Is this just a coincidence?

[ExistentialCrisis]

I really have no proof of this, just throwing it out there, but...

There seems to be a general trend in "Generation Y" to be agnostic/atheist. I don't think it has as much to do with gamers as it's just a social phenomenon. With the sometimes paralyzing amount of information that is available to anyone in the world these days, I think those of us born in the last twenty or so years have caught on to the fairy-tale-like element that religions come across as superficially and that dogma and religious writings are safety blankets to help deal with the fact that we'll rot in the ground some day.

The only link to gaming I can tell personally is that there are a fair number of video games that use themes and references to religious and mythological minutia, but treat them for the fantasy elements that they really do come across as. In that sense, it sort of detaches the religious sense from them and instead makes them the modern-day wizards, hobbits, and sorcery. Still, I really do think this practice to be part of the social phenomenon I mentioned previously; taking the wonder out of religion through MAKING it wondrous.

That said, I'm a fairly dedicated agnostic myself (if my username didn't betray that fact already), so at least if I haven't inspired someone to go out and research this, one can at least count me in among the statistics. I lost my faith due mainly to personal reasons and epiphanies, not because, say, Xenogears convinced me that God might as well be just a giant world-destroying biological weapon (woops, that's a slight spoiler...).

 

[Cyberius]

Very good point.

I would have to wonder if perhaps religion is a bit like government in the way the power shifts. Imagine if you will a pendulum. When it swings all the way to one side you have the height of religious power. Then it swings back the other way to a more... nonreligious sorta.. thing...

Much like the power shifts between the democratic and republican parties here in the united states.

 

[Lukeje]

Though there does seem to have been an increase in the number of vocal non/not quite-believers in 'recent' times in most areas. Maybe this is just because there is less fear of a 'religious backlash' for saying that you don't believe?

Works both ways. A fair number of people will keep their religion secret out of fear of an anti-religious backlash, especially on forums and other internet communities.

Huh. I hadn't thought of it that way. Though considering how often I have seen people be flamed for declaring their belief in God, I'm inclined to agree that many people would be afraid to declare their non-Atheism on here.

 

[wordsmith]

i think a lot of gamers a atheist is because atheists are usually people with a pretty bleak outlook on life and enjoy violence and that sort of thing. it's the blood and gore that attracts people like that. personally im atheist but i dont play games just for the blood and gore,but most of the counterstrike/quake/gta etc fans i know love the violence

Man, I know you're new, but you talk a lot of shit. I'm going to break this down because if I don't, someone less kind will.

atheists are usually people with a pretty bleak outlook on life and enjoy violence and that sort of thing.

Oh really? Athiests have a bleak outlook on life huh? I'm sorry, but not believing in an invisible man actually makes my life pretty damn GOOD, and I know many deitists (you know what that means, right?) who are depressed that "god has deserted them" and "god doesn't look out for them".

As for the love of violence and gore... Seriously? Just because someone isn't religious, that automatically means we love gore and violence? Have you been listening to Jack Thompson or something? That's a load of rubbish. When was the last time you heard of a Atheist Extremist blowing himself up? Do I ask too many questions? That's because I can't believe how many bullshit statements you've made.

personally im atheist but i dont play games just for the blood and gore

I'm not going to comment here, just lay two pieces of your quote side-by-side.

atheists are usually people ... [who] enjoy violence and that sort of thing.

personally im atheist but i dont play games just for the blood and gore

See the flaw in your logic?

but most of the counterstrike/quake/gta etc fans i know love the violence

And? Most of the NFS fans I know like driving. Most of the Peggle fans I know like pinball. Most of the Portal fans like puzzle solving and dark humour. You see where I'm headed with this?

Of COURSE CS/Quake/GTA fans are going to enjoy playing a violent game, as you have already SAID they are fans of it. Fans of certain types of games like those type of games.

Damnit... I know I shouldn't dice newbies like this but I couldn't resist.

 

[Cyberius]

If you could've done that in a personal message that would've been nice... u just kind of attacked him...

 

[GRoXERs]

In my opinion, yes this is a coincidence. Despite what Jack Thompson may have said we did not all huddle together in a cave with a 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew and say "Hey, let's make GTAIV the new god! Those dang Christians will sure feel a kick in the rear!" Lots of gamers I know are Atheist. Others are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and well... any other religion you can think of.

