Religious faith versus Non-conformist faith and the Sims 2

[amadazul]

I have never associated the sims with any religion of any sort.  We all have to deal with so much stuff in our daily lives that it would take away the fantasy and fun if you threw so much real world stuff into the game.  Whatever religion, if you have one at all, we can all agree that the sims is fun.

[Amira]

As a Muslim, I'm pretty strict with my values according to Islam. When I started to play the sims, I was having fun and wouldn't take my game to the heart. It's just a game. When I saw creators making the sims more diverse, I was so excited. I got inspired to create sims and share my religion of Islam and the way Muslim women act or Muslims in general. I got welcomed by the Mods and answered PM questions to fellow members. I wanted the Sim community to know there is a Muslim player on the board. I don't know much about Wicca but to each it's own. I'm not for White magic or Black magic. I believe in it but from what I have been taught and what Islam says to avoid having magic put on you. That's another topic.

 So the other day, I checked out APT life and as a Muslim, anything that is has to do with the Devil or what is it? Witchcraft is a major sin to actually commit the act. Well, it's in a game. I mean it's just a game for real. It's not like I'm really going to allow myself to do this outside the sims2. I play the sims as a hobby and past time of mine. I don't know why anyone would get all butt hurt about a simple game. IT'S JUST A GAME! Sorry but for real. Not to be a prude but grow up. Stop whining about the game having "witchcraft" or "satanism". If it bothers you that much, don't buy the game and wait for another EP maybe the next one will be all about Islam. Let's see someone of ya'll really "FREAK" out.

Amira

[stygia2002]

amar el7ob: I think it's awesome that we have so much diversity among our players, and as a Muslim, you have a great opportunity do be an "ambassador" of sorts. Personally, even though I'm a Witch, I am curious about things that I don't understand, including (especially) belief systems. Not everyone would have a meltdown over a Sims EP that focused on Islam...I know I wouldn't. I'd buy it, partly becuase I'm a Sims junkie , and partly because I enjoy diversity in my game (I have Sims with Jewish items from Holiday Stuff, so why not other cultures?). The only belief system I really have a problem with is Satanism, and my problem with it isn't based on ignorance, I have known several Satanists and understand what they're about. So if the Sims ever came out with an EP that really *was* focused on such a concept, I would not buy it. But I wouldn't rant and rave that it should be banned either! Just my two (or so) cents.

Blessings,

--Stygia

[digni7y]

Stygia: Unfortunately, there's many people out there who would have a screaming fit if a game about Islam came out. "ZOMG INFIDELS YADA YADA". I personally wouldn't care because I've made the choice to not purchase another product from EA so long as they continue to use secuROM. If they didn't, I'd buy it in a heartbeat! I'd love to know more about Islam. But that's a different can of worms.

I'm a beginning Pagan. I came to Paganism through juvenile reasons-hex spell on a guy I liked who ended up liking someone else instead of me (long story, don't ask). I left it because I would have to *gasp* study the religion and my 15 year old self only wanted the instant gratification of seeing the guy turn into a toad . It was only last year that I picked it up again because it simply clicked with me. I can't really describe it except as that. I hesitate calling myself a Witch or a Wiccan or an Astaru or anything because I know nothing yet even though I've been studying and keep a small altar on my dresser.

So, how does that figure into my game? It doesn't, really. I'm merely the Mother Goddess and I enjoy the power trip of having a bunch of pixelated beings responding to my commands and of having arranged marriages and bizarre experimentation (ACR + various auto woohoo mods and more sims hacks + 9 sims who have little self control=47 sims on one lot before the death of the first generation and the near death of my computer). Yet I get bored fairly quickly with my sims and move on within a few weeks to a month, leaving the neighborhoods to rot on my harddrive until I delete them.

[pookysimlover]

It isn't Satanic. That was the main point in the other thread. It is simply another belief that has been skewed, out of fear and ignorance of what it is, and twisted into something it isn't.

:wave: thank you Kathy, I have :study:studied Wicca myself and it really bothers me when people say its satanic, Wiccans don't even believe in Satan, so you can't worship what you don't even believe in, I now think of myself as Agnostic now, but I still respect the Wiccans, and other Pagans, and I love the new Sims pack, Apartment Life, I also love that they put Witches in it like The Sims 1 did, I wondered if they were going to do it or not, and they finally did, anyway thanks again Kathy. :smilebox:

one more thing, I would have loved it if they had put some more diversity in the Sims 2, Like Muslims and maybe Ascetic Jews, and Hindu's and Buddhists , I've tried to create that in my game myself, because I like to play with different kinds of characters, like I'm white But I have created a lot of black family's and Asian family's, maybe they will have more in the Sims 3, but I still love the witches, Zombies, Werewolves, and Vampires in the game, and Of course the Aliens, just try to remember its just a game, have fun and don't think about it so much, peace to everyone, and Happy Halloween.

Interesting thought. Personally, I don't think, that I would move any closer to any form of organised religion. I'm already in my mid 40ies and had my share of lost loved ones. Did it move me closer to what I was born and raised with? The answer is no.

