Baptism is Bad but Killing is Perfectly Fine According to One Irate Christian BioShock Infinite Player

[Shawn Zipay]

Breen Malmberg had a major issue with BioShock Infinite. Oh no, it wasn't that the violence was sometimes used in excess. No, it wasn't because you could shoot people in the face with guns or fire that projected forth from your hands. No, it wasn't the racism!

It was because you, as a fake character in a video game, are forced to accept a baptism very early on in the game. Hell, you have to accept it long before you can even get to the point of knocking people's heads off with your own hands. But that baptism is what he has an issue with.

In fact, he even managed to get a refund from Valve because of it. No, I'm not kidding.

I did not know this section of the game was there and had no way of knowing it was there before-hand as it was not shown in any trailers, previews, screenshots or other marketing material.

The player is forced to make a choice which amounts to extreme blasphemy in my religion (Christianity) in order to proceed any further - and am therefor forced (in good conscience) to quit playing and not able to experience approx. 99% of the content in the game.(...)

If you need further convincing, I will use the analogy that if you were a muslem, it would be like forcing the player into an in-game action of "press x to spit on the face of allah" in order to proceed any further with the game and with no choice or way around doing so.

Wait a minute. So this kid saw the trailers, saw the violence, knew ahead of time how many virtual people were going to die at his hands, saw everything else and was like "yeah, let's do this!" But the moment a baptism is brought up, that's where the line is drawn? In fact, the first two games also dealt with religion, just on the complete opposite end of the spectrum! They even took place in a city named Rapture! Come on! Did he have issues with those as well?

I could only imagine what would go through his mind if he saw the ending to BioShock Infinite.

(via Kotaku)

[cikame]

Is it possible to be blasphemous if you're not actually doing it?
If the kid/guy is just watching fiction, what are they worried about.

Note: I dislike religion and may be missing something.

[stilla-killa]

Are we talking about baptism as in the submerging in water type? But baptism is part of being a christian so I am confused as what he is talking about?

[K-16]

stilla-killa: The person was offended that the player was forced to be baptised (use of water), when real-life Christians are supposed to be given a choice to join a healthy community, and not a creepy looking cult that loves to put newcomers into near-drowning. What was shown in the game gave Breen an impression that it vilifies Christianity.

Okay this question is only for those who played the game, the rest please ignore this. I just want clarification on something, because I'm very confused and possibly lack the proper knowledge that I should have had earlier.

[spoiler=Only for those who played the game can answer my question.]I thought the Comstock uses a variation of Christianity and creates a customised and somewhat delusional version of the Christian religion. So in that case, how is this actually related to Christianity? Quite frankly, I don't understand why Breen would use the Muslim religion (made a typo of it too) as an analogy, when BioShock Infinite isn't about Christianity, but rather "Comstock's cult religion." This is where my question comes in. Did I misinterpret and Comstock DOES use Christianity as his religion? I mean I assume the foundations were from the Christian religion, but I thought Comstock modified it to be his own independent religion (similar to the movie Equilibrium). If I'm wrong, could somebody clarify this for me? Thank you in advance.[/spoiler]

[CptainCrunch]

I don't normally talk religion online because it pretty much pointless as people jump in and give their two cents regardless of the conversation or if they ever even touched a Bible or whatever the situation is. So for those that think this is all stupid and dumb and are happy with that then you can stop reading my post. I think this is dumb too.

As for my broader two cents (yeah ) it's in the spoiler:

[spoiler=Crunch's Two Cents on this topic and Christianity] I'm a Christian. I constantly practice it and try to be like Christ. Its a challenge every day. I'm not perfect and never will be. I have been studying for years. A baptism in a game is as blasphemous as dancing, which means it is not or can be. The world and people that want to exploit religion for their own means have twisted everything so much that most people don't know up from down when it comes to Christianity. People want to find an idea and stick with it, regardless if the Bible proves that idea wrong. The Bible can be understood and the true message of Christ learned, but it takes work and time to do that, which most people don't want to invest.

A video game is not real. I know, that is shocking news. The baptism in the video game also is not real. If you are doing something in a game that you feel is wrong, as a Christian, then you should not participate. The guy in the article is doing the right thing, but he wants his money back because of it and that is just too bad. Maybe this is a stunt for him to get attention, but he feels offended by it. The thing is, as a Christian, you should turn away from something like this and not make a scene about it. We are told in the Bible that there will be things that offend us and we are to continue on.

Just a little more background; I can understand this guy to a point. I wont play any Grand Theft Auto games because of the prostitutes. My decision wasn't made because of religion though. That was before I really studied. I felt it was wrong to have sex with these virtual women and then kill them to get back your money. I knew that from the start though that the games had that. I have never purchased a single one or any game like it. I also never stopped someone else from playing it or made a big deal about it because ITS NOT REAL. It's my hang up. I don't really know why, but I don't like it. I guess I feel sorry for the real prostitutes and I play games to get away from the world sometimes and that's just too close. I don't know any prostitutes or acquired their services, so...

So, regardless of what I think or if you now think I am a hypocrite, the bottom line is that if you cannot handle something and its causing you to sin, you turn away from it. That can be drinking, dancing, video games, whatever that could be a vice. Christians have a moral obligation on things and its not always gong to make sense and for some it will always seem hypocritical and maybe that's why most people think a Christian has to be perfect and cant do anything but pray and thump Bibles. You can't be a Christian without baptism, but you also have to be a real person. It also doesn't take Sherlock Holmes instinct to figure out a game may be offensive. You can be a Christian and like video games. It really isn't hypocritical, but it can be dangerous to some, even non-Christians, but that is because of the human mind.[/spoiler]