Study Says Videogames "Problematize" Religion as Violent

[Yopaz]

And the fact that there are countless wars, both ongoing and past wars that have deep roots in religion got nothing to do with it?

Saying that Assassins Creed makes religion seem violent is silly as saying the history books problematize religion in that era as violent. With the crusades and holy wars at the time it would just be stupid to make the church the good guys in games like this. I find this hilarious.

 

[The Cheezy One]

People's responses to this are depressingly formulaic. 40% bashing religion without making any actual points, 40% thinking it's about religion demonizing video games, and 20% actual discussion. I agree that in video games, religion is generally depicted as corrupt. You would have thought that there was never any corruption, greed, killing and evil before religion. Here's a new point of view - consider all the people that could have commited atrocities, but didn't because of religious teachings. All the people that, without teaches of an ultimate power, would treat life as a sandbox of chaos. I'm studying law, and the basis of much of our society and institutions is based on government.

I think there is too much media demonizing religion these days, and more of it is unnecessary. In films, where there are only a couple of hours to set up the premise, having a predetermined faction is understandable, but games have the advantage of having hours to get you to feel emotion, so why all the insert-faction-here?

The rebels are always good guys. The religion is always misguided. The aristocracy is always corrupt. The empire is always power hungry. The police are always over-violent. The business is always greedy. Can we have a change here, please? Any kind of change? Just listing this has made me never want to play a new Final Fantasy.

I'm not going to try to covince you there is a God. But please, start believing in religion.

EDIT: I'd also like to state that I'm saying that religion has a blank slate. It's allowed things that shouldn't have been. It's ruled with an iron fist. But. In this day of free thinking and individuality, there is a lot of accountability. This keeps religion in check, and allows people to ask questions, which will advance the path to understanding and comprehension. But these opportunities seem to be replaced with people saying "all religions are bad and wrong and stupid", and the reply occasionally being "believe or you're screwed".

I hate humanity. We suck. But stop blaming religion for our actions.

 

[Siege_TF]

Looks like one of those studies that tells you that accidents in the home happen most often in the bathroom or kitchen.

Let's try something else.

A University of Missouri doctoral student says many modern videogames "problematize" cannibalism by equating it with depravity in their stories. This despite that historically speaking cannibalism was most commonly tied to ceremony or medicine rather than because people taste like chicken.

There's no such study that I'm aware of, it's just something I vaguely remember from sociology 101, the big difference being that cannibalism is commonly bashed openly in video games because there's no taboo on doing so, and no special interest groups that are pro-cannibalism in political circles (at least... not openly).

 

[CronoT]

There are not enough Facepalm Posters in all of the Internet to convey how dumb this research project is.

Nevermnind the fact that religions have been used as the main villain or "Boogeyman" scenario in movies, books, and plays for CENTURIES, but it's when video games got in on the troupe that it was just too far.

This guy is either a douche, or someone begging for an Easy A by giving his Professor something he wanted to read in order to propagate his/her own worldview.

 

[vid87]

Probably mentioned a few times already, but really, MOST of the Final Fantasy series is essentially criticism about religion. Many of the final bosses are depicted as angelic or biblical and the plot usually stems from conflicts with churches or elder gods. Hell, Final Fantasy Tactics' final boss is basically Jesus from what I understand of the lore. The study is just a tad behind the times.

 

[Doom972]

Could it maybe, just maybe be due to the fact that *gasp* religion leads to violence?
I'd like to see more studies about that, rather than further bashing of my favorite pass time.
That would actually serve humanity.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

Personally, I think religion is doing a pretty good job of it itself.
-The Crusades
-al-Qaeda
-Sharia Law
-countless other religious wars
-Witch trials in America, Scotland, England etc...

 

[Casual Shinji]

Oh dear, look at that; A news item about a guy who somewhat stands up for religion.

Duh, I wonder how well this will go over with the community?

Anyway, the guy's absolutely right, though I don't really think it warranted an entire study. Everyone with functioning eyes and ears already came to this conclusion. Most game developers know that the majority of their fanbase dispises religion in every possible way, so why come up with some sort of new and interesting evil corp. when you can just say "they're religious" and be guaranteed the fans will hate them on the basis of their ideology alone?

Preaching to the choir, ey Escapist!

 

[cidbahamut]

Perhaps Games paint religion as violent because history shows that's exactly what they are? Just a thought.

Pretty much. This is about as startling of a revelation as video games depicting grass as green or water as wet.

 

[Treblaine]

I have not read the entirety of the modern English translations of the bible as used by the Anglican Church.

So you have zero credibility.

Also, why are you singling out Bibles used by the Anglican Church?

But please continue.

