OIC wags its finger and “Faith Fighter” is removed
The dreadful Organisation of the Islamic Conference – campaigners for an international blasphemy law – have released a statement about the “Faith Fighter” computer game which has led to its removal from the Molleindustria website.
When his attention was brought to an internet report posted by metro.co.uk on an online game depicting holy figures such as Prophet Jesus and Prophet Muhammad (PBUT) fighting each other to the death, a spokesman of the OIC Islamophobia Observatory in Jeddah today expressed his concern stating that the computer game was incendiary in its content and offensive to Muslims and Christians.
He said that the game would serve no other purpose than to incite intolerance. He called on the Internet service providers who are hosting the game to take immediate action by withdrawing it from the web.
The anonymous spokesman was correct when he said it would incite intolerance – the intolerance of rabid Muslims, intolerant of anyone who doesn’t take them as seriously as they take themselves. But that’s probably not what he meant.
Fortunately, the game is still available to play here and here.
UPDATE: (22:40) A rather silly addendum to Molleindustria’s statement about the withdrawal:
In few hours this statement generated a way more heated reactions than the release of the game. We are not “bowing to the foundamentalists”, we have no sympathy for any religion but we are aware that muslims are victim of widespread racism in the western world. This islamofobia is functional to the imperial interests in Middle East and all over the world. We just want to make clear that the game was not intended to contribute to the media-assisted narrative “islamic world vs freedom of speech”.
Sigh. Islam is not a race. “Islamophobia” is an artificial construct designed to discourage criticism of Islam by equating such criticism with racism. And the “islamic world vs freedom of speech” narrative is assisted not so much by the media as by the Islamic world itself, which in the shape of the OIC is campaigning vigorously for an international law forbidding defamation of religion. That would make games such as this one illegal.
The makers of the game have confirmed to MWW that the withdrawal was a “media tactic” to encourage further discussion of the issue in the press. But withdrawing it immediately the OIC release a statement only gives that organisation encouragement, and confirms its already over-inflated sense of self-importance.
Bad move.
Great, it’s still online. I probably won’t play it (I hate to see cruelty to elephants), but this just goes to show that its availability might be far smaller if there hadn’t been moaning from Muzzies and others of the Deluded Herd. When will these nutters learn to keep their mouths shut?
The whole episode gives muslims a bad name – no sense of humour.. hope one day they’ll be able to unshackle themselves from this horrid religion, as more and more people do with other religions, and hence get more representative leaders..
“When will these nutters learn to keep their mouths shut?” I don’t suppose they ever will if the past is anything to go by. United colours of Beneton ran a poster ad campaign for years that relied for its impact on outraged reactions to posters of somewhat questionable taste, righteous folk never once let them down by failing to rise to the bait. In the eighties the Kenny Everett show featured a very mildly risque (Certainly by modern standards) dance troop called Hot Gossip, the outraged Mary Whitehouse guaranteed huge audiences for the show to the point where Everett was quoted as saying “Thank you Mary from the bottom of my bank balance”. I could go on quoting examples of these own goals ad nauseum, anyone remember Relax by Frankie goes to Hollywood? So I don’t think that the idiots will ever catch on.
As for this anonymous spokesman, never take anything for granted, maybe he is not aware that the various religions have been at each others throats for thousands of years. After all the game appears to be just a humourous take on that reality.
How could one possibly “give Muslims a bad name” aharon – they`re all bonkers!!
You`re absolutely spot on Stonyground – as usual. I laugh like a drain every time they wheel out the appalling John Beyer on Newsnight to spout his drearily predictable views, and, as you say, give even more publicity to the people that he is trying to attack. I`m sure that half the time he actually elicits sympathy for them, not condemnation!! I remember Mary Whitehouse well; and Kenny Everett was an absolute hero of mine!!!
Would you, barriejohn, say that, for example, a 20 year old muslim who was born and lived all her life in egypt, who feels muslim through a mixture of fear, culture and peer pressure – is necessarily bonkers..?
Sorry, I can’t see how moslems are any more bonkers than members of any other religion or cult. I know Moslem-bashing’s fashionable among whiteys at the moment, but puh-lease, a bit of perspective.
Me, I don’t buy any of these religions. Can’t see how it makes any sense at all.
