Murder in the Cathedral
Cathedrals still have their uses in Europe. They make wonderful settings for fantasy combat video games, like the PS3 game 'Resistance: Fall of Man'. The Bishop of Manchester Cathedral, in which an episode is set, writes a letter complaining that the concept is sacrilegious.
We, the Dean and Canons of Manchester Cathedral understand that the interior of our building has been used, it would appear, without our permission, in the PS3 game 'Resistance: Fall of Man'.
During the game players are asked to assume the role of an army sergeant and win a battle in the Cathedral. We have seen screenshots of the game in play showing the interior of the Cathedral with the player's gun ready to fight; soldiers can be seen elsewhere in the nave taking aim. The video footage of the Cathedral battle on 'YouTube' has shocked and dismayed us beyond words and can only be described as virtual desecration.
We are shocked to see a place of worship, prayer, learning and heritage being presented to the youth of today as a location where guns can be fired.
Well it wouldn't be the first time. Click on "more" to see recent examples.
The Church of the Nativity was recently the scene of an actual gunbattle.
Mosques such as the one in Mecca and frequently in Iraq are also the scenes of actual fighting by factions or US troops assaulting positions. Sometimes they are even the object of tank fire and air strikes.
posted by wretchardthecat at 6/11/2007 01:29:00 PM
3 Comments:
When the US 8th Air Force hit the city of Munster in October, 1943, the aiming point was the city’s cathedral.
The USAAF did not have it in for German churches, but the cathedral was chosen because the normal dispersion of bombs that would result would destroy the city’s railroad marshalling yards and the housing adjacent to it. Many of the people who lived in those houses worked in the railroad yards and by not only destroying the primary target - the yards – but also the places where the workers lived, the task of rebuilding would be made that much more difficult.
And of course, with their workplace and homes both gone, they did not need a church, anyway….
Hmmm... I wonder if the Bishop is more concerned with the "without our permission," as in "without payment" then he is about the actual use of the visuals of the building.
"Resistance: Fall of Man" is the PS3's equivilent of a Summer Blockbuster, it is the first and best game released for that system. It is based on an an alternative reality where in the years leading up to World War 2, an alien species invade earth. The aliens go on to take over Europe and Asia, and the United Kingdom becomes the battleground.
Cathedrals are the setting in numerous movies because they have such great visuals and light. I wonder if this is more offensive then exploding the Parliment Buidling in "V for Vendetta."
Sooner or later, empty buildings are put to new uses, often quite different from what their builders intended.
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