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Santa vs Jesus board game 'blasphemous'


Still Waters

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A Christmas-themed board game that pits Jesus against Santa has been described as "offensive, shocking and blasphemous".

Santa vs Jesus, made by London company Komo Games, is played by two teams - one for each of the festive figures - who battle through challenges in an attempt to win the most "believers".

It was funded via crowd-sourcing site Kickstarter which said it was the "most complained about game in history".

But fans have called it "good fun".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38181939

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56 minutes ago, Still Waters said:

A Christmas-themed board game that pits Jesus against Santa has been described as "offensive, shocking and blasphemous".

Santa vs Jesus, made by London company Komo Games, is played by two teams - one for each of the festive figures - who battle through challenges in an attempt to win the most "believers".

It was funded via crowd-sourcing site Kickstarter which said it was the "most complained about game in history".

But fans have called it "good fun".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38181939

 

The great majority in the UK and the rest of Europe wanted no part of Jesus and got their way.  A game like this from there surprises me not at all.  The funniest thing to me is that they seem to have welcomed Islam instead.  Funny that, no games mocking Mo and his band just yet....hypocrisy much?

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If anything, it might be mocking certain types of Jesus believers.  You might be able to claim it is being offensive, in that it is treating Jesus on the same level as Santa, instead of putting him on some pedestal, but you would have to take that up with the guy who had no problem hanging out with prostitutes and fishermen.

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Maybe people should turn down their sensitivity level to 5 instead of leaving it at 10.:tu:

I sometimes wonder that if the mythical Jesus figure was real. Would he get a good laugh at our expense? 

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Of course it's blasphemous. Humor can be blasphemous to many. I think that was the point. 

If you don't like it, then don't buy it. 

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I'll wait for the Muhammad vs Jesus version. 

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41 minutes ago, Grandpa Greenman said:

I'll wait for the Muhammad vs Jesus version. 

They may have to bring out limited edition RISK board for that.

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There are about 200 to 5000 religions currently.

To my mind, the best one is the  cargo cult religion:John From,: silver birds from the sky deliver wonderful trade goods

 

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15 minutes ago, alibongo said:

There are about 200 to 5000 religions currently.

To my mind, the best one is the  cargo cult religion:John From,: silver birds from the sky deliver wonderful trade goods

 

200 to 5000 ? Please explain the minor discrepancy ?

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GGm

But Mohammed isn't funny. Belief in the merits of what he wrote may be discussable (for example, I think that the proceeds of caravan raids ought to be distributed more equitably than the Holy Koran prescribes, you probably disapprove of its pagan re-education program), but belief in Mohammed's mortal existence is far better historically justified than belief in Jesus' mortal existence.

What's funny is not Jesus as such, and not even belief in Jesus' existence, but the childish certainty that Jesus existed, as in (from the topic news article):

Quote

With over 4 out of 10 people in the UK mistakenly thinking that Jesus was not a real historical person, this game won't help correct that.

Mistakenly? Says who?

(The actual figure in that poll was closer to 20%, with another similar number who didn't say one way or the other whether they thought Jesus was historical or fictional.)

Respecting other people's opinions ought to be reciprocal. The Christian activist quoted in the article thinks that crticism of his opinions is unfair and even ignorant, but he feels no compunction about dissing the opinion of 20% of his compatriots. There really is humor in that. Hypocrisy is fair game.

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Never mind the game. If U.S. television was anything like the BBC? The Evangelicals would be soaking themselves top to bottom.

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9 hours ago, Habitat said:

200 to 5000 ? Please explain the minor discrepancy ?

It is a large, not minor, discrepancy to my mind.

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5 hours ago, eight bits said:

GGm

But Mohammed isn't funny. Belief in the merits of what he wrote may be discussable (for example, I think that the proceeds of caravan raids ought to be distributed more equitably than the Holy Koran prescribes, you probably disapprove of its pagan re-education program), but belief in Mohammed's mortal existence is far better historically justified than belief in Jesus' mortal existence.

What's funny is not Jesus as such, and not even belief in Jesus' existence, but the childish certainty that Jesus existed, as in (from the topic news article):

Mistakenly? Says who?

(The actual figure in that poll was closer to 20%, with another similar number who didn't say one way or the other whether they thought Jesus was historical or fictional.)

Respecting other people's opinions ought to be reciprocal. The Christian activist quoted in the article thinks that crticism of his opinions is unfair and even ignorant, but he feels no compunction about dissing the opinion of 20% of his compatriots. There really is humor in that. Hypocrisy is fair game.

