Tech & Biz

E3: Dante's Inferno Protested by Churchgoers

by cyn.khoo | June 3, 2009 at 12:58 pm

1212 views | 2 Recommendations | 5 comments

A group of protesters holding signs stood outside the entrance of the E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) video game conference at the Los Angeles Convention Centre earlier today. They were protesting the release and display of a video game based on the literary classic Dante's Inferno, created by Electronic Arts (EA).

The protesters, who came from a church in Ventura County, held signs with slogans such as "trade in your playstation for a praystation" and "EA = anti-Christ" as they marched and handed out a homemade brochure that warns, "a video game hero does not have the authority to save and damn... ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE. and he will not judge the sinners who play this game kindly."

Church member Matthew Francis asked a reporter to pass the protesters' message on to EA executives, as they could not enter the centre.

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Roy C

at 22:08 on June 3rd, 2009

Interesting reaction to Dante, and typical of the history of the book. Dante was himself accused of heresy and some think that the Knights Templar took a different version of Christian thought back with them to Italy, one based on Christianity and Egyptian alchemy and Syrian Pythagoreanism.

What is really a ahame here is that these people reduce a great religion to what they will tolerate of it and then decry anyting more complex, such as Dante.

bill thorp (not verified)

at 23:03 on June 3rd, 2009

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/edom78/DI_AD.jpg

I hope this is the real deal... if so they took this and ran with it...

ahahah

NKDBY

at 05:37 on June 4th, 2009

I couldn't help but have the feeling that this was a stunt pulled off by EA themselves. I Kept shooting the photos because either way it is news worthy.

cyn.khoo

at 01:12 on June 12th, 2009

"What is really a shame here is that these people reduce a great religion to what they will tolerate of it and then decry anyting more complex." - great point; nicely put, and sums up a lot of how organized religion goes wrong, I think

Bill Thorp, well, the actual story of Dante's Inferno IS based in Hell, so it would've still been natural for them to do that without the protesters...

NKDBY - Who knows? Thanks for contributing!