Veilguard and the Heroic Racist Dilemma

[@lastfreethinker6810]

In the Netflix adaptation of Avatar: the last air bender they removed Soka's sexism because that is bad. Nevermind the fact that his character arch is overcoming that sexism! They literally removed a character flaw that gets corrected if you copied the sotry! What is that?

[@danielv4793]

Yes, this is one of the main problems of the adaptation of netflix

[@VenathTehN3RD]

I feel like NATLA kind of missed the point of a number of the characters. For instance, having Zuko not only participate in the Agni Kai against his father, but (at least IIRC) nearly defeating the Fire Lord in said match and only being banished afterwards because he stopped himself at the last moment. His entire character arc in the original is built on the foundation of the terrible mentality imposed on him during his childhood, with that particular incident being a MAJOR element in his realization that there was no "lesson" in Ozai's actions - it was a cruel man performing an unnecessary act of cruelty towards a child who spoke out against something they thought was wrong, and which is reflected in how he rules his country and develops the propaganda that encourages his countrymen to do the same to the world. Much like they failed to understand that Sokka's "problematic" behavior was depicted that way specifically because it's being portrayed as a problematic mindset that he learned to overcome WITHIN the story, they completely stripped it of the nuance or complexity that made the character so relatable and well-written in the original. It's baffling that they tried to sell the live action version as a more "mature" take on the story, but only ended up making it superficially "adult" and more childish in substance.

[@Wintercide]

Sokka is such a good example of overcoming character flaws. He believes that being a man makes him a warrior and a woman could never be a warrior. Until he gets absolutely defeated and humbled by women warriors, and when he accepts he was wrong he embraces their ways and learns from them.

[@TheTrueDiablix]

Sokka in Netflix Avatar is a very solid example. He came from a tiny tribe in the middle of nowhere. His mindset was closed off and his world was small. As he ventured out, seeing how wrong he was about his sexism is what started him on the path to expanding his mind and horizons. Without that character flaw, the entire arc ceases to function.

[@ichigokage]

Also if not for Sokka being kinda sexist leading to provoking his sister, Aang never would’ve been freed.

[@Zaint]

"What is better? To be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?" Paarthurnax, Skyrim

[@TheAdarkerglow]

the irony is, the people who struggle to envision the hero with fundamental flaws often fall short in seeing the flawed nature of the heroes they create. Once they'd made their paragon, they overlook and excuse moments of evil as contextually righteous. And it can lead to some very jarring messages.

[@StergiosMekras]

If your characters aren't flawed, your story definitely is...

[@a.m.pietroschek1972]

The most pathetic form of ignorance is thinking oneself to be better, not by doing better or being better, but merely by noticing that others are flawed! 🤔

[@TheBlackLightMan]

Its like they forgot that some of their original characters were flawed as well. Lilliana is racist, but she didn't see her viewpoint of elven servants was an incorrect stance on elves, and you get to call her out on it. Alistair uses humor to deflect his trauma of his youth, and when Duncan is killed he's forced to face reality and deal with the situation and confront his past head on. There isn't anything remotely close to that in veilguard, at least on a meaningful storyline way.

[@bossked1563]

I don't remember Leliana being racist; when was that? Sounds like an Inquisition beat?

[@chihieunguyen8477]

​@@bossked1563 I do remember that I get to call her out when she talking about orlais thing... which include elf servent or being use as prize :)) also funny that everytime someone talk sh*t to my dalish warden then I could instantly framing them as racist :))

[@StergiosMekras]

Creepy, not racist. Leliana is creepy. Watching you sleep and all... At least she's cute.

[@a.m.pietroschek1972]

No, it is not in the game, when one wants to overlook HOW those people claw themselves to their incomes, which makes the term `crime spree´ seem an understatement.

[@Gwanzan3325]

​@@bossked1563 It definitely came up if you were a female elf trying to romance Leliana.

[@laureanogutierrezv]

I really did not expect to find this. I don’t know if you belong to a Christian Denomination or are a Catholic Priest. I am Catholic and I’m super happy to have stumbled upon this channel. I did two playthroughs of Veilguard, one to give it a Fair Shot, and now I’m doing another to help expose how bad this game is and how it’s full of ideology.

[@Sircool1]

In the first dragon age, the hatred of peoples is extremely strong, and you can amplify that hatred, or attempt to reach out a hand of peace. In 2, it was still semi-there but no where near as horrific as it was in the first. in inquisition, it was barely, if at all, there where people merely grumbled or said some sort of mean words at best. In Veilguard, there's a Dalish village with a human mayor. The Dalish are elves named after a land that was given to them, the Dales, and were purged/forced from after by the same humans who had enslaved them prior to all of this and gave them that land to attempt some sort of homeland. Ignoring the Dalish also being nomads so a village itself being against their lore, but a human mayor of said village seems impossible. In the first dragon age, if you played a human wither Noble or Mage origin, it didn't matter to them. If you were a human, and you coming to their camp, they greet you with arrows drawn and less than a sentence away from killing you. It's only saying you're a grey warden do they let you go, or if you have a cunning enough tongue. My point being, these are elves with a very good historical, etched into their very core identities to not trust or tolerate any human, and only do so in the first game by saying you're part of the order that everyone in the world respects. And in Veilguard they allow humans to just be their leaders. Not to mention they found an organization called the Veil-jumpers that "is accepting to all races" as their description states word for word, but their mission statement is to uncover ancient elven lost history. Something the dalish did anyway in every game.

[@smolin562]

the guy is human because as the Dalish belong to an oppressed minority they can't do anything bad. it's pretty ridiculous how the game handles the Dalish i.e. their gods came back and no tribe joins them, i guess since they are the bad guys and the Elfs are oppressed that means they can't be bad according to the writers.

[@invidatauro8922]

An excellent breakdown of a major issue. The modern fear of giving heroic characters actual flaws not only damages story telling, but messaging as well because of that failure to show redemption or growth.

[@Ericshadowblade]

Ultimately its a heros flaws that makes them human that elavates the story and makes their heroics shine brighter. To pivot to the realm of comics for an example of ironman, epitomised by the comic Daemon in a bottle, that tony stark was an alcoholic, brilliant inventor and heroic individual but one haunted by an addiction that was only a drop away

[@Unwise-]

So true, "modern audience" writers cannot write flaws, growth or nuance because they cannot conceive of those things in real life. To them the world is made of absolutes and in the critical social justice ideology, civilization, specifically those created by Europeans is the worst sin because in their minds it's a system that perpetuates -isms and -phobes. Neither can those writers do metaphor or subtext, their beliefs necessarily must be as in-your-face as possible. In stories, Christian writers have long learned to show the benefits of their beliefs rather than tell while digging deeper into their own minds and souls beyond surface level tropes. I know Tolkien claimed not to do metaphor, but his faith pervades the pages of his writing.

