Oslo Murders Lead to Calls For Game Bans in Australia

[likalaruku]

That's enough of a connection for Australian Christian Lobby Managing Director Jim Wallace, who said that any game that can push even just a few nutcases "over the edge" should be banned.

Let's see how that sounds when I reword it:

1)"That's enough of a connection for American Athiest Lobby Managing Director Jim Grommit, who said that any religious texts that can push a few zealots "over the edge" should be banned."

2)That's enough of a connection for British Feminist Lobby Managing Director Jasmine Wallace, who said that any amount of testosterone that can push even just a few men "over the edge" should be castrated.

3)That's enough of a connection for American Christian Lobby Managing Director James Wallis, who said that any book that can allow even just a few children to "believe in sorcery" should be burned.

 

[n00beffect]

As expected... This turd-bomb is going to blow-up everywhere soon, not only in Australia. I hate it when ONE stupid piece of sh** fu**tard says something about games, or depicts games in a bad way, and everyone is like BAN! You know what I would love to see? I mean really really really love to see?! A guy, who attempts to blow-up a hospital, but fails (so that I don't sound like an asshole). And when the police question him, he says that he 'trained' on how to fake a wound, in order to gain access to the hospital, by reading J.D.Salinger's Catcher in the Rye! I wonder what they're gonna do then, the stupid bastards - ban classic literature?!

Edit: Oh, and while we're on the topic; Didn't that idiot turn-out to be A FUNDAMENTALIST RIGHT-WING CHRISTIAN?! Just putting it out there. In hopes that the "ban crusade" may turn it's attention to something else they would want to ban (if you're that thick, I was referring to religion [and maybe right-wing conservatism, but that's a whole other story])...

That's enough of a connection for Australian Christian Lobby Managing Director Jim Wallace, who said that any game that can push even just a few nutcases "over the edge" should be banned.

Let's see how that sounds when I reword it:

1)"That's enough of a connection for American Athiest Lobby Managing Director Jim Grommit, who said that any religious texts that can push a few zealots "over the edge" should be banned."

2)That's enough of a connection for British Feminist Lobby Managing Director Jasmine Wallace, who said that any amount of testosterone that can push even just a few men "over the edge" should be castrated.

Oh, good sir(or madam), I praise thee for thine wise words of enlightenment!

 

[RJ Dalton]

snip

For starters, being schizophrenic myself, I was commenting that even having difficulty thinking in straight lines, I can't form a correlation based on any "evidence" they're putting forward to support themselves. The kind of behavior they're correlating to him is more in line with sociopathy than anything the more or less respectable studies into the effects of video games on behavior suggest.
Secondly, crying bullshit. Liberal media mongers just as much hate and fear towards its political opposite. The conservative strawman, a central antagonist of most of the leftist media, is as much a aberrant distortion of reality as the KKK hate speech and encourages just as much intolerance.
Finally, conspiracy theorists belong in a political category all their own. I've been with them before. Came across some of their less insane claims and they seemed in line with some of the research I'd been doing on my own on various subjects. I've looked pretty deeply into these groups and they don't match up with either of the two major political movements in America. Any similarities suggesting otherwise are totally surface. Beneath that, you have whole new levels of insanity that is at once disturbingly similar to the average mindset of people in general, and unsettlingly different. I personally believe the common man's repulsion to conspiracy theorists is more a case of the Uncanny Valley than we'd like to admit.

 

[Zing]

I'm sure this point has been made but I have no qualms making it again. He was also a Christian and perpetuated these attacks based on his hate for muslims. Sounds like we should be banning Christianity.

I wonder which would do the world a better good.

 

[notimeforlulz]

snip

snip

You're right about the crying bullshit thing, I should get over my fear that fear mongering warps people's perspectives and breeds the discourse I personally see as being insane and useless. Conspiracy theories belong in the same category as anti-multiculturalism, or any other form of trending memes that are exploitative of ignorance. People who believe that aliens built the pyramids are ignorant of the engineering, mathematics or labor available to the Egyptians at that time, people who believe that an Asian/Islamic/Whatever horde is invading their culture are ignorant of the fact that the Asians/Islamics/Horde in question will assimilate into their new home and adapt the local customs more readily than the born local populace does; based on historical precedent. I see them as one in the same, as all such persons decide to believe in something that they want to believe in instead of doing the hard work of actually fucking learning things. Religion fits in there as well.

People who have political motivations that are derivative of such ignorance, are scary.

EDIT: Wasn't actually arguing with your original comment.

 

[plainlake]

Speaking as someone from Norway.. That he mentioned games in his manifest havent even come up in media discussions. What Australia should be fearing is Extreme right-winged conservatism with racist and christian fundamentalist undertones, but the image I have gotten of australian politics lately is exactly that. I havent paid enough attention though.

I would advise everyone to see how we react to this atrocity in our country,- more openess, more democracy more love for eachother. I know it is sappy but damn im proud to be a Norwegian at this moment.

 

[6unn3r]

The giant fucking irony?

More people have died in the name of "God" than for any other cause in human history.

Ban religion and save some lives.

 

[Matt Dellar]

I say don't ban anything, but clearly educate people of the benefits and demerits of everything: religion, media, politics, etc.

