Atheists most miffed over religion in Spore
I don't believe it
THE CREATOR of the god-game Spore said that he had the most complaints about religion in the game from atheists.
Will Wright said that when he was designing the game he expected all sorts of problems with religious types who did not feel that their 'true religion' was reflected in the game.
However, he had the most problem with the atheists who didn’t think that a religion should be reflected in the game at all.
Wright said that he saw a lot of benefit and danger in religion, and his biggest fear that he did not want to offend religious people with the game.
But when looking at the discussions he had with play testers a sizeable group of players were militant atheists which was the group that was most angered that a society could evolve a religion.
The rest of the players seemed very tolerant, including all of the religious players. µ
L'Inq
Eurogamer
Comments
Well of course...
believe it or not, holding religious views makes you more open to the existence of other religious views. Whether you agree with them or not you will acknowledge they're out there, and the common experience of "faith" gives the ability to at least understand why others profess their own beliefs.Even if they are a bunch of sinners going to hell... >:D
Makes sense
While I don't believe in religion, I understand the mechanisms that evolved it. Those first hominids that thought they saw something out of the corner of their eyes and ran survived on the African plains. Those people that needed a way to relate to the world, the life and death, the seasons and natural happenings that they didn't understand. The societies that used religion as a way to govern and organise their societies, were successful and thus ensured those religious memes were passed down. The power hungry men of organised religions who rewrote history and the truth to further their ends of power.We have even evolved areas of our brain that can be stimulated via low frequency sound or electromagnetic fields in order to give us a feeling of religion, the perceived presence of angels or devils.
So while it's easier "to believe" than "to understand", it's still the case that we can understand the reasons and mechanisms for religion, even if we don't believe the actual tenants of the religion itself.
I'm pretty sure that Will Wright with his love of science understands this, and the place that such unsubstantiated belief systems have played (and continue to play) in evolution of societies - and that's why he's put them into his god-sim game.
Fundamentalism
I guess fundamentalism comes in all shapes and forms.Sorry...
...I saw the headline and promptly assumed that "Spore" was short for "Singapore".That's what growing up in South-East Asia does to you...
Religion is one of the themes...
...you should think twice if you really want to talk about. Same goes for politics - making a game including any of those themes is dangerous from the start. "Black and White" was a game with religion already but it seems like nobody complained as you are god (or his evil counterpart) :DCan Spore evolve into an Islamic death cult?
Beating up women, infidel throat slitting, blowing up school buses...I'm athiest and happy for this.
Don't they realize that having a Spore society form a religion would only serve to disprove that religion?In Spore, I would hope that it's blatantly obvious that the player is the one responsible for the path of evolution of the species. If the species forms a religion that is different in any way; then that proves that said religion is an incorrect interpretation.
So having religion in Spore actually DISCREDITS real-life religions; and is thus a GOOD thing from the Atheist point of view.
I didn't think Atheism included that many morons; guess I was wrong.
religiosity
From the screenshots in the interview, it seems like religion is based on the "Black & White" model where "god" is a big ol' creature of some sort.I imagine, thinking of Will Wright's development, that it can be more subtle than that.
I think it would be fantastic to build up philosophies with real-world equivalents and see what happens when you push them.
This will be an amazing way to rapidly prototype psychological warfare techniques and / or better understand our fellow man.
Don't care
Most Atheists really don't care. It's only a-holes that are vocal just like any activist.evolution influenced and led by a lone intelliegent being = atheism?
and yes, duece, you sir, are one of them.your hope enforces intelligent design.
maybe youre unintentionally in the wrong camp.
Hmm...
Well, I'm an atheist (unless at the beginning of a sentence, it's a small 'a', folks), and I don't have any trouble with it.Of course, watching my beatiful creations dumb themselves down by spontaneously worshiping figments of their imaginations might make me quite sad. Which is ironic, considering that as the gamer, I was the diety who played a pivotal role in their creation...
ffs mention religion and it all starts again
get a life interogation expert. just goes to show how niaive and smalll your brain must be because non of them acts you described are allowed by Islam or any other religion, pee brain.Coming back to the subject at hand - its good the writer consulted with faiths to get approval and avoid trampling on other peoples beliefs in a game- its a shame others in REAL life don't do this.
an a-hole in every
@interrogation expertOh you're so smart. Why not talk about the Christian terrorists in Ireland? Why not talk about the f***ing crusades? Why not talk about the whole protestant platform and how it came about? The witch hunts and burns?
