May 7, 2008 -
And you thought the GTA IV bashing was over?Silly you...
The Catholic Exchange has jumped into the fray, terming the hit game a "dangerous cultural low." Here's more:
I don’t know the answer to this, but out of curiosity, I have a question: What percentage of car-jacking murdering gang members were committed to this life as children?
...There’s something odd about our culture when we try to prevent children under 17 from seeing violent or sexually overt material in a two-hour R-rated movie, but we’re cavalier about selling the same experience - actually, a more offensive experience since it’s entirely non-judgmental - in an M-rated video game that will be played every night for months.
GP: The unnamed writer apparently fails to grasp that the movie and game rating systems are both voluntarily enforced by their respective industries.
There’s only one word to describe parents who would buy this game for their children: Disgraceful.
But retailers, too, must be pressed to check ID before selling the game to children who most assuredly will seek to purchase it. Legally, stores cannot sell children pornographic magazines or handguns - but they can legally sell video games to children that contain pornographic content or that teach children how to gun down cops.
Comments
Re: Catholic Website Condemns Grand Theft Auto IV
WTF?!?!? it does´nt teach u anything, if u want to kill someone, her´s how:
1. Find, get or steal a gun
2. Locate the person u want to kill
3. Remove the safety pin
4. Aim at the person
5. Pull the trigger
6. RUN!
hit that high note.
There’s only one word to describe parents who would raise their children Catholic: Disgraceful. Remember, God hates fags.
1. Get a gun.
2. Locate a cop.
3. Point gun at said cop.
4. Pull the trigger (May need to take safety off).
5. ???
6. Profit
These steps don't guarantee that someone will actually hit their target, but GTA sure as hell won't make a person any more accurate. I could understand it if they would say, "GTA gives them the idea to shoot cops," but "teach"? That's just ridiculous.
Oh, and good luck getting away with it... however, it is far easier to get away with it in GTA, though.
/irony
You being attacked and belittled here is akin to me going to a Christian Pancake Breakfast and informing people that I'm An Athiest. Just because we both like pancakes isnt going to cause the criticism to stop. Its going to happen. If you don't contribute to the Stereotypes that we are generalizing here, then good for you, you are helping your cause, but until I can, without a doubt, walk past any christian I know without fear of being "saved," I will continue to generalize, because it's what I've experianced.
I disagree- one of the key points of the games & censorship debate is over morality. Morality is the domain of religion, and is the very basis of many people's desire to censor games. When its not religious activists & groups, it's politicians trying to appeal to the powerful voting block that makes up the Red States.
The Westboro Baptist Church is the one that "popularized" "God Hates Fags",not a Catholic Church.
Not all Catholics are stupid,just the ones that get the most exposure in mainstream media.
Buh-zing
Note that his (syndicated) columns usually appear on many other newspapers and websites.
IMO, you should renamed this entry's title "PTC's Brent Bozell condemns Grand Theft Auto IV", or simply "Brent Bozell condemns Grand Theft Auto IV"
No not too old, just too... female.
I'd love to play a game where you play Cardinal Richelieu overseeing the deaths of thousands of 'heretics'.
This is the religion I was brought up in and after 12 years of catholic school, I can proudly say I have no fondness or care for religion as an institution.
The Catholic exchange does make a good point that we are ok with showing murder but showing sex is awful. i think this was a more of a sarcastic approach that only Catholics can muster about the view of how we shrug off death but scoff at sex.
Also i have to strongly disagree with your point that the rating system for movies and games is voluntary. That is a wrong statement. Offically you are correct, the system is voluntary however we all know that this mechiniasm is put into place as a forced measure, with out it you will never make any money or sell your product.
None of the mainstream movie theaters witch account for over 90% of all movie ticket sales will show an unrated movie.
And no mainstream retailer will carry an unrated video game.
It is disgraceful. Let's instead teach them how to molest choir boys.
The days of the Church pushing ethics are long gone, shove it.
The Church still exists today because of children being brainwashed while they're still impressionable, when they rant and rave about GTA or Rockstar they're simply holding a mirror up to themselves.
At least Rockstar have the decency to pretend they're not interested in the children's market.
"The Catholic exchange does make a good point that we are ok with showing murder but showing sex is awful. i think this was a more of a sarcastic approach that only Catholics can muster about the view of how we shrug off death but scoff at sex."
Are you kidding? The reason this country glorifies violence and abhors sex IS religion. How can a religious group "make a good point" that sex is taboo when THEY are the ones who pushed that agenda?
Well, the Catholic church was once known for declaring the earth was at the center…
Apologies to Galileo in the afterlife.
Don't lambast the rest of the Catholic community - I know plenty of fellow Catholics who think people like Bozell and his ilk are nothing more than misguided douchebags using religion to mask their own bias and paranoia.
Well said. No Catholic organization has the right to take the "moral high ground" anymore after that pedephelia debacle that's STILL being decided in the courts. Oi!
