Faith-Based Bloggers Slam EA For Staging Fake Religious Protest at E3
Faith-Based Bloggers Slam EA For Staging Fake Religious Protest at E3
June 11, 2009
At least two faith-based bloggers have raised objections to a fake religious protest staged by Electronic Arts to promote its Dante's Inferno game at E3 last week in Los Angeles.
At GamePolitics reported, about 20 actors carried signs protesting Dante's Inferno on supposed religious grounds. The signs bore messages like "EA = anti-Christ" and "My high score is in Heaven." Initial coverage by the Los Angeles Times even reported (incorrectly) that the demonstrators came from a church in Ventura County, California.
Margaret Cabaniss of InsideCatholic has taken issue with the religious theme of EA's publicity stunt:
It's been clear for a while now that the entertainment industry views Christians on the whole as priggish, thin-skinned fun-killers... Has anybody at EA actually read the Inferno?
Meanwhile, Catholic Video Gamers writes:
Gamers of all varieties will buy this product if it's, well, actually a good game. So instead of engaging in a shamelessly anti-Christian stunt to promote your poor excuse of a product, maybe you ought to work on making this game, you know, something better than a blatant God of War rip-off and make it, ya know, something worthwhile?
GP: Aside from these blog posts there are no official complaints from religious organizations on the Dante's affair... yet.
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Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:05am
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:03am
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:56am
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:45am
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:37am
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:36am
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:32am
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:30am
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:44am
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
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Comments
Not only are the bloggers opinions based on logic instead of taking the more radical religeous approach...but i whole-heartedly agree with them
I'm...scared and confused
It's like this...
Christians range from crazy fundamentalist nutjobs to polite and very likable moderates. You're just agreeing with the moderates and are confused because the crazy nutjobs drown out all the others so much that it's easy to forget that they're actually a minority.
EA are probably fundamentally evil though;)
This.
I'm one of the moderates. I see EA exploiting a religion (especially Christianity, which gets too much flack already) to promote a game as tasteless, but I'm not going to go off and bawl about it like the nutjobs because really, it's just one game. If I don't like the game, I don't have to spend money on it.
Agreed. It's a tasteless way to promote the game. We have enough "Christians" who make the religion look bad through their behavior, we don't need EA's help. Still, it's not a big deal. EA just needs to fire the geniuses that put together stunts like this and the brass knuckle incident.
exactly, The nutjobs overshadow normal religious people so much that when a sane one is noticed i can't help but be a little tongue-in-cheek.
then the nutjobs come out, my faith in humanity is lowered, and i bring out the scathing sarcasm.
The nutjobs make themselves appear as being more devoted, more hardcore to their cause than the moderates because they are more fixated on the topics. They probably also perceive the moderates not being "true" to the cause.
GameSnooper
A thousand nations of the Christian Empire descend upon you! Our Bibles will BLOT OUT THE SUN!
"So instead of engaging in a shamelessly anti-Christian stunt to promote your poor excuse of a product, maybe you ought to work on making this game, you know, something better than a blatant God of War rip-off and make it, ya know, something worthwhile?"
EA, work on something original? LAWL
Henry Hatsworth, Dead Space and Mirror's Edge say "hi".
Now they need to be unoriginal again and give me Mirror's Edge 2. :D
Wait, isn't Harry Hatsworth a Professor Layton ripoff?
So's Dead Space. A rip-off I mean, not a Professor Layton rip-off.
--------------------------------------------------
I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Hatsworth is a platformer on one screen with a block puzzle on the other screen. Nothing like Layton at all- other than the British-ness.
I agree and I agree (oh and I agree to the above EA work on something original LOL)
How is it anything like Iraq? The war in Iraq was started due to faulty intelligence, due to secular progressives believing that the military and intelligence agencies didn't need money to find out if the info they collected was actually accurate. EA was just stupid.
Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
What Cerabret110 said. But even if this game was awesome and I didn't have a no-EA-games policy, I still wouldn't get inferno after this little stunt.
-P, reporting from the circle of hell reserved for wise-asses.
I thought EA's staged protest was a fun PR stunt, because it wasn't obviously a PR stunt. That in turn is because it's believable, partly because of prejudice against christians I guess, but mostly because it's actually based on earlier protests from christians, conservatives and moralists. We've all seen their protests, with the slogans, the threats of burning in hell, etc.
