“wait,islamic values?you mean treating women like 3rd rate citizens,advocating religious intolerance(aka killing all who are not islam in extreme cases)”

Nice ignorance. If this was true, every time I go to my cousins house, I would have to fear being killed, and my mom and sister would have to fear being beaten.

Also, according to Islam, women are allowed to divorce their husbands, and are allowed to do many of the things that the governments don't let them.

the Islamic world had the best science going on of the time. ----

I wouldn’t say those are Islamic worlds. More like folk traditions.

also:

http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=383&report=60

and btw... did you guys know who makes part of the human right council? among it's member are:

qatar, egypt, saudi arabia, cuba, nigeria, jordan and china.

islam + human rights = division by zero.

@Moko

You need to go back to the part where Jesus started teaching people. You know, the part that people are supposed to listen to. Reading the worst parts of X will not give you a good overall understanding of X.

It's a shame when something is banned years after it came out.

Lucky you guys are not Australians,

But yeah, I feel sorry for those gamers in the Middle East who have no Freedom of Speech and Expression to express themselves freely.

Also it is sort of Hypocrittical that even in the US, those "Extreme" Christians in Politics are trying to ban the 1st Amendment, the verry same 1st Amendment that protected things like Videogames, Movies, Music, Art and Literature (the passages of writing that comes from the Bible and the Koran)

Also knowing a bit about the Bible and Koran from my experience, the books are not in the wrong, it is more of how they are interpreted and how the words are twisted by those who preach hate and discrimination between people.

I guess many people did not realise that "The devil appears as an Angel of light" only to find out that it was talking about those who preach in hate, not love.

well that is what I interpret from that passage. But I could be wrong you know.

Islam(religion) is not the problem, take the bible and have stern waring tribes use it as their religion and you will have problems, its the infighting the and the warring tribal system that has kept most of Islam in the dark ages, without being able to easily evolve in mentality they cling to hard traditions because its all they know and all they have to keep them selfs, traditions are a security blanket on the way of life,with it one has to mature alil,and humans mature poorly at best.

Its a shame that Islam didn't recover from the crusades( IMO the crusades were justification to liquidate the disenfranchised members of society,at that time a war was needed to passfiy the masses, and what better way than a border dispute with someone you wanted to conquer anyway and was giving you some grief as well)......

I think some webcomic described it as “the *promise* of a nipple is more enticing than the actual nipple…

That would be one of Penny Arcade's podcasts about the Mass Effect sex scene. XD

Other than that, not even gonna get involved in the religious discussion flying around here.

isnt pokemon banned in most muslem countries as well?

the US is going to be a theocracy, either under the house of "lord" or PC nazisboth have eaquly dated and moronic themes.

What isn't banned in there? is a muslim nation.

http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363
http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251

wait,islamic values?you mean treating women like 3rd rate citizens,advocating religious intolerance(aka killing all who are not islam in extreme cases)and treating any science like its anothe r excus e to go on a witch hunt.

Cause we all know god of war is so amazingly bad when compared to stoning kids in the village square because they brought ninja turtle comics and acdc cassettes to school/sarcasm

didn't god of war 2 come out quite some time ago....ya think it would be too little too late...

[...] wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThe Sharjah municipality in the UAE has banned Sony’s God of War, according to a report in Gulf News. Government officials apparently felt that the game, rated M in the U.S. market, violated local norms. From the Gulf News report: A UAE national said he was one of the people who was shocked to discover that the game was distributed in commercial areas… [...]

The Quran: The World's Bestselling Guide To Censorship.

Thought crime! Thought crime!

The troubles rampant in the Muslim world (freedoms, women's rights, etc) are a stark reminder why we have to fight christian agendas in the western world.

The christian zealots are trying to create a taliban-esque society for the US and other nations.

I haven’t heard of this either. I think most westerners assume that just because more conservative Christians seem to have an aversion to science, that conservative Muslims must too…---

actually they're the same thing.

this is just one example.

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1684.htm

all conservatives and radicals reach the same point.

It’s hard changing a firmly entrenched set of cultural norms. Look how long it took western Christianity to stop being such a stick in the mud… and that took gunpowder…---

religion is part of culture. by general rule the culture from those islamic nations is incompatible with let's say... the culture of norway or canada.

