Catholics back Hindus upset at trivializing of goddess Kali by game developer

[garyopa]

The story goes on



Once again, Hindus community are still upset at SMITE, the Hi-Rez Studios' game

This is getting boring. To add more fuel to the fire, now Roman Catholics are backing Hindus in their fight against a videogame that uses Gods from several religions to battle between them.

Look at the press release we have just received:

Roman Catholics have come out in support of Hindus who are upset at the inappropriate usage of Kali and other Hindu deities by the Georgia (USA) online games developer Hi-Rez Studios in the upcoming online action video game SMITE.

Father Charles T. Durante, well known Roman Catholic leader in Nevada (USA), in a statement, said: “Respect for religious practice and beliefs is a basic tenet of our land. When using religious images in commercial media basic respect calls for understanding the teachings behind those images. This need is only heightened when using a religion's supreme images. I would hope that understanding and respect will bring a mutual agreement honoring these Hindu concerns.”

Jews and Buddhists have already supported the cause of protesting Hindus with statements issued by prominent Jewish leader in Western USA Rabbi ElizaBeth W. Beyer and distinguished Buddhist leader from Nevada Reverend Jikai’ Phil Bryan recently. While Rabbi Beyer asked the video game company “to avoid trivializing the deeply held beliefs of Hindus by changing the product accordingly”, Reverend Bryan commented: “Shame on the game-makers for denigrating these Supreme Beings”.

Meanwhile, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed who spearheaded this protest, in a statement few days back, urged Alpharetta headquartered developer Hi-Rez Studios to immediately remove Kali and other Hindu gods from the game as it trivialized the highly revered deities of Hinduism.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, stressed that in a video game set-up, the player would control the movements of goddess Kali and other Hindu deities, while in reality the devotees put the destinies of themselves in the hands of their deities.

Moreover, portrayal of goddess Kali, who was highly revered by Hindus, appeared like a porno star in the SMITE version shown on the company website, which was quite distressing for the devotees, Rajan Zed pointed out.

Zed argued that reimagining Hindu scriptures and deities for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees. Controlling and manipulating goddess Kali and other Hindu deities with a joystick/ button/keyboard/mouse was denigration. Goddess Kali and other Hindu deities were meant to be worshipped in temples and home shrines and not meant to be reduced to just a “character” in a video game to be used in combat in the virtual battleground.

Rajan Zed stated that video game makers should be more sensitive while handling faith related subjects and no faith, larger or smaller, should be plundered. As these games left lasting impact on the minds of highly impressionable children, teens and other young people; such games would create more misunderstandings about Hinduism, which was already a highly misunderstood religion in the West, Zed added.

Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. There are about three million Hindus in USA.

NEWS SOURCE: SmiteGame (via) HirezStudios

Our thanks to 'Kaos2K' for this news item!

[tech3475]

I wonder if i would ever had heard of this game if it wasnt for the controversy?

[simian raticus]

Religion is so shitty! Atheism is the best! Life without any sin!

[wewii]

I am Catholic and I don't support this.

This article should say... "1 single misguided priest supports..." because the Vatican would definitely not support the actions of this one priest. Political correctness plays no role in religous beliefs.

Most Catholics believe that the Hindu system of belief is anti-Christianic, anti-Equality & anti-Human. It goes totally against our beliefs that all humans are equal... unlike the cast system which dictates inequality and discrimination among people. Christianity teaches that we must help and love all equally, with a pure heart and no selfish interests

Some would even say Hinduism is Satanic (Kali being a demon pretending to be a false god). There is only One true God, all other deities are his creation (universe, scientific knowledge, mathematics, angels, demons, humans, animals, plants, life)

Christianity and Hinduism are totally incompatible. To accept or support the teachings of Hinduism by a Christian is blasphemous and it goes agaisnt the 10 commandments. First commandment being Thou shalt have no other gods before me.


FUNNY HOW CHRISTIAN SCARED EVENTS ARE TWISTED AND SMEARED TO PROPOGATE THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF CHRISTMAS AND EASTER (by non-Christians). EVEN TO THE POINT THAT REFERING TO CHRISTMAS AS A CHRISTIAN EVENT IS OFFENSIVE TO JEWS AND OTHER RELIGIONS. WHAT FREAKING HATEFULL BULLSHIT. YET MOST HINDUS YOU MEET IN THE STREET CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE... OR EVEN UNDERSTAND THE TRUE MEANING CHRISTMAS / EASTER FOR CHRISTIANS.

