Hindu Organizations Protest PS2 Game

[Doug]

Honestly, did no-one in the developers stop to think 'Hmm, this may piss people off'. It'd be like having a game where you play as Jesus doing...I dunno, stuff.

As for God of war, I doubt anyone believes in the Olympian gods anymore (I could be wrong, but I'm sure orthodox christianity is the primary religion over in Greece these days, and anyone else who believed in them is long gone).

I have friends that follow certain Olympian gods and saying that God of War is less offensive than Hanuman: Boy Warrior is denigrating their beliefs.

They need to make some games that depict all the other major deities- publishers have every right to make those games.

Interesting - they of a new age type religion or from an original Olypmicanic religion that somehow survived the centuries between? (actually interested - I didn't think they were worshipped anymore).

 

[Matey]

id definetly play a god of war style game depicting jesus running around beating the shit of demons and heathans. that would be pretty epic. but i guess the more fair portrayal would be if the make a game themed on actual jesus stories.
if this game is being made to be a visualization of their stories of the god... then i think they should be more excited than offended. if its horribly inaccurate and misleading... then i can understand why they are offended. if its a game that was made to cash in on controversy or that is being callous of the hindus beliefs. then id say they shouldnt have made it.
but thats the real issue to me... what were their motives for making the game?

 

[KDR_11k]

They have the right to believe in whatever made up crap they want as long as I have the right to point and laugh at them for it.

 

[Cousin_IT]

Hanuman is a major figure in the Hindu epic The Ramayana [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayana], in which he leads an army of monkeys to fight an evil demon king.

& it took them this long to make a game out something with such source material? thats the biggest shock

 

[300lb. Samoan]

In God of War, we have no problem killing the gods of Western mythology, because, for the most of Western society, nobody believes in them.

Wait, I haven't played god of war... you get to battle Jesus and Joseph?
holy shit that sounds awesome - and all this time I thought it was about GREEK mythology...

OH, you weren't talking about the western hemisphere, were you? my bad...

 

[ssgt splatter]

Because we can - because we have the right to - because of the basic principles involved. By their logic April Fool's Day should be pulled because it offensively denigrates certain pagan traditions.

Wait, what's the thing about April Fool's Day?

April fool's Day is a joke at the expense of those that follow the old calendar - which was followed by some older religions (including Hindus). It was a day for Christians to poke fun at those who chose to follow their old religion's calendar. Some older religions would find it highly offensive.

Ah, ok.

 

[SecretTacoNinja]

This reminds me of the time when Muslims went all anal about a Muslim chant in a piece of music in TLoZ: Ocarina of Time (which sounded awesome, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_nCxM9ofhI&feature=related ). Of course it got removed and I was forced to listen to "AWWWWAAAAAAAHAAOOOOWAHHH!" instead for two hours while I completed the dungeon.

I really wish religion would keep it's nose out of video games, and well, everything really. :<

 

[Doug]

Should pagans that happen to worship the Greek deities start freaking out over God of War. Same thing - if you can depict one deity in a game you have the right to depict whatever deity you want. some people still believe int hose deities and they have the right to be offended too. Actually scratch that - both games have the right to exist and anyone that whines about them should be ignored.

I'm fairly sure pagans tend towards the worship of the old Celtic gods, rather than the classical Greek ones. I'm also fairly sure the Greek ones are no longer worshipped at all. More cultural history than religious identity. Also, I'm fairly unfamilar with the God of War series, so correct me if I get the plot wrong, but isn't it the case that you play as a Spartan? Not a god? Even then, the old Greek gods where pretty murderious and blood thristy to each other, and probably wouldn't be out of character for them.

Wrong. Completely wrong. I personally know followers of Greek deities. Some of my family is pagan and many pagans I know worship Greek, Norse, or Celtic deities but some worship other deities of other traditions and religions. There are still people that worship the old Greek deities and its rather offensive that their beliefs aren't respected because of their small numbers. Any religion has the right to its identity- that being said i don't object to any game depicting any religion - but will if one religion starts asking for special treatment. As far as I can tell from reading and checking the gamesite the depiction of the hindu deity is just as accurate as the GOW depictions of Greek deities.

Wait, how do YOU know whats offensive to them? You didn't say you worshipped those gods too...? You can't be offended on behalf of a people who don't express discontent over something. Have they expressed discontent? The Hindu's are expressing discontent with this.

And I would ask, how many of them are from the original pagan religions, and how many from the 'restored' religions? Because most pagans were wiped out in Europe long before the America's were founded (I assume your friends and family are largely American as your profile says you are so).

I do not wish to cause offense, and I'm asking to get a sense of your friends who are pagan before I answer properly.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

I believe in free speech so, I think they can go shove it really. However if India is really that upset about it then they can ban it.

They aren't, these are just their version of the loud offended religious people. Gamers in India have mostly ignored it because the game is supposedly terrible.