Ok enough with "islam this.." Islam that", Christainity WAS NOT ANY BETTER during the medival ages. And It doesn't surprise me the ban lags behind times, ever try to import into the Middle East, it's a pain in the ***.

And it DOES break Islamic codes of "conduct" for lack of a better term. In Islam you are not suppose to see a naked woman UNLESS she is your wife. God of war shows a lot of nipples.

@ Jabrwock

And 300 years of reforms.

...Christainity WAS...---

that's one of the main points in the whole religion debate, Christianity WAS... Islam IS.

what the hell has god of war storyline do with islam?

Nipples... so much trouble over something so small :)

Seriously, given that the nipples in question are computer rendered polygons, and not pictures of an actual person, I'd expect that some of the more liberal Muslims might find the game acceptable. The sad thing of course is those people aren't making laws in the UAE, therefore their freedom to choose goes out the window.

It's a shame really, but until a society realises that censorship is a bad thing this is what you'll get.

Gift.

Oh dear mother of god NIPPLES???? ***Grabs his pitchfork***
"We got some witches to be burning Ma go get my brother (also known as your father, and my granddad) and we get this taken care of." (Do middle easterners have hillbillies?)

I also love its God of War, not God of War II but God of War ... I wonder if they have gotten around to banning Custard's Revenge yet?

@All

I'm not sure, but I think that the multiple gods might have something to do with it. Plus the extreme violence.

I never played GoW

what's in it that makes it so offensive to muslims?

It shouldn't be Muslim vs. Christian, it should be people vs. religion. We are in an era when we realize the harmful psychological effects of both of these religions, why are we still arguing for either one? Argue against both, please.

Why does the title make it sound like as if it was banned today? I live in the UAE, and I know very well that the entire game series is banned a while after the first game was out.

@TheBird: It's offensive due to the nudity in the game.

Is Manhunt banned in UAE???

Hmm, what could they possibly find objectionable in a an Islamic State? Naked women? A pantheon of gods that aren't Allah? Or chopping heads off and skewering you enemies?

For some reason, I doubt that it was banned for the violence. Most likely, they didn't like images of boobs and references to Athena and Zeus.

@ the religious debators

TBH at the core, religions (most monotheologic) all teach the same basic fundimentals: Treat others respectfully, do good, dont do bad, die and go to better or worse place depending on what rules you followed during life. Then you just just add minor diferences, change names and events and there you have it. Its basicly just saying: good = reward, bad = punishment.

But there are people, and always will be people who intrepret things in thier own way. People (as in human nature) are greedy and selfish and will always abuse power and manipulate things to fit thier needs. These people will often influence and convince other people (a vast majority of humans are sheep, so willing to follow along with a charasmatic voice) to follow along and belive what they say. This is where all the zealots and wars and fighting between the religions come from, not the religion but the people and figures who are in charge of said religion. Humanity can be a sick creature and with so many sheep in its populace if the shepard says that the sky is red then the sheep will belive it till they die. This is where all the conflict comes from and ends up being a "My god is bigger than your god" argument.

I mean seriously, look at just christianity, all the sub-factions of it, catholics, penicostals, babtists, ect, ect, all follow the bible and its teachings...but each group belives that they are right and the others are wrong just cuz they intrepret things differently.

I just have a problem with organized religion, I know what I belive in (basicly still christianity) but I dont want to be clumped in with any group, because then you just get into petty squabbles. Too much "Humanaity" in them. and by humanity I mean corruption, hypocracy, selfishness...not in the core teachings but in the general concensious of the sub-religion.

So I say the world should stop with my dick is bigger and better, its just the over-zealous and fanatical morons who decide to kill another in the name of a god and religion, cuz correct me if Im wrong but no where does it say in any religious text (again monotheologic, bible, quaran, ect.) that you should shun and kill another just cuz they dont like you, have different opinions or live on a certain land. History has been filled time and time again will mass-genocide in the name of religion: catholisim, christianity, muslim. Will anything change? No. Religion is a cause that many will rally too and there will always be humans who take advantage of those who have pure intentions and pervert them for their own personal gain.