Wait, didn't you get that memo?
Dude, we totally did (well, most of us, anyway). It was a cave with a LOT of ethernet ports.
And outlets.
Actually, it was quite sumptuous.

EDIT: Oh, right, the topic. Yeah, I'd say DarthHK has it about right. Dual-purpose quoting!

 

[maddawg IAJI]

i think your just being sterotypical. (even though i am an Athiest)

 

[The Random One]

Bringing back the issue brought up in the first posts that it's probably a statistical error, I think internet communities about secular things (such as gaming) are more likely to draw an agnosthic/atheistic crowd. That's because these are still, shall I say, 'forward thinking', something that breaks with previous tradition, and internet communities are also something new. Not saying that atheists and agnosthics are so just for the sake of being different, just that there might be some correlation between breaking with tradition and jumping into the new.

Then again, maybe I'm getting old, and can't get my head around the fact that people born in the nineties are now adults and have known the internet their entire life.

(If you're curious, I guess I'm what you'd call a freethinker. I believe in God, but not in religion, as I think that, if an omnipotent, omnipresent entity exists, it cannot be contained in a set of rules or in a human community. But, of course, that's just me.)

 

[Erana]

Naw, its just that the athiests are louder here.

More importantly: Who cares? If we can unite with our religious gaming sisters and brothers due over the power of gaming, then isn't that a good thing?

 

[FireFury]

I'm a gamer, I'm an atheist and about 5-10% of my gamer friends are christian/religion.

In school, however, it's different. about 60-70% of my class members are christian, lulz.

 

[teisjm]

well, i guess thats weird, seeing as theres more relegious people than non relegious as far as i know at least.

I guess some people will have a relegious reason, that prevents them from playing games that deals with some degrees violence/blood, and some may be against the idea of playing games that includes other gods than the ones they worship. But i think that'll be the more fundamental/fanatical relegions. But i'm not sure about this. I guess a lot of atheists will probably dislike their children playing violent games as well.

For the sake of statistics i might add that I, and all of the people i know who plays a lot of games are non-relegious.

 

[Shurikens and Lightning]

Well devout christian parents would see hardcore gaming as the devil. But I am fairly religious but not enought to actually go to church. I just pray when I want something done in exchange for something.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

I guess some people will have a relegious reason, that prevents them from playing games that deals with some degrees violence/blood, and some may be against the idea of playing games that includes other gods than the ones they worship. But i think that'll be the more fundamental/fanatical relegions. But i'm not sure about this. I guess a lot of atheists will probably dislike their children playing violent games as well.

Remember there are more religions than just Christianity or Islam. I doubt the Satanists would care about blood, unless there wasn't enough of it, and I reckon a lot of the Asatru types would be thrilled to bits with a bit of violent carnage, and the folks from the cult of Dionysus might rather enjoy the more sexually explicit oriented games. A lot of different people are into a lot of different things.

 

[I Stomp on Kittens]

I guess some people will have a relegious reason, that prevents them from playing games that deals with some degrees violence/blood, and some may be against the idea of playing games that includes other gods than the ones they worship. But i think that'll be the more fundamental/fanatical relegions. But i'm not sure about this. I guess a lot of atheists will probably dislike their children playing violent games as well.

Remember there are more religions than just Christianity or Islam. I doubt the Satanists would care about blood, unless there wasn't enough of it, and I reckon a lot of the Asatru types would be thrilled to bits with a bit of violent carnage, and the folks from the cult of Dionysus might rather enjoy the more sexually explicit oriented games. A lot of different people are into a lot of different things.

Here comes the religous steriotypes...One more reason why I'm not religious (No offense)

 

[teisjm]

I guess some people will have a relegious reason, that prevents them from playing games that deals with some degrees violence/blood, and some may be against the idea of playing games that includes other gods than the ones they worship. But i think that'll be the more fundamental/fanatical relegions. But i'm not sure about this. I guess a lot of atheists will probably dislike their children playing violent games as well.