Yes I understand he was a real person, but you must admit, some of things attributed to Mohammed falls under the realm of myth and political ploy.   I wouldn't say his is not funny, but a lot of his followers seem to be lacking a sense of humor.  

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GGm

Quote

 I wouldn't say his is not funny, but a lot of his followers seem to be lacking a sense of humor.

It's hard to define what's funny, especially since if you have to explain why something is funny, then it isn't.

Meh. A lot of humor is about "blind spots," isolated lapses in otherwise reasonable, respectable and effective approaches to living.

Back in high school I had an English teacher who led a class discussion on Why is somebody slipping on a banana peel EVER funny? There were a lot of factors, #1 being that you aren't the person who slipped and fell.

Another part of it is that the person who slips on the banana peel isn't somebody who falls down all the time, or was blind and couldn't see the banana peel. It also helps if they do not suffer any serious injury. They can "laugh it off," whether or not they actually do laugh it off - and sometimes that's what funny, that somebody doesn't laugh off something that didn't really hurt them.

I think this board game has both of those features, the lapse is isolated, and there is the anticipation that some people won't laugh it off. There are people who believe things about Jesus with a level of confidence that they would never invest in any other tall tale. For example, woman is pregnant = woman has been with a man or with a turkey baster, except in this one case, and in this one case, there is absolutely, positively no way she's been with anybody or anything of a sexual nature.

It would probably be rude, not funny, to point out to a Christian that the reason they make this singular exception is because there is a book where somebody wrote that the angel Gabriel said that this is so - EXACTLY why Muslims believe what they believe (including this).

Assuming you don't believe it yourself (= you're not the one slipping on the banana peel), and assuming further that the people you have in mind are otherwise (in your estimate) reasonable in what they believe with whatever confidence, then this sure-belief is funny, and an opportunity for humor.

If you take advantage of the opportunity, then do the Christians laugh it off? Actually, some do. But some don't, and assuming that there was some wit in your humorous "assault" (= you weren't trying to deconvert them, or pick a fight), then their not laughing it off is also funny.

It's less funny if the reaction is such that you and your family have to go into hiding. The Christian critic is partially right: there is no Mohammed v. Santa Game because if there were, its creators would be threatened with death, credibly threatened since other writers and artists have been killed in recent years for their perceived slights against Islam. That's not funny.

But there is also no such game because, at least in many of the potential audience's estimation, the lapse isn't isolated, it's not a discordant part of an otherwise reasonable approach to living. That isn't funny, either. It's the difference between having a blind spot and being blind.

Edited by eight bits
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I have a rather dark sense of humor.  I find anyone who thinks dying for their faith will get them 72 virgins is laughable. Makes one wonder if it was put in as a joke.  

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3 hours ago, Grandpa Greenman said:

I have a rather dark sense of humor.  I find anyone who thinks dying for their faith will get them 72 virgins is laughable. Makes one wonder if it was put in as a joke.  

Somewhere I heard that "72 virgins" was supposed to mean 72 white grapes.  There's going to be some disappointed jihadists.

Doug

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On 12/4/2016 at 11:32 AM, davros of skaro said:

Never mind the game. If U.S. television was anything like the BBC? The Evangelicals would be soaking themselves top to bottom.

I don't understand? 

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Doug

Quote

Somewhere I heard that "72 virgins" was supposed to mean 72 white grapes.

The searchable name for the scholar in question is Christoph Luxenberg, It's not his real name, 'cause, you know, it's dangerous to disappoint some people.

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So the religious folks are angry at a depiction of Jesus fighting Santa...but aren't the religious-right generally the ones who whine about everyone being "overly-sensitive"? Do unto others, or somesuch.

 

Either way, now I want to get a copy of this game :lol:

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On 2016-12-03 at 6:32 PM, Thorvir Hrothgaard said:

Blasphemy?  Good.

Blasphemy: the most victimless of victimless crime.

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On 2016-12-03 at 8:35 AM, and then said:

The great majority in the UK and the rest of Europe wanted no part of Jesus and got their way.  A game like this from there surprises me not at all.  The funniest thing to me is that they seem to have welcomed Islam instead.  Funny that, no games mocking Mo and his band just yet....hypocrisy much?

I'm not sure how it is hypocrisy for a single game company to not create a boardgame depicting a different mythological figure. They made one game. Is it hypocrisy that the Monopoly company doesn't create a game based on Communism? This company wanted to make a game about Santa and Jesus, so they did. This act is in no way hypocritical because they can't reasonably be expected to create a boardgame for every single mythological figure. If you don't like it, that's totally fine, but "hypocrisy" doesn't really apply.

And, really, if you feel that strongly, make a game about Santa vs Muhammed. I'd buy that game, too!

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