Cyber crucifixion in video game enrages Catholics
Kevin Eckstrom, Religion News Service
Issue date: 4/20/06 Section: DIVINE INTERVENTION
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This year, in a 21st century twist, players in a new online game who break the rules can undergo "virtual" crucifixions as punishment, subjecting them to the taunts and jeers of other players while they hang on the cross. Call it cyber crucifixion.
A 27-year-old electrical engineer from Burton, Mich., -- whose online persona is a hot-tempered barbarian named Cynewulf -- was the first player to be crucified in the game Roma Victor (www.roma-victor.com), which is set in Roman- occupied Britain, circa A.D. 180. His crime? Preying on unsuspecting Romans and violating the spirit of the game. Roma Victor went public last year, ahead of a formal launch scheduled for this summer. The timing of the crucifixion during Lent was purely coincidental, officials say.
The New York-based Catholic League, which keeps a close eye on anything that seems to mock the Christian faith, says the online crucifixions cheapen Jesus' death by making them routine.
"I know this stuff is pretty commonplace with these video games -- the violence, the sex -- but this part, the use of crucifixion, is obnoxious and, I would have to say it's willfully obnoxious," said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League.
Not so, says Kerry Fraser-Robinson, the CEO of RedBedlam, the company that developed the game in Brighton, England. Fraser-Robinson said the company took pains not to offend Christians or exploit Jesus' crucifixion.
"I can't see how you're a terribly good Christian if you're offended by that," said Fraser-Robinson, a 20-year industry veteran. "We're certainly not insensitive to their wishes or views."
Roma Victor counts thousands of players around the world as members, all leading virtual lives as Romans, Gauls, Celts or any other second century character. In attempting to make the game as realistic as possible, gamers can pillage and plunder at will.