Insimenator.org
March 29, 2024, 04:34:15 am *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News:
 
  Home   Forum   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 5
  Print  
Author Topic: Religious faith versus Non-conformist faith and the Sims 2  (Read 37963 times)
0 Members and 1 Chinese Bot are viewing this topic.
kathy
TRAITOR
Member

Posts: 14248

Rotten traitor


View Profile
« on: September 02, 2008, 09:27:49 pm »

Based heavily off of the things discussed in this thread and a suggestion from Zephy we decided to start a new discussion to allow people to discuss how their religious faith or non-conformist faith impacts the way they view and play this game.Relgious faith versus Non-conformist faith? Discuss.


Fair warning that intolerance for the non-conformist will not be allowed, nor will flaming of the religious. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions and will be given the oppurtunity to express those. And lets keep personal attacks out of it. We, the staff, do not wish to see the DL issue beat into the ground any further but you may discuss your views on witchcraft, satanism, christianity to your hearts content.
[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
Logged
Angel_2365
Member

Posts: 94


View Profile
« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2008, 09:32:19 pm »

This may not fit here, but why is Wicannism or whatever its called Satanist?
Logged
kathy
TRAITOR
Member

Posts: 14248

Rotten traitor


View Profile
« Reply #2 on: September 02, 2008, 09:42:47 pm »

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.
Logged
Angel_2365
Member

Posts: 94


View Profile
« Reply #3 on: September 02, 2008, 09:47:54 pm »

See, thats what I thought. Thanks for clarifying!
Logged
caffeinated.joy
Queen of Caffeine
Admin
*****
Gender: Female
Posts: 18280



View Profile
« Reply #4 on: September 02, 2008, 10:05:07 pm »

I offered this is in the other thread: I can explain why people confuse Wicca with Satanism, if people don't mind reading a longish post.
Logged

Everybody should believe something.
I believe I'll have more coffee.
kathy
TRAITOR
Member

Posts: 14248

Rotten traitor


View Profile
« Reply #5 on: September 02, 2008, 10:05:48 pm »

Please do Joy.
Logged
Tenshii~Akari
(~TA12~)
Super Mod
*****
Gender: Female
Posts: 3390


(~* Go Pink: Find the Cure *~)


View Profile WWW
« Reply #6 on: September 02, 2008, 10:11:59 pm »

I'm interested.  Wink
Logged

Mr Heartache
Member

Gender: Female
Posts: 704


I don't wanna be S.O.L.


View Profile WWW
« Reply #7 on: September 02, 2008, 10:21:44 pm »

I don't know anything about 'satanism' or 'wicca', but the church of Satan, founded by a guy called Anthon LeVay sure is interesting looking.
Not that I'm a satanist.    
LOL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Satan

Read their eleven rules. Makes more sense to me than most Catholic ones (I was raised Catholic by mildly religious parents)
I'm not religious in the least and don't believe in either god/satan/jesus/spaghetti monster. I'm more of a universal energy spirit type person.
« Last Edit: September 02, 2008, 10:23:45 pm by Skeleton » Logged

DON'T PM ME WITH REQUESTS OR I'LL SEND GERARD WAY AFTER YOU WITH A PITCHFORK.
Now I spit out words, do you see my lungs on the dancefloor?
[/SIZE]
Zephyrash
Member

Posts: 410


View Profile
« Reply #8 on: September 02, 2008, 10:38:33 pm »

Thanks for opening this Kathy! this should get real fun hearing what folks believe in and learning about other faiths.
Logged
caffeinated.joy
Queen of Caffeine
Admin
*****
Gender: Female
Posts: 18280



View Profile
« Reply #9 on: September 02, 2008, 11:01:49 pm »

OK, here goes. Please keep in mind this post is merely to educate, k? If I give offense to anyone it's not my intent.

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. We all know that both sides of the Christian organization (Protestant and Catholic) hunted down Satan worshippers, or people believed to be Satan worshippers, who'd signed their souls over to the devil. They were often accused and convicted of practicing Witchcraft, and over the next three centuries of religious persecution, Witches and Witchcraft were associated with Satanic practice. Since the modern church and modern Wiccans both use the terms "Witch" and "Witchcraft", many associate Wiccans with Satanism, because of the learned association between the two during The Burning Times.

There are 17 meanings to the word "Witchcraft", which adds to the confusion, and at least 5 unrelated meanings to the word "Pagan". This causes confusion on it's own. Both Wiccans and Satanists have referred to themselves as "Witches" (but not all). Some Wiccan and Neopagans prefer the term "Witch", and the founder of The Church of Satan, Anton La Vey, wrote a book titled The Satanic Witch.

There's alot of confusion between the Satanic inverted Pentagram (which, in all honesty, is rarely used) and the Wiccan Pentacle (an upright pentagram in a circle). People see the Pentacle and think it's Satanic. Many Wiccan worship the Horned God along with the Goddess. The Horned God (or Cernunnos or The Great God or Great Father or what you like), is a representation of the male aspect of the universe, the balance to the female aspect. He is a figure of nature, and represents the cycle of life in his death every autumn and his birth every spring. Many Christians see the Horned God as a Satanic figure, though neither is the same.

The Wiccan Rede. Many misquote it as being "Do as thou wilt", which is in keeping with Modern Satanic belief. The true Wiccan Rede should go as follows, however, "An' it harm none, do as thou wilt." Some add "Except in thine own defense it be." For any who are interested, here is the full Rede, illustrating how "Do as thou wilt" with no additions, is taken out of context.