[@humrH2360]

​@@Unwise-It's not just that they can't write flaws, but that they pretend they don't have any flaws ever and anyone who sees through it gets admonished. The character of Taash in this game is the perfect example, as she is easily the most insufferable and antagonistic of the party members, constantly getting into petty bickering with the others and with NPCs. None of the choices ever really let you call her out or really do anything to quell her constant petulance, or worse, tries to paint her attitude as *_good._* Compare that to, say, Metal Gear Rising, an action game with a kinetic narrative. Early on, Raiden's allies point out that the enemies, despite being heavily cyberized PMC mercy, are still ultimately human. Raiden, in contrast to his ideals of justice, voices having no moral issues with dispatching them, which his allies point to be pretty cold. Raiden then points out that, even though they're human, the mercs still knowingly chose to sell their services to known terrorists and terror organizations. Raiden's allies aren't really able to say anything back, but it's still clear that Raiden's outlook disturbs them a little. Right from the outset, the game's narrative makes it clear that Raiden's outlook on the morality of his actions is flawed and narrow, and as the game goes on, it breaks down those cracks in his morals until he's forced to accept that he's not the moral paragon he wishes he was. By the end of the game, it's clear that even though he's got selfless motivations, he's ultimately partaking in one evil in order to fight an even greater evil.

[@KopperNeoman]

@@humrH2360 They fail at good writing because villains cannot write. They do write "flaws" - but to them, a "flaw" is as simple as noncompliance. Virtue is when you fall in line, vice is when you disobey. While this is ultimately true, it's true when talking about God's Law, not whatever laws they or their thoughtmasters made up.

[@johndeighan2495]

Hi, great channel! Fellow "pixel padre" here (ie priest who likes video games). I didn't play the game because I could see how deeply the woke mind virus had infected it. And you're absolutely right: it isn't just the explicitly political stuff, it goes deeper than that. I watched an hour or two on stream and it became evident pretty quickly that Rook (the player character) has no personal struggle. You don't "become" a hero in this game, your heroism is given from the start. What's the implicit anthropology in that setup? "You're amazing, just the way you are". The problem of course is that we are not amazing just the way we are. And so the story lacks even the basic structural elements that actually engage us as human beings. How are we supposed to have a "hero's journey" if the hero is already the fully-fledged hero he needs to be, right from the off? All that is left is ffor Rook to nurture the other characters - to help them realize their heroic potential. "We can be heroes", as it so blandly sang in the trailer. Anyway, enough from me!! Subbed and best of luck with the channel!

[@KopperNeoman]

There's nothing wrong with a flat character, but that's not what you have in Dragqueen Age The Failguard. Mass Effect starts with Commander Shepard's heroism as backstory, and he doesn't have an arc either - it's the party members who have full-fledged arcs.

[@johndeighan2495]

@@KopperNeoman Didn't play ME so can't really comment. It's true that the heroic arc is not the only narrative shape available. So what's so offensively woke about Rook? Expanding on the above, I think it's that we're just told he's amazing, without that actually being in evidence. I get the impression that Shepard was a pretty cool character. Back in those days, Bioware knew the difference between 'tell' and 'show'. Now, they think it is enough for Varric to just tell the player, "Hey, listen, you are really cool and heroic - a real leader". But that's useless if what we actually *see* is Rook being a soy boy the whole time. And that's the woke ideology in a nutshell: "I am totally amazing (despite the abundant evidence to the contrary)".

[@yogidan15]

Every trait has a potential shadow trait opposing it. Eg. A brave character can become arrogant. A fearful character can become paralyzed. A fearless character can become apathetic... A strong independent character can be dismissive of others A hulk that never gets angry could be an existential crisis. What does a passionless hulk care about? Does he have the will to fight? Does he care when his loved one are in danger? The potential for humans to grow is endless and a good character must reflect that

[@Sp00kyGuy127]

These videos are such a breath of fresh air, they are short and sweet, but i feel like i'm learning something genuinely worth knowing by watching them, while ironically enough, not feeling very preachy. Please keep up the good work.

[@zaxxon4]

DA2 is my favorite in the series. While it is repetitive in locations, it is a societal pressure cooker. You have a massive population increase due to the Ferelden refugees, you have the tension of a foreign Qunari army having set up an unwelcome base, you have the religious fanaticism of the Templars, you have the racial oppression of the elves and dwarves, and finally the oppression of the mage minority. It builds up to a cataclysmic end that forces the Chantry to investigate, which is why the story was being narrated by the witness they are interrogating. I'd recommend giving it a second chance, and I wouldn't recommend playing Inquisition without completing DA2 first.

[@jimmydesouza4375]

Wakka from Final Fantasy X is a good example of an actual "heroic R word character overcoming his flaws". The game makes it clear that there's an actual reason for his beliefs, he gradually is exposed to more and more that makes him question them, finds out even that while the initial reasons he believed for were correct, the underpinnings he had that made them negative were wrong, rather than it just being an out of the blue "I am not evil anymore!" thing, and then he eventually leaves his attitude behind. But the game never holds him up as some evil caricature, it makes it clear that otherwise he is an incredibly good person. FFX was such a good game, the best Final Fantasy in my opinion (and one of only 2 of them I ever played to completion).

[@fillosof66689]

Due to the nature of its setting, the Owlcat Studio's Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader features a cast of interesting companion characters that range from clearly good natured people made far more callous by the grim realities of their lives, to people who are deeply flawed in the eyes of any modern morality, to those whose moral compass is almost incomprehensible to an average player, yet whose humanity can still be connected to with enough effort. Finally, if the player is willing, you can take on board one of the most cruel and unrepentant beings in the grim and dark galaxy, and the game doesn't shy away from showing the price others will pay for a player choice like that.

[@J.B.1982]

Conflict is interesting. It creates dynamics. Cultural conflict is natural and I don't see an issue with it. No one is required to like other people's culture. People have boundaries and standing up for those boundaries will create conflict. And like you said, the growth can be part of the value within the story. There's room for growth here or if not, it keeps it interesting.

[@LordMegatron818]

"Post-Christian" yep. I agree

[@mailmanwilly]

But can you articulate why.

[@11jerans]

@@mailmanwillyChristian morality is derided and abandoned, despite all standards the society holds itself too are built upon the Christian morality, hence why modern morality falls apart when scrutinized even a little. Because it tossed out its Christian foundations, it now has nothing to stand on

[@86Corvus]

But he has a desire to be the victim. Christians are the original woke. No you cant enjoy this videogame because it isnt about worshiping jesus! No you cant listen to this music because it doesnt glorify my god!! Waaah!! You are just a sinner! Waah!!!

[@MidnightBreezey]

"Obviously genocide would be an unforgivable act that would completely cancel out any sort of heroism" Commander Shepard: Challenge accepted.

[@Shifft-This]

Artificial Intelligence is still artificial.

[@MidnightBreezey]

@@Shifft-This Rachni

[@Kwisatz-Chaderach]

Hes just like me fr fr.