See, I was born an raised a catholic. Now I consider myself an agnostic and I can't imagine finding any answer in Christian or any other believe in the future. Simply because I don't believe in their concepts. That doesn't mean that I totally discard everything they're believing. If it was only about Jesus, he would be kind of a role model for a decent living. But it isn't. Over the centuries people have added the contents of the old Testament which festures a vengeful, jealous god, pretty much the same as the gods of the Hellenic or Roman pantheon. There has been much bending and stretching to make this concept half logical. Same goes for the trinity, which has been introduced at a much later time and - together with the saints - is basically the return to politheism.

The world is some billion years old and humanity took the stage some minutes ago as far as earth's history is concerned. We're insignificant and the few thousands of years of monotheistic religions are even more insignificant.

If I was to believe in something, it would be a neutral entity, neither good nor bad. It would be the force of nature itself.

:worship: I feel the same way I too am a Agnostic, though it took me years to figure that out but I know now that is the right word for me, anyway I totally agree with what you said, and though I do put different characters in my game who might be followers of some religion or another, even though I don't believe in any of them, and even though it wouldn't bother me if they put any of them in the game like Muslims, I don't think its really necessary, The Sims has always been about fantasy which is what makes the game so great and it is the best game ever, at least until the Sims 3 comes out in Feb 09 HeeHee.:worship:

[vickylougrl]

By faith I am I suppose what you would consider Christian gnostic.  Religion of all types fascinate me.  I like seeing realism in my sim stories and that includes sometimes religion whatever belief system that might be.
Yes it's a game but it's also a place of our imagination or fantasy and in my mind faith and beliefs can play into that.

[Allasyra]

Very informative--Thank you!

Your post makes me interested in learning more about Wicca!  

[heartless]

I could never get into putting objects that related to any religion that was close to my former one (typical modern-day Christianity) in my game. Stuff related to, say, Islam or Taosim or Wicca, that was okay, because it is all so exotic and fascinating to me. And the religion I was following was stressing me out, because I was constantly afraid of an afterlife of pain.
I don't really follow an organized religion anymore, and for the first time in my life I feel calm and unafraid. I just feel like many of the ones that say there is a God might have it wrong. The Bible contains several parts that, while they might not have been contradictions in the first few manuscripts of it, have been translated a million times and have turned into seeming contradictions, or perhaps the explanatory parts were left out.
I believe there is good and evil in this world, and want to know the truth about everything. But it's hard when so many religions scream "Pick me or have dire consequences!" How could I decide which one sounded the most logical, and which ones i could ignore that had the least awful afterlife option if they turned out to be wrong, you know?
 
On a side note, I think an Islam expansion kit would be kind of awesome if it included the fashions and architecture and deco associated with heavily Muslin regions.

[DraculaBiscuits]

Strangely enough i found this thread while doing a search on goth lol. Well anyway, I was raised a Baptist Christian, but through my teen years i started to feel disconnected from the religion,it wasnt until i was 18 that i began to explore things more, via the internet,  a gothic online community, i discovered topics of the occult,i was curious, but i wasnt ready to leave Christianity behind, at that point i thought i had no choice but to stay with it. When i was 20 years old, i was going through a hard time and i felt maybe it was time to read up on other spiritual beliefs, so i did, thats when i found Wicca, After alot of reading one day, i felt this connection form, in my mind all i could say was wow, i cant believe i didnt find this sooner. Months later, after much reading , and talking with elder Wiccans, i knew dedicating myself to this path was what i wanted and needed. Im 23 now and still a Wiccan. I consider myself a very spiritual person, and i believe in treating others how i want to be treated. There is no summoning of demons and such, that would be stupid and dangerous.my rituals and prayers consist of honoring God and Goddess, celebrating the holidays, and meditation when i need to clear my head. I an not anti christ or anti christian, i have read the bible, after all for the most part of my life i was christian. I believe the for the most part that the teaching of christ are good. Christianity just isnt for me, i have spend many years of my life following that faith, so i would know by now. I cant understand why so many people can bee filled with so much hate towards other people because of their beliefs or lifestyle choices. Their is no reason why everyone cant live in peace and be accepted. About sims 2:I dont have Apartment life , but i have seen plenty of previews and photos, and it seems like alot of fun, the witches look fun, i dont take them to be offensive because they are fantasy images, and portray no likeness to real witches, nor are they suppose to be like real witches, so no big deal. I think the people making big deals over it, seriously need to get a life, this is a game, a normal person knows the difference between a game and reality.




Keep an open mind and an open heart.

Blessed Be

[shc]

And CJ, Thats why I think she's a hypocrite, She told me that wiccans worship the earth and that like the animals, no one has the same mate. I just believe what she said because he bought it. But you could see its killing him. I really know absolulely nothing about wiccans,I just saw the pain someone used to cause pain with it and made my opinion based on that. But man, I've definitely learned some here about it . I would tell him but she's got him brained washed. Someday his eyes will open and maybe he will take a walk.

