CAIRO — A new board game in the United States is lampooning religions and depicting prophets and religious leaders bashing and whacking people all the way to victory in their spiritual warfare.
"Offending people, particularly Christians, Buddhists or Muslims ... seems to be their marketing strategy," Drew Koehler, founder and senior writer for Christian-gaming.com, told the USA Today on Tuesday, November 18.
The Playing Gods: The Board Game of Divine Domination bills itself as "the world's first satirical board game of religious warfare."
Players use plastic figurines depicting game characters from major religions to fight in a spiritual warfare.
The 3-inch figurines include Jesus bashing people with a cross, Moses slugging away with the tablets of the Ten Commandments and a turban-wearing man carrying a bomb and a dagger, hinting at Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
During the fight, the players must kill or convert people all the way to victory.
They move their figurines across the board drawing cards that promise wrath with natural disasters or woo converts with kindness or cleverness.
"Overemphasis on guilt drives millions to depression and suicide. Kill three Christian sects," says one card under the image of an wrathful Jesus.
"Endless 'War on Terror' provides terrorist job stability. Gain three Muslim sects," says another with the turbaned bomb thrower image.
Anti-Religion
The developers claim their game is anti-zealot.
"Much of the world's violence is rooted in religion," claims Ben Radford, who designed the game.
"[It] has no basis in historical reality and doesn't actually represent any religion," insists Carl Raschke, professor of religious studies at University of Denver.
Experts criticize the game for banking on anti-religion sentiments.
"It sounds to me like the company is trying to capitalize on the anti-religious climate of today," said Koehler, whose site reviews games from the Christian perspective.
Raschke agrees that the game is catering to anti-religion people.
"It just appeals to people who hate religion to begin with — the hip subculture of militant popular atheists."
He believes that the developers are no better than the fanatics they claim their game goes against.
"Their thinking is rigid and hostile ... They start from their own dogmatic perspective.
"These people are fanatics, for the most part, themselves."
"Offending people, particularly Christians, Buddhists or Muslims ... seems to be their marketing strategy," Drew Koehler, founder and senior writer for Christian-gaming.com, told the USA Today on Tuesday, November 18.
The Playing Gods: The Board Game of Divine Domination bills itself as "the world's first satirical board game of religious warfare."
Players use plastic figurines depicting game characters from major religions to fight in a spiritual warfare.
The 3-inch figurines include Jesus bashing people with a cross, Moses slugging away with the tablets of the Ten Commandments and a turban-wearing man carrying a bomb and a dagger, hinting at Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
During the fight, the players must kill or convert people all the way to victory.
They move their figurines across the board drawing cards that promise wrath with natural disasters or woo converts with kindness or cleverness.
"Overemphasis on guilt drives millions to depression and suicide. Kill three Christian sects," says one card under the image of an wrathful Jesus.
"Endless 'War on Terror' provides terrorist job stability. Gain three Muslim sects," says another with the turbaned bomb thrower image.
Anti-Religion
The developers claim their game is anti-zealot.
"Much of the world's violence is rooted in religion," claims Ben Radford, who designed the game.
"[It] has no basis in historical reality and doesn't actually represent any religion," insists Carl Raschke, professor of religious studies at University of Denver.
Experts criticize the game for banking on anti-religion sentiments.
"It sounds to me like the company is trying to capitalize on the anti-religious climate of today," said Koehler, whose site reviews games from the Christian perspective.
Raschke agrees that the game is catering to anti-religion people.
"It just appeals to people who hate religion to begin with — the hip subculture of militant popular atheists."
He believes that the developers are no better than the fanatics they claim their game goes against.
"Their thinking is rigid and hostile ... They start from their own dogmatic perspective.
"These people are fanatics, for the most part, themselves."
Source: Islam Online
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