against homosexuality", "Christian fanatics burning muslim school teacher for banning a kid from school that was wearing a cross! (Because the kid set fire to the room admittedly, but shhh)".

If you look at any game set in our world, there's probably going to be a Christian there. If you look at a World War 2 game, many of the people, on both sides, were probably Christian. Even the heroes. The thing is, it's not that interesting. There's enough Christians in the world, we don't go asking everyone we meet if they're Christian or not, and we can't tell by looking at them (some people on the other hand think that they CAN tell if someone is muslim or a jew, and in some cases they're correct, what with burkhas and whatever the jews wear on their heads). No one really cares, well, except the aforementioned fanatical Christians.

So if you want to see favourably portrayed Christians, just look at any game set today. Most of them are in the western world, so if the people in the game are religious, they're probably Christian, and if they don't have any of the bad symptomes, either the "everyone needs to know that I'm a Christian"-syndrome that many of them on the internet has, beginning posts with "I'm a Christian and I..." or the like, or the more severe "I'm a Christian and I'm a crazy fanatic!"-syndrome, then you're not going to know. Just like in real life.

 

[jamesworkshop]

Keep religion out of games and I won't think in church

Putting religion in games is a bad idea its best to avoid real world politics aswell

 

[Silver]

There I disagree completely. Games are an excellent way of expressing yourself, wether artistically or otherwise. I'd love a deep engaging game that took a long look at religions and politics, but that was also good enough to be able to present both sides.

 

[zirnitra]

I am a Christian who loves gameing and other forms of visual media but for the life of me I can not seem to find any popular stories that put us in a fair (forget favorable) light.

I mostly see us portraied as nut case fanatics or just plain idots.

Granted this would be more accureate if this stuff were set in the Middle Ages where it would be at least somewhat true. It seems that no one realizes that the Reformation has occured.

In fact, dose anyone even KNOW what the Refomation was?

I willing to answer any questions you may ask so ask away if you are curious/unsure of any facts.

uh oh. the way you asked do you know when the reformation was, and your willing to answer any questions makes you sound like one of those Christians who in any debate about Christianity will take every chance to try and convert you.