[@Hrafnskald]

Good video, and you make some strong points. I think part of the issue in the thinking that led to Veilguard is the idea that we can change the world by pretend nothing unpleasant exists. "If we never depict evil, it will go away", to paraphrase, akin to PC rules: "If we never say any racist words, racism will disappear." But evil does not disappear if it is ignored. And ignoring unpleasant parts of life (flaws, racism, etc.) doesn't eliminate these, rather it robs us of the chance to explore and learn how to handle these. One of the powerful messages I see in the stories of Jesus' life is how he demonstrated how to respond to evil, to sin, to temptation, and to suffering, rather than saying "if I close my eyes, this will go away". Stories that are great often do the same: allowing us to consider unpleasant situations, and learn how to react to these in a better way. Turn the other cheek, Let he who is without sin cast the first stone: these are not what our instincts might tell us, so we benefit from stories that are willing to explore things that are not pleasant.

[@BellowDGaming]

Final Fantasy 6 and Suikoden I and II are the best examples of each character well fleshed out in an RPG setting.

[@divvu1014]

Thank you so much for the lovely, well articulated video. I live in Italy. I should be able to find people in the chatolic church able to discuss modern topics with such acuity easier than most (compared to other on the digital plaza) but that isn't the case. I had a similar history with DAO, I come from a previous gen of deeper, more gameplay-oriented titles like fallout, arcanum, baldur's gate and going back M&M, the gold box and the old SSI d&d titles. The switch in player agency and tone from DA 1 to 2 was already too much. "Decline" we used to call it, on a forum board I used to frequent, because the phenomenon per-se wasn't presenting itself just in DA II, the dumbing down of game mechanics was very pervasive before the indie revolution showed producers that customers could still think. Fortunately, nowadays there are PLENTY of good games to play, even ignoring the utterly compromised AAA(A?) releases but it's sad to see many young people defending low quality products for a failed sense of belonging or, even worse, to fuel parasocial relationships, in lieu of developing real ones. Great job! Subscribed!

[@DEATHRAGE157]

hey padre, just an idea floating on my mind, sometimes I think about working on a Christian game, something to portray Christianity in a badass light, a game about a new crusade straight into hell, with modern weapons and old crusader gear, but the thing is. Christianity now is so... domesticated and docile that is pretty hard for me to not go old testament on it.

Sounds fun.

[@flaviomonteiro1414]

A souls like game before the flood would be dope.

[@cousinzeke4888]

That game would be badass and never, ever allowed. Losers would trash it for being pro-christian and "christians" would trash it for not being nutless, pacifist garbage.

[@loganhayse8771]

Wasn't that basically Dante's Inferno on ps3 and 360?

[@NightOwl1515]

​@@loganhayse8771 Or a openly Christian version of Doom.

[@ragnarokthewarchild5059]

Well this is something I'd thought I've never will see a priest talking about the video game culture war and about the heroic racist or asshole as i prefer to call them the flawed hero in terms of their individuality within the story telling of the generic heroes journey which in modern times have been sacrificed at the alter of woke where everyone is perfect when they are not which is just boring and then they make a character like taash who's a crybully the entire time which is different then the heroic asshole because the asshole still has the capacity to learn the moral of the story in order to change unlike the crybully who says it's everyone else's fault because they're perfect the way they are no matter what

[@keithsavagelives]

"...unlike the crybully who says it's everyone else's fault, because they're perfect the way they are no matter what." This. This is the core of what's wrong with both woke writing and the woke mindset. They are elitists who consider themselves next door to perfection, yet have an ego so bloated, they will never understand how flawed they actually are. They are the grown-up versions of Verruca Salt. They can never conceive of an interesting, believable character because they are so limited by their own egotistical assuredness. They lack perspective and insight, particularly into themselves. They are "mirror-challenged"- incapable of looking into the mirror of self reflection and examining their own character honestly, they assume they need not bother, because of their egotistical belief in their own inherent superiority. They despise anyone who forces them to confront this, and this is the bitter core of their true selves: they are nothing but ego, constantly afraid, and always angry over some imagined slight. They have very little of their own, it's all Satanic ego, anger and fear. Without any depth or understanding, without a connection to the true source of all creation, how could they write anything but caricatures?

[@TheTrueDiablix]

As soon as I saw the title, the first character who came to my mind was Wakka from Final Fantasy X. He is a party member that spends most of the game very openly very vocally racist against a race called Al Bhed. It's only after he gets saved by Al Bhed multiple times and he starts to see that they're not the inherently evil people he was raised to think they are that he starts second guessing his views on them and eventually overcoming his racism further into the game. It's a great character arc and when he genuinely starts seeing the Al Bhed as people, it's pretty heartwarming because you as the player saw what he went through to finally reach that point, and you saw how difficult it was for him to question everything he thought he knew.

[@TheKingby1]

Good video Padre thank you and you articulated some points I was feeling far better than I could. A great Bioware example is Ashley Williams who seemed unfairly maligned by the community as just “Space Racist” despite a lot of depths and improvement. If I may, I think the use of “woke” may pigeonhole the idea of this issue in viewers minds unhelpfully. This is a broader question of morality and storytelling than a Left/Right political issue, and the word “Woke” is now so politically charged that some may characterise your point in that way rather than the broader point you were making. Clearly just my opinion and a great video regardless.

[@KopperNeoman]

Ashley was never racist to begin with, Tali was the racist. Ashley just never grew up around aliens, so had a hard time distinguishing them from xenofauna. Her comments on not being able to tell aliens from animals were LITERAL. Tali on the other hand hates robots. It's not hard. Everyone wanted the hometown girl to be racismus when the Space Racist was dangled right in front of you to explain how her entire species were Space Racists.

[@AnalysisWithAlex]

Articulated so well! Great video! I’m noticing this trend across a lot of contemporary storytelling right now. I’m hopeful, though. The more that legitimate, well-thought out criticism like this gets shared, the more writers can consciously make these decisions for better stories.

[@weichiang89]

Yoooo a gaming priest?! Let's gooooo!!!! Auto sub.

[@smolin562]

Veilguard takes that to ridiculous levels, I mean seriously pirates who have cultural consultants so they strictly never take a relic that is important to a culture. that's ridiculous, it seems to be forbidden that a group of people of all kinds unite for the greater good. (i.e. not to die), apparently only the very good ones can save the world.

[@Aumvor]

Fun fact. One actor who played James Bond hated some of the womanizing ways of the character and even commented on it in interviews. There were some things the character did to "flirt" which he said made his skin crawl.

[@RadmanTheWise]

The heroic characters in the failguard are clearly flawed. Our favourite non binary cringe machine is so narcissistic and vain that she can't get over how other people view her, Bellara is so far up the spectrum that I doubt she can function as an adult, and Emmerich has enough issues to fill a psychology book. The issue is that we're somehow supposed to see their flaws as virtuous. I'm supposed to be happy to babysit this bejazzled fire breathing ugly idiot. I can't say "no, I don't want you on my crusade to save the world, you're too busy looking down your own pants to make sound decisions." I have to take her along and suffer through the shit she spouts. And the game has to be written in a way that enables her to insert her issues into everything.