I have not read the Torah either. Nor the Qu'ran, nor Sruti of Hinduism, nor Svetambara of Jainism. Nor the Homeric Hyms of greek mythology, nor Dianetics of Scientology. All claim to have universal significance but none have a shred of evidence to convince me to read them. I read Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code and decided that was a waste of my time, so why bother with all those?

You claim that they claim universal significance, but if you haven't read them, how could you possibly even know that they claim universal significance in the first place? Homer's Iliad and The Odyssey actually don't. They weren't even claimed to be true by Homer or his contemporaries (in fact, my wife was telling me the other day about a competing version of the events in the Iliad written by a contemporary of Homer's where the Greeks lost).

Furthermore, any evidence they would offer to you as to their ultimate veracity would be discovered by reading them. Saying, "I haven't read them because they haven't given me any evidence to convince me," is like saying, "Well, I haven't really payed any attention during this trial and I slept through all the court proceedings, but that guy's totally guilty. Oh, it's a woman? Whatever, totally guilty."

Last things first.

I live in England. Anglicanism is the religion of the Church of England and the religion of our monarch. Logically I should follow this religion just like the member of an indigenous tribe is more open to the myths that the chief says than those passed on by visiting missionaries. That's just to address geographic priority.

You say I have zero claim to credibility, but why have you not read these other holy scriptures from around the world? You haven't got much claim.

I know enough about each of those religions that, just like the Christian Bible, all of those holy scriptures claim to be the universal truth. They are not a particular religion for a particular geographic region that excludes wherever you are from, they talk about YOU, in fact ALL of us. They pertain to your fate and place in the universe.

So, why have you not read the holy scriptures of Islam and followed the teachings? Arguably they are the most up-to-date version of Abrahamic religions incorporating Old Testament, New Testament AND the teachings of Prophet Muhammed. SO why have you not read the Qu'ran and why are you not then a practician Muslim? You weren't raised with one or the other, why did you choose the Christian bible?

Yes, Homeric Hymns are pushing it, but can you so easily dismiss the Book of Mormon? Or Hindu and Jainist scripture?

"Furthermore, any evidence they would offer to you as to their ultimate veracity would be discovered by reading them."

The same thing is said about all the other holy scriptures of different religions, so why haven't you read them? Anyway, people I trust have checked already. There is not a shred of evidence in any of those holy scriptures, it's all to be taken entirely on faith. It's pure circular logic. "the box is red because this sentence is true"

I just want to know why you believe the Christian Bible over all the other religions and their texts? Why should ANYONE follow the scriptures of Christianity over Hinduism, Islam, Jainism or even Scientology or any of the other religions?

Haha, I like how you just assume I haven't read any other religious texts despite knowing very little about me other than that I'm willing to read religious texts.

I believe Christianity over other religions because it's the most believable, both in its tenants and its creation. Believing in Christianity, for me, is like believing Columbus sailed across the Pacific or Genghis Khan invaded central Asia. The Bible is not merely a religious text, but a book of history, written by many different sources. Looking into the archeological and historical evidence for the resurrection, the least preposterous explanation is that Jesus died and was resurrected three days later.

When we look at other religious texts and their creation, what do we see?

Islam/Mormonism: One guy, alone, in a cave, writing philosophy.

Hinduism: Creation-myth focused religion with central tenants that claim the existence of creatures on Earth (e.g., rakshasa) that no one has ever found.

Jainism: One guy teaching a philosophy with a creation-myth focus with central tenants that have been disproven (the universe has always existed, Jainism has always been a religion, etc.).

Scientology: One science fiction writer who had previously publicly stated that he could make up a ridiculous religion and people would still follow it. Beyond that, you officially can't read Dianetics until you've given them thousands of dollars and advanced through their ranks which screams scam (Wikileaks put up the whole thing a while back, though). Also, I'm a psychologist, which basically makes me Satan in Scientology cosmology.

Since you have no qualms with dismissing religions, lets take a look at Christianity.