Unless you have sired a child every time you had sex (in wedlock, of course), you are not a true Catholic.
I find it funny to see families of supposed "devout" Catholics who have been married for decades with 1-2 children ONLY. I doubt these people only had sex 1-2 times...
Besides, as I've said, Bozell is a very poor example of the rest of the Catholic demographic. Making him a personification of the rest of the community is like making GTA4 a personification of the gaming industry as a whole.
I wouldn't give a rat's ass if you dissed him for the venom he spews. Just don't mark other people undeserving of the attacks.
"1. Get a gun.
2. Locate a cop.
3. Point gun at said cop.
4. Pull the trigger (May need to take safety off).
5. ???
6. Profit"
What's funny is that actions like these were a lot more prevalent before computers were around. Two timelines that come to mind are the Wild West, and the Prohibition.
btw. the Catholic Church needs absolute proof for scientific theory before accepting it. I.E the Galileo controversy. Galileo just speculated that the earth was not the center of the universe. But didn't have any proof to show it. As far as my understanding goes. i can look more into it later if somebody wants
Gamers, of all people, should be above this kind of behavior. I thought GP was about examining the facts and not the hyperbole, and holding people accountable for THEIR OWN actions, not the actions of the group they belong to.
Next time you don't want someone blaming you for a school shooting, remember this.
I once had a converstation with a staunch catholic who, upon learning that I was an Athiest, implied that because of that, I was also a Homosexual, Sadist, and had no Moral Compass whatsoever. All of which is completely untrue. At which point, he asked me to come to his church to be "saved" or be condemned to hell for eternity. While I should have just knocked his ass out, I simply responded, "I'd rather spend an eternity in hell with free thinking individuals than in heaven with mindless sheep like you."
Anyways, attempting to change anyone's behaviors or censor anything based on your own religious beliefs is just wrong.
NEWSFLASH: IT'S. THE. PARENTS. Don't blame the parents, as you should, then turn right around and blame the retailers. I'm sure at most retailers you'd get fired for selling an M-rated game to a child. You can't deny a parent buying the game for a minor any more than you can deny a parent and a child access to an R-rated film. Damn this pesky freedom thing.
And as someone else said, yeah okay, it teaches kids (who shouldn't even be playing it and it's entirely their parents fault if they are) to shoot cops. All that auto-targeting sure is a precise and realistic simulator of shooting a real gun.
I was kind of enjoying all the jokes personally, but I have got to say that you are absolutely right.
I completely agree with you. My grand-mother is Christian and she accepts my choices (when she can understand them).
The result is what you see here.... morons that get to spout nonsense and quickly retreat back into a mystical land of self-importance supported by a delusion that a supernatural entity is influencing them.
This is what Jack Thompson thinks is running through the minds of every gamer that has played a violent video game, or "murder simulator" as he says.
We're all about truth and tolerance here, people, let's not fall into the trap of name-calling and hate because someone who happens to write for a catholic source decided to hate on GTA. You don't hate Florida because JT lives there, so why hate a religion because someone you (and I) think is a jerk believes in it?
2. shoot animals
3. or gun range
4. forget to take meds or refuse
shooting spree = games made you do this
"Judge no, lest ye be judged". I'm pretty sure that was written in the bible, and I'm pretty sure it means that you're not supposed to take a "holier-than-thou" attitude with anybody because it is only for God to judge the worth of a human soul. So the principle of christianity is correct, but there are those who forget the words in favor of the sword.
This guy writes opinion pieces. The very nature of an opinion piece is to be judgemental. Let God pass his judgement on those catholics who violate the sanctity of his word.
[/soapbox]
Its not like gamers/designers suddenly came out of the woodwork to talk shit about religion. To most, it was just a hobby or career or even art. Many of these people also happened to be religious.
The majority of these scare-mongering, lying (oh yes) attacks came UNPROVOKED from Christian sources. They went to paint gamers/designers as godless, homosexual (like that's a bad thing), porn pushers.
This particular backlash against Christian hypocricy and dark-age foolishness is merely in reaction to a fight THEY STARTED.
Had they just lived and let live (like Christ would have done), this debate dynamic never would have happened.
I disagree, I can condemn the catholic church because the catholic church as a whole has driven many members to believe the whole "Missionary" style religious Ideology. This causes Many, many, many members of the catholic church that I talk to (About 50% of the Catholics that I meet) to become bigoted, ignorant, and sometimes very agressive in thier attempts to "Save" me from myself. I can condemn and will continue to condemn any religious entity that encourages its members to act in such a zealotous fashion.
While it's true that the backlash was triggered by an attack on gaming by individuals who often claim to be religiously motivated, "but he started it!" is not necessarily the most productive avenue of discussion.
Let's at least try to take the high road. It's not like there's not enough wrong in the message to attack, without attacking the messenger.