Religious faith versus Non-conformist faith and the Sims 2
Tomkat:
To me it makes no difference having occult-ish characters in the game or not.
I was raised a "christian", but never really caught on to it. But I was always too afraid to let go of it, just in case it really is real and ill go to hell afterwards.
Ive always been interested in cultures and ancient history, Ive even got my own private library of books on the Ancient Romans, Egyptians, Greeks, Maya, Native Americans, Celts etc etc etc. And believe me, Ive read each one.
Interesting fact: All of them existed with strict rules on gods & sacrifice, people LIVED and BREATHED their gods, and even died for the honor of pleasing gods (when necessary). These people were just as fanatic believers as modern day scholars of religions.
They also had hundreds of years of belief. Fought wars at times etc over it.
Nowadays people seem to think time began only 2000 years ago with the death of JC. When in fact its been going for THOUSANDS of years before that, and even THOUSANDS & MILLIONS of years before humans realized they were "special". Everyone knows the earth was around for millions and millions of years. So its just weird IMHO to say that any religion is the BE & END ALL of humanity. That sounds like a very human statement to make.
Besides that, who is anyone with a set of beliefs to challenge anyone else's?
What proof do these people have to challenge?
I personally dont believe in a god/devil/heaven/hell. I just cant. Not after everything Ive sucked up. There is just too many different variants.
Besides, if a god is supposed to be flawless, why would he/she create a flawed religion that encourages people to go to war over their belief? That just messed up.
People NEED religion for some reason because they want something to cling to in times of need. The idea of an afterlife is soothing.
Anyways....this is going way-y-y-y-y off topic,
Im not even sure I really made my point clear.
MY OPINION: I dont believe in any specific deity. And i cant believe in a christian god that will condemn the millions of people BC (before christianity) to a hell to suffer eternally just because they had other religions back then before it was "invented".
I think religion is a tool used for the good or bad of society. People find salvation and soothing in it, and others try and exploit that to make those believers do what they want.
spookymuffin:
I still can't really wrap my mind around someone associating anything from the sims2 with religion... I just don't see the connection.
I was always glad for the fact that there is no religious content in the game, and I still am. Other than the time that I made a cult in my game that worshipped grilled cheese sandwiches that is.
Quote from: Tomkat;1363776
I think religion is a tool used for the good or bad of society. People find salvation and soothing in it, and others try and exploit that to make those believers do what they want.
I agree with you here to a certain degree. Personal faith is something that is usually harmless but I've always felt that organised religions are ticking time-bombs. They can manipulate people into doing some insane crap (murdering "heathens", suicide bombings, male and female circumcision etc)
That is not to say that I condone personal faith either. I am an atheist (read realist) and would prefer for everyone to let go of their security blankets and face reality, but I know that's not going to happen. I know that some people need these things and as long as they keep to themselves about it I'm not going to begrudge them and their childish behaviour.
I have been an atheist ever since I was old enough to think about the concept of religion. I think I was about seven years old and I had just finished reading The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. I think I remember equating god with Santa at the time; a lie that my parents told me to make a child happy.
I resent the fact that I was baptised as a baby when I was too young to know what was going on, never mind able to make a decision regarding the religion I was being forced into. It still annoys me that on paper I am "catholic" even though I don't believe in their deity. I do believe that just saying "I reject the holy spirit" is supposed to immediately exile you from the religion but the Pope has yet to ring me and tell me that I'm free *shrug*
I think that children should be allowed choose their own religion when they become mature enough to make the decision. Not have their parent's beliefs forced onto them from birth.
jamesabrown1:
I play my sims a bit like Ancienthighway, religion doesn't really figure into the various games I have going. Sometimes fantasy (elves, and so on), but not formal religion. The closest thing I have to that is a few narcissistic sims on various lots who seem to worship themselves. Anyway, the game is just that, a game. It is escape from the mundane for a while. It is what it is, or rather, what we each make of it. No more, no less.
Tenshii~Akari:
Admittedly, I have my religion implemented in some way with my sims... mainly in some of my storytelling and such. (Or at least the stories that're in my head... :lol:) But most of the time, when I actually do get a chance to really play, my sims are on their own when it comes to that. I think they worship each other while having free will more than anything... they don't look it, but those are some lusty little sprites I have, and not with their spouses. Way to go ACR. :clap:
Anyways, I guess if I were someone else of my faith on the outside looking in on the subject of Sims 2 (mainly one of those old church elders or anyone else that's hardcore on believing anything outside of the Lord is "the devil"), I'd think they'd go all sorts of mad with all the claimed "anti-religious" themes and such... they did with just about every controversial video game, Harry Potter, Teletubies, and The Golden Compass, so I wouldn't be surprised if they had something to say about that. Even though I don't really hold too much interest in the last three, I do think a lot of religious leaders and followers overreacted on the issue... like they fear that people of a religious faith who interact with anything related to those will loose faith in their teachings, and that said people aren't supposed to have an imagination outside of their beliefs without the two conflicting with each other. Why shouldn't we have an expanded imagination? I was always taught God made us the way we are for a reason... and if one having a big/outlandish imagination is a sin, then to me it defeats the purpose of being what one is. But I digress on this one... :lol:
I think we all know that video games and religion just don't mix well... too wide of a varied audience for the former to add in the latter. Besides, games are usually just interactive stories/movies made by people who've used their imaginations and skills to bring them to life, and are not supposed to be confused as tools for teaching violence and non-religious practices. They're just there for us to have fun on the side of RL. That's how I see it. ;)
(BTW, thanks for the info, Joy! And Skeleton... it's scary to me (as a Christian who's not "supposed" to be knowing about them) that the "Satanic Sins" are almost exactly what I'm against. Not to mention rules 1, 3, 6, 8, and 9 make a good amount of sense, and are almost, "Golden Rule" worthy (but not quite there). Everything else is just a bit over my head and stuff I don't find "appeasing" to where I stand, especially in the vengeance part... but other than that... wow. :shock: It's amazing what you'll learn once you read between the lines.)
Enayla:
I’m an atheist (in spite of a lot of people, for some reason, assuming I’m not), and I’m not even baptised. I’ve never been drawn to any religion in a profound way – it just doesn’t ‘click’ for me. As for religion in the Sims 2, or the lack thereof, it’s never really factored in – the game is so utterly Politically Correct and it seems they’ve chosen the middle road in every aspect, including religion and sexuality. Something I really like, by the way; for once I’ve not felt like I’ve been overlooked. It seems to me to be pretty much the most open-minded game I can think of.
There’s enough argument about religion in the world without bringing it into a pretty innocent game like Sims 2. It makes me sad to see different groups in uproar over little things like witches or vampires or whatever it might be that got them going – like others have said before me, it’s a game and it’s a cute, nice, friendly, sweet game at that. There are other things to go ballistic over that are far more provoking for one reason or the other without nitpicking on a game that is guilty, at the most, of using fairytale clichés to depict supernatural beings.
I’m personally looking forward to what else they might come up with… unless it’s yet another creature with green skin, hah.
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