In Defense of My Offense

by Peter Beattie 

I found the recent crop of RPGamer editorials on the subject of so-called "mature content" in RPGs to be interesting and thought-provoking, but two in particular had flaws I would like to try to correct. Shawn Bruckner's "Zeroing in on Controversy" and John Ford's "Morally Acceptable Games, or, How to Neuter a Narrative" are the two in question.

Many people writing in have said that they are Christians, and thus being, were offended by the portrayal of the Catholic church not as a moral institution, but as a war-mongering devil-worshipping institution. Well, I'm a Christian as well, but I found no real reason to be offended. (SB)

That just may be, Shawn, because your religion ("I am not a Catholic") wasn't attacked. The Catholic Church was clearly singled out for attack in FFT, not the Christian Church, which today is a blanket term for all religious denominations wishing to be affiliated with Christianity.

It is true that the Catholic Church of the time was probably the only real civilizing influence in the world at that time, but this church also preached superstition. (SB)

Mr. Bruckner's ignorance and insensitivity to the Catholic faith really shows in this last quote. Dismissing others' firmly held beliefs as mere "superstition" is and should be completely unacceptable in today's world. But there's more:

As well, we have forgotten that religion is a system created by man for worship. God did not create the Catholic church... His creations did by interpreting His word in the Bible. (SB)

Perhaps this is due to Mr. Bruckner's glaringly obvious ignorance of the Catholic religion, and not so much to insensitivity, but here is another mistake. Catholics believe that Jesus (God) founded their religion. Jews believe that God, through Abraham, founded their religion. Muslims believe that Allah (God) founded their religion through the prophet Mohammed. What you are doing, Mr. Bruckner, is applying a facet of your religion to all religions. Besides, any biblical scholar will tell you that the Bible was written after (estimates range anywhere from 70 A.D. to 200 A.D.) the creation of what we today call the Catholic Church.

A final bit to throw in. I don't think any game should be examined based on a "Christian" world-view and "edited" to fit that viewpoint. If it's a good story, it's a good story. If it portrays the brutal murder of a young woman and the consequences wreaked on her lover and closest friends, don't wail about the death scene. (JF)

We ask for more realistic storylines... things that aren't your "Leave It to Beaver" happy 50s everything-is-always-so-hunky-dory plots. We get them, and then we criticize the designers because they portray a person of a different race by a stereotype, or they portray a religion in a negative light, or they use a little bad language. (SB)

Both Mr. Bruckner and Mr. Ford seem to assume that a person who takes offense at a game's bigoted portrayal of a religion also subscribes to the anti-"mature" subject matter school of thought. I'll have them know that I, for one, do not. I don't believe that "bad language" or gratuitous violence is "mature" in any way, but I don't find anything wrong with them being in video games. Furthermore, racism, attacks on religions, bad language and violence are all separate issues and as such shouldn't be lumped together for defense.

If it points out a possibility for abuse in what you believe, then you don't need to call it "bigoted" or "anti-Catholic"; take the message as it is instead of taking it personally. (JF)

Good God, Mr. Ford, did you consider the implications of this last statement? "Take the message as it is ... if it points out a possibility for abuse in what you believe"? So I should seriously ponder the question of whether the Catholic Church is actually a satanic institution built by corrupt power-mongers intent on world domination? Please, spare me the drivel about my lack of open-mindendness. Mr. Ford previously had attempted to discern the reason behind my statements, and chalked it up to "simplistic fear." Believe me, Mr. Ford, if the absurd "examination" of the Catholic Church offered by FFT could make me afraid of losing faith, I would have abandoned my religion a long time ago.

The reason, then, that I take offense at such juvenile jabs at my religion such as the one FFT made may be due more to a fault of our general culture than a videogame-specific reason. You see, if FFT had singled out a different, minority (in this country at least) religion for attack, say, Islam or Hinduism, a blizzard of controversy would have arisen. Just as many publications rightly protested Barret's borderline racist portrayal, a negative portrayal of Islam (let alone a portrayal of the Muslim world as the spawn of Satan) would elicit a torrent of justifiably angry responses condemning Square's insensitivity. But when the Catholic Church is made the target of such an attack, nothing is mentioned. This is normal for our culture however, as John Leo aptly observed in his "On Society" column several months ago in U.S. News & World Report. He wrote that our society has a propensity for defending members of any kind of minority group, while leaving members of majority groups open for attack. Naturally, Leo was not suggesting that we should turn our back on minority groups when they are attacked, but that we should act in a consistent, fair manner, and defend any group that is unjustly insulted. I ask the same from the readers of RPGamer.