There's a misconception that Hallowe'en is the biggest celebration among Satanists, Druids and Witches, and use it perform sacrifices. The truth: Samhain in the Northern Hemisphere is the source of modern day Hallowe'en. It's also the Wiccan New Year. It's a feast day to pay respects to the dead and honor their memories, and is quite similar to the Mexican Dia de los Muertos. It has been centuries since the druids performed their last human sacrifice (if they ever really did), and Druids are not Satan worshippers. The Satanist's major feast day is the day of his birthday, not Hallowe'en.

There's more, but these, I think, are the major points.
« Last Edit: September 03, 2008, 12:25:46 am by caffeinated.joy » Logged

Everybody should believe something.
I believe I'll have more coffee.
Sam the T-man
Formerly known as Sadie
Member

Posts: 1403


On hiatus from Insim


View Profile
« Reply #10 on: September 02, 2008, 11:45:00 pm »

It's worth adding that the Horned God only became Satanic once Constantine got his claws into Christianity. Before he came along, Christian Xmas didn't include christmas trees or holly, and the inverted pentagram wasn't an evil symbol. Pagan symbols got twisted by him to make pagans and/or wiccans look like practitioners of evil when they're not - and while he did that, he had the gall to steal their symbols to "appease" them. Pff.

I'm pretty sure that's a big part to do with the Burning Times.
Logged

No requests please
RanaAurora
Member

Posts: 14


View Profile
« Reply #11 on: September 03, 2008, 12:08:02 am »

caffeinated.joy, as someone who's been Pagan since she was four, I think I love you.

The pentacle is a continuous star, within a circle (representing endless cycles).  The five points represent fire, air, earth, water and spirit - what is considered by Pagans to be the make-up of everything in life.

The symbol of the Horned God is:


Therefore, even an inverse pentacle is NOT a symbol of devil worship, but was twisted so people would think so.  It's merely a more masculine version of the traditional upright pentacle.  That's it.


Anyway, I don't think my religion has much of an impact on the way I play my game at all, other than my excitement of witches being added in, and the stereotypical "The Craft"-like OFB shop I had some girls set up, which the inclusion of witches now makes more entertaining.

Other than that, I try to make my Sims insanely happy to the point where I ruin some fun for myself.  It's rare they have more than one love and don't marry them, and Lucy Burb and her husband were the *FIRST* couple I've ever had get divorced in years of playing TS2.  Turmoil amongst my Sims, or failure, is something that is hard for me to do, because I have to get over my gamer instinct of doing everything perfect and "winning" to make myself do anything other than have them succeed.
Logged
ancienthighway
Member

Gender: Male
Posts: 2977


View Profile
« Reply #12 on: September 03, 2008, 12:57:15 am »

The only time I used "religon" in my game was for one family in a recent neighborhood.  Both of the original sims in the house were popularity with wants of having 20 best friends.  For some reason I decided while playing them that none of the offspring would move out of the house and anyone in the house had to try for baby.  I worked up a story line about this being in accordance with his religon.  By the time the old man died, there were 16 decendants and spouses living in the house with 3 of the women expecting another 5 within one day of each other.

Oh, this was a 1x2 lot originally that I expanded to be a 2x2 just because I ran out of crib space.  lol

Once I'm done playing with the new witches, my neighborhoods will go back to being mundane places, no vampires, werewolves, zombies, aliens, plantsims or witches.  I see plantsims and witches as having too many bonuses to make life easy for them.  And I never did get the point of vampires, werewolves and zombies.  Then there's the children and generations following that have these extreme personalities that just make them so frustrating to play.

I think Maxis made a good choice in not including religon in the game because there's too many variants that would have to be included to please everyone.  I don't see these fairy tale witches as being Wiccan, Satanist, Pagen or any other form of religon.  They are simply fairy tale beings.
Logged
Sam the T-man
Formerly known as Sadie
Member

Posts: 1403


On hiatus from Insim


View Profile
« Reply #13 on: September 03, 2008, 01:12:07 am »

I don't use religion in my game at all, I just play it for what it is - escapism, a chance to explore things that would never happen in real life. Like vampires, aliens, tons of gay couples (to the point where there's more gay than straight!). And I have every intention of playing with witches when I get AL; I love throwing fantasy elements into an otherwise ordinary modern setting, makes it (and any story ideas they give me) more interesting Cheesy

Vampires can be handy. Like, say, when you're stuck with a sim with no active points whatsoever? He was a nightmare to look after when he was mortal. It's also a good way to ensure your favourite sims never grow old.. I did go a little crazy on that though :angel:
Logged

No requests please
Lael
Member

Posts: 10


View Profile
« Reply #14 on: September 03, 2008, 03:09:11 am »

As a practicing shaman, my religion doesn't come into the game at all. I appreciate the religion free nature of it. I love the sexuality being a non-issue as well.

That said, I am a sucker for Greek and Roman stuff. I have created temples in that motif that I loved decorating and having sims in them. Fortunately people tend to forget that Greek and Roman mythology was once a thriving religion for hundreds of years. That doesn't bother me.

I do download all of the ancient and middle ages stuff. And some of the magic mods. Mostly because it fits the eras I like. I have also downloaded quite a bit of interesting goth stuff. Again, the style appeals to me.

But as far as seriously putting religion of any kind into my sims, well, no. I have no desire for that level of realism. I take joy in a gaming world without religion where the focus is on people rather than worship and such. It is part of the joy of this game for me.
Logged

::smilieiforgetwhi:: "No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such." Book X Paragraph 16, "The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius" ::smilieiforgetwhi::
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 5
  Print  
 
Jump to:  


Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
Page created in 0.037 seconds with 31 queries.
SimplePortal 2.1.1