 

[Lonan]

People really need to think before they act. Good people worship these Gods in a somewhat metaphorical way. The Hindu's have a god of computer technology, they don't think of their God's in the same way Christians do. You need to keep in mind that people do respect these God's and not to just use them for the sake of entertainment. People need to respect other's religion when those who practice it have nothing against them and are not intending to harm them. These are good people you're offending, don't completely disrespect people's religion because you think all religion is pointless. Richard Dawkins would probably have more respect than these people, because they aren't trying to force their beliefs on others which dispute hard gained science, they're trying to prevent others from from doing as they please with their God's. You could hardly consider the Hindu's to be the bad people in this. The developers started it, they made a mistake. They should have thought before they made this that people actually believe in the God's they are using in their game. The developers are the ones who are doing the pushing in this, the protesters are just saying "Hey, don't push us."
*edit*
I'm going to add that what they should have done was asked some people. When you just burst into someone's territory and assuming it can be used as you please, people get angry, and will be unlikely to be accomodating, in fact if they were after all that, they should really do exercise and eat vegatables and whatever else you have to do to raise your testosterone levels. For example, under the Bush Administration, the United States declared Canada's North-West Passage international territory, even though ocean 200 miles from a nations coast is offcially the the territory of that nation. Canada simply wanted the United States to ask to use the North-West Passage, but ooooooooooh no. Good ol' George said he would send destroyers through the North-West Passage because he considers it international waters. Obama hasn't exactly been a 180 turn from that, he pretty much isn't saying anything, which means silently agreeing as far as I'm concerned, but has backed off on the destroyers. If you just ask instead of completely ignoring the people whose territory you're stepping on, they will usually be more accomodating then if you just tell them to talk to the hand and step on it anyway.

 

[CD-R]

So they want to ban it. Great now I want to play this game.

Hanuman is a major figure in the Hindu epic The Ramayana [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayana], in which he leads an army of monkeys to fight an evil demon king.




Permalink

Can you lead an army of monkeys in this game? If so then I really want to play it.

 

[Doug]

Spoiler: Reduced for space

Honestly, did no-one in the developers stop to think 'Hmm, this may piss people off'. It'd be like having a game where you play as Jesus doing...I dunno, stuff.

As for God of war, I doubt anyone believes in the Olympian gods anymore (I could be wrong, but I'm sure orthodox christianity is the primary religion over in Greece these days, and anyone else who believed in them is long gone).

I have friends that follow certain Olympian gods and saying that God of War is less offensive than Hanuman: Boy Warrior is denigrating their beliefs.

They need to make some games that depict all the other major deities- publishers have every right to make those games.

Interesting - they of a new age type religion or from an original Olypmicanic religion that somehow survived the centuries between? (actually interested - I didn't think they were worshipped anymore).

Most pagans nowadays are neo-pagans- sifting through cultural remains and taking what they can from it. Even if it doesn't strictly follow the old religion's views they are still religions in and of themselves and have the same rights of respect as any other religion. There is a chance some of the old teachings survived and theres some mystery school that still has old traditions but anything more than acknowledging the possibility is speculation on my part.

Spoiler: Reduced for space

Should pagans that happen to worship the Greek deities start freaking out over God of War. Same thing - if you can depict one deity in a game you have the right to depict whatever deity you want. some people still believe int hose deities and they have the right to be offended too. Actually scratch that - both games have the right to exist and anyone that whines about them should be ignored.

I'm fairly sure pagans tend towards the worship of the old Celtic gods, rather than the classical Greek ones. I'm also fairly sure the Greek ones are no longer worshipped at all. More cultural history than religious identity. Also, I'm fairly unfamilar with the God of War series, so correct me if I get the plot wrong, but isn't it the case that you play as a Spartan? Not a god? Even then, the old Greek gods where pretty murderious and blood thristy to each other, and probably wouldn't be out of character for them.

Wrong. Completely wrong. I personally know followers of Greek deities. Some of my family is pagan and many pagans I know worship Greek, Norse, or Celtic deities but some worship other deities of other traditions and religions. There are still people that worship the old Greek deities and its rather offensive that their beliefs aren't respected because of their small numbers. Any religion has the right to its identity- that being said i don't object to any game depicting any religion - but will if one religion starts asking for special treatment. As far as I can tell from reading and checking the gamesite the depiction of the hindu deity is just as accurate as the GOW depictions of Greek deities.

Wait, how do YOU know whats offensive to them? You didn't say you worshipped those gods too...? You can't be offended on behalf of a people who don't express discontent over something. Have they expressed discontent? The Hindu's are expressing discontent with this.

And I would ask, how many of them are from the original pagan religions, and how many from the 'restored' religions? Because most pagans were wiped out in Europe long before the America's were founded (I assume your friends and family are largely American as your profile says you are so).

I do not wish to cause offense, and I'm asking to get a sense of your friends who are pagan before I answer properly.

Because I've lived with some of them and have been pagan at certain times in my life as well- (I choose not to answer the question of what my religion is currently but it may be pagan so i may have a right to speak for that group). My discontent is contingent on their discontent. Meaning that I don't care how my religion is depicted if everyone has to suffer depictions of their religion- but the instant one religion says it has the right not to be depicted in some way then I choose to exercise my religious rights in kind- and many pagans have had to suffer a lot of denigration (and attempted elimination). The restored religions have as many rights as the original - just because some belief is resurrected doesn't make it less valid.

You know, I did have a long post about the 'ownership' of Gods as cultural and religious icons over the millinenia, but I figure no matter how I write it, I'm going to piss someone off. So, basically, I'm just going to say 'Sorry for any offensive I may have caused' and leave it be.

EDIT: And I've only just noticed the both sub-threads are from the same bloke, heh.