Why are gamers looked down on and religious people accepted?
Ok, first off check this out:
http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/republicans-out-democrat-w...
A republican politician claims that playing world of warcraft makes his democrat opponent unfit for public office.
Now I'm a gamer and I have been sneered at for "living in a fantasy world" and all that sort of thing, often by religious people.
You know, it's funny to think that while a republican is saying a democrat is unfit for office because she plays a game featuring orcs, dragons, wizards and elves that she does not believe actually exist Willard Romney is running for president while honestly believing in magic underwear that stops bullets and poison, also he believes in a super powerful alien god from the planet kolob and that people can become space gods if they don't drink caffeine and give money to the mormon church.
Gamers get looked down on a lot. Israel won't let people who are into D&D advance in it's military, regarding it as a sign of weak character. Gamers are accused of a lot of things, portrayed negatively on TV, lumpoed in with that psychopath rod farrel, etc.
Now the vast majority of gamers don't literally believe that vampires, orcs, zombies, wizards, dragons, etc actually exist, we just like games using them as characters.
But religious people really, honestly believe in talking serpents, women turning into pillars of salt, rivers turning into blood, that it's righteous to go into a land and murder the inhabitants because voices in someone's head allegedly told them to, talking burning bushes, people being raised from the dead, etc.
They profess to literally believe all that, but they're Ok and gamers who enjoy but do not believe orcs, dragons and wizards exist are somehow defective?
Seriously, WTF is this BS and why do we tolerate it?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Doug Reardon on -
Because religious people are in control.
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Permalink Reply by Ed on -
Yeah, it's all about numbers. Sixteen million firmly grounded in reality versus possibly 150 million who play "Sky Fairy where art' thou?"
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Permalink Reply by James Cox on -
"You know, it's funny to think that while a republican is saying a democrat is unfit for office because she plays a game featuring orcs, dragons, wizards and elves that she does not believe actually exist Willard Romney is running for president while honestly believing in magic underwear that stops bullets and poison, also he believes in a super powerful alien god from the planet kolob and that people can become space gods if they don't drink caffeine and give money to the mormon church."
Do you think that the DNC should be told this, to prevent an invasion? LOL
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Permalink Reply by SteveInCO on -
This is not actually a contradiction--at least not on their part. It may be stupid, but it is not a contradiction.
It is because the religious right believes this stuff exists that they think a gamer is unfit for office, and just generally unfit to be in society. Because, by their logic whether you know it or not by playing these games you are consorting with these sorts of evil beings--and make no mistake even the "lawful good" ones are evil in their eyes; "false gods" and the like. To them these games are basically stealth satanic rituals.
Basically as far as they are concerned these creatures are as real and as evil as Nazis. And so they feel and think the same things you do if it turned out a candidate for office liked to dress up and roleplay Hitler.
Not contradictory, but definitely ironic.
As for why the great mass of not very religious people will take the religionists' side in this, it's likely a combination of our societal taboo against criticizing peoples' religions, a feeling that perhaps the games are kids stuff and you really ought to grow up, and perhaps its the fact that they themselves are religious and really cannot, at a fundamental level, criticize this sort of thinking because they share it themselves.
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Permalink Reply by Kutchka on -
Here's a different take on it by a religious nut. A close member of my family thinks that I am opening myself up to demons by playing Skyrim, Dragonage, and the like. She says that when I play these games my belief (as she sees it) in my character is a denial of god and an acceptance of all that is evil! I tell her that usually I'm fighting evil in the games, but she says that the devil is hoodwinking me and that I am in his clutches.
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Permalink Reply by matt.clerke on -
Hail Satan! Yahweh is the only evil I can think of in the bible.
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Permalink Reply by James Cox on
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We see nutty people, sorry. Does she watch day time soap operas, or just the 700 club/cult?
I wonder what she would say about people that study nature, or play chess?
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Permalink Reply by matt.clerke on
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Because there is more of them than there is of us.
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Permalink Reply by Byrnes Steel on
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they are just jealous of our amazing hand eye coordination
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Permalink Reply by Amanda Mrakovich on -
I've also come up against a lot of negativity from my family when it comes to my online gaming. While they haven't said that I am opening myself up to demons (yet) they have confronted both my husband and me about playing games stating that "it's an addiction" and that "it interferes with making friends." Of course we have both tried to explain to them that we meet and play with people from around the world and have meaningful relationships with these people but with little luck (not to mention all the time we spend with "real life" friends). I just chock it up to them not understanding and not being able to take things for what they are. Since their fantasy world is real to them, they aren't able to see how a fantasy world can be just that, fantasy.
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Permalink Reply by Marvel on -
i find this really ridiculous to exclude someone from a job because of what he does in his spare time .. it doesn't matter if i prefer to game, read, jog, or even do nothing at all ataring at the blank wall all day as long as the job is done.
since when did hobbies really matter in job interviews ??
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