BULLSHIT BULLSHIT BULLSHIT.....

Bullshit dominates all.... the only remedy for bullshit is to say "F**K YOU TOO" and eventually forgiveness; as consensous, tolerance and respect is IMPOSSIBLE on virtually any subject matter on a social and individual level.

[wewii]

Religion is so shitty! Atheism is the best! Life without any sin!

You can say the same thing about Judicial Law.... ignorance of the law is not a defence in court. (I didn't know it was illegal to kill someone)

Ignorance of sins isn't a defence in the Eyes of God. (I didn't know its a sin to kill someone... your creation[/I])

Luckily for us, God gave us the Holy ability of remorse and confession to absolve your self of those sins, before you loose that ability upon death.

[Give]

So basically, a religion who is meant to believe in only one god, is siding with another religion who believe in a different god...this is like real life smite!! It's currently 2v1 though christianity and hinduism vs hi-rez, the gods of awesome game creation. Quick, launch your ultimate at them and strafe out of the way! You have your team mate ganking from the jungle, named "common sense". They can quickly stun, fear and confuse your enemies!

Mind you there have been presently over 2870 "gods" created since the Sumerians invented writing 6000 years ago...probably more before that... (oops well unless you believe the WORLD was created 6000 years ago...instead of several billion years ago if you believe in proven evidence...) so technically Hi-rez has a plethora of fighters, all as real as "sub zero", "dovaahkin" and "super mario" to pick from in future. Hell, they could just add a few to the already existant near 3000 gods. I call dibs on flying spaghetti monster, with "Heinz 57" skin!

Edit: OP idea for smite creators; put in a champion called "Dawkins", and give them skills that stun, fear, confuse and silence enemies.


Normal attack : Dawkins is a close ranged ad carry, hitting enemies with an oversized strand of DNA.
1/Q skill - Denial : Causes a straight line skillshot to be fired in the shape of a medium-speed travelling "piece of paper". If hit, causes enemy god to walk randomnly for 2/2/3/3/4 seconds, in fear (of what's on it). Cannot use items/skills or control god at all while feared.
2/W skill - Reality : Circle appears below enemy in the shape of a stop sign. If enemy god remains within it, they will be stunlocked for 2/2/2/2/2 seconds and take 100/125/150/175/200 damage over the duration.
3/E skill - Truth : Flings a straight line skill shot at enemy god, in the shape of a scientific book. Gives scientific fact to the enemy god, causing them to remain in silence for 3/3/3/3/3 seconds, and take 200/225/250/275/300 damage.
4/R ultimate - Existence : Physical close-mid-range ultimate in a small cone-arc, enemy/ally is struck with a dinosaur bone. Sends either allied god or enemy god back to their base against their wish instantly, cursing them (if it is an enemy champion) for 5/7/9 seconds. If they move before the curse wears off, all of their teammates take 300/400/500 true damage. If enemy god does not move and the curse ends, allies are healed for that amount.

"I will not bow, or lose to any imaginary being! Gods should remain in fiction books alongside the tooth fairy and the easter bunny" - Dawkins

[billysastard]

So basically, a religion who is meant to believe in only one god, is siding with another religion who believe in a different god...this is like real life smite!! It's currently 2v1 though christianity and hinduism vs hi-rez, the gods of awesome game creation. Quick, launch your ultimate at them and strafe out of the way! You have your team mate ganking from the jungle, named "common sense". They can quickly stun, fear and confuse your enemies!

Mind you there have been presently over 2870 "gods" created since the Sumerians invented writing 6000 years ago...probably more before that... (oops well unless you believe the WORLD was created 6000 years ago...instead of several billion years ago if you believe in proven evidence...) so technically Hi-rez has a plethora of fighters, all as real as "sub zero", "dovaahkin" and "super mario" to pick from in future. Hell, they could just add a few to the already existant near 3000 gods. I call dibs on flying spaghetti monster, with "Heinz 57" skin!

Edit: OP idea for smite creators; put in a champion called "Dawkins", and give them skills that stun, fear, confuse and silence enemies.


