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Killing Covenant for Jesus: Halo at Church
Qingu
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Registered User regular
According to the NYT, evangelical churches are hosting "Halo parties" to lure teenagers to their flock.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/us/07halo.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin
The article largely deals with the supposed controversy between Christianity's "Thou shalt not kill" message and Halo's violent gameplay. (Nevermind, of course, the fact that killing is allowed and commanded all over the place in the Bible and the commandment actually only prohibits unlawful killing...)
I've never played Halo. But I have read about Halo's plot in Wikipedia and I wonder if this article is missing a broader irony here: why would churches use Halo as a conversion tool when the bad guys in Halo are religious fundamentalists?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/us/07halo.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin
The article largely deals with the supposed controversy between Christianity's "Thou shalt not kill" message and Halo's violent gameplay. (Nevermind, of course, the fact that killing is allowed and commanded all over the place in the Bible and the commandment actually only prohibits unlawful killing...)
I've never played Halo. But I have read about Halo's plot in Wikipedia and I wonder if this article is missing a broader irony here: why would churches use Halo as a conversion tool when the bad guys in Halo are religious fundamentalists?
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*Note the statement below does not mean I endorse playing Halo at church.
Their reasoning is the same as a church softball, bowling, paintball league. A bunch of people like to do activity "X", maybe we should get together and do "X" together. God calls us to be a community, so let's do "X" together and if some non-believer come to the "X game" then great.
I guess I don't know, though: how explicitly anti-religion is Halo? I mean, the Covenant seem pretty obviously modelled after messianic religions, but maybe it comes off more in Wikipedia than in the actual games. At the very least, it reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy 10's not-so-subtle attack on the Catholic Church.
FF: Tactics is a far FAR better example.
Also, what is the big deal exactly here?
Chistians play game where you kill a made up alien religious group.
I know it's a shock, but christians can do thing's together other then praying and burning non-believers.
Left Behind isn't actually Christianity. A couple of dudes who decided to go and make a shitty novel using biblical verses instead of crappy plot points, and because it was closer to Christian dogma then Harry Potter was it sold very well.
Of course, nobody cares about that.
I was unaware that anyone actually paid any attention to the story in Halo. The Church is one hundred percent right on this one: whatever "religious overtones" the game is supposed to have are poorly presented, and largely overlooked by its players; and the game's violent content is just not a big deal. This is a perfectly wholesome social event that appeals to teenage boys. No bullshit or weird fanaticism, just a bunch of kids having fun at church, playing a video game together. The title of the article is particularly idiotic. The Times makes itself look retarded in this piece.
I will never understand how this book is not ranked higher than Harry Potter in the fundies' to-burn list.
Oddly enough, these stopped appearing after the last film was released. I can't imagine why.
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They weren't "good people" because they weren't believers.
If you were a true Christian, you'd understand.
Because it panders to said fundies.
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When I was in high school one of my first friends was a very nice quiet christian girl who brought Left Behind books and the Bible to school to read for fun. One of my proudest achievements is that with some careful literary prodding I got her to ditch the Left Behind stuff. She's now a big Heinlein fan.
Why? At least the Halo players don't try to influence public policy. Liking Halo is not really faux-hip, either. They probably enjoy it as genuinely as anyone else.
Assholes.
I'm also pretty sure this isn't "fragging for Christ". This is the functional equivalent of cake and punch and maybe a movie to entice you to come out for church service. Though that was a pretty good turn of a phrase, _J_.
Thank you.
Which flood?
I don't understand how any of this stuff helps- rock music, video games, petting zoos, whatever. If the attraction for coming to a church is something other than the teachings of Christ, are you really bringing more people to the religion? If they leave or tune out when the pastor/minister/etc. begins lecturing, nothing's been accomplished. And if you forsake the teachings of the faith in all their force so that you can keep your new crowd, are you really a church anymore?
I'm just glad it's only Protestants who can get away with this stuff. The closest Catholicism came to trying to be 'hip' was Vatican II, and we're already correcting the overzealous modernizing spawned by that particular council.
Using the Bible to indoctrinate young students is not so kosher.
This is just another example of manipulative ways to get youngin's to go to church.
Skate parks, movie nights, all that stuff is designed to bring in people.
Self-serving and probably not righteous, yes.
The second film wasn't? :P
Rather, the last film shit all over any sort of analogies they could draw. From what I heard, people were paralleling Morpheus with fucking John the Baptist before the final film came out.
