Modern Warfare 2 map removed due to religious faux pas

Ugh… really?

Also… someone only just found this now? In Modern Warfare 2? By looking really closely at a painting in a bathroom?

What?

@1 “Also… someone only just found this now? In Modern Warfare 2? By looking really closely at a painting in a bathroom?”

Well…yes, I guess so. Otherwise we would have heard of this before now

I’m sorry but that is just fucking ludicrous.

Hi guys I’m your friendly, neighborhood, peace-loving Muslim & I think it’s kinda ridiculous the image portrayed of us in the West. We’re really rather ration…

What? A MP map containing religious text! IN A BATHROOM!!

JJJJIIIIIIIHHHHHHHHAAAAAADDDDDDD!!!!

Who would have guessed? Muslims? No way! You could just shoot Jesus in the face, but thats ok, because no one will bomb you for that.

This is excellent, actually.

The texture in question has actually been used since CoD4. I sctually emailed Activision when I spotted and asked them to remove it myself, back in 2007/2008 when I originally spotted it.

So well done Activision for finally doing something about it.

——

To the idiots above…

Shut up, fools. You obviously hold absolutely NOTHING sacred in your lives, so could never understand this basic human principle.

Go get a clue.

Damn extremists. I don’t complain when English writing is used in an fps.

@6, The only things I consider sacred are my family, friends & my self. I couldn’t give less of a fuck about writing regardless of where it comes from. Could come from one of the various bibles & I wouldn’t blink an eye.

Getting all touchy over our fairy tales… Yep, basic human principle right there

“Shut up, fools. You obviously hold absolutely NOTHING sacred in your lives, so could never understand this basic human principle.”

Without attacking you for your believes (accepting and tolerating it 100%!!), “this basic human principle” is a negative point. Its in human nature, but when ppl thinking outside the box, understanding far more, than more ppl would ever do, they called fools. That was not nice, you are a fool like the ppl above you. (not for your believes, but for your attack of the other persons)

@7:

You’re not a Christian, are you, so what does that example have to do with anything at all?

@8:

Prove it’s a fairy tale.

@9:

I have no idea what you just said.

@10
Talked about limited imagination and that basic human principles are too..yes too basic (and kinda primitive).

@10, Prove it’s not *never-ending argument*

You’re completely losing me here, KK.

Are you trying to tell me that basic human principles, such as understanding the difference between right and wrong/standing up for justice/protecting the innocent/defending what you hold to be sacred/etc, etc are too primitive for modern man?

Is that your point?

No, but let them have their own opinion. The debate will never stop (RL and here) when someone always need to comment other ppl opinion or attack each other.

@12:

Logic fail.

You’re the only one making any definite claims. I don’t need to bring any proof.

I’ll tell you that this is what I believe. It’s my faith. There’s nothing compelling you or anyone else to believe it, one bit.

You’re telling me that it’s 100% false, guaranteed.

That it is a “fairy tale”.

So without proof, your “fairy tales” comment is stupid and meaningless.

Have you read Master and Margarita, OrbitMonkey?

.. Nah, you played Final Fantasy.

@KK:

Let them have their opinion?

I have no problem with that. Anyone is entitled to their opinion, but comments like #4 and #5?

Do me a favour.

Labeling Muslims as terrorists because of this story is complete ignorance.

All the guy ever threatened to do was promote a boycott of IW games.

Where are the bombs? Where is the jihad?

Pure ignorance.

CoD is actually one of the biggest games in the Middle East. This guy (who has 61k subscribers) made a simple request, and IW/Acti thought about their wallets.

There’s no terrorism involved.

So yeah. To me, the people who wrote those comments are ignorant fools, and they deserve to be told as much.

It’s nothing to do with any rational opinion that they didn’t express.

killing people/playing war simulator – ok
picture in bathroom – oh hell now!

@15, lol theist “prove it” logical fallacy.

Theism is an idea, there is no tangible proof for it, therefore the burden of proof is on theists, no one else.

Whats the problem here?

No honestly what exactly is the problem? Its obviously been modelled after something in real life and just been used as a prop. Why is this offensive??

Its a picture frame in a video game.

They’ve taken down an entire map, from an old video game because there was a picture frame with some writing on it. It might be offensive. So? People getting shot in the face is offensive aswell but its not going to get taken out either.

