Anger Over Cathedral Attack

[msjskb]

I commend the Church for making such a fuss over a mere computer game. Our Holiest of Shrines Sri Harmandir Sahib was attacked in REALITY and we cant ask for justice. The Church are complaining about FICTION. When will we realise we have rights as Sikhs. Look how much fuss they are making, but we as Sikhs feel we will get a bad name if we speak out.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/5011268.stm

Anger over cathedral attack game

Famous buildings are used in the game as a backdrop for combat

Officials at Canterbury Cathedral are asking for a new video game to be withdrawn because it shows the building as a backdrop for a terrorist battle.

War On Terror allows gamers to take part in battles between terrorists and a world strike force.

Christopher Robinson, spokesman for the dean and chapter, said: "Having the cathedral as aesthetic wallpaper for violence and hatred isn't appropriate."

The game's distributors, Koch Media, said the game would not be withdrawn.

Monte Cristo, which developed the game, said the cathedral was a "natural backdrop for the valour of the world forces."

The firm said it attempted to portray places it felt were visually appealing.

The whole point of the church is to preach God's love to the world and for humans to love each other

Christopher Robinson

David Hockley, a producer at Monte Cristo, said: "We wanted something very British and something easy to identify. Canterbury was the natural choice.

"War on Terror depicts a worldwide battle between terrorists, a Nato-like strike force called the World Forces and the Chinese. This fight takes place in various places throughout the world."

Other buildings featured in War On Terror include the Eiffel Tower and the Brandenburg Gate.

But Mr Robinson said: "The whole point of the church is to preach God's love to the world and for humans to love each other."

He said a letter would be sent to the game's distributors, Koch Media, in the next few days.

Canterbury Cathedral is regarded as the "headquarters" of the Church of England and attracts visitors from all over the world.

The first cathedral was established on the site in 597 and its famous Bell Harry Tower was completed in 1538.

The cathedral was also the scene of Thomas Becket's murder in the 12th Century.

[Sarbloh]

In 2002 the Sikh community successfully made Eidos revise the Hitman 2 game to remove scenes of a Gurdwara attack.

This isn't the first time the religious community has dealt with violent use of their imagery and places of worship. In 2002 the Sikh Coalition began a petition against the Eidos title Hitman 2 based on the use of holy temples in the game. The petition lays out their feelings clearly, "The Harmander Sahib is a holy Sikh place of worship that serves as a religious and a political center for the Sikhs worldwide. The Harmander Sahib is held in reverence, just as the Vatican by Catholics... such a graphical portrayal of violence within the sacred grounds of any religious place—whether a Gurdwara, a Temple, a Church or a Mosque, is completely unacceptable."

Eidos responded to the petition less than a month later by removing the offending content from the website, making a new version of the game on existing platforms without the offending content, and removing the level from the GameCube port. The developer also offered a formal apology to the Sikh community and stressed that no offense was intended.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070...-sony-game.html

[Sarbloh]

http://www.sikhnet.com/s/Agreement

Eidos Plc Agrees to Revise Hitman 2

In response to concerns from the Sikh community, Eidos Plc announced today that it would modify existing versions of the game Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and that the new game would be ready for the market within three to six weeks. Modifications will be done on the versions of the game already released on the PC, XBOX and Playstation 2 platforms. In addition, the game will be modified for the not-yet-released Gamecube version.

Leading organizations within the Sikh community are pleased that the company stepped forward and partnered with the Sikh community to find a resolution to the Hitman 2 issue. The agreement is being seen as a sign of social and corporate responsibility on the part of Eidos. In a corporate statement published on its Hitman 2 website, the company stated, “Eidos recognizes the value of upholding the Company's good corporate citizenship status and strives to observe high standards of ethical behaviour in all its business activities. To that end, the lessons learned from the concerns expressed by the Sikh community will help to ensure that the Company continues to observe and respect cultural, religious and ethical sensitivities in its future products.”

A public statement to the Sikh community on behalf of the Sikh organizations leading the campaign reads, in part, “We would like to thank Eidos for being receptive to our concerns once they were raised and we applaud the positive steps taken by Eidos in showing corporate sensitivity to Sikhs. It should be stressed that the neither Eidos nor IO Interactive meant to cause any offence to Sikhs. Accordingly, we believe that a satisfactory conclusion has been reached in the interests of all parties.”

The Hitman 2 Recall Campaign began on October 16th when Sikh Coalition contacted Sikh organizations around the globe to begin drafting a petition to the company. On October 17th, representatives of SikhNet, Sikh Coalition, Sikh Communications Council, The Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force and the Sikh Council on Religion and Education began to meet and discuss strategic responses to the company and the video game. At the same time, WORKSE and other Sikh organizations were meeting in the UK. On October 20th, these groups, in conjunction with 40 other Sikh organizations around the world, launched an on-line petition drive to recall and change the game. This was followed, on October 31st, by a letter-writing campaign to retailers and elected officials. Over the course of the last three weeks, the recall campaign and on-line petition garnered the co-sponsorship of over 150 Sikh and non-Sikh organizations world-wide. Over 10,000 people signed the on-line petition. In addition, California Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante and New Mexico Lt. Governor Walter Bradley publicly offered their support to the Sikh community, issuing statements to the public, the company and the retailers about the issue.

“We believe this outcome is testimony to the power of working collectively as a Sikh community as well as to approaching difficult situations in a spirit of cooperation with the corporate world,” said Avtar Hari Singh Khalsa, Executive Director for SikhNet.

“Going into this process with a win/win attitude from the outset set the stage for a successful resolution. We would like to thank all the Sikh and non-Sikh organizations and all the members of the public world-wide who supported these important efforts.”

[msjskb]

In 2002 the Sikh community successfully made Eidos revise the Hitman 2 game to remove scenes of a Gurdwara attack.

This isn't the first time the religious community has dealt with violent use of their imagery and places of worship. In 2002 the Sikh Coalition began a petition against the Eidos title Hitman 2 based on the use of holy temples in the game. The petition lays out their feelings clearly, "The Harmander Sahib is a holy Sikh place of worship that serves as a religious and a political center for the Sikhs worldwide. The Harmander Sahib is held in reverence, just as the Vatican by Catholics... such a graphical portrayal of violence within the sacred grounds of any religious place—whether a Gurdwara, a Temple, a Church or a Mosque, is completely unacceptable."

Eidos responded to the petition less than a month later by removing the offending content from the website, making a new version of the game on existing platforms without the offending content, and removing the level from the GameCube port. The developer also offered a formal apology to the Sikh community and stressed that no offense was intended.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070...-sony-game.html

This is really good. I didnt know Sikhs had achieved this. Pity we aint got the same effort for when we really were/are attacked.