And I hope you fall off your bloody high horse.
no surprise
What AREN'T atheists angry at?'militant' atheists?
What do you mean, 'militant' atheists? If anyone else is militant, it tends to mean war and fighting - you know, something involving a military. Why is it that when atheists simply disagree in speech or writing, all of a sudden, they're suddenly 'militant'?That alone leads me to believe that there's a bit more bias to this story than is warranted.
If 'most' of the complaints were from atheists, then some of the complaints obviously came from theists as well, right? If so, how can you say that ALL the religious players 'seemed very tolerant'?
What makes their complaints okay and complaints from the atheists 'militant' and intolerant?
I agree completely that the complaints from the atheists sound pretty silly, but even agreeing that the complaints are silly, I don't think this article is very well written. it clearly alludes to other complaints, but appears to ignore them simply because they weren't coming from atheists. It also paints any atheist who complained as 'militant', which is a pretty biased way of referring to someone who's simply offering the feedback that the game developers ASKED for in the first place.
can spore evolve into a christian invasion force?
raping women, torturing infidels, carpet bombing wedding parties....Offensivity
"his biggest fear that he did not want to offend religious people"He was afraid he wouldn't offend? That's a guy who's makes offending priority number one!
Of Course...
Silly Atheists, of course societies can evolve religion, and of course such evolution of societal customs should be in a game like spore!... It happened hundreds of times during our own evolution.
"It has served us well, this myth of Christ" - Pope Leo X.
Just a thought...
I don't believe in atheists; it's my presumption that they don't exist. While there surely are people who chose to object the existence of their creator, at the same time these very people have worldviews that have a strong pseudo-religious basis - incorporating some pagan traditions that were in place well before 500 B.C. by cultures as in Babylon and Egypt; evolution e.g.The current development in the middle east makes me wonder if we will soon see some old prophecies come true; as Israel after some 2000 years is back in the land.
I'm just thinking aloud... didn't mean to offend any 'atheist' ;-)
N/A
I'm an Atheist and I think they are being too whiny, it's just a game.Thanks guys for reinforcing the stereotype.
what a bunch of ...
Atheists are almost as bad as every other religion. I'm proud to be a militant agnostic.militant atheists
@Ermine"What do you mean, 'militant' atheists?"
Militant atheists are people like yourself who s**t a brick when someone mentions religion, then jump around screeching about how all religious people are deluded and that being an atheist absolves you from having any responsibility for the Iraq war.
militant doesn't mean war
Since when does the word "militant" mean warfare, physical combat?. It's one of the results of the bias in the U.S. media that now people think that "militant" means taking arms against others.Martin Luther King was a militant, Ghandi was a militant. Anyone whom stands up for a cause is a militant.
mil·i·tant
Audio Help /ˈmɪlɪtənt/ Pronunciation Key -
–adjective
1. vigorously active and aggressive, esp. in support of a cause: militant reformers.
(from reference.com)
self-defeating thesis
@Duece:"I'm athiest and happy for this.
Don't they realize that having a Spore society form a religion would only serve to disprove that religion?
...
So having religion in Spore actually DISCREDITS real-life religions; and is thus a GOOD thing from the Atheist point of view."
Two points here.
One: Even if religions evolved (i.e. formed through undirected processes) in a simulation that bore passable resemblance to reality, that would no more discredit real-life religion than the evolution of a society believing 1+1=2 would discredit real-life mathematics.
Two: Since the belief in the non-existence of a god is as much a religious (philosophical, not empirical) position as the belief in the existence thereof, the evolution of religious beliefs undercuts atheism neither more nor less than it undercuts theism. Maybe this explains why atheists are mad about religions evolving in Spore.