Christianity in Games and other Media

[Shadow88]

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.

 

[Altorin]

real life religion just doesn't fit into videogames very well..

like the old saying goes, there are two things you never talk about with strangers; politics and religion. Video games are the designers of games talking to millions of strangers. They don't want to piss anyone off by brandishing the religion/politics stick

 

[Sewblon]

I think it is partly that gaming has strong roots in counter-culture, partly fear of being labeled "fundamentalists" by the invisible pigeonholeing council but mostly because the vast majority of pervayers of visual media who have any interest in dealing with complex or relevant subjects have their heads so deep inside of their own rectums that they are all in danger of chocking on themselves.

 

[Altorin]

shhhh... at least half of my argument is treading water >.>

 

[hellthins]

There are a lot of positive portrayals of christians in a lot of media, and a lot of negative portrayal of atheists. Even Mass Effect was a little against atheism what with Ashley. The best atheists got was a "Shut up" response and then extending on into "RAAAAGEEEEE".

Though the biggest reason may be because general assumption, characters are probably of the major religion in the world. The only need to really bring it up is often because they're crazy fundamentalists. That and developers like to be 'edgy'.

When was the last time you saw a muslim portrayed kindly? The best you got was Assassin's Creed, which also portrayed Christians in a relatively kind light.

As an edit, Japanese games are usually pretty harsh on religion because it's rather foreign to them. Well, in the way we do it. It's kind of a curiosity, especially since most of Japan isn't really on that spiritual or religious and is kind of an amalgam now of religious influences.

 

[Good morning blues]

I think it is partly that gaming has strong roots in counter-culture

I completely disagree. A lack of overt Christain values is pretty much the only radical or anti-establishment viewpoint that video games fail to put forward.

The reason, I think, is because they're perfectly aware that it's not going to sell very well. Video games are about instant gratification and base appeal (I don't think they have to be, mind you, I'm just saying that the vast majority of them are). If we throw Christianity in there, everybody's going to assume that it's going to be boring or preachy and, well, let's face it, it probably is.

I don't think it's unique to games, either. I guess movies are more likely to throw a token mention to it (this character is a Christian, this character is wrestling with his faith, etc.), but religion isn't a part of most movies, either.

I would say that the root reason that there aren't any Christian games out there is that publishers know that they are going to be severely restricting their potential customer base when they make that sort of game.

 

[Zer_]

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.

 

[Arcadia2000]

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.

Would you care to enlighten the non-FPS playing community why it's so bad?

 

[hellthins]

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.

Would you care to enlighten the non-FPS playing community why it's so bad?

Any server that's overtly christian is usually into proselytizing and random scripture quotes. Though really, if you're going to any server that's advertising the server owner's religion what do you expect?

 

[EnglishMuffin]

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

 

[hellthins]

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

Spoiler

Christianity didn't invent sacrifice and martyrdom.

 

[Arcadia2000]

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.

Would you care to enlighten the non-FPS playing community why it's so bad?

Any server that's overtly christian is usually into proselytizing and random scripture quotes. Though really, if you're going to any server that's advertising the server owner's religion what do you expect?

Oh. My. I can't imagine why anyone would enjoy that, and I'm a member of said religion. When I hang out and play games with my Christian friends... well, we don't DO that. It sticks in my mind that no normal Christian should do that. Ever. ~le sigh~ Being Christian isn't about quoting the Bible (but it's handly sometimes) and "Bible-thumping" (always a poor choice) other people. It's about holding yourself to a higher standard of behavior because you believe it's the right way to be. It's not verbally harrassing other players, hacking/cheating, or picking on people. It's about being fair and playing nice. Whenever you join a Christian server, it should be a safe place. Admittedly, the Bible is a fantastic tool. And if we choose to quote scripture at each other, it really shouldn't bother anyone. But if I was trying to convert you, I would want you to be converted because you see who Jesus is in the way I act. Quoting scripture to non-believers right out of the bag is like giving a German directions in Swahili. DUH! It doesn't work that way. It NEVER works that way. When a non-believer starts to question, when they want to know more, when they say they're ready to maybe see what it's all about, THEN you break out the Bible. You basically tell them, "Everything about why I do what I do is pretty much in here." I dislike ignorant people (everyone has a flaw here and there...) but I really dislike ignorant Christians. I'm not perfect, (who is?) but seriously, I do NOT get why people do these things. ~headdesk~ q-_-'p

 

[Altorin]

if you don't care about biblebumping, then just play the games as you are, and make religion a non-issue in gaming.

If something offends your christian values, don't play it.. most things won't though

 

[hellthins]

Oh. My. I can't imagine why anyone would enjoy that, and I'm a member of said religion. When I hang out and play games with my Christian friends... well, we don't DO that. It sticks in my mind that no normal Christian should do that. Ever. ~le sigh~ Being Christian isn't about quoting the Bible (but it's handly sometimes) and "Bible-thumping" (always a poor choice) other people. It's about holding yourself to a higher standard of behavior because you believe it's the right way to be. It's not verbally harrassing other players, hacking/cheating, or picking on people. It's about being fair and playing nice. Whenever you join a Christian server, it should be a safe place. Admittedly, the Bible is a fantastic tool. And if we choose to quote scripture at each other, it really shouldn't bother anyone. But if I was trying to convert you, I would want you to be converted because you see who Jesus is in the way I act. Quoting scripture to non-believers right out of the bag is like giving a German directions in Swahili. DUH! It doesn't work that way. It NEVER works that way. When a non-believer starts to question, when they want to know more, when they say they're ready to maybe see what it's all about, THEN you break out the Bible. You basically tell them, "Everything about why I do what I do is pretty much in here." I dislike ignorant people (everyone has a flaw here and there...) but I really dislike ignorant Christians. I'm not perfect, (who is?) but seriously, I do NOT get why people do these things. ~headdesk~ q-_-'p