If you're feeling offended by the image the protest paints of christian because you are a christian yourself, I don't quite see why. Sure, if you're one of the christian who protest like this for real, but then you're only laughable. You're never going to be taken seriously and you're always going to be the butt of jokes.
But a regular, sensible christian? I suggest that you employ an old tactic - distance yourself from this image of christianity. Whenever bad happens that is connected to christianity, you often hear that it's not real christianity, not your kind of christinaity or that not all christians can be held responsible for what a few nutjobs do in its name.
Why not do the same here? I.e. do the same thing you would do if this protest was real and arranged by some fringe christian extremist group. They don't represent you or your beliefs, and neither does a sarcastic image of them. That's how I would do it, anyway.
The hearth of the christian religion is evangelism, that is spreading the word of christ and converting other people.
When EA for example, make christianism look bad, it is much harder to convince non-christians that it was some stupid PR and that christians are not like that, thus it becomes harder to convince non-nutjobs of joining the religion, and this hurts the religion on its core, since the religion is about conving people to join.
criadordejogos.wordpress.com
This. Plus, lying is wrong in the first place. Lying about a group of people that have deep problems with lying is just wrong on way more levels.
Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
Sure, they sound irritated... but tomorrow there will probably be another article stating that these protests against the EA protests were staged as well. I just don' trust nothin' any more. >.>
In the end, I have to disagree with most people's reactions to the fake protest. I liked it. It was satirical.
The real problem lies in the vocal minority of Christians who get outraged at every little thing. Instead of blaming marketing or EA or Stephen Colbert for "making fun of" the fundies, sensible christians should be turning their ire at those within their ranks for giving them a bad name in the first place.
"It's been clear for a while now that the entertainment inudstry views Christians on the whole as priggish, thin-skinned fun-killers"
It's not just the entertainment industry, it's scientists, students, etc. And it's your fault.
In the end, I have to disagree with most people's reactions to the fake protest. I liked it. It was satirical.
Dante's original story was satirical. Their staged protest was just plain stupid. An attempt to sell by manufactured controversy rather than actual quality.
-Gray17
And it's your fault.
Wait, what? Weren't you just talking about the problem being the vocal minority of Christians? Turning around and blaming Christians in general is like blaming Muslims in general for terrorist attacks.
I hope I'm just reading your comment wrong or something.
---
I'm not under the affluence of incohol as some thinkle peep I am. I'm not half as thunk as you might drink. I fool so feelish I don't know who is me, and the drunker I stand here, the longer I get.
Actually... the point was that Christians allow a small vocal minority speak for them and when something like this comes along, they blame EA or the media or whatever.
Muslims actually continually distance themselves from the violent minority. Muslims condemn that behaviour all the time. You analogy is specious at best. The proper analogy would be that when people complain about terrorist attacks, Muslims turn around and say that it's the victim's fault.
Um...yeah cept we can't actually do anything, Freedom of speech and all that. Most of us have our own battle on our hands...we might beable to deal with these morons if it weren't for the fact that we're constantly defending against other people from the outside that seem to think it's perfectly fine to be jerks to us because we're christian and thus nutjobs -_-; I would love to go forth and maim a bunch of the vocal minority, but as it stands I'm having enough trouble keeping myself outta the hospital because of my town.
Guess what? We DO distance ourselves - why do you think there are so many denominations of Christianity? If we think a person (or group) has it wrong, our group will separate so we can pursue our specific practices.
Yet the moment someone hears the word "Christian" they assume it speaks for all of us? If people would use their heads and realize that the few don't speak for the whole, it'd be so much easier >.>
Anyway, being on topic, I don't mind people protesting something if they have a serious problem with it. Freedom of Speech, etc. I rolled my eyes when I first heard of the protest, but there will always be people who have a problem with something right? No biggie, let 'em rant.
Then I found out it was fake. Christians get enough flak for standing up for their beliefs as is, and it can get confusing enough when we disagree internally. (non-Christians can easily see us as being contradictory, and it makes it a lot harder to explain what's going on) We don't need groups of fake protestors adding more fuel to the fire eh?