[@RalphCifaretto-iy1hk]

Well said😂

[@RealCoachMustafa]

I'm Muslim and I saw this video in my feed. I appreciate you having a channel that combines video games and religion. I feel like the majority of people on here want to promote one degeneracy or the other. One side wants ugly women that literally look like men. The other side wants beautiful women that are wearing nothing. I get tired of seeing people who preach for the extremes, and I'm glad that I found your channel, in which you keep God in mind with your message.

[@Azrael178]

I think that you expressed in words perfectly what many people have been thinking for a long time regarding modern media. A character that doesn't struggle with their flaws isn't really human. True pure good paragons are only interested when put in a situation where purely good option doesn't exist. It's so boring to see a undoubtedly good character pick undoubtedly good option

[@digitaldevil7522]

A lot of people are not going to like what your saying, because a lot of people today are offended by the truth. Just subscribed.

[@PedroRDC]

Hey Father! Love the video. Say, would you like to talk about games in settings that are "completely fallen"? Like Armored Core, Dark souls, Elden Ring, Berserk, Blasphemous, and such? I find some settings are beyond redemption as God is nowhere to be found and sin abounds to the ultimate consequences. But nevertheless there's always hope somewhere, and christian/Christ-like figures that make things just a little better. I'd love to hear your take. Also, can I count on your prayers? I've been having it rough for some years, but this time I've returned to God and His Church and haven't lost hope (maybe that's why I'd like to hear your take). You're alwyas in my prayers. All the best!

[@Pixel_Padre]

Thanks - will offer some prayers! And as far as hopeless settings go, it is likely that I will pick up Stalker 2.

[@KopperNeoman]

@@Pixel_Padre Just went and did a quick pray myself. Praying like this always makes me feel a little warm inside, hows about you guys?

[@mrvampire7577]

I agree with your comment of our morality being dumbed down. That’s how this bad writing feels to me. It feels like a morning cartoon for preschoolers.

[@DudeSoWin]

When cheater developers want to pwn the gamerz so they write up the wormiest of psyop exploit code drivel that they ddos their own sales.

[@zarddin9561]

My Dwarves are always a "Heroic Racist" as they hate all the elves and never take elves as companions and kick them from the party if they can forever. But with time and quests where elves are victims and not the evil ones or when he meets not weak and pathetic but strong fighting elves he starts to see them more like humans.

[@maniatissa]

Thank you Padre for this analysis. You gave a calm and collected view of the fundamental issue of this game, from a perspective I haven't seen anyone else have. Needless to say, I agree 100%- It's not only the "woke" - it's mainly the boring ....Unfortunately, these two often come hand in hand....

[@Fgway]

I see a combining of racism and racial thinking, as though merely knowing the differences in people is a negative trait. I like the example from King of the Hill where everyone calls neighbor Han chinese but racist old grampa looks real hard and explains hes not chinese, but guesses correctly. By some measure the heroic deed stands apart from the mental space. Similar to Paarthunax when he asks the player what is better, to be born good and whole or to overcome a dark inner nature for the benefit of others?

[@crimsoncrusader4829]

correction, Hank thought Khan was Japanese, but Cotton Hill, Hank's father, was a ww2 pacific vet and could immediately tell Khan was Laotian.

[@ShadowWizard]

i like all 3 DA games 1. DAO 9/10 2. DAI 8/10 3. DA2 7/10 for DAO graphics costs 1point, otherwise it would be a 10/10

[@KeterHirameki]

You should check out Metaphor Refantazio, the entire theme is about intolerance and racism and the story is about the hero improving it's virtues to help others, but the writing is an absolutely opposite of how the modern western media portrays it. The gameplay is a standard JRPG, which is a turn off for many people, but the story is a masterpiece IMO.

[@MrAwesomeBart]

The funny thing is that they actually can write characters that aren't one dimensional and can grow. Example: The Last of Us part 2. There is a scene where one of the people in town where Ellie and Joel live was acting prejudice against Ellie and her girlfriend, but later said he was sorry and even made them a sandwiches. That would basically means the person who offended them changed his mind and wanted to apologies for his actions as he see them as wrong ones now. According to progressives it's "the wright thing to do". They declined the gift showing that the main hero is petty but that's another issue.

[@ragvald8835]

That guy apologized because mayor forced him and they knew it. The entire scene was to portray Ellie as a victim of prejudices, and honestly that was cringy. But why no one speaks about Lev? Idiot who was so obsessed with her gender at age 12, that she proceeds to flee the tribe, unalive several dozens of her kindred, including own mother, because they didn't want to play the gender game during the actual apocalypse, and inadvertently - her sister, too. And they expected us to sympathize with her. That's outweighs any good characters game had.

[@a.m.pietroschek1972]

Speaking out against #racism and informing about forms of racism is sadly still need, yet admirable nonetheless! Kudos.

[@prestige_materials]

I will never touch this abomination. It breaks my heart so much knowing they squandered the only fantasy setting to have a Christian-style savior in Andraste; obviously a female variant of Jesus Christ. This I found to be SO innovative and compelling; with everything they could have done with that; what an upsetting thing. Worst than P.T. not following through to a full game; more then that even, more than the new Star Wars trilogy, more upsetting than that even, for myself.

[@KopperNeoman]

That's why it needed to be torn down. The word of Christ cannot be allowed to prosper, for it is death to evil. (Not that they can beat Him... :P)

[@reviewspiteras]

Excellent analysis Pixel padre; indeed in the race of modern culture to reject the Lord secular writters have created a moral basis so uptight it has become what they seeked to destroy in their strawman of christian ethics.

[@josh_from_xboxlive]

Huge fan of this, huge fan of you, GOD BLESS!

[@daviddamasceno6063]

I hope more people will find this video, this is a very good analysis!

[@rohanthomas4134]

This isn't necessarily a woke example but an author that I greatly enjoy, Karen Travis, has a personal issue when when dealing with characters that she perceives as child abusers. In works relating to both Halo and Star wars she has a habit of writing morally dubious or morally grey characters as being entirely irredeemable, seemingly because of her own inability to forgive said characters for what they have done to the children in the story. She has a habit of stripping away the nuances of such figures despite the fact that she is entirely capable of writing moral nuance. I cannot say that her stories are boring though. 🤔

[@MrBlue-Eyes]

Please play FAITH: The Unholy Trinity, I think you would enjoy it. You get to vanquish demons with a cross and uncover a sinister plot.

[@fernan2342]

Well said! Looking forward to see more of your content.

[@adragonoflight]

The chesticles on that Asian lady character are seriously messed up looking. I feel like I'd develop PTSD if I ever saw something like that uncovered IRL.

[@rigulur]

"I heard Inquisition was better..." it is not, father :(

[@SaltyGoblin-vl2uc]

It kind of is, although slightly.