Remember there are more religions than just Christianity or Islam. I doubt the Satanists would care about blood, unless there wasn't enough of it, and I reckon a lot of the Asatru types would be thrilled to bits with a bit of violent carnage, and the folks from the cult of Dionysus might rather enjoy the more sexually explicit oriented games. A lot of different people are into a lot of different things.

I am fully aware that there are many different religions, and while there probably are religions that'll like the blood and violence all i say is that theres probably also some that won't. And it doens't just come down to a specific religion, also hoow the individual sees the religion. so for insatnce one christian may be against the bloodshedding games where another christian plays them.

 

[cystemic]

i think a lot of gamers a atheist is because atheists are usually people with a pretty bleak outlook on life and enjoy violence and that sort of thing. it's the blood and gore that attracts people like that. personally im atheist but i dont play games just for the blood and gore,but most of the counterstrike/quake/gta etc fans i know love the violence

Man, I know you're new, but you talk a lot of shit. I'm going to break this down because if I don't, someone less kind will.

atheists are usually people with a pretty bleak outlook on life and enjoy violence and that sort of thing.

Oh really? Athiests have a bleak outlook on life huh? I'm sorry, but not believing in an invisible man actually makes my life pretty damn GOOD, and I know many deitists (you know what that means, right?) who are depressed that "god has deserted them" and "god doesn't look out for them".

As for the love of violence and gore... Seriously? Just because someone isn't religious, that automatically means we love gore and violence? Have you been listening to Jack Thompson or something? That's a load of rubbish. When was the last time you heard of a Atheist Extremist blowing himself up? Do I ask too many questions? That's because I can't believe how many bullshit statements you've made.

personally im atheist but i dont play games just for the blood and gore

I'm not going to comment here, just lay two pieces of your quote side-by-side.

atheists are usually people ... [who] enjoy violence and that sort of thing.

personally im atheist but i dont play games just for the blood and gore

See the flaw in your logic?

but most of the counterstrike/quake/gta etc fans i know love the violence

And? Most of the NFS fans I know like driving. Most of the Peggle fans I know like pinball. Most of the Portal fans like puzzle solving and dark humour. You see where I'm headed with this?

Of COURSE CS/Quake/GTA fans are going to enjoy playing a violent game, as you have already SAID they are fans of it. Fans of certain types of games like those type of games.

Damnit... I know I shouldn't dice newbies like this but I couldn't resist.

dude, i was just saying that from experience, most of the atheists I know are likethat. that's why i said usually not certainly or everyone, you really should care less, i mean all you did was make everyone else read a totally pointless flame post. BTW im a girl cyberius
As for peggle and pinball, i guess i was referring more to hardcore than casual gamers, lol. supa soz

 

[Splyth]

I can't say the argument has any legs to stand on. Personally I see no real proof of the overwhelming majority of athiest gaming. And even if that were so...Who cares? This forum was created out of a common interest...video games. Let's try and keep it that way.

 

[wordsmith]

That's why i said usually not certainly or everyone, you really should care less, i mean all you did was make everyone else read a totally pointless flame post.

Flamepost? I should really care less? You made a statement, I made a structured rebuttal. This is what happens on Forums, people have discussions.

And as for me "making" people read it, by quoting it you made them all read it again. Ironic, no?

EDIT: As for the Peggle reference, I was merely showing that people who enjoy different genres of games generally prefer the gameplay mechanics that those games present.

 

[Lullabye]

Ok, first of all i apologize if this has been done before. I DID USE THE SEARCH, BUT I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING. I didn't find anything that answered my questions.

Is it just a coincidence that a majority of gamers are Athiest/Agnostic?

Is it the gaming from an early age that causes this to happen or is it just that we are drawn to the gaming community for some other reason.

Just curious to see what you think.

we'll, how many die hard religions accept gaming? Catholicism condemns it, and Islam, and pretty much everything else. Thats why I am a pastafarian. They even encourage it!

 

[teisjm]

Well i know why the Armish doesn't play video-games.

Also, how many games revolve around you shoting/slashing/mutilating some sort of cultists... A lot.

Now how many games revolve around Bashing disbelievers? B&W, and prolly some others as well, but i'm pretty certain the cultist-killing games outnumber them