EA got the publicity they wanted, though. In that respect, it was a successful move. I find it tasteless, but hey, I'm close to the issue so I've got a bias against it. Had it been another religion, I may not have cared as much. I'm less angry at the principle of the thing and moreso angry that it involved me.
It's hard to distance yourself when the vocal, insane minority gets all the attention. Having EA promote the stereotype with their faux protest doesn't help any. Most Christians would distance themselves from these sorts of nuts, but nobody cares to listen to the practical people since they're not controversial or entertaining enough to be put on the news.
By your logic, it then is the fault of all Muslims for any terrorist attack caused by a Muslim zealot, because the entire community doesn't publicly condemn it.
Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
I think one thing that these bloggers should do is take a good hard look inward and consider why so many people found the protest so plausible. Yeah, it was insensitive of EA, but it was effective because it was so close to the protests we do see.
It was also a good parody of people who spout scripture without understanding, something we see a LOT of. A surprising number of Christians know little about the history of hell and do, indirectly, take Inferno as cannon.
You say this, but I bet you don't have the balls to say that a political cartoon of Mohammed is fair game to a Muslim.
You're comment is based on a political double-standard, that Christians are okay to attack due to the overwhelming majority of Christians in this country and around the world, but any other religion or non-religion cannot be spoken of in any sort of negative manner. It is this double-standard that makes the EA protest so offensive to Christians.
Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
I like the Protest staged by EA game. Serves them religious fanatics for bashing on video game and calling them the "work of the devil" without looking at them with extreme prejudice. I wish Rockstar, and other game company pull off Faux protests so we can teach those religious fanatics a lesson, don't bash our video game.
I'll tell you what's really the "work of the devil":
-Communism
-Nazism
-religion extremism (No real religion will ever tells you to committ violence for no or ridiculous reason)
Many interpretations of "real" religions condone violence. The Bible technically mandates that homosexuals be put to death. And let's not forget all those virgins God promises to anyone who kills infidels.
BTW, what happens to female suicide bombers in heaven? Do they get their own harem of well-hung studs?
Well that may be true. I will agree that the bible did have violence in there. But didn't the bible have a quote "Thou shall not kill" somewhere in there. I heard there were many versions of Bible regarding homosexuals, one saids homosexual must be put to death and another one said don't kill homosexual.
For Islam, the Koran (the real one) said using violence is forbidden.
And therein lies one of the fundamental flaws of organized religion- rampant contradictions and mixed messages. It's a wonder so many people want religious text to be the basis for all historical and scientific "fact" (6000 year old universe, global flood, etc) when these same texts contradict themselves constantly when it comes to moral commands.
Here is a good resource to check:
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/
Saying that communism is work of evil is asking to communists say that captalism is work of evil.
Usually this is what results in... Cold War?
criadordejogos.wordpress.com
But Communism is evil. It gives absolutely no reason for people to not be lazy. Seriously, what reason would anyone have to contribute, if all they needed was provided for them? In Communist nations, they put people in prison or worse if they don't, but that doesn't give anyone choice. Now you're messing with free will.
I just wish that Dem's actually understood this, before planning on making us USSR redux.
Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
"Thou shalt not murder" is supposedly the more accurate translation. Killing's cool, but you can only do it under the right circumstances.
-P, not a bible monkey.
During the time that Israel was considered a theocracy (that is, ruled directly by God through his prophet - take that as you will), they made religious law into practical law, and carried out God's justice themselves. Their law was to punish homosexuals. (though I am NOT saying that modern-day Israel or Jews are the same today)
The message Christians have been left with is to let God take care of it himself now. It's not our job to execute what his judgement will be, just to warn in love and teach those who will listen. We're also not supposed to hate someone, even if they are involved in a sin. This doesn't mean to be tolerant of the action itself, but means that we shouldn't harass the person or try and force them to stop. Of course hateful violence should never happen... but people get caught up in the "ZOMG SINNER" and forget everything else.
As for the Koran, it encourages husbands to beat their disobedient wives. Violence may be technically "forbidden," but there are workarounds.
Not to mention that the Koran explicitely states that women are property, not people. As such, they wouldn't even be granted entrance to the kingdom of heaven.
Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
You'd have to take that up with practitioners of Judaism, though. For Christians, the New Testament overturns the old punishments.
First off, you aren't going to teach religious fanatics a lesson by staging fake protests. That's not how it works. Primarily because the fanatics do not care and will not listen to you. In fact it will just give them cause to be more upset because now you are treating them fools and mocking their faith for monetary gain. This not only attracts the ire of radicals but moderate Christians like myself because it is no longer about games regarding interpretations of the Christian afterlife but thinking that Christians are fools in general.
I am bothered by many comments about Christians and believers of faith in general on this site. Not because of your cocerns about the radicals (I don't trust televangelists any further than I can throw them myself), but that you have issues with anyone that seems to adhere to Christianity is somewhat closeminded. Why is it "our video game" that needs to be free of criticism? Remember, most of the bashing towards games comes not from Christians directly, or at least people who identify themselves primarily as Christians, but concerned parents, watchdog organizations or the media in hopes of sensationalism for ratings/politicians for votes.
My church holds Halo tourneys for the youth group, however, they do not allow Gears of War. Why? Because Halo is action packed fun, whereas much of the GoW aesthetic is based soley on the grit, violence and gore. The language used in the game is also another factor. They as an institution cannnot allow children as young as 14 to be exposed to the violence of GoW because it clearly is much more impressive in its display of gore. This is a reasonable and responsible approach to gaming for teens.
Having read the Comedia, I have no idea how they are going to make a game that works. All Dante did was walk around, talk to souls of the damned, repentent and saved with three different guides. It was about analyzing the nature of sin and human nature all packaged in the terza rima scale. I don't see why most Christians would even be upset because so few have indeed read it. It's not like they are making an Old Testament videogame where you can go around causing disasters, death and destruction on Biblical proportions or a game where you play Lucifer trying to defeat Christ. I think most criticism of the game is going to come from the gaming community with comments about the game being a hack and slash rip off with a new theme slapped on and how much it ultimately sucks. I mean no one was discussing this game before or after the fake protests. Only Christians or EA are being talked about.
-Host of Guns, Gaming and Government Radio Show -"My Kind of Trinity"
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread463366/pg1
I remember a story about a kid who go to a christian (extremists) school, he wanted to go to a prom held by a high school with a girl he met from that other school. that extremist school he goes to threaten him saying if he goes to a prom at another school, hw would not graduate from his (extremist) school. This is an example why I hate extremism, they can use blackmail or intimidation.
I did forget about the church that hold Halo tournament, my bad. But the problem these day is that somebody using religion as a weapon and using them to manipulate people. You're also right about people complaining about video game coming not only from christians group, but also from watchdog and media who needs a huge boost for ratings (like Fox News), and also game haters like Jack Thompson. I think that religion thing is a cover up, I think it's more like they hate video game just as much those anime haters (I'm a fan of anime/manga) on Youtube moan and bitch about anime.
I know the story you're talking about with the kid and the prom, I think. But think of it this way - that was part of the Code of Conduct that the kid signed when he entered the school. Legally speaking, he agreed that he would not attend the prom of another high school, and that if he did, he understood he'd be expelled.
No blackmail involved. He signed on the deal and broke it.
So it's wrong when religious extremists do it, but it's okay when EA does it?
I think the religious guys have the right of it. They have enough problem not being shamed by other radical "Christians", they don't need EA to pitch in and add more fuel to the fire.
"So it's wrong when religious extremists do it, but it's okay when EA does it?"
I'm not saying EA was right or wrong, but this is a faulty statement. They didn't do the same thing; EA isn't being criticized for protesting the game on religious grounds, it's being criticized for defaming Christian zealots for marketing purposes.
I never thought I'd agree with a Christian-based blogger, but that EA stunt was in poor taste. Their fake protest garnered the same backlash, outrage, and mockery that is normally doled (sp?) out when religious nutjobs really do something ridiculous. Also, it's in just plain stupid for any company selling a product to even TOUCH on religion or race. Those are sensitve topics and not condusive to PR stunts to sell games. What were they thinking?
They were thinking... let's beat them to the punch. And it worked.
To be honest, I was taken in at first. Felt some face palm action - like I do when people are "outraged". But I have a sense of humour about myself and when I found out that it was a PR stunt I laughed because it made me challenge my own view of christians and videogames. I'm sure some people are angry because they were taken in by a PR stunt, but that's why I liked it.