@Giga
The most question, that really bothers me is, why they think so? Does this make you sometimes sad or just angry?

@freedoms:

Why are you failing to understand a basic concept?

I say I believe.

If you knew anything about the major religions, you would see that the main point of life is that it is a test.

A test where the criteria for passing is belief in the unseen.

You’ve completely failed to understand this basic point if you think that as theists, we have to prove anything.

Our belief is that this first life is a test to see if we believe in something that we cannot prove.

The proof has been hidden from us.

But if we believe, and follow the prophets and messengers, and stay away from what has been forbidden to us, all without definite knowledge, then we will be successful.

That’s the whole point.

What would be the point in having a test where the answer is right there in front of us?

It would be a complete waste of time.

So like I said.

I believe. In my inner most soul, it’s the unshakable truth. Based on my belief in what I can’t see and can’t prove to you.

Your claim is that my belief is wrong.

So go ahead.

Prove it.

@16, Have you ever thought for yourself?

Nah you believe in closed systems.

@22, like I said, never ending argument. Closed loop logic. To even have proof defeats the purpose of faith, therefore no proof required.

And if you did have proof, they wouldn’t believe it. Prolly cuz it’s all part of the “test”

Been that way for thousands of years, ever since man looked at the sun and thought, “ooh big shiney warm thing, how can I make you my friend?”.

Only the names we give the unexplainable have changed.

@KK:

Why do they think so?

I have no idea.

What if I said that all Jews were greedy misers who leech off of the masses and try to become government puppet masters?

What would you say then?

That it’s just an opinion?

How would that idea go down in Germany?

People say that Muslims don’t speak out against terrorism, but it’s complete nonsense, because whenever we do, we’re either too sensitive or it’s not enough.

I don’t feel sad or angry. I just pity these people.

The problem with religion is it’s entirely based on faith over a few books & the words of people who were attention seekers. Now I’m not attacking your faith, believe what you want, however YOUR faith shouldn’t be a negative influence to other peoples’ lives- even if it’s something as puny or irrelevant as removing some text from a video game. It’s about time all religions accept that others want nothing to do with their beliefs & shouldn’t be censored because of it.

#23

Yes I did, ever since I got my first smartphone…

Which is why I felt like recommending a mundane, accessible example like that to someone who comes across as terribly uneducated.

No religion in my VG247 pls thx.

“To even have proof defeats the purpose of faith, therefore no proof required.”

What are you talking about?

How is that a never ending argument?

It seemed to have had a definite ending, the way you wrote it.

@6: Please tell me you’re joking. PLEASE, for the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

@1: Actually it’s in Modern Warfare 3, article says it. I think Dave made a mistake there.

@26:

How about this…

They shouldn’t have put my religious texts in their game in the first place.

How does that ruffle your feathers?

It’s kind of ironic that a bunch of CoD haters have developed such strong feelings about a 3 year old game, all of a sudden.

@30:

Please tell me you’re serious! PLEASE!!

@30

@29, It’s a never ending argument in general GIGA geez. Atheists/theists have been arguing it over since before the Ancient Greeks.

@33:

Humour me.

Explain to me exactly why it’s never ending.

#31 You’ve won the internet.

Why did play CoD so long, when u wrote them a mail and they ignored your requests and gave a fuck about your believes and pleadings?

@31: Aren’t you the Call of Duty lover here? Why do you continue to buy the game that offend you so much? If a game would insult my Spaghetti Monster, i wouldn’t buy it.

@34. Ite never-ending because neither side can definitely prove their point can they. You can’t prove their is a god, only your belief in said deity.

An atheist can’t really prove their isn’t some god like deity actually sitting in the clouds watching its favorite soap, only their disbelief in the religion.

But of course this doesn’t stop both sides trying to prove their right with books & philosophy, rational thought & science etc.

Hence never ending. Theirs prolly been more books on the subject than even Da Man could google!!

I have that one sitting on my bookshelf, first read it when I was 15.

But please do keep going.

said deity.
Stopped here.. Obv you were educated by a fellow vg247 commenter.

@DM:

hehe…

@KK:

I don’t know if they ever even got my mail. I wrote it when CoD4 was pretty much the most popular game in the world. For all I knew, Acti got 10k emails a day, and mine got lost in some unchecked inbox, and is still there, unread, right now.