-old testament is chuck full of down right impossible stuff. Almost every reference to the natural world is wrong and showed no insight of any deity, only the insight some iron age tribal chief in a cave would have
-Jesus's miracles that somehow prove he is the son of god we can see today are run of the mill magic tricks, televangelist shows demonstrate "healing the blind" and "making the lame man walk" that would be just as capable 2000 years ago.
-far more plausible that virgin birth is that a human impregnated Mary
-even more plausible than god impregnation is parthenogenesis, and that does not automatically make them the son of god.
-Really this seems a lot like the scholars are embellishing the story of a real Philosopher called Jesus to try to get his life to fit the messianic predictions of Judeism. Particularly to get around the paternal lineage problem by saying god is the father.
-Far more plausible explanation of Jesus's temporary resurrection is that he merely passed out on the cross and was taken down where primitive medical knowledge declared him "dead" while his family never gave up and nursed him back to consciousness "resurrected". But he still had so many infected wounds that would eventually kill him where he "directly ascends to heaven" as the embellishment goes.
It's not like resurrection after decapitation. THAT would be a miracle. Back then people survived crucifixion all the time.
-EVEN IF it was actual resurrection and direct ascension to heaven... that doesn't make him the son of god. That happened to loads of other characters in the old testament who were not "God's only son".
-Why didn't god just shake the skies over Rome and tell Ceaser that Jesus is his son and to leave him alone. Why was Jesus left pretty much to claim it entirely on an angel he apparently saw but no one else did.
-Every year there is another person who claims to be Jesus returned and fills all these criteria.

Ultimately, it's too implausible that Jesus is the the son of the guy who created the universe not least of which how we know that the universe was not created by any conscious being.

And you seem monumentally ignorant of Islam, as Prophet Muhammed was a very real historical figure. Much more evidence for his existence than Jesus.

I think you are exercising a double standard by accepting all the things the Christian Bible says but not the Qu'ran, which if I recall has a lot less magic tricks in it.

 

[Legend0fGear]

After reading this article I couldn't help but wonder "Where is Breath of Fire II?" Heck, in that the main bad-guy made a religion to suck the souls from it's followers.

 

[irishda]

Religion's like anything else, it's not inherently bad, and believing that going to church is going to turn you into a fanatic makes you just as gullible as the zealots that you're condemning. Religion does just as much good as it does evil. For every priest that assaults an altar boy, there's one that provides a lot of counseling and help to the poor and needy.

 

[Treblaine]

Right, and Eve being made from Adam's rib and just two breeding pairs repopulating the earth in a few thousands years without being crippled by inbreeding. Not to mention how this DOES contradict both science and the "theistic evolution" as mentioned.

So the Bible stating that Adam and Eve are THE FIRST humans created and doesn't mention God making any other humans automatically means that God didn't make any other humans after Adam and Eve?
You have to take Religion with a HUGE bag of salt 90% of the time but you also have to put some thought behind what some things in the bible state.

The bible said mankind were created from Adam and Eve. That in itself is nonsense and contradicts the archaeological record of ape-like creatures gradual evolution into modern humans.

Sorry, grain of salt or bag of salt, there is no excusing how the Bible is full of false claims, as has been proven by science. The bible's word has about as much weight as Aesop's Fables and other stories.

We can get into the whole evolution debate if you would like but we do not have proof that they evolved into humans we know that they evolved into human like not necessarily human itself though since we did not observe it and that is the only definitive proof there is.

That's nonsense, we HAVE seen this evolution in the fossil record, accurately dated for each of the remains and confirmed further with study of genetics.

These "human like, not necessarily human" used complex tools, wore clothes, communicated verbally, cared for their sick and made art and jewellery. We know this from the archaeological record, how those with poorly injuries meant they were nursed to stay alive even though they didn't recover.

You're just being arbitrary to say these are not THE missing link of human evolution from primates. And just to clear up any confusion, we didn't evolve from chimpanzees, they are our "cousins". We have a common ancestor, they chimps and gorillas went one way, the path of living in the forests of fruit and forage. The path that would lead to humanity had far more evolutionary pressures that lead to us standing tool-users.

 

[AnarchistFish]

I will say the central tenement of Christianity (at least) is based on violence; that is you don't follow their dogma then you will be horribly tortured for all eternity.

Not really... The absolute most important teaching in Christianity is showing compassion to everyone. I don't actually know if it's ever been specifically taught that you must be a Christian to go to "heaven". Many believe you do, but many believe the oppositen't. Maybe all Christianity and other religions require is just that people follow those morals throughout their lives, rather than worship idols, even if you don't believe in a god. That's what I understand from religious teachings and I think it's in that way that religion has lost its way and violence has stemmed from it as a result.
Whether there's a god or not is another question.

 

[Treblaine]

I will say the central tenement of Christianity (at least) is based on violence; that is you don't follow their dogma then you will be horribly tortured for all eternity.

Not really... The absolute most important teaching in Christianity is showing compassion to everyone. I don't actually know if it's ever been specifically taught that you must be a Christian to go to "heaven". Many believe you do, but many believe the oppositen't. Maybe all Christianity and other religions require is just that people follow those morals throughout their lives, rather than worship idols, even if you don't believe in a god. That's what I understand from religious teachings and I think it's in that way that religion has lost its way and violence has stemmed from it as a result.
Whether there's a god or not is another question.