I don't think anyone is thinking too deep when they say religion should be banned. That's just as bad, if not worse, as what we're all arguing against now. Psycho killers will be psycho killers, no matter how much of their motivation you take away. I don't see any reason to demonize or ban an entire way of life because one or two people following said way of life killed someone.

 

[MoeTheMonk]

1: Bomb goes off in Norway. Great, a tragedy to brighten my spirits.

2: A shooter guns down dozens of teens in a mass shooting spree. Wow, the day just gets better and better.

3: The shooter was a conservative. Oh good, now there can be even more hate directed at the Right.

4: He's apparently a Christian too. Ahh, a fresh new load of ammunition for religion-haters just arrived.

5: He's a gamer as well. Perfect, now the media can demonize games even more than before.

6: Christian group calls for the banning of games, adding insult to injury and making Christians look like idiots.

I don't want to jinx it here, but can this situation really get any worse at this point?

 

[DanDeFool]

Oh really? A Christian group calls for a ban on videogames after the Oslo killings?

For the sake of argument, and because it bears repeating (I'm sure someone else has brought this up), the Oslo Killer is a devout Christian. He even calls for "a Christian war" to defend Europe from Islam in his manifesto.

Hey, Christo-Fascists! I've got a better idea! How about we try BANNING CHRISTIANITY in Australia? See how that works out for us?

Obviously the point of this counter-argument is not to slam Christianity, or to rebuke reasonable, moderate Christians who practice their religion peacefully, but rather to point out the fallacy of proposing sweeping bans on certain ideas, media, or forms of expression just because some psycho who killed lots of people just happens to be tangentially associated with same.

In short, radical, asshole Christians can shut their fucking pie-holes.

 

[Moromillas]

FINALLY, a representative with a brain actually said it. That everything he touched and saw is not evil or the workings of "the devil" and isn't inherently the cause of insanity. I love you O'Connor!

 

[Calbeck]

"Jim Wallace, who said that any game that can push even just a few nutcases 'over the edge' should be banned."

In related news, crowds armed with pitchforks and torches have been sighted in Perth roaming the streets in search of copies of "Monopoly" and "Sorry".

 

[Apprentice88]

After the horrific millennia of Genocide and Discrimination that have occurred in the history of Humankind that have claimed the lives of countless people. Some vocal organisation is calling for a ban of the bible.

The bans have been called for after Crusaders, Witch Hunters, Inquisitors all admitted to reading the bible frequently as part of their holy duties to murder innocent people for fun and profit.
Lobby Director; Mr. Important stated that any literature that can push entire countries "over the edge" should be banned.

"The studied indifference of these killers to the suffering they were inflicting, their obvious dehumanizing of their victims based on beliefs and appearance, and the evil methodical nature of the killings have all the marks of old testament scenarios," Important told the Sydney Morning Herald. "How can we allow the profits of the religious industry and selfishness of church libertarians to place our increasingly dysfunctional society at further risk? Even if this prohibition were to save only one tragedy like this each twenty years it would be worth it."

...I could keep going.

 

[ResonanceSD]

I'm so sick of the politicians in this country. If anyone needs me, I'm moving to my secret moon bas- I mean, I'm moving to Canada.


I thought we'd be able to grow the hell up once Michael Atkinson retired. Apparently not, Australia, Apparently Not.

 

[Calbeck]

Oh really? A Christian group calls for a ban on videogames after the Oslo killings?

For the sake of argument, and because it bears repeating (I'm sure someone else has brought this up), the Oslo Killer is a devout Christian. He even calls for "a Christian war" to defend Europe from Islam in his manifesto. Hey, Christo-Fascists! I've got a better idea! How about we try BANNING CHRISTIANITY in Australia? See how that works out for us?

You may have missed it, but tens of thousands turned out in support of death threats against Danish cartoonists for parodying Muhammed. And that was just in Europe. Many carried placards calling for an Islamic war on "the infidels".

So, are you in favor of banning Islam in Europe, on basis of a much larger group of religious nuts making far more dire threats of violence?

Obviously the point of this counter-counter-argument is not to slam Islam, or to rebuke reasonable, moderate Muslims who practice their religion peacefully, but rather to point out the fallacy of proposing sweeping bans on certain ideas, media, or forms of expression just because some psycho who killed lots of people just happens to be tangentially associated with same.

In short, radical assholes in general can shut their fucking pie-holes.

 

[PleasantAsAHeadcrab]

Oh god when I first saw this I thought it was a joke about how twitchy Australia is when it comes to video games and violence and boobs.

YOU KNOW WHAT? I know a lot of people like this guy, none of them are gamers, they're all either morons or in serious need of a therapist. Geez.

 

[godofallu]

Oh Australia, you're so my least favorite country.

Seriously though don't they already ban violent videogames there?

 

[Nukey]

He killed for purely political reasons, right? Wouldn't it make more sense to ban being right-winged instead?

 

[azazel104]

Has no-one in a position of power noticed the asshole's probably trolling.

Also, middle-aged conservative types latch onto any argument that could spell the downfall of a risque new form of entertainment. Y'know, exactly the same BS that was spouted about movies, and Role-Playing. It's parents who're scared of what the "new thing" will do to their child's psyche

 

[TotalHobNob]

let's hope the other world governments follow that sort of reasonable logic against the coming anti-game zealot assualt.

I use my zerg rush of knowledge and common sense to defeat them.