British Holy Men Say They Don’t Want “No Russian”.

A Christian, a Muslim and a Jew walk into a TV station. It’s not a joke, but what they said about Modern Warfare 2‘s “No Russian” level sounds like one. On the BBC program (or programme, if you’re into that thing) The Big Questions (UK only iPlayer link here), three wise men were asked the big question of, “Are violent videogames damaging to society?”  They took it as an excuse to sound off about the recently popular topic of  virtually killing virtual people in a virtual airport.

Alex Goldberg, the chief executive of the London Jewish Forum had this to say:

Surely this [scene] puts the gamer in the position of being a terrorist? The whole plot here is that it’s a military commander ‘“ whatever ‘“ who doesn’t want to blow his cover, so he blows up innocent civilians. We’re asking gamers to be put in that situation.

Well, at least he actually understands the context of the situation, but he still asserts that you’re being asked to play a terrorist. He goes on with this:

We fudge this issue about children time and time again throughout this debate. Let’s face it ‘“ it’s children playing this game. In the Holy scriptures, when Cain kills Abel, God asks him one question: Are you your brother’s keeper? The rest of the bible is an answer to that ‘“ and it’s a big yes. When I play this game I don’t get that answer ‘“ I get upset.

Yes, children shouldn’t be playing a game rated Mature, but you wouldn’t make the argument that all forms of media should be kid-friendly just in case a kid might see it. Are you your brother’s keeper? Even if you are, he can keep his own kids.

Not to be outdone, Fazan Mohammed of the British Muslim Forum added:

You can’t equate it with watching TV or a movie or reading a book. This is a much more intimate experience. You’re mentally playing out the effects of violence. A lot of people make the excuse that this is sport ‘“ that it’s just entertainment. But Joseph Goebbels ‘“ the propaganda minister of Nazi Germany ‘“ said his entertainment did more for the German people, in terms of creating the psyche for war and hostility towards others, than the speeches of Adolf Hitler. The idea this is entertainment is not justification whatsoever.

This is a rookie mistake. Anyone on the internet knows that once you’ve made the Nazi metaphor you’ve already lost the argument, but we’ll humor him. When we’re talking about something as personal as witnessing, and possibly participating, in a terrorist act from a first person perspective you go beyond it being entertaining and it becomes something that’s meaningful. It might even deeply offend you, but entertainment or, dare I say it, art sometimes has an obligation to challenge you. If something like this upsets you, then why not reflect on why it makes you feel that way instead of automatically assuming someone else has done something wrong?

Finally we have a retired Bishop, the Rt. Reverend Stephen Lowe, who admits to playing World of Warcraft. Let’s all take what he says as absolutely true because he’s hip to the videogames:

I don’t think it should be in a game, because gaming for me is not about that sort of process. When I was young, [society was] worried about horror comics ‘“ because they were going to pollute the minds of young people and make them violent. This is very different from that; this is taking on the role of a terrorist in a way that relates to the news ‘“ what we actually see on our [TV] screens. That is fundamentally different. It somehow says: ‘˜Maybe this is all right.’ It isn’t.

The airport scene is many things: morally challenging, debate worthy, arguably nothing more than PR, but it’s certainly not so evil and corrupting that it needs to be taken out of the game, regardless of what three prominent religious leaders say.

Via: MCV