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The indication that there are more resistance fighters, but the fact that we never actually see any other ship in the first movie besides the Neb, sort of gives Morpheus a 'lone voice in the desert' quality.
My brother in-law used to be a youth pastor at a baptist (i'm not sure what kid of baptist) church in St. Louis. He quit his job shortly before marrying my sister... I guess he was a great pastor, the kids loved him. Once I went with him and my sister to their old church and all the kids he taught wanted to chat with him about all kinds of stuff, one of those things was Halo 2. It was a way for him to connect with the kids. Teachers do the same things in school lessons, make personal connections with the kids and they'll be more likely to learn. I don't believe there should be any moral negatives to playing Halo, after all it is just pretend and isn't gratuitous graphic violence (as compared to many other games out there.)
On the subject of the Left Behind books, when I was in High School I read quite a few of them, and they were very enjoyable. I went to a youth group at a very conservative Evangelical Free Church (they actually were not crazy). My youth pastor was aweseome, he had this great gift of lecturing (in a good way) to anyone. Anyway, one day he was talking about the books, and gave us a simple warning, which was not to take the books too literally. He said that the books are a very fun read, and provide great entertainment, but they are just two men's interpretation of events in the Bible, rather than direct scripture. I think the problem with the books is that many people believe them to be directly from scripture and that the rapture will happen exactly the way depicted in the books, which I believe is not the case.
edit: oh yeah, my youth pastor introduced me to The Matrix in youth group, and also played Golden Eye 64 with us all the time. He was pretty awesome. He eventually left to get his PhD at St. Andrews.
The main character's name is Rayford Steele.
I don't think it is manipulative, as long as you are upfront about who is sponsoring the event. Our church doesn't do Halo, but they have done some other outreach stuff. I helped out a few times and it was very low-key and indoctrination-free. Kids were invited to come to Sunday service and some did. They were never made to feel that they had too, though, and some never came.
Probably because you aren't going to get many teens to come to a prayer night. How many teens join the Catholic Church? Let's face it, the CC is lousy at recruiting young people.
A gimmick would be "convert and we'll give you a free blender." This is not the same, it's a social event that the church is putting on for the community at large.
Good point. The most exposure I've had to fundamentalism was one summer at a camp that didn't come anywhere near "Jesus Camp" levels and the Campus Crusaders or whatever their name was at my college.
God those things are an eyesore and such a waste of prime real estate.
I don't know, honestly. Thinking about it, I guess it's the same sort of "blegh" reaction I have to those shills who get paid to stand in clubs and loudly mention that they're wearing such-and-such brand of shoes. It feels fake and condescending even if it's not.
The weird thing is, I think I'd be happy if the Halo players/sk8er for Jesus types were people who had actually managed to reconcile their professed faith with their hobbies and interests and were espousing a mellower Christianity. I mean, I don't care if it's ideologically pure or not as long as the net result is that they're pleasanter people. But in my admittedly limited experience, the Christians who wear flannels, reek of patchouli, and hang out in my town's local scenester haunts are still espousing the same creepy Southern Baptist stuff as the rest.
I'm not trying to be rude here, but that's a pretty harsh stereotype you laid out. You really should try to get out and meet more diverse Christians. Yes, there are some creepy Christians, but there's equally as creepy "insert every other group you can think of here". If you don't really relate to Christians, it's difficult to imagine that they are just normal people too, with normal person desires, hobbies, and interests. Christians can enjoy video games, Halo, and everything else as much as the next person. Just because they're Christians does not mean that they are "posers" or whatever term you might consider them (I know you didn't call them posers).
I agree with what you said about However, I don't believe that should be limited to Christians. Everyone should have actions that make them pleasanter people, not just Christians.
as a side note, I don't really understand why it's often acceptable to stereotype Christians around here... yes, there are some crazy Christians that don't seem to get the point of Jesus' messages... but that does not mean all Christians are like that. Just like not all Muslims are terrorists, etc. With that in mind, Most Christians have different points of view about Christianity, which is why there are so many denominations, even after the Prostestant/Catholic division. Some denominations might consider Halo evil, and that it should never be in a Church, but other denominations are much more relaxed about what should be used to reach out and sharing the Gospel with the community. If you think that is deceptive, well, it's usually pretty obvious that it's a church sponsored activity when you're doing it in a church... the participants always have the option to leave, or not come at all.
That same pastor made the most ignorant, bullshit comment I have ever heard: "Why do you think homosexuals adopt? To get new converts."
Yeah, of course, gay people adopt so they can convert impressionable youths. Just like Christians only adopt to get new converts.