I don't believe religion or race to be "sacred" and not to be touched when done properly when it's done properly. This was pushing the line a bit, but so does Colbert when he talks about when he's "colour blind" or when he pretends to support creationism.
Funny story, Stephen Colbert is a Catholic. 'Thin skinned' my ass.
....but they are thin-skinned fun-killers
"It's been clear for a while now that the entertainment industry views Christians on the whole as priggish, thin-skinned fun-killers..."
Only because they are. ;)
I kid, I kid. In all seriousness, I'm actually on their side on this one and think EA's stunt was a dick move in several respects. But still, this stereotype didn't just appear out of thin air. There are a lot of people who raise a stink about games, get in our faces, *and* make it a point to bring up that they are Christian and trying to uphold their Christian values or whatever. Now, I'm sure plenty of the people who argue for free speech are Christian too, statistically a whole lot of them must be. But they don't drag their religion into the discussion when they do it, so we are left with only having the negative associations with Christianity reinforced.
It's completely unfair, and we gamers suffer a very similar problem. Any time there is a school shooting, you can be sure the video game angle will be brought up. But when's the last time there was a news story about, say, some kid becoming an Eagle Scout, or doing volunteer work, or saving somebody's life, or whatever, where it was mentioned that they play games? (this is the only one I can think of) Statistically speaking, plenty of them must play games, but it is just never brought up unless the story involves violence.
God, I hate the media sometimes... :/
The people who bring up the school shooting/videogame link are the ultra-conservatives....guess who's imaginary leg they hump.
I love how they call us immoral SOB's day in, day out....and when we finally get around to making fun of then, they BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.
Sorry, but both liberals and conservatives are perfectly willing to blame society's ills on videogames for a bit of political capital. They know that videogames are a soft target that few take seriously and few are willing to defend. Scaremongering and censorship are values that both sides of the aisle can agree on, unfortunately.
Really? I figured Christians would be outraged over this because they didn't think of it first.
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
When I first read about the protest, I thought it was a moronic thing to protest about. It wsa blatant idiocy. The Manchester Cathedral thing I could sympathize with, but Dante's Inferno no.
To claim that the divine comedy is scriptural canon would be like saying that C S Lewis's Screwtape Letters is canon. Sure they are insirational in their story and thoughts, but they are fictional representations of spiritual things.
Then when I found out, or rather realized, that it was a PR stunt by EA, I again thought it was a moronic thing to do. Sure any publicity is good publicity, but it really needs to be sincere. The outrage provoked by the likes of GTA and Manhunt are sincere and thus lead to increased sales. Something like this will only lead to contempt from the consumer as they are made to look the fool.
I can also sypathize with the bloggers that have expressed their objection to the stereotyping of Christians. Yes there are some moronic Christians out there that will protest every little thing. Those types of Christians have been portrayed as the stereotype in a lot of films. It is really annoying ot see it used in advertising as well.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma
Actually, unlike the Screwtape letters, Dante's Inferno did is often considered canon, as that's where the idea of purgatory and imagery of heaven and hell found in Catholicisim originated.
It feels like everyone's got a stick up their ass and is taking it like a poor sport. The protest garnned a rediculous amount of attention and when everyone realized they were tricked, everyone started going like "THAT WAS STUPID!" or "THAT DIDN'T WORK!". I feel like everyone is taking a shot at this because it is EA, and it's proven during the Anti-spore website thing where someone pretended to be like a crazy christian and instead rick-rolled everyone. And I also dislike everyone saying "It's not exact to the Divine Comedy!", well so is painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa.
In this case, I think the bloggers are right.
Just imagine the s**tstorm that would have occurred if a company made a fake Muslim protest.
This.
Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
Last I checked the Catholic church was a bit offended by Dante's writings back in the day. Funny how things change.
the statement from the catholic video gamers is halarious in this context. And even though I'm not christian, I have to agree that the protest was tasteless. But contraversy is what EA wants, so I think ignoring it and not buying the game would be a better protest than doing something about it because its only going to promote the game more than it probably deserves.
EA's securom controversy served them real well.