[@KopperNeoman]

@@SaltyGoblin-vl2uc It was horrifically Woke by the standards of a decade ago.

[@SaltyGoblin-vl2uc]

@@KopperNeoman I was referring to gameplay improvements .eg. exploration/combat/world map,etc.

[@GuiPaim]

I heard one that good and evil are unpoliticizingl terms. If you try to write something avoiding using those terms, you will enrich your story without even noticing.

[@TheDrIdot]

I guess you could say it’s post Christian gaming.

[@loserinasuit7880]

Technically all gaming is post Christian if we look at the trends of U.S Christianity. It starts falling fast after the 70s and the media fabricating Christian moral panic. All those religious conservatives outspoken against games 95% of them were fabricated by media articles designed to promote games like GTA through controversy.

[@thirstywhitehead4443]

I love these reviews. Praying for you and yours!

[@Icipher353]

Dragon Age was always a series that was all about the the complexity of people and the shades of grey in their character, and that's what made it compelling. Veilguard is simplistic and renders it's characters in basic black and white, good or bad terms according to a progressive moral framework and as a result, the characters are boring and there is zero narrative tension. It's Dragon Age with all the edge and moral complexity and ambiguity shaved off it, and it's boring as a result.

[@jinchoung]

excellent. alas, we've had religion replaced with secular versions and the secular versions are narrow, have no concept of grace and forgiveness... and they're mean - while suffering from all the talking points they levy against religions like dogma, deadly sins, chosen people, blasphemy up to and including excommunication and, as you say, no sense of proportionality or things existing in a gradient. ugh. anyway, you tell 'em padre.

[@KopperNeoman]

Had Christianity replaced* Islam is VERY compatible with the Progressive zeitgeist because it too rebels against Christ's Grace.

[@MrTarakanisher]

An amazing example would be Kreia from KOTOR 2. She never directly discriminates against non-human party members or other NPCs, yet if you listen to what she says, you will hear slight disregard and announce. The game doesn't push it to your face. The game doesn't claim that she is right or wrong. It's just a part of her character.

[@hoi-polloi1863]

Nice analysis of the "heroic racist" dilemma. It goes the other way as well... a lot of white American liberals find themselves unable to criticize people whose culture they'd otherwise abhor, if these people are non-white.

[@ns7495]

Huh, you strike me as someone whos opinion id like to hear regarding the story of Invincible, comic as the show altho faithful to source material, especially its commentery on sociatal stagnation of heroism and moving past it to a post heroism society that has evolved past its flaws as not to need super heroes anymore.

[@innocuousalias6632]

A very interesting and well articulated point of view.

[@AKATenn]

I don't think you need religion to have beliefs and morals, but you do need good teachers, and a censorship free society to learn the difference between right and wrong. Censorship is the big issue, I think the people who always want to censor things want them censored so they personally don't get criticized, so they can keep doing bad things. Games like veilguard are a direct result of people not being allowed to voice their opinions, censorship.

[@J001D]

Thank you for the video father.

[@derekmclellan7337]

As an Atheist I find your takes here not Christian in position... Per se. But that of reason and common sense. Much of the issues surrounding modern culture is because we've replaced your religion with another. One that is arguably worse in every way. Until as Humans we all decide we are flawed individuals and not a mindless monolith then we shall continue to fail and will not achieve the greatness that is within us. A refreshing thing I've stumbled on here. Whilst I may not agree with all of it, it nonetheless is well thought out and worth engagement. Good day all.

[@KopperNeoman]

They are Christian. You're just having a minor crisis within your Atheist faith - the "secular" values that built your favourite nations are in fact Christian ones.

[@zope6362]

There is a God sized hole in the heart of every human. When one rejects the true object of desire, they will always try to find something else to fill it, however fleeting. Religion will never die, people will just replace it and its dogma with something else.

[@derekmclellan7337]

@zope6362 a very large (and ever increasing) part of the human race has oddly achieved what you seemingly have failed to. I hope one day you will see that there are four lights.

[@zope6362]

@@derekmclellan7337 Not very large. There is not a single human civilization ever discovered without some form of organized belief in the supernatural. It is hardwired to our brains. Also interesting you bring up Chain of Command, given Picard is a type for so many Christian saints and martyrs. Seculars like to portray Christianity as some sort of tyrannical oppressor, torturing its way into people's minds, but look at how Christianity spread through the Roman Empire, not through the sword but by being put to the sword. Christ conquered not as a lion, but as a sacrificial lamb.

[@zope6362]

@@derekmclellan7337 Hey man, sometimes youtube does this thing where it like deletes a post I make for some reason, did you see my reply or do I have to type it out again?

[@lighlotus117]

Another great take, I look forward to your videos. God bless.

[@mojopy01]

many good points, thank you

[@bnamsrom2]

Very well put, sir. You got my subscription.

[@JoaoTakada]

thanks padre 👏, DA:2 is not that bad

[@ThomasPaine01]

Interesting take, and I couldn't agree more. Subbed right away.

[@VodKaVK]

That was amazing content padre!

Deserves more views.

[@GKolo1986]

Never watched this channel, not religious. I was skeptical where this was going at first . But this lays out the issue very well. The majority of critique videos are delivered...extremely - id actually hope the writers at Bioware see this. They might receive it better to reflect.

[@KopperNeoman]

To be honest, you're being too nice to them. To reflect, they would need to abandon all the ideals they hold dear. ALL of them.

[@aclaylambisabirdman6324]

All of the games have had gay characters but it’s never been the focus until now, that plus CW tween quality level writing. Insane. And yes, DA2 was awful, DA Inquisition was very bloated

[@frustratedsquirrel]

For someone who isn't religious, being lectured about religious morality is akin to a blue-haired agender person coming up to you and telling you that it's impossible for black people to be racist and that men can get pregnant. I don't mean that in a 'religious ideology is bad' kind of way, but just to put it into perspective that woke ideology and religious ideology actually have a lot in common even though they are opposing beliefs in many ways If you're not someone who takes that particular ideology as truth, then the message WILL come across as illogical and therefore very annoying to have to deal with. Many of us don't like being told that something is right or wrong because of of an element that the opposing party believes in strongly, but doesn't have a grounding in our observable reality. When the writing in a story is very obviously trying to prop up that kind of messaging, it becomes abrasive unless it's something you specifically want to see because you're part of that in-group. As for the argument of "you wouldn't have a heroic character who commits sexual assault because the evil outweighs the good" well...why not? If a character literally saves the world from the evil demon king and then also claps the demon king's cheeks at the end of the story, are they validated as a hero or not? The fact that you'd denounce such a story is still doubling back to this 'heroic racist' problem, because you're not going to tell that story because of your own moralistic sensibilities, which is exactly what the woke writing is doing for things they deem unacceptable.

