Religious organisation calls for the removal of faith's gods from SMITE
The Universal Society of Hinduism has called on game studio Hi-Rez to remove Hindu divinites from god game SMITE.
The game gives players a pantheon of playable gods to choose from in an online arena battle.
The USH president, Rajan Zed, has demanded that the game remove all Hindu gods from the game, claiming their treatment relegates them to a triviality.
Whereas the game gives players control of the gods, Zed says the faithful adherent places themselves in the hands of the deities.
According to the Alpharetta Miltion-Patch, Zed believes that giving a user control of Hindu gods degenerates them and the faith of devotees, and says the gods were meant to be revered in temples and shrines, not reduced to the status of characters in a game.
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"SMITE includes deities inspired from a diverse and ever expanding set of pantheons including Greek, Chinese, Egyptian, and Norse," said Hi-Rez chief operating officer Todd Harris.
"Hinduism, being one of the world's oldest, largest and most diverse traditions, also provides inspiration toward deities in our game."
"In fact, given Hinduism's concept of a single truth with multiple physical manifestations one could validly interpret ALL the gods within SMITE to be Hindu. And all gods outside of SMITE as well. Ponder that for a minute. Anyway, going forward SMITE will include even more deities, not fewer."
Zed says he welcomes the entertainment industry to immerse itself in Hinduism, so long as it does so with respect.
What's the difference between the gods from Greek, Chinese (I'm assuming from Tao'ism?), Egyptian, and Norse religions compared to Hinduisam?
Anyone?
The first bunch of religions are now more mythological rather than widely practiced like Hinduism is. It's still a serious religion. Same reason he didn't include the Christian, Sihk or Islamic God... There are people feelings to consider. Why not design their own based on them and give them different names since he pointed out that most gods are likely based off Hindu deities anyway? That jerk reaction isn't showing mature thinking and 'going forward' I think he should exercise some empathy and creativity.
Rar.
The hindu faith is awash with great myths stories and of course gods... it's like Marvel/DC v.1 - Hanuman being a particular favorite.
Regarding the use of deities in VideoGames, yes Kim, perhaps the organisation presenting this piece of entertainment should be a little more sympathetic to belief systems that are still being practiced.
Back in the 90's I considered using gods in this manner (in the form of a 1 on 1 beat-em-up) but (as a conciencious developer) thought better of it. That said, the negative press one might get from such a stance is great publicity - and in this instance is clearly making some ripples...
The only way those ripples will become waves is if they do indeed choose the more conventional "contemporary" icons from the current 'big three' - that is Jehova, God & of course the most incendiary - Allah... (praise be, who is great, etc) - indeed, as an organisation they would be foolish to attempt such a thing.
Indian television channels regularly run soaps based on Hindu gods...for entertainment! Indian film industry too produces movies based on gods...for entertainment! Rajan Zed, who lives in USA, will be totally ignored in India if protests about such material. He likes the publicity he gets on the web when he complains about western productions that depicts Hindu gods. Four years ago, he went online to complain about the PlayStation game - Hanuman: Boy Warrior - developed by my company and published by an international company. Nobody in India had any problem with the game, and it sold quite well. Mr Zed does not represent Hinduism.