Another few slaps on the nose like what they're about to get and we'll have one less jerk company to worry about.
And that´s one reason I stopped to believe in God: stupid christians abusing of his name whinning about stupid stuff like a damn game.
And they keep wondering why religions are vanishing from society.
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
Except that the protest was fake. You don't even have to deign to read the article or the summary to see that. It's in the damned headline. "Faith-Based Bloggers Slam EA For Staging Fake Religious Protest at E3"
And that's one reason I stopped believing in the overall intelligence of mankind online: stupid commenters whining about stupid stuff like a fake protest as if it were real when it was designed to play off the very prejudices those commenters display.
And they keep wondering why a reasonable standard of discourse is vanishing from the internet.
Thanks for your very well-thought out com...o wait, you didn't bother reading this article, or the previous one describing how the protest was fake. Good job man.
The responses from these two bloggers were logical and quite reasonable. You're the one who looks like an idiot now.
Maybe if christians would cut the dumbass protests in real life then it wouldn't be such a stereotype. It's their fault, not EA's.
That's like saying the blame in a rape is on the victim because 'she was asking for it'.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Or saying that all muslins are the fault that some of them suicide bomb.
criadordejogos.wordpress.com
Are you fucking kidding me? Good job grouping all Christians together. You are suggesting that the extremist conservative Christians run all their protest ideas by moderate bloggers and every single other Christian organization in the entire world to make sure that every Christian is 100% behind everything that they do.
I applaud you for being an ignorant bigot.
So you say that fundamental, Constitutionally protected rights should be kept from a group of people based on their religious belief? So, are you a Communist, Nazi or just a plain old idiot?
Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
EA is pissing off Christians? Well, I guess that makes up for the retardedness of the stunt. All is forgiven.
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Believe in something! Even if it's wrong, believe in it! -Glenn Beck
Ah yes. You have discovered our plan. Here at Evangelical-bashing Atheist games (or EA, for short), we've discovered we can do whatever the f*** we want, because as long as we piss off somebody, we ensure that that person's enemies will love us, no matter what we do.
I bet there were some fundamentalists that were also pissed, some that actually joined the fake protest and thought they were among others of their kind. "What? You mean this protest was a stunt? You mean the money I won at this charity casino wasn't real?"
GameSnooper
The church these protesters represent is The Church of Greed, located in Redwood City, CA. The minister is John Riccitiello. The tennents of the church are to make money by whatever means necessary. Their hymns are all sung in Simlish, therefore no translation is available at the moment.
PMBD http://paysites.mustbedestroyed.org/ The truth about T$R http://tsr.mustbedestroyed.org/ EA + T$R = We're all screwed
I agree with these guys. Exploiting a religion like this shouldn't happen, and it made EA even worse in my eyes.
That being said, this is America, so they're entitled to do this.
I think really what it boils down to is: E.A. staged a fake protest that they knew (or should have known) would create a backlash against the Christian community.
It was irresponsible, at best.
Edit: To put things into perspective for the few who don't see a problem with this, what if they'd staged... say, an anti-heterosexual rally, trying to make homosexuals look like nutjobs and extremists?
Painting a target on another group for publicity is reprehensible.
I mean, really, the "kick me" signs got old in the fifth grade.
It's sad when EA's fake religious protest does say something about them that is true. For video games, they are the anti christ, or at least a harbringer of frusteration at crappy products that crash, boredom at repetitive gameplay, and that numb tingling feeling you get in your skull when you try to play one of their 'strategy' games.
I think EA really needs to look into its advertising department. First they send illegal brass knuckles to various members of the press, and now they stage the poorly thought-out faux protest. Somebody needs to be fired. Maybe next time they'll find an excuse to make a fake terrorist threat or something incredibly stupid like that.
Show of hands who here wasn't anticipating backlash for this stunt?
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it's over they have the same positions they started in.
Just when I think that EA couldn't get any worse, they do something like this. As a student of marketing, I have to give credit to the creativity and originality of a fake protest (not to mention the ballsy executive who authorized this stunt), but the Christian side of me is not happy that they used my religion as a marketing ploy. I'm not buying or playing this game no matter how good it is. I hope G4 gives this game one star out of five when it comes out. bad credit payday loans