Atheists raising hell over religion in Spore
Category: PC, Posted: 08/11/2008 at 08:38PM CDT by Frank Ling, Editorial Director
Über game creator, Will Wright, thought there would be a backlash against his game, Spore, from those who believed in God.
Why? Spore is basically about the evolution of life in the cosmos--an adventure about a single celled life form that eventually evolves into a sentient, space-hopping civilization.
But in an odd twist of irony, it isn't the religious minded that are complaining about the game's content; it turns out it is the hardcore atheists who are raising hell, so to speak. The reason being that Spore depicts religion in the game.
Wright said:
"I think our bigger fear was that we didn't want to offend any religious people; but looking at the discussion that unfolded from this thing, what we had was a good, sizeable group of players that we might call militant atheists, and the rest of the players seemed very tolerant, including all of the religious players."
The reaction from the atheist crowd totally surprised Wright.
"I didn't expect to hit hot buttons on the atheist side as much; I expected it on the religious side. But so far I've had no critical feedback at all from anybody who is religious feeling that we were misrepresenting religion or it was bad to represent religion in the game. It was really the atheists."
Wright said that he and his development team took great care to make sure that Spore wouldn't be overly offensive to those of faith. However, in spite of his self-proclaimed designation as an atheist, he also left the door open that there may indeed, be a God.
"I'm open to the idea that there is some creator somewhere."
"We have a number of team members that are pretty religious. And so in design, on the team, in our small, little microcosm of players out there, we tried our best to make sure we weren't overtly offending any religious people, but yet we wanted to include the idea, the concept of religion in the game."
The game is about evolution, per se, so who does the player, the one who directs the life organisms, represent?
"We didn't want to go too far down that path: we leave the whole creation of the universe question open. Obviously as the player you're coming in and playing something like a god, directing the evolution of a species, but we never really state who you the player are."
Maybe the real issue here is knowing that a game is just that--a game, and not propaganda to establish any sort of religion or for that matter, any atheistic point of view. For instance, anyone well versed in the RPG world of games understands that a good deal of "religious theory" is sprinkled throughout gameplay. It isn't supposed to be taken serioulsy. It's only a plot element.
Perhaps some people need to take a "timeout" and not read too much into video games.
[via eurogamer]
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What are the atheists crying about?
this is insane. Spore leaves the door open for any and all beliefs, seeing how it's the player who decides. These here atheists here are no better than Pat Roberson.
Robertson* (the twat) :P
The intelligence/common sense of people never ceases to amaze me.
LMAO
one idiot...i mean person...voicing his idiotic opinion...i'm sorry again i meant to say...you know what... i meant what i said. every word of it.
Sigh...
Why didn't I hear these dang complaints about Black and White 1&2???
Was that game jumped at all while talking about it? I mean seriously with the average intelligence of people in mind, i would almost have guessed black and white would have been claimed to racistic because of its name, yes i think the world is very stupid.....
I'd like to see exactly who is complaining and what their specific complaint (and reasoning) is. All we get is Will's response. :-(
I guess it could be kind of annoying if your civilization HAS TO live by a religion, but that's being awfully picky.
I'm convinced that atheists are a bunch of whiny pricks who are desperate for anything that can make them stand out. This is pretty much the only reason I'm not one; I don't want to be part of this club of people who want to feel superior.
I, as a former atheist, can attest to this sort of superior and elitist attitude that permeates a great deal of the thinking of the hardcore in this group. Basically, their god is humanity and science...although they wouldn't want to admit it. Oddly enough, this group is as guilty of being bigoted as much as their religious right-wing counterparts and the wheels of the bus go 'round and 'round...
I don't understand what the big deal is. Someone always finds fault with everything. So what? Spore is about evolution, a completely non-controversial subject for anyone with an educated brain in their head, even if they do believe in God and creation. Science is science. Religion is religion. And atheism is just another belief structure, more akin to the latter than the former.* No one has a reason to feel threatened by Spore, even if it were more than just a mere game (which it isn't).
* Atheists believe that God absolutely does not exist. The absolute absence of anything, including God, cannot be proven scientifically. Therefore the lack of God is a belief based on faith.
*shakes head*
You guys are making atheists all look bad. I'm atheist, but I think these people are stupid and I could care less what religion you are. Sure I'll disagree with you about the existence of god, and I'd take a scientific explanation over a "supernatural" or god explanation for something. True I feel that I am right about what I believe in, but hardly do I feel superior to anybody.
I prefer to just live my life doing whatever it is that I enjoy until I die. Then I'll worry about religion and what not.
I just don't want you guys categorizing me in the same retarded beliefs these atheists have. I don't believe in god....that is the only similarity we share.
@bulltetjunkie
Some very good points. I hope you understand that the remarks were directed only at the real hardcore atheists who really do believe that they are superior to those who hold supernatural beliefs. I have atheist friends and we get along fine.
I think the point here is that extremists...whether they sit on the "there is no God" or the "there is a God" side often make their respective communities look bad.
I can't count the number of times, even on the forums here on GamerNode, where people bash groups of people, because of their belief system, into one lump. There are the Pat Robertson's out there, of course, but that doesn't mean that the followers of that particular faith think like him. He's only a small drop in the bucket.
In any event, it's good that we can all talk about this and remain civil. That's always cool.
Extremists of any belief make the normal believers look bad. That's especially true when it involves religion in any way whatsoever.
To be honest, I didn't view Spore in any religious kind of light, not even remotely. I still don't.
Can't we just call a game, a game? A work of fiction that has been made simply for the enjoyment and loss of time for people like us? Or is that far too logical?
Yeah, I agree, Steph. I never even considered Spore as it related to religion. It just...doesn't. After this article, I'll likely not think of the subject again.
Appreciate that Quasar and so right Brendon. Also so right is southAussie and Eddie. I didn't think of this game religious at all until this article and now that I've said what I've needed like Eddie I won't think about spore & religion again.
No, no, no, that is not what an atheist is. An atheist does not BELIEVE in anything. That is the heart of religion. Taking something without prof for fact. IE: to believe. An atheist wants prof. I would never say there could not be a god. How would I know. I do know that the odds are better that I lay a golden egg tomorrow. And I don't see how an atheist would care. I don't care if people worship a common god figure, or a 50 foot cow with a taste for flesh. I think the (atheist) people making the big deal of this are just lonely, or crave attention.