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Gaming News: "Dear Mr. The Pope"
Posted: Monday January 29th, 2007
by
In his yearly world Communications Day Address, entitled "Children and the Media: A Challenge for Education", Pope Benedict XVI passed holy judgement on on all forms of visual media, though he focussed on games and film, for producing "programs and products, including animated films and video games, which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray antisocial behavior or the trivialization of human sexuality is a perversion, all the more repulsive when these programs are directed at children and adolescents". The pope then requested that leaders of the various visual industries "to safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human dignity, and promote respect for the needs of the family."
Source: Gamespot [ more info ]
I know I'm likely stirring the wrong pot here, and I can't say I'm offended by what the Pope has to say. I just don't think sole responsibility should be placed on the shoulders of visual media. It's just that, I read the bible a couple of times in my youth. It was a yearly event in the church my mother attended. And what I read was violent. It promoted anti-social behavior and trivialized human sexuality to a far lesser degree, but it's there.
Now, I can't say that I want to get into a discussion of the bible here. That's not the point. As a matter of fact let's ignore the pope and the bible all together. And since we've had the "who is responsible" discussion time and time again, there's no real good reason to talk about that either. Which leaves, I guess, Urotsukidoji. If you have no idea what that is, I'm sure a Google or WikiPedia search will bring you up to speed. Though, it might be advisable not to commit to your search at work.
Urotsukidoji was the first piece of anime I ever saw. It was, to say the least, a bit of a shock. After getting past the feelings of "is this what anime is" kind of questions, I watched other Anime and dismissed Urotsukidoji as the exception not the rule. Older and wise now, I know better and understand that the truth is somewhere in the middle.
What I will close this writeup with is something the Pope and I agree on, advocating education. But as I've always said, that shouldn't be the responsibility of any industry, it should be the responsibility of the parent or guardian. [Note: The Pope seems to agree.]
Alrighty, now let's hope I don't have to take a fire extinguisher to this thread to put out the flames. **crosses fingers**
UPDATE: Thread Closed:
The full details behind the closing can be found in the final post of this thread. And since most of the animosity was directed at me, I feel obligated to clarify issues for any person that is new to this thread:
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Source: Gamespot [ more info ]
I know I'm likely stirring the wrong pot here, and I can't say I'm offended by what the Pope has to say. I just don't think sole responsibility should be placed on the shoulders of visual media. It's just that, I read the bible a couple of times in my youth. It was a yearly event in the church my mother attended. And what I read was violent. It promoted anti-social behavior and trivialized human sexuality to a far lesser degree, but it's there.
Now, I can't say that I want to get into a discussion of the bible here. That's not the point. As a matter of fact let's ignore the pope and the bible all together. And since we've had the "who is responsible" discussion time and time again, there's no real good reason to talk about that either. Which leaves, I guess, Urotsukidoji. If you have no idea what that is, I'm sure a Google or WikiPedia search will bring you up to speed. Though, it might be advisable not to commit to your search at work.
Urotsukidoji was the first piece of anime I ever saw. It was, to say the least, a bit of a shock. After getting past the feelings of "is this what anime is" kind of questions, I watched other Anime and dismissed Urotsukidoji as the exception not the rule. Older and wise now, I know better and understand that the truth is somewhere in the middle.
What I will close this writeup with is something the Pope and I agree on, advocating education. But as I've always said, that shouldn't be the responsibility of any industry, it should be the responsibility of the parent or guardian. [Note: The Pope seems to agree.]
Alrighty, now let's hope I don't have to take a fire extinguisher to this thread to put out the flames. **crosses fingers**
UPDATE: Thread Closed:
The full details behind the closing can be found in the final post of this thread. And since most of the animosity was directed at me, I feel obligated to clarify issues for any person that is new to this thread:
In no part of comic or writeup did I bash the Pope or religion. I have no reason to bash the Pope, especially in this instance since we seem to agree. And the only problem I have with religion is when it's taken to extremes.
I did read the Pope's message, several times. And I don't see where what I had to say contradicts or belittles that. A lot of what can be found in his address can also be found in my posts on the subject scattered around these forums. And, susequent posts in this thread show support for aspects of the Pope's message and demonstrates my disagreement with aspects of the "source" article. And yet, I have to defend myself from people accusing me of things I haven't said or done. People seemed to fill in blanks with their own bias and I can't appreciate that. Some of you really disappointed me as I didn't expect that kind of thing out of you.
I did read the Pope's message, several times. And I don't see where what I had to say contradicts or belittles that. A lot of what can be found in his address can also be found in my posts on the subject scattered around these forums. And, susequent posts in this thread show support for aspects of the Pope's message and demonstrates my disagreement with aspects of the "source" article. And yet, I have to defend myself from people accusing me of things I haven't said or done. People seemed to fill in blanks with their own bias and I can't appreciate that. Some of you really disappointed me as I didn't expect that kind of thing out of you.
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