But those with a free will and an intelligent mind should acknowledge that its not the religion that is bad (most of the time) but rather the people who misintrepret it and act blindly, either out of manipulation, ignorance, over-zealous, or personal selfish reasons to justify their actions. Thats just my 2 cents on the matter.

Islam is an awesome religion if you hate fun!!!!!

Honestly though, I'm sure that under the tenants of Islam, there are many things that this game would butt heads with. However its the wackos that hold those tenants a little too dear that cause all the problems in the world.

@Jeff

The erect, female nipple is considered sexual by the creepy, prudish little freaks that run showbusinness. Most of them are men. Some are flat chested women(jealous much?).

@chadachada

I don't think the UAE is as harsh as the other countries. I've heard that it's more "Westernized".

Maybe it's just me, but it also seemed like the groups that used and are using religion to justify their crimes were senselessly killing people long before religion came along.

Meant to say children's shows. They are mostly done with puppets, though.

I don't like art banned for any reason, but using children as a reason to forbid sale to adults is even more heinous.

As for the religion angle, I'm apathetic. Personally, I think religion is a lot like freedom. You can have yours as long as it doesn't mess with mine. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem tied up in making sure that other people aren't breaking the tenents of the first persons religion. They claim it isn't moral, but they define moral based on their own religion, the religion of the majority.

So you are a South Eastern Clockwise Orthodox Stevejobsian. That's fine until you say that PC's are against your religion, so the PC store will have to shut down.

The grey area's are when you say that a religion shouldn't mess with the freedoms or religions of other people. You have two sides to that argument:

1: Who are you to say what we can and can't forbid? Are you the World Police?
2: I am the voice that speaks for those that can't. If I don't protect their freedoms, then who will?

Which is the correct way to look at that problem? I dunno, go ask Janis.

(Please note that I didn't single out any religions, nor did I claim that religion in and of itself was a problem. In the end, it is people that cause all the problems.)

@mogbert

So then, your point is, like many, that you can believe what you want, just so long as it does not negatively impact someone else?
If so, I agree.

@Stu

And how.

:rolleyes:
Yes, those bad things mentioned *are* Islamic values, if you read the Qur'an. These are also Christian and Jewish values, all the same. The fact that most people we have contact with ignore certain values which more obviously compromise human decency and modern law does not prove that they are not taught by Abrahamic religions.

To jump full force into Godwin's law here for a moment, just because some Nazis secretly helped people etc, does not mean Hitler preached tolerance and understanding. These people just ignored him at times.

I personally don't care if they banned the game because they have much bigger problems.

Many people say why banned a game that been out for years. This country is most likely moving away from the first playstation and the PS2 is the hot new thing. I remember 5 years ago, I meet a person who said that the N64 was the new thing.

"I was shocked to see how much it contradicted Islamic values"


Yeah, cause Islam was around before Greek mythology... /sarcasm

Sorry, those "values" didn't exist for another couple thousand years.

To each his own, but I fucking hate all religion, I just see it as another roadblock preventing humanity from evolving mentally. (i.e: stop fucking harming each other.)

@TheEdge

I personally find them extremely ignorant and bigoted. Take a look at Lavarock up there. Has no idea what a Christian value, teaching, or whatever you want to call it is at all.

@DarkSovereign

They're just assuming that the people they see on TV pretty much sums up every remotely religious person out there.It's kinda sad,seeing as how we're trying to fight the stereotypes about gamers that say we're nothing more than violence stirring,rape condoning barbarians,and they're stereotyping religious people based on what they see on TV,it's VERY hypocritical.

@DarkSovereign


Well spoken.I'm a Christian myself,Libertarian in views.
I understand free speech,it was just a little bit irritating hearing them sputter on about something they really don't about.

@treydawg:

I'm sure it's just in KSA. I think the reason behind it is that some groups kept complaining about Pokemon being Jewish and similar random BS, until Government officials believed them and banned it.

I miss Pandralisk.

Please don't ban me!

@ Twin-Skies

Ooh, intrigue! Things at GP.com just got a bit edgier... ;)

Woooooooh, go theocracy!

THAT is why I love to live in America, but with guys like Jack Thompson, we may need to move to the moon pretty soon.

[...] Posted by allysonrt on April 20, 2008 God of War Banned in United Arab Emirates [...]