The Bible is more violent, silly question.

And Maggie - here's your book to base a game on - it can be a FPSMMORPG.

Totally bringing this article up the next time my mom goes on one of her video game hating rants.

Ah, but see the Bible is allowed to speak of those things. The Bible also says "judge not lest ye be judged" but that little tidbit seems to get overlooked a lot.

I also know that the Bible has a lot of good in it. Enough to more than outweigh the bad. But then, one could argue the same thing about video games, huh?

@TitillatedOcelot: No, sir I think it is YOU who is overlooked. GOOD DAY. SLAM.

The Bible does indeed contain more vividly detailed acts and accounts of violence. The thing is... the Bible is not a joke or a game so their.

If you really want to become wordy with the acts of violence in SMB then you can detail the many necks broken and backs crushed by Mario's murderous stomping rampage.

The beauty of words is they can paint want ever pictures you want them to.

Bravo Sir! I love the Footloose defense. (Great, now I have that song in my head.) Smite those harlots with their own sodomy, I say!

Well, I get what he was doing, but a shitstorms about to go down here. *places WWII helmet on his head and runs like hell for the trenches*

Wait... there's actually a game called "The Holy Bible"?? I knew of the "Bible Game", but didn't know they had this one also.

Who would make their kids read the bible anyway? I'd bet it's such a long and boring story for kids, and they won't really get anything of what's going on. I can picture the typical:

"What's a fornicator, mum?"
"Um, go ask your dad!"

The Bible is historical text not entertainment, that is the difference.

The bigger point is, this is not the angle gamers should be taking if they want the medium to get better positive press. Nothing good can come from insulting one of the largest religions in the world.

Always thought you could make a Decent MMO based on the bible.

I still dont understand the difference between the medium of say a violent movie and a videogame.

If one cannot discern "controlling" the action through a pre-determined 011010101's, and killing in reality; they seriously need to get the emotion and psychosis in check.

@theprof00: Pardon good sir, but I'm not sure what side of the door you're slamming it from...

I was saying that there is no point in getting rid of the Bible, because the good in it outweighs the bad. And that video games should be given the same treatment.

The bible contains some pretty sick and bizarre stuff
but w/e, I think a person who's going to even be interested in a title like this probably already knows all about it.

The difference of course is that Bruce is comparing a work of fiction to the historically accurate Mario.

Oh man...this comment section is gonna get UGLY.

there's also a lot of language people do not understand in the bible that they say is truthful

like jesus never raised someone from the dead, he raised them from AMONGST the dead

tranlsation: jesus made someone part of the group he belonged to. (if you'd like to see a modern use of this term, it's in the movie stone cold with brian bosworth, i just happened to turn the channel and caught that part of it, also when you disown your child/parent they are now dead to you)

i could go on too, there's ton more people do not understand because of old language being used

@HurricaneDave: Hear hear!

This is an old argument that is made for every new medium that comes out. And a pretty cheap way to drum up some kind of attention.

Yahtzee is right in his interview with Destructoid, video game controversy will blow over when old people die. Let's not drag the Bible into this.

@HurricaneDave: Anybody who looks at the bible and sees an accurate historical record is beyond the reach of reason. Even most Christian scholars know the proper course is to interpret the text rather than accepting it at face value.

Somebody should mail this to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. God is a prime target for lawsuits.

@whiptcracker: Was that sarcasm? If not you need to work on your trolling skills.

@HurricaneDave: Historical text? Maybe to you. I'll just stick to, "Well written fiction book with good stories to teach you the morals of how to live your life like a good person."

@TitillatedOcelot: I don't think anyone's arguing to get rid of the bible... especially considering it's one of, if not the most influential things ever written. Regardless of if you believe it.

Point is, people crucify video games while reading books about...well...crucification and other snuff film type shite.

Video games do dull the imagination though. Kids need to read more.

Wheee another religious debate on a gaming site, let the flood of comments begin. They are certain to be all of the following:

Intelligent
Civil
Logical
Relevant

@TitillatedOcelot: Not baiting or trolling here....Isn't it funny how it's 'judge not lest ye be judged', when the whole point behind the way of life (not bashing a good bible fearing way of life, or JC)is that when you die - you are judged on the way you lived and are granted access to heaven?

Of course I guess issuing a is heresy: do as I say, not as I do.

Seems the very definition of hypocrosy to me IMHO.

old old tired argument, if he had worked for better game compaines i would expect more, but basicly he comes off as a 14 year old on gamefaqs.

Unlike video games, the bible isn't suitable for anyone.

@sadkermit: *issuing a challenge

Of course the Bible is voilent. As someone who was actually considering becoming a Pastor one day, there's alot of violence, contradictions and gaps in stories. However, as a whole, the Book is pretty damn good as a guide on how to live your life, especially the Jesus stuff.

Look at it this way, is Mass Effect a sex simulator? Kids need to read books that depict the actual world around them and how actions have consequences. The reason why games are given more of a critical look is because alot of Baby Boomers/adults/parents consider video gaming to be a kiddy hobby only.