[@nickdilmore4841]

There is a big difference, actually. Let's take your example: the character who saves the world from a demon but then grapes the demon. A person with a traditionally Judeo-Christian grounded moral compass could say that character did a heroic deed but is morally evil. Actually, Battlestar Galactica delved into this early on, with Starbuck torturing a Cylon. The justification was that the cylon wasn't "a real person," and that the ends justified the means anyway, but you saw the emotional and psychic toll this took on Starbuck because the Cylon sure looked, acted, and sounded like a "real person." The difference between these kinds of morally grey/downright evil acts carried out by the hero/protagonist of a non-woke/ traditionally moral lens vs woke is that the woke "hero," who can never be depicted as flawed in any way (especially if they are a non-straight, white male) will often end up justifying the most abhorrent behavior. Because, after all, if the woke hero is flawless, then nothing they do can be wrong.

[@KopperNeoman]

Honestly? Everyone is religious in some way. Atheists may hate it being pointed out to them, but Atheist belief is a religious belief in the nonexistence of God that they can in no way prove with evidence. The common Atheist deflection is to shift the burden of proof onto believers and claim that THEIR religion is the "default" and doesn't NEED proving. A good deed done for evil reasons does not make you a good man after all. And where do we get our definition of "good" if not from God? Group survival of the species? Then anything that helps the species survive is justifiable. Rape? Yep. Xenocide? Absolutely. Both make humanity more prosperous, therefore they're good, right...?

[@r3771-n2r]

What? Dragon age II slaps!

[@flippedoutkyrii]

It's really great to see someone cover the Veilguard without being so underhanded and abrasively hostile and try to calmly apply healthy criticism. I'd love to see you cover other games like LA Noire and Max Payne!

[@christopherjones5700]

RPGs are being used as vehicles to dismantle the idea of homogenous nation-states and the traditional societies that compose them. This post modernist cringe can only ruin the characters, world building, and immersion for any fictional universe especially in a medieval fantasy game.

[@ShadowWizard]

ur 2hard on DA2, its was shorter smaller story to interduce new character that plays role in the future, if u hate it cause of the combat i say, its not that bad, just little different, but mostly same, same tactical pause, not that much different from DAO actually, chars are just larger giving different type of game vibe like example skyrim (cause of the look), but u still play almost same way

[@MA-go7ee]

May you go with God, may you like and subscribe 😂 Great video, your outfit took me back to my Jesuit boarding school

[@ATG913]

Great vid. 👍

[@r.kolemaistos7788]

Such a relatable approach. Bless you for doing this! And you're spot on with regard to inoffensive, seemingly perfect characters. It's the typical immanentised morality which because it is unable to conceive of grace and redemption has to pretend that there already is absolute virtue without it. But these characters cannot be truly inspiring as humans, because humans are fallen creatures. Or worse, absolute virtue is claimed where it does not exist (such as in the infamous oppression olympics also present in this game, with Taash being written - I imagine - to be virtuous in the eyes of the creators but really is anything but to any neutral observer.

[@jeremyrichard2722]

I will say this much, when it comes to racism in fantasy the problem is that the left wing extremists are as insane as the right wing ones, where religious sorts like the video maker were attacking fantasy for having worlds where things were entirely non-christian, or portrayed mythological gods as being real and so on. The problem with the whole idea of racism in fantasy is that in 99% of cases the bigotry is entirely justified. For example in your average fantasy world goblins and orcs really are as bad as they are portrayed, so are dark elves, mind flayers, beholders, and other evil beings. Thus say a dwarf can be openly racist towards goblins and be entirely justified in everything they are saying, and this makes the left uncomfortable. Any goblin in a traditional setting who is different will be an exception, rather than making a point that the rule was ever wrong or bad. In fact when you see situations like racism addresses as a heroic flaw, you might say have a Gimli and Legolas situation where two races that have a history of rivalry and generally dislike each other, bond over their shared hatred of another race like orcs... their orc slaying competition at Helm's Deep being an example of that. See, the left has this problem where according to their religion-like philosophy which is in denial of reality where no one can be seen as inferior to any other, and all cultures and ways of thinking are valid as long as they agree with the left in the end, the only enemy they can thus allow to exist are ideas like slavery, or things like capitalism which they argue feeds into ideas like slavery. Just as Christians became angry at anything not rooted in their theocratic morality and demanded all things be interpreted and directed that way, the left wing demands that everything tell their very limited stories, which are always going to have the same ultimate conclusions and narrowly focused bad guys, which are ways of thinking rather than anything more traditional, after all tradition is well... conservative, and they are all about subverting everyone into a specific form of group think and then reinforcing it endlessly. This is why they are terrible writers as there are only very narrow groups of things they can allow and tolerate. Understand also, that it is a matter of common sense for heroes to have flaws that need to be overcome, in ongoing characters they in many cases can never overcome those flaws to remain compelling, or must replace them with new ones. This does is not absolutely needed, but is a common part of the hero's journey. Understand though that leftism is all about the idea of self-actualization, the idea that through embracing their ideas one becomes the best they can be or proves that they were the superior ones all along if looked down on. This is why their idea of "Strong female characters" are all the same, and the same with their angry minorities and so on. To give them any kind of flaws might reinforce the long dead straw men they believe exist in their head-cancer, so they must be perfect, and thus become powerful through realizing their perfection through embracing anger and approved leftist modes of thinking. It becomes very cookie-cutter, very quickly, and the problem is that to vary this has the down side of legitimizing things they might not care for. Realize also that their own philosophical attitudes tend to prevent any kind of traditional heroism, especially by the kinds of heroes that have popularly dominated. If a white man say saves a group of people in need, then this dips into problems within their head cancer such as the "white savior complex" and in their mind empowers colonial thinking, as one thing they hate is that colonialism caused more long term benefits than it did short term damage through breaking stagnation. The supposed party of tolerance and education, tends to think that the only right way for an inferior culture or people to learn anything is to basically seize it through violence and then solve their own problems. Basically they see a real threat in the inherent truth of the old "White Man's Burden" way of thinking. That's the name of a poem by Kipling by the way, he's attacked by the left more due to his poetry than things like "The Jungle Book" though since he's famous mostly for that now people oftentimes don't get it. The basic idea was that The British Empire wasn't racist the way the left wants to view it, rather they believed, pretty much correctly, that they were spreading the light of civilization as they expanded, and part of why they didn't return after overextending.. which they could have, as the realization that there was not the same kind of point to it anymore, and they were still mighty, and they didn't really want to rule the world the same way and become the kind of oppressors they saw themselves as being different from. It's a point that is absolute anathema to leftism, so they don't even want people to read that stuff. Still if you want to read some interesting takes on aggressive military morality, not that I I agree with most of it as someone who lives now mind you, I do recommend his work if you can find it, it's a good window into the time and how people thought as he was very much pop culture right now. If you were going to create a three dimensional British military hero set during that time period, using his work as the model for the way of thinking and how it ideally worked, he'd be pretty much perfect. No leftist would ever consider that though.