Unfortunatly there are people from all faiths that have twisted concepts from their religion to better suit thier own agendas. I have known so-called devout christian men that dominate and terrorise their wives because they have interpreted the line 'love, honour and obey' to mean they had full power and control over them (and god damn the woman who forgot her place).

Funnily enough I once had a boyfriend who was convinced that I was going to cheat on him because I am a wiccan because his ex-girlfiend who was also a wiccan had cheated on him. Several police involved domestic disputes later I finally broke up with the paranoid jerk. Funnily enough I have never cheated on a partner ever in my life.

Your friend's 'wiccan' wife I shall put it bluntly is an idiot as well as a 'wanton woman'(trying not to say the S word here). Anyone who have even a rough knowledge of animals would know that there are quite a few species who 'mate for life' and there is even some who wouldn't even take another mate once that mate had died such is thier devotion.

I have learnt over time not to judge a person based on thier religion. My brother-in-law is muslim and although many people view this religion as degrading to women my in-law has shown me some beautiful passages from the Quran which shows the high esteem Mohummad had for women, partcularly his youngest daughter. And from my own research on religions in general I have come to understand that alot of the reforms Mohummad made for women which may seem overly restrictive in todays world were actually quite shockingly liberal during Mohummad's time (we should not forget that it was not all that long ago in our own society that a woman wouldn't dare go out in public without hat and gloves to 'cover' themselves). I don't think christianity had given women as many rights as Islam did although the Western world would like to think we did, truth is western women had to fight very hard for every right we possess now. I remember as a kid in the early '90's seeing on the news about the government trying to decide whether or not to abolish a law allowing men to rape thier wives, so you see we in the west are only relativly new at this as well.

[wyrmking]

As a Muslim, I'm pretty strict with my values according to Islam. When I started to play the sims, I was having fun and wouldn't take my game to the heart. It's just a game. When I saw creators making the sims more diverse, I was so excited. I got inspired to create sims and share my religion of Islam and the way Muslim women act or Muslims in general.

So does that mean your female Sims are second class citizens in the eyes of your god and religion? And yes, I've read the Qu'ran (and the Bible too).

Faith is such an archaic concept. It started when people didn't understand the world they lived in. Now that we have better understanding of things, like the world is round and homosexuality is biological, there's really no more excuse to use religion for various acts of hate and bigotry.

It would be fine if people concentrated on the GOOD parts of their faith like being good, and loving their neighbor, etc., but that's not the case.

[rian90]

and are almost, "Golden Rule" worthy (but not quite there).  

The 'Golden Rule' can be found in almost every major religion and many minor ones, some dated far before the Christian or even the Jewish eras. As in most religions, certain ideas were co-opted by the major religions of the time. I suggest you do a google search on the Golden Rule along with the variety of religious interpretations. Its amazing how the biblical form is almost verbatim compared to earlier versions from different religions.

[boeketjebloemen]

I study religious studies in real life, and the sims is one of the places I go to when I don't want to have anything to do with religion for a while. So, I definitely do not associate my sims with religion in any way.

I've studied witchcraft & wicca, but realised I liked learning of them, but not actually practising them. Which is why I study religions.
Sim witches do not have anything to do with "real" witches, nor do they have anything to do with wicca. Wicca & witchcraft are so incredibly different from the sim witches. The only thing they have in common is that they can use a book to look up information.

I understand why EA is staying away from putting anything remotely resembling "real" religion into the sims. A lot of people from other religions would throw a fit, and it would probably hurt the sales.

[Yaakovashoshana]

Now, it goes back a long time, starting with the Burning Times. The Burning Times happened during a part of the Middle Ages and Rennaisance in Europe and the Americas.

Just a minor point for clarification. Witches were not burnt at the stake in the Americas (particularly Salem Village in the Massachusetts colony). The method of execution employed was hanging. Although one unfortunate was accidentally "pressed" to death in an effort to extract a confession. The accused was placed under a board and stones were piled upon it until a confession was extracted. Except this poor fellow refused to confess and got squished. (ewwww . . .)

[Aquarius]

Ugh, why am I not surprised at this topic? I thought fellow simmers would be more intelligent then to go mixing the game with satanism just because it has witchcraft. It's this type of intolerance that's the reason there are so many atheists in the world today, because people like that chick and those wackos in the Westburo Baptist Church (Oh God! Don't get me started on them) Try and make people believe that God is this intolerant dictator who casts anybody who isn't christian into hell. Those people make me happy that I've been raised to be a tolerant catholic.

As avid Harry Potter reader, the whole magic aspect of Apartment life was what got me hooked on the game, only a good like 15% of my sims actually live in apartments lol. Does this mean I support satanism? NO! It means I get a kick out of sicking a swarm of bees on my sim enemies  


EDIT: OH CRAP! I didn't realize the the date of the last post on this topic! I assumed it hadn't been too long ago since this thread was still on the first page. Sorry for the necropost