I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

Being an environment artist at the time, myself, I could see how it could happen, anyway.

I just wanted wanted to free myself from having seen the mistake that they made (and it was obviously a mistake, based on the huge caution that they took with the rest of the game) and not having done anything about it.

However, in CoD4, the texture was never in a toilet, or anything. I don’t actually remember noticing it in the toilet in Favela. Probably because that particular area is a high traffic hotspot, so you won’t be in there too long without getting killed.

Yeah, I still played the game. I just tried to never go in the buildings where the texture was.

It might seem strange to you, but this text is something very sacred to me.

I was disappointed that it was left in MW2 when I saw it, but I just kept hoping that they’d realise what happened sooner or later, and fix it.

And they have, so big respect to them for doing so.

@38
Awesome idea…I thought about this too. But you always get offended by the other side:
A muslim sees a sacred phrase in CoD, the map has go down and all non-Muslims cannot play this map.
So the muslim cannot accept the phrase and the other ones cannot accept this too because the map is gone. This is such a small, unimportant example and now we see all how big the probs in the RL are.

And seriously, how can both sides settle down? With accepting and tolerating. But this will never work.

When I go to Saudi Arabia, I accept and tolerate, that Muslim wifes and husbands cant kiss or hold hands in public, but I, as non-Muslim, cannot too,okay no problem. And when Muslims come to other countries (non-Islamic states) they have to accept and tolerate the living ways of other folks. We would live in a World of Peace and Acceptance.

What a beautiful utopian dream. But funny to debate about it, the topic is gonna more important from day to day, but instead of solving it, it gets hotter from day to day. But enough, I am out and should concentrate on this site, its connects us as gamer and should not separate us.

@40
Okay, thank you for this answer/statement.

I just think Muslim sensitivity training shouldn’t be necessary so we don’t accidentally offend everyone. Everyone gets offended al the time, why should we treat you guys so special?

“But of course this doesn’t stop both sides trying to prove their right with books & philosophy, rational thought & science etc.”

This is where you’re confusing yourself.

You just said: To even have proof defeats the purpose of faith, therefore no proof required.

So you’re not going to find me in a lab somewhere, trying to come up with the mathematical formula to prove absolutely anything to anyone.

You admit that as a believer, I don’t need to bring any proof.

So your “never ending argument” actually goes something like this:

A: I believe in God.
B: Prove that God exists!
A: I don’t have to, that’s why it’s called a belief.
B: Errrr… ok. Well I don’t believe, you’ve shown me no proof! Haha!
A: That’s up to you, fella. There’s no compulsion on you to do anything.
B: Ok…
The end.

Not quite never ending, then, is it?

@43: Because they’d probably kill us if we don’t? Remember the Mohammed drawings?

^ Idiot.

@43:

I think you’ll find that everyone deserves respect. That doesn’t mean that you respect everyone in exactly the same way, but everyone deserves to be respected.

You can’t justify calling someone else’s mum a slag, just because you do it to your own mum all the time.

If you want to offend someone, offend yourself and show respect to others.

@44, You say there’s no compulsion to do anything but then why are they removing a map?

@46, I would call someone else’s mother a slag if she were one. I do agree that everybody should be respectful, but that doesn’t mean we should all tiptoe around acts of hypersensitivity. Especially by one of the most insensitive cultures in this day & age.

Muslims need to develop a tougher skin, they get their knickers in a twister all too easily, and it’s exactly this type of pussyfooting around them that is the cause of it. Maybe if we mock them enough for their silly beliefs as we do to all the other silly religions they will toughen up and stop getting butthurt every time some clown trolls them.

Also Favela was one of the best maps on MW2, taking it offline is stupid.

It should be OK to discriminate against religious people. Not to abuse them or anything, but I think it’s reasonable to want to exclude them from positions of power etc. I’m sick of having to respect people’s beliefs when they’re clearly idiotic. Mormonism and Scientology lead me to this point as they’re relatively new and the obvious nonsense is a lot more traceable, but what I’ve took from them can just as easily be applied to all the major religions.

@DaMan,
“Have you read Master and Margarita, OrbitMonkey?”

I’m sure you never read it anyway because it’s “THE Master and Margarita”. Dumbass.