All Quiet on the Western Front is still one of my favorite reads from when I was younger, btw.

Funny how the ages are for everyone with the Bible, yet if it was another book [not the bible] and contained similar writings, it would be teen.

Betcha!

@Maldron: Do they? News to me. Sources, plz.

Yeh, the Bible's got a lot of violence in it. So does the present day. The majority of the Bible was written as a historical record (though its accuracy may be debated, it WAS written as a historical record), and violence has abounded throughout history.

/Sheesh. Pretty soon they'll be banning kids from life, as it'll be too violent.

/sarcasm.

Oh, wait.

@HurricaneDave:

historical text??
wtf....

it's about as historical as lord of the ring..

All the dirt you need on the bible is here:
[www.skepticsannotatedbible.com]

It doesn't end with nasty words and violence, oh no. There's injustice, intolerance, confusing contradictions, flawed science, twisted family values, sexism and homophobia.

@Setzer IIDX: Yeah, I'm not really standing up for the Bible. Not exclusively anyway. I'm all baptized and such, but I kind of went my own way spritually a long time ago. I still have a great deal of respect for the Bible though, because even if I don't understand it, I know that it means a lot to a lot of people.

What I was attempting to get at was more of a "do unto others" approach in saying that I think that a lot of angry groups that want to do away with video games should realize that these games mean a lot to some people, and even if they don't understand them, it doesn't mean the industry should crumble. I think my original words got skewed somehow, and I got a door slammed in my face (I think). Oh well, no biggie.

both the Bible and the Koran are more violent than pretty much a lot of things.

@HurricaneDave: Actually the Old Testament is really just a thousands of years old civilization's explanation for things they couldn't explain (how did we come to be here - God created the universe); it's a lot of stories, not necessarily historical. The New Testament, well, the Gospels were written approximately 30 to 60 years after Christ's death; imagine writing a history of WWII with nothing but word of mouth. So "historical" might not be the best description. (This is all strictly focused upon historical evidence, I wouldn't question a person's faith or his right to believe in what he will.)

How about Grimm's Fairy Tales? Those are pretty gruesome and brutal, and yet are still read to children. But merely pretending that the world is free from ills is not going to protect your kids.

@idrisz:

I'm not a Christian, but a lot of what appears in the bible is historical fact. The miracles, Jesus' role as God's son, the virgin birth, etc., you can question the validity of. But many of the people, places, and events are factual.

CONTENT!!!

@sadkermit: Not precisely. The commandment was given to people from God, as God is the only one who should be doing the judging.

And the judgment isn't exactly based on your past actions, it's based on a debt to be paid. We, as humans, ultimately break God's laws at some point in our lives, which separates us from God. Jesus came to give a way back, paying the debt of death we owe.

The judgment isn't so much what you've done as much as whether or not your debt of death/separation from God's been paid or not. And Christ is the only way to pay it.

@sadkermit: Oh yeah, it treads into some crazy grey areas. It all comes down to how people choose to interpret it. And when it comes to a book written by a bunch of guys that dies two thousand years ago, it gets real easy to spin words to fit the cause-of-the-day. I don't consider your statement a troll at all. In fact, you raise a valid argument.

@Coffee Ninja: 100% agree. All we're going to see here are fools calling each other fools. I'm a Christian, but I feel no need to debate it. My personal choice. Yet I can almost certainly garuntee we'll see some hostile sceptics or atheists come in here on the attack. And then in return hostile Christians will return the flames. theprof00 seems like he might already be looking for a fight. Anyway, that's all I'm saying here. Believe what you want to believe, but get these troll bait articles off of my gaming discussion sites, with all due respect. Nothing good will come of this.

@TitillatedOcelot: that *died* two thousand years ago. That got all sci-fi trippy time-travel there for a while...

The title and tone of this article was about as fair and balanced as a Fox News report.

@HertzaHaeon: See, the funny thing about the SAB is that it's exactly the kind of thing Jesus spent most of his ministry decrying- people who scrutinized the letter of the law and totally didn't understand the MEANING of it.

OMIGOSH BIBLE FIGHT.

Honestly. The bible in itself says a lot of contradictory/weird things. God's name is Jealous, ect.

This kind of thing is a bit weird. I tend not to go the bible way too many times. Just makes a big arguement out of anything.

Strangelove:
it's about as historical fact as saying that there is a Humanitarian name Adolf Hitler that saved alot jews back in WW2..

it may not be as appropriate comparing Jesus to Hitler, but they both exist in history.

Well, that is one book of fairy tales that will be the last book I'll ever give my child for the purposes of teaching morality.

Psh, all those "bad" terms are probably from the Old Testament. The New Testament is pretty tame and wholesome. Except for the Book of Revelation. Keep your kids away from that. Some crazy shit in there.

@idrisz:

Did you not read what he said?

He said you can judge the validity of the things about Jesus, but the cities and the setting was all fact.

@HurricaneDave: I don't see any insults to Christianity here, only a well-placed and logical analogy.