The issue is that those of us who aren't Christian tend to only get into discussions about Christianity from that kind of person, the proselytizer. People who also seem to assume we're idiots who've never heard of Christianity. Had to go through high school with that for my first two years after openly admitting to be an atheist. Scores of people who decided I clearly had never heard of Jesus and thus just needed to hear that he was a person and suddenly I'd switch over just like that. It's very, very insulting to have people come, approach me on a subject I labored over for years before finally settling on an answer I felt all right with, and then having them brush off all my philosophical debates with a just 'oh clearly he's just ignorant and never listened, I'll do the thing and bring the news to him!'. And this isn't to you, but in general, please stop assuming we've never heard about the bible or read it. A lot of us have read it when trying to find our answer. A lot of us in the US were Christians before becoming atheists, we know it pretty intimately.

 

[jaffar.abduraheem]

There are actually quite a few games out there made by Christians for Christians that are quite awful as games. The issue with Christianity, Islam, or politics in general in games is that saying, "This game is about Christian democrats," essentially alienates everyone else. I'm pretty open-minded as far as game content, but I would look elsewhere because I don't fall into either category. We must remember that even though we thing our ideologies are great, and so do many game developers, companies need to have as many people as possible feel comfortable living in the worlds they invent for a time.

 

[Arcadia2000]

The issue is that those of us who aren't Christian tend to only get into discussions about Christianity from that kind of person, the proselytizer. People who also seem to assume we're idiots who've never heard of Christianity. Had to go through high school with that for my first two years after openly admitting to be an atheist. Scores of people who decided I clearly had never heard of Jesus and thus just needed to hear that he was a person and suddenly I'd switch over just like that. It's very, very insulting to have people come, approach me on a subject I labored over for years before finally settling on an answer I felt all right with, and then having them brush off all my philosophical debates with a just 'oh clearly he's just ignorant and never listened, I'll do the thing and bring the news to him!'. And this isn't to you, but in general, please stop assuming we've never heard about the bible or read it. A lot of us have read it when trying to find our answer. A lot of us in the US were Christians before becoming atheists, we know it pretty intimately.

I was just about to post in reply until I re-read the part that had "and this isn't to you" and went, "...oh." I have to admit, you have a great point. Since the most common religion in America is a version of Christianity, most atheists are very well-acquainted with the idea of it. I can see how really infuriating it would be to have every Christian treat you like a brainless retard that just came off the shuttle from Mars. "By the way have you heard of Jesus?" Of course, you morons, there's only two major holidays dedicated to him that let me skip school and at least one church in every town in the freaking country. (I actually have no idea if there is a church in every town or not; I like to exaggerate from time to time. ^_^)

Truth be told however, even though nearly everyone has heard of the bible, not too many people can claim to have read it. So that's usually a good first tactic is to ask, "Have you even read the Bible?" And honestly, to be pretty "intimate" with the Bible, one has to do more than know John 3:16 and recite it on command like they teach you in Sunday School. It takes a long time to really know the Bible. I'm not saying you aren't pretty intimate with it, I'm just saying that even many of the atheists I've met actually don't know much about it.

You know, if you're comfortable with your answer, there's really nothing I can say to change your mind. AND I know better than to try. I hope that my actions cause others to question their beliefs and to see that being a Christian can really be a good thing. A comfortable thing. But if you decide that's not for you, I'm not going to worry myself about it, or bother you about it. But I do want to ask a question, because I'm curious. What is it that you find so uncomfortable about Christianity now? PM if you like or not; I know it can be a sensitive subject.

 

[Arcadia2000]

By the way. Religious games make terrible games because religions tend to show the world in terms of black and white and it really is anything but for the masses down here. It's my argument for why Sims2 sucked: to be a happy individual, you had to be a paragon of whatever personality type you chose. Choosing romance made you a bisexual whore. Not that I have a problem with bisexuals, but if you aren't one, it feels really weird to have a Sim that wants to do everyone in sight. I appreciate that the game allows the choice but I'll be honest, it shocked me. I just wasn't expecting it. And about the "whore" bit... well, YOU play it and tell me it's not really whorish. There was little room to be "normal." I think being the hero in a Christian game would make me into something that I do not feel comfortable with. I am not the smiting holy hammer of God. There is nothing that a Christian game could offer me that would in any way allow me to feel normal but if it put me in charge of saving the world from demons, I would of course have to be one of the same self-righteous holier-than-thou pricks that I despise. I just can't see a game that would let me feel real and be a hero at the same time. Even if I never had to smite another human in the game which would give me the squicky for passing judgement on another human soul in a "realistic setting" and just stuck to demons, you know that the hero would have to be a goody-two-shoes virgin that even I give the funny-eye to. Because I don't think the masses would accept anything else. I sort of expect people to be flawed, and when they are really really just shy of perfect, it makes me really really suspicious. Paranoid and not very flattering, I know. I never said I was perfect. =P

There are so many sects of just Christianity that to make a game that will satisfy all the sects would be near impossible. Your market at that point becomes incredibly small. As demented as it sounds, the Diablo games were the ones to me that came closest to be to being a religious game. You ran around smiting demons. Even if you consorted with the undead, you still were down on demons and other unholy spawn of Satan. But since I actually met parents that called the pokemon games satanic, yes that's right, POKEMON, I seriously doubt that they would share the same view I did.