In my experience in dealing with Christians who insist creationism rather than evolution should be taught in schools (and all aspects of the bible being literally and infallibly true). Over and over again they fall back on the hollow threat hell that they use to argue their point, attempting the fallacy of Pascal's Wager not realising (or not caring) that it is effectively blackmail. And ineffective blackmail as every other religion would make the same wager it's a matter of believing in WHICH god!?!

"Maybe all Christianity and other religions require is just that people follow those morals throughout their lives, rather than worship idols, even if you don't believe in a god."

OK, so what is the point in religion? We are SUPPOSED to be good anyway! If that's the case, why can't we just be good and God will take over when we die. Do NOT try to tell me morality comes from religion. Of all the false claims of origins of the universe, religion does not have the moral high ground of telling people what is right and wrong.

Oh of course, because religions have some rather twisted forms of morality they want to enforce. Such as Leviticus declaring that homosexuality is an abomination that must be stoned to death and their fate in afterlife is to be tortured forever in hell. Nice morality there. It is somewhat open to interpretation but none the less this allows horrific homophobic persecution. Christianity IN PRACTICE you have not seen compassion here, you have seen oppression.

And of course the bible is very explicit, it doesn't matter how good you are, you MUST believe in this one god AND "His Word" or you do not stand a chance, this has been made clear to me by angry creationists and I cannot dispute that is what their holy scripture does make this threat. The ultimate threat of violence. But a hollow one.

And the real corker, the way these rules are laid out, a believing priest can rape little children and then if he says a load of magic words of "repent" then he can still get into "heaven". But all the good and charitable Hindus and other polytheists, bible is explicit that they will suffer an infinitely horrific fate.

 

[Nu-Hir]

Anyway, the guy's absolutely right, though I don't really think it warranted an entire study. Everyone with functioning eyes and ears already came to this conclusion. Most game developers know that the majority of their fanbase dispises religion in every possible way, so why come up with some sort of new and interesting evil corp. when you can just say "they're religious" and be guaranteed the fans will hate them on the basis of their ideology alone?

I don't think that the majority of gamers (since you didn't define which fanbase) despises religion. I would probably put it at a minority, or 40/60 at most (60 being the religious side). I might be one of the few of the non-spiritual type, but I do not despise religion, in fact I think it helps some people become better people.

But no, this guy isn't right. Religion isn't always painted out to be the violent bad guy, there are games where religion is painted rather nicely,

Spoiler: Xenosaga Ep III

choas and KOS-MOS essentially kick-started the whole Christianity thing

He took a very small sample of recent games and used those to paint the picture that he wanted. As a Journalism student, he knew the smallest sample with the largest support of his opinion was the way to go. He hand picked those games for a reason because their plots revolved around the idea he wanted to get across, that's why he didn't look further back for games that would go against his thesis.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Sorry to say, but for anyone to seriously suggest that organized religion is completely innocent of any involvement in any kind of real-world violence... is either a demonstration of historical ignorance or intellectual dishonesty.

 

[ElPatron]

Umm... Does anyone actually expect a doctoral student to make an original finding that is novel, controversial and well defended?

No.

While atheism itself has some rather vicious purges to its name

I'm genuinely interested, give me examples of atrocities done in the name of an absence of belief.

Before Hitler got all "Valhalla" in his regime a lot of his propaganda and party platform was based on the science of Eugenics. The Jew was "scientifically" an inferior race. Whether or not you think Hitler misrepresented Eugenics is not the issue, it's a very concrete example of science being used to instigate one of the most horrible events of human history.

So science equals absence of belief? I don't know about that.

Also, we have know about racism and selective reproduction before science, and way before we discovered genetics. No scientific development was needed for the belief that Jews were inferior.

 

[Vhite]

A University of Missouri doctoral student says many modern videogames "problematize" organized religion by equating it with violence in their stories.

Nevermind the centuries of warfare, racism, intolerance, and bigotry spurred on by religious leaders. Videogames are the real problem.

There weren't videogames back then to do it for them.

 

[Aerosteam]

Great, another person labeling video games as evil. When will they learn?

If this guy is mentioning that religion is tied to violence in video games, might as well mention that's the case in real life. I don't think I need to mention what has happened (or is happening) to certain countries purely because of religion.

Who is the violent religious sect in Mass Effect 2???

The closest I can think of is Samara. "Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess *bust head open like a melon*"

That's about all I can think of. Oh, and "Dead Gods still dream" (something like that).

I'm thinking of the Geth and the Reapers.

The Geth worship the Reapers, Reapers want to kill everyone. Apparently that's bad enough to get called out on problematizing religion as violent. Although that's more to do with the first Mass Effect, meh.