She`s not really a Muslim then aharon!!!
If you asked her, she’d say she was.. And indeed, she is the majority of the 1.5 billion muslims the various nutters can not help defending..
We`re in danger of splitting hairs here just like the religious “nutters” Aharon (hahaha!!), but my idea of a “believer” is someone who makes a free, conscious, intelligent choice to follow a particular doctrine, not someone who has been indoctrinated, or forced to follow a certain code at the point of a gun. Millions of Britons would call themselves “Christian”, but have very little understanding of the tenets of the faith. They don`t really “believe” any of it! I don`t think for one moment that all these billions of “Muslims” really swallow all this nonsense about “The Prophet”; as you say, culture and coercion have a big part to play. When former Muslim countries become secularised you don`t see all the thousands of former “devotees” rising up en masse – in fact quite the opposite. The women in particular grab the new freedoms they are given with both hands!! Still, we`re on the same side here, and like you I think it`s a real tragedy that a minority of religious extremists have so many millions in thrall.
barriejohn, my point exactly! Well, Dan Dennett’s as well, that most people are not making a conscious choice as to either profess to a religion, or *try* to beleive in what ever happened to be the dominant religion around them. However, I’d argue further, that it will be wrong to put it all down to religions… For example, most people, without much questioning – hence a questionable process of conscious activity – are fairly happy with the kind of music being spawned at the via corporate media outlets.. Its about rowing merrily down stream – not much else. Which is why, in terms of religious expansion strategies, they keep concentrating on commanding heights to try give people the impression, religion is all that there is.. Notice, for example, the insistence to perceive anyone only in the context of religion… Believer, non-believer, and talking of atheists as within their own religion..
I should really make more use of a different terminology.. Such as sceptics and anti-sceptics…
lol they now have faith fighter 2 – a lame game, mind.. These Molleindustria guys need a good talking to.. 😉
“He said that the game would serve no other purpose than to incite intolerance.”
How? It’s just a game. Are people going to go beating up Muslims or Christians after playing it?
There is enough intolerance from religious types already.
[…] via Mediawatchwatch […]
Jesus christ! The views expressed here really *are* offensive – not because of the un-argued assumption that all religious belief is perverse or insane, but because of the denial of the existence of ‘islamophobia’ whilst flagrantly displaying it!
Saying islamophobia does not exist is like saying that ‘antisemitism does not exist’ – Islam is a coherent block of overlapping racial, cultural and religous identities, much like Judaism.
As someone who has been in turns an atheist and then religious, but never really a Muslim, but who comes from a nominally muslim background, I can say that the hostility is in my fucking face all the time. This is ironic considering I don’t even believe in the Koran or the prophethood of mohammed – and even if I did the hostility would not be justified. I know believers, some devout, who are not stupid or insane, and to label all muslims (no matter what their degree of adherence) as some evil intolerant darkie barbarian horde (which is clearly the subtext of the ‘skeptical’ ‘well reasoned’ comments here) is both wrong and evil.
Having tarred all muslims with the same brush, the commentors then fall back on the ‘no true scotsman’ fallacy. “Hey, I don’t just have contempt and fear for ALL muslims, only ALL TRUE MUSLIMS”.
The level of arguments amongst the ‘skeptics’ here is pathetic. In fact, it is about the same level of debate you get in a Pakistani Madresseh recruiting for Al Qaeda. And about the same level of unthinking, smug arrogance as well.
Frankly, fuck y’all and your badly disguised racism masquerading as ‘tolerance for freedom’.
Take the beam out your own eyes, you cunts.
p.s.
to clarify, I LOVE faith fighter, think it’s funny as fuck, and i would think God finds it funny too.
I am generally in favour of as much freedom of expression as possible, but that right is *NOT* absolute (pedo images, anyone?). Sometimes certain things must be restricted.
Personally I think faith fighter does not fall into the category of things that should be censored (I would encourage disseminating it!), but it is not *necessarily obviously true*. If people feel it is offensive to thumb-one’s-nose at their religion in that way, they have as much right to voice that feeling of offence as the authors of the game had to make it – eeven if I disagree with them vehemently.
Its really funny game to play, plus game should be treated as an entertainment and should not be really taken that seriously. To me its really funny game and more entertaining.