[@KopperNeoman]

You spent a lot of time setting up that straw Christian to knock it down. The whole point of Christ's sacrifice is that we're not rule-obsessed to the point of missing the wood for the trees. The Pharisees were, and they condemned Him. Similarly, the point of the Heroic Racist is that the racism is unjustified - if it was justified, he'd just be a hero. Tali'Zorah is a Heroic Racist for hating the geth - Javik is not a Heroic Racist for hating the Reapers. (He has more reason to hate robots than Tali does too! The Zha'Til were actually evil, unlike the misunderstood and panicking geth)

[@jeremyrichard2722]

@@KopperNeoman I'm not sure what your even talking about, as I said very little about Christianity. That said just because something is true does not make it a "straw man". I was there during "The Satanic Panic" and saw what happened when Christianity based right wingers too over. As a group Christians are just as prone to dogmatic group think as the left is, perhaps even more so due to the long term tradition between their organizations. They started out reasonably coming out of the 60s and 70s in forming the moral foundation for society, and just like the left within a decade or so they were operating mostly as a hive mind and attacking video games, D&D players, sex based entertainment, and everything else. The left is correct that right wing extremists are just as bad... albeit they try and claim they are worse, but in the end it amount to the same crap on a different day right down to the forced censorship. I mean I do get the tribalism in wanting to defend your side, and your truth, and of course right now with an enemy to face, you want to have Christians as being the reasonable ones. That said as someone who does in fact remember the world before the internet, I do realize that whatever is said about being reasonable and ways this can be interpreted, in the end it leads to cementing power and simply replacing the shrieking blue haired freak with a 700-club Karen who will also have far too much power. We go from the current parodies of the left, right back into the hands of Dana Carvey doing "The Church Lady".... which is the same kind of truth based satire of the right and what it turns into as any of the stuff being said about the left right now. The problem with Christian dogma is that it's self-contradictory enough, that it's prone to vastly different interpretations. A tolerant and inclusive interpretation is great when Christianity is weaker, which is is now, but as power and control ramp up it becomes far more dogmatic and authoritarian itself, and all of that can be justified just as easily as a tolerant viewpoint, and when it has power the group think will solidify based on the human need for power, and we'll wind up with yet another period of Christian tyranny as has recurred throughout history. Just as there is pattern recognition that can be applied to the left, it an be applied to the theocratic right as well. As I say all the time, the problem isn't right or left, or even progressivism vs. christianity, it's all about extremism, and when some kind of power is solidified, extremists will take over, unless we have the awareness through preserving history (every power group tries to change it) to stop things in the middle, keep them balanced, and prevent extremists on either side from holding any real power... ever. It's the only way to make something like the US work and remain prosperous. I don't demonize Christians, I just feel they are prone to corruption and extremism like any other large group when it gets a taste of power. Jesus can easily go from a spirit of tolerance and compassion, to a murdering storm trooper that wants to murder you and your kids for not being tolerant his way. Just as the left only believes in tolerance and diversity within it's own parameters. Same thing really.

[@cptncutleg]

Legolas and Gimli were barely characters in Tolkien's work, we can thank Peter Jackson for that wonderful addition to the canon.

[@tenanaciouz]

Tell me you've never actually read the books without saying it

[@ericriley1985]

Dude, one of the criticisms of the Jackson films was that Legolas was stripped of his characterization from the books.

[@cptncutleg]

@@tenanaciouz Fair

[@cptncutleg]

@@ericriley1985 Shows me that I need to get up and read the damn thing rather than watching documentaries

[@ReaperCet]

FALSE Whenever you try to do the "heroic racist" archetype. People always, ALWAYS walk away from your story thinking that "racism is kinda cool" no matter how good your story is at organically showing the flaws in the character. That's why people unironically dress like the joker That's why people unironically think that homelander is cool That's why people unironically like the concept of starship troopers/helldivers. If you cultivate the "heroic racist" you just end up with a bunch of racists in your fanbase.... And if you stop being racist, they will lose their freaking minds... We're seeing that in real time with dragon age.

[@ProneOyster]

While I agree with the central discussion and conclusion of the video (Yes, writers should, need, to write multidimensional characters for them to be interesting), I'd like to argue it's far more a product of capitalism; Either the writers got hired because they write like that, or they write like that because a boardroom decided it's what sells more

[@nickdilmore4841]

I must respectfully disagree. Once upon a time the writers who could bring in the most profits would be hired. But with the explosion of DEI in the last few years merit has gone right out the window, and the results are not more money for the investors but wave after wave of financial disasters. This is not capitalism; I don't even think it's crony capitalism. Capitalism would have abandoned DEI the second the first wave of abject failures crashed and burned, not doubled down and called your actual audience bigots and chuds.

[@ProneOyster]

@@nickdilmore4841 It's not new at all that AAA entertainment uses focus groups and designs products that targets criteria they believe will create the most profits. Right now all the rage is "woke" writing, but if market analysis showed there was more money in homophobia don't doubt for a second that's where the trends would go. Also, the EA stock value as of writing this comment is the highest it's ever been, why would they abandon their current course?

[@nickdilmore4841]

@@ProneOyster I don't know what's going on with EA but you have the recent Concord disaster, Star Wars Outlaw underperforming (if not outright bombing, depending on who you believe) and what seems to be Veilguard not even close to making its production money back. Couple that with the movie and TV biz you can see many high profile failures that went hard woke yet Disney, for example, seems hell-bent on refusing to learn any lessons. The general public time and time again rejects stuff that is patently in-your-face woke and has for years, but too many people in the entertainment biz have been promoted entirely because of woke/DEI and they will not give up their positions/power until forced to. The exception that proves the rule is the Barbi movie, which was a hit because women wanted to see a girly Barbi movie, not because of whatever woke crap may have been in it.

[@KopperNeoman]

@@ProneOyster That's not just wrong, that's likely a LIE. Woke writing is NOT turning profits, it's being done at the demand of investors and governments. That's the opposite of capitalism - that's FASCISM. Or to explain what fascism is: it's socialism. Socialism where businesses are brought on-board to the socialist power grab rather than being destroyed by it. "homophobia" by your definition has been what the customers have been demanding for twelve years, and these companies have been attacking us for it, because they're NOT CAPITALISTS.

[@bubbadumps3747]

your allowed to play video games as a priest?

[@benagosto3641]

Of course brother. All things in moderation.

[@cousinzeke4888]

Why wouldn't he?

[@AnotherGuyTheXone]

I mean, nowhere in the bible says you can't

[@KopperNeoman]

The obsession with rules is a very Muslim thing. (Not that they even care if they can murder innocents - Allah loves that!)

[@LhynnBlue]

I see a lack of ingroup preference as a flaw that makes you a weaker link in your community.