Normal attack : Dawkins is a close ranged ad carry, hitting enemies with an oversized strand of DNA.
1/Q skill - Denial : Causes a straight line skillshot to be fired in the shape of a medium-speed travelling "piece of paper". If hit, causes enemy god to walk randomnly for 2/2/3/3/4 seconds, in fear (of what's on it). Cannot use items/skills or control god at all while feared.
2/W skill - Reality : Circle appears below enemy in the shape of a stop sign. If enemy god remains within it, they will be stunlocked for 2/2/2/2/2 seconds and take 100/125/150/175/200 damage over the duration.
3/E skill - Truth : Flings a straight line skill shot at enemy god, in the shape of a scientific book. Gives scientific fact to the enemy god, causing them to remain in silence for 3/3/3/3/3 seconds, and take 200/225/250/275/300 damage.
4/R ultimate - Existence : Physical close-mid-range ultimate in a small cone-arc, enemy/ally is struck with a dinosaur bone. Sends either allied god or enemy god back to their base against their wish instantly, cursing them (if it is an enemy champion) for 5/7/9 seconds. If they move before the curse wears off, all of their teammates take 300/400/500 true damage. If enemy god does not move and the curse ends, allies are healed for that amount.

"I will not bow, or lose to any imaginary being! Gods should remain in fiction books alongside the tooth fairy and the easter bunny" - Dawkins

maybe a "magic" attack called reality that shatters their delusions?

[wewii]

maybe a "magic" attack called reality that shatters their delusions?

Maybe a "reality" attack called our tiny brains can't see all of reality, would shut up many people who are blinded by their ego's ignorance.

If you told a person 1000 years ago about the existence of atoms, sub-atomic particles, borons and whatnot.. they would call you crazy. As there was no way to prove it.

God created everything, even our primitive notions of advanced knowledge. Perhaps one day there will be a way we can prove God's existence, perhaps the proof is starring us in the face everyday, yet we are too stupid to recognize it.

I FIND IT ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS WHEN PEOPLE TRY TO DISPROVE GOD'S EXISTENCE BY REFERRING TO SCIENTIFIC FACTS, DNA AND WHATEVER ELSE. GOD CREATED ALL THE UNIVERSAL SYSTEMS THAT LEAD TO THE EXISTENCE OF ALL OF THESE SCIENTIFIC THINGS. GOD IS THE ULTIMATE SCIENTIST... THE SCIENTIFIC CREATOR!

God must be thinking that these human video game characters are crazy. A video game without a creator. Crazy indeed.

[billysastard]

Maybe a "reality" attack called our tiny brains can't see all of reality, would shut up many people who are blinded by their ego's ignorance.

If you told a person 1000 years ago about the existence of atoms, sub-atomic particles, borons and whatnot.. they would call you crazy. As there was no way to prove it.

God created everything, even our primitive notions of advanced knowledge. Perhaps one day there will be a way we can prove God's existence, perhaps the proof is starring us in the face everyday, yet we are too stupid to recognize it.

I FIND IT ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS WHEN PEOPLE TRY TO DISPROVE GOD'S EXISTENCE BY REFERRING TO SCIENTIFIC FACTS, DNA AND WHATEVER ELSE. GOD CREATED ALL THE UNIVERSAL SYSTEMS THAT LEAD TO THE EXISTENCE OF ALL OF THESE SCIENTIFIC THINGS. GOD IS THE ULTIMATE SCIENTIST... THE SCIENTIFIC CREATOR!

God must be thinking that these human video game characters are crazy. A video game without a creator. Crazy indeed.

the problem is that IF, and its a big if, a god or gods exist, which of course is possible although unproven is not any individuals right to chose to believe it is the fact that rules required to follow these gods were written not by any god (or gods) but by man or men, not to praise some omnipotent being but to control their populace with a set of rules often brutally enforced, its these rules that lead us to the shameful state we are currently in where a supposedly "christian" leader is waging a war against islam no matter how he chooses to portray it and slaughtering thousands, has humanity really learned nothing from the crusades or the inquisition? at the same time we have members of other religions attacking others because of "my god is better than your god" syndrome and even attacking members of their own religion because they have been told to believe in a slightly different version of the man made rules.

it does not require a god to know the difference between right and wrong or to defend the weak or downtrodden, all that is required to do that is common human decency something that religion seems determined to prevent rather than encourage.

[wewii]

I am purely referring to the recognition of God as the ultimate creator of ALL, including our scientific knowledge.

When I think of religion, for me it is howing utter respect to God by being a good brother to my brothers/sisters. Kindness, tolerance, love, respect.

People have no right using God as a tool to control for personal agendas. I don't consider any war mongering/bank promoting/oil pushing politician that advocates profiteering off people misfortunes as a Christian, because their actions are insulting to God.

[billysastard]

I am purely referring to the recognition of God as the ultimate creator of ALL, including our scientific knowledge.

When I think of religion, for me it is howing utter respect to God by being a good brother to my brothers/sisters. Kindness, tolerance, love, respect.

People have no right using God as a tool to control for personal agendas. I don't consider any war mongering/bank promoting/oil pushing politician that advocates profiteering off people misfortunes as a Christian, because their actions are insulting to God.

and yet you are against gay marriage because homosexuality is condemned in your religion and if you aren't then good for you, but sadly many choose to show no love, tolerance or respect because "its what the bible says (once)" and yet these very same imbeciles that use the bible (or other books) as an excuse for their own or learned bigotry are the same ones who happily ignore the many sections relating to other parts of the bible that would have an effect on them.

the problem is that people use their "god" as an excuse for many of the world ills, not because their "god" has ever demanded it but because a man once wrote something that they use an an excuse.

[Give]

Maybe a "reality" attack called our tiny brains can't see all of reality, would shut up many people who are blinded by their ego's ignorance.

If you told a person 1000 years ago about the existence of atoms, sub-atomic particles, borons and whatnot.. they would call you crazy. As there was no way to prove it.

God created everything, even our primitive notions of advanced knowledge. Perhaps one day there will be a way we can prove God's existence, perhaps the proof is starring us in the face everyday, yet we are too stupid to recognize it.

I FIND IT ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS WHEN PEOPLE TRY TO DISPROVE GOD'S EXISTENCE BY REFERRING TO SCIENTIFIC FACTS, DNA AND WHATEVER ELSE. GOD CREATED ALL THE UNIVERSAL SYSTEMS THAT LEAD TO THE EXISTENCE OF ALL OF THESE SCIENTIFIC THINGS. GOD IS THE ULTIMATE SCIENTIST... THE SCIENTIFIC CREATOR!

God must be thinking that these human video game characters are crazy. A video game without a creator. Crazy indeed.

"The world was created 6000 or so years ago" ... Yet there's proof things existed billions of years ago.

"God made Adam in his image, and Eve from one of Adam's ribs" 2012: "oh wait that didn't really happen"...who said that? Cardinal George Pell.

"It's a very sophisticated mythology to try to explain the evil and the suffering in the world," he said."It's a religious story told for religious purposes." http://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/latest/a/-/newshome/13381016/pell-says-adam-and-eve-didnt-exist/

So, uhm, where DID we all come from, these "6000 years ago" When the electricity bill for the universe started, if according to Cardinal Pell, Adam and Eve is a mythological story? Why is there proof of things existing before written language existed? Several billion years before through proven means?... I'm sorry, but much like part of the london bridge, a portion of the Eiffel Tower, or a share of an unknown planet...I'm not buying it.

Edit: I guess I had best answer for you. Why was it that Dinosaurs were not mentioned? Why were modern scientific facts not mentioned? Why were there so many existent laws and rules in the book that make no sense nowadays? (books, there were thousands of gods...but let's stick to the Bible here) and why were there such inconsistencies such as Noah's arc (its size, the food supplies vs size of boat, amount of animals and length of time with nothing but water, the fact that that much water would have left visible marks on Everest, K2 and other tall mountains, etc). Answer: It was written in the dark ages, it was used as a leash, a control method for "sheep-like citizens/peons" back then, to keep them in check via fear and control (if you do bad you will go and burn in a bad bad place for all eternity, that includes you being gay, which it has been discovered you can be BORN with...god sure has a sense of humour huh? He makes you be born with a condition, then punishes you for it! wooo...oh wait, that happens with every bad condition that people are born with...), without having any of our modern technology to actually discover the truth. Noone back then would have known that you could travel to space and see the world was round, see deep under the ground to see there is no hell/hades/devil, to see into the sky and see there isn't a heaven beyond those fluffy clouds (we've looked as far as the next galaxy for crying out loud)

Not stopping anyone reading the Bible or any other religious book, or believing them; I just have better taste in fiction; I read harry potter.

edit 2: I'm REALLY glad that Pell stated the whole Adam and Eve thing didn't happen, because if it had, we'd basically all be inbred from the ground up. It would explain a LOT though...