[@capitanspoiler7393]

the left thinks people dislike woke writing because everyone is an -ist and -phobe when, in reality, we are just tired of predicting the exact plot of whatever they are making from the first trailer. Oh, a female protagonist who is also a minority? ok, she'll be a lesbian, she'll have a relationship with the girl that appeared near her in that scene and her parents will be against the relationship. also, the bad guy will be that white dude that appeared in the trailer and he will be a conservative that idolizes the funny mustache man (or the lore equivalent of said mustache man).

[@walleras]

Cease your slander of King David

[@munstrumridcully]

Who cares what words are put into Christ's mouth by later authors writing long after his death? Christ's also supposedly said not one jot ir tittle of the law (which is the entire old testament commands 9f hod, not just thec10 co.manments) so things like regulating and allowing chattel slavery, not the indentured servitude allowed for Israelite, but your slaves will come from the lands around you and will be your property. The fact that biblical morality is terrible, dashing the gears of baby's, allowing the young maidens to be the only ones allowed to l8ve... as sex slaves, stoning unruly children, stoning non Virginia wives, etc etc, is why I left seminary, that and the fact that I learned how the Bible was edited and changed by later catholic monks and is unreliable, I don't get how people pretend Christian morality is superior to actual secular moral philosophy ( woke shit is not real moral philosophy as its not about Ctual fairness and justice) when Christians have to ignore much of biblical morality in the process. Not to mention that holy mother church included a LOT of paganism into their flavor of Christianity (yes I was raised catholic and I went to Jesuit schools) like Christmas, including the yule tree, is from pagan midwinter festivals and the saints are a morph of the old Roman pagan household gods... I don't get how anyone can believe it after critical examination. This is why religions of all stripes revolve around childhood indoctrination, so that belief Is formed and internalized before critical examination is actually possible. We all know that other religions are BS, and I'd argue we know it for the same reasons are own indoctrinated religions are, but most indoctrinated adults are incapable of applying the same critical standards to their own faith as they are to the faiths of other's. I was lucky, I was raised partly by my Catholic grandm9ther and partly by my revolutionary protestant convert parents and was able to see the flaws in both relatively early on, especially after hard examination when I thought I was called to the priesthood. If their is a god, there is literally zero evidence any of the extant religions have f all to do with it, and some good evidence that they do not. Cheers, I'm not trying to be mean, just honedt

[@KopperNeoman]

There has been so much effort by the Devil to turn Christ's lessons on their head to turn humanity away from Him that it truly astounds. The same effort put into corrupting Biblical teachings is also put into whitewashing Qur'anic ones (if you want a nasty "holy book", THERE'S one!)

[@insomnolant6043]

Racism isn't a sin. You just worship the morality of the world.

[@KopperNeoman]

It depends on the reason for the racism. Being racist against the Locust is a good thing, because they want to kill all humans. Being racist against the turians on the other hand...

[@zope6362]

Christianity vanquished the ethnocentric world order of antiquity. Nationalism and race ideology only came to being when the renaissance replaced Christianity with "rationalism" in the minds of the European elite. Repent of your hatred and return to Christ.

[@MARStheFORSAKEN]

I love listening to religious people,its like watching a blind man paint a picture.

[@ECiriachi]

wat

[@KopperNeoman]

And he's somehow far better at it than you - probably because the Holy Spirit is going brrrrrrrt.

[@MARStheFORSAKEN]

@@KopperNeoman your right he is,i could never match that level of cognitive dissidence.but he will also never be able to paint muslim,hindu,jewish,norse,egyptian,greek,roman or any other kind of art because hes trapped in an echo chamber called a church, he can only see one small part of the world and history through rose tinted glasses rather then gaze upon the universe in its entirety, but i get it, i really do,hes afraid and fear is human, i cannot fault someone for being human, hes afraid that he is mortal so he thinks of the afterlife,afraid his actions are the result of impulses so he thinks of free will,afraid of isolation so he thinks of guardian angels,afraid his tormenters will not be punished so he thinks of hell,afraid his sacrifices will go unrewarded so he thinks of heaven, this is all religion is,comfort for a troubled mind.

[@RalphCifaretto-iy1hk]

You have no grounding or justification for objective morals, intrinsic meaning, beauty or logic under an atheistic worldview. Everything is nihilistic, subjective and down to personal preference. Why should you care if his personal preference is to be a Christian? What justification do you have to say yours is a better system?

[@ECiriachi]

@@MARStheFORSAKEN How can you be so daft to assume that religious people cannot appreciate or understand points of view that conflict with theirs?

[@nathanjora7627]

« With racism at one extreme, you’ve got the genocidal racist who believe certain groups are not even worthy of life. Obviously that’s a very grave sin which would cancel out any heroism » Warhammer 40k fans : Are you sure about that ? More seriously, being an atheist I disagree with tying the downfall of flawed heroes to the dechristianization of society, even if I’ll agree it is correlated to it, but you do hit the nail right on the head when it comes to the inability of many a woke writer to write characters with serious flaws, because they are far too categorical in their thinking about morality. Which is why since their rise the characters they create have so often been labeled Mary sues, or Gary stues, because in the same way they struggle to write serious moral flaws, they often also struggle to write flaws full stop, due to deeply baked assumptions of representation. If you understand that the character you are writing is just that, *A* character, as in a singular entity, not representative of any group, at least not necessarily/entirely, then writing them with flaws and writing them failing is fine. But if you insist on people standing in for their groups, and you are terrified of being racist or sexist etc, then it becomes hard to write any character as anything other than a caricature of good or evil, and as anything other than almost fully succeeding by their own hand or failing due to some circumstance they have no control over.

[@christopherponsford8385]

Former atheist who is now Catholic, I agree with you. Good writing and depth of characterization was never exclusive to Christian culture and morality. Obviously being a Catholic, I think that morality is best understood fully within the Christian framework, but there's no shortage of classic myths and tales that were revered, copied, studied, and commented on by the Church throughout the middle ages. I think much of the issue is an equivocation with art being essentially identical with propaganda. I think this is the same reason why many overtly Evangelical Christian films and songs are so bad.

[@nathanjora7627]

@ Right, the comparison with good and bad Christian art like LotR vs God is not Dead movies is my go to example to try and explain in secular terms why the kind of art that woke people make is garbage, ie it’s not because it’s left wing, in the same way that god isn’t dead isn’t bad because it’s Christian or made by christians, it’s because the artists are letting their ideology hinder their craftsmanship. Also funny that you are now catholic because that’s what I used to be XD Trying to reason with Protestants lead me out

[@christopherponsford8385]

@ My path was atheist>buddhist>catholic lol. But yes I agree

[@KopperNeoman]

@@nathanjora7627 You're half right. There is bad art made by Christians because they can't do art worth a fig's toss - but there is no such thing as good Woke art because Woke is evil. The most it can do is attach itself to good art like a festering boil (Baldur's Gate 3 is lesser for the dictates of Grand Wizards of the Coast), whereas something that is Christian does not need to "attach" to anything. Anyone can botch baking a cake and turn the ingredients into an inedible mess, but nobody can bake a confection from cowpats and dog urine.