Winning Souls In World Of Warcraft

Steve Rock writes "Many of us have heard about the various ways in which real life and massively-multiplayer role playing games intersect, which usually involves the exchange of in-game characters or items for real life money. Well apparently religion is spilling over into World of Warcraft." From the article: "We meet under the docks in Booty Bay for a bible study every Tuesday night."

Comments

Also from the article

[McKinney83]

"I doubt any of them play sports so you can pretty much guess that there are lots of gay boys and fat little pale-faced Wiccan girls on the servers who hate themselves and escape into virtual characters so they don't have to deal with their pathetic lives."

Re:Also from the article

[Jorkapp]

They left out the fact that those gay boys and fat little pale-faced wiccan girls have credit cards (or at least a job to buy prepaid cards).

I highly doubt those described characters would want to piss away $20/mo (or whatever it is) to escape their pathetic lives in a video game. More than likely, they would escape their lives in something like Counter-Strike Source for a one-time cost, or simply use Alcohol (if they're of age), or just spend the $400 on a gun.

Funny, but...

[tyoob]

Everything on landoverbaptist.org is crap, of course. I'd hate to think anyone's going to take this seriously.

I thought Landover Baptist was satire, right?

[bartkusa]

...I mean, it is, isn't it?

Please?

Re:I thought Landover Baptist was satire, right?

[Ayaress]

Yes, it is. The other day, when the Tsunami fish story got up, I submitted this exact same story just to see if it would go through (although I included the site's "free PS2" giveaway page as a sort of tip-off that it was fake for the industrious reader). I was actually relieved an hour later when I saw the "Rejected" tag on the submission. I guess I shouldn't have been quite so relieved, since they only rejected me because somebody else had already submitted the story.

Just look around the site, and it'll eventually become very clear the site is satire. Though, I should point out that my local news paper (which has as much journalistic integrity as the Sun) referenced it's christmas "evil toy" list, and also a particular (very loud) Baptist priest in my city supposedly uses it to prepare his sermons. I suppose that makes it either good or bad satire, since it can be hard at first glance to tell wether or not it's for real.

On a related note, this sort of thing does actually happen. A couple years back in Dransik, there was a player known as Bob the Warrior. He dedicated half his in-game time to saving people's souls, wether they needed it, wanted it, or not, and the other half to trying to convince rich players to give him Rune armor before it corrupted their souls. He never accomplished either, but he did manage to become one of the most hated people in the game to that point outside the guilds FU and AoS.

He was even more obnoxious than the ficticious guy in this story, to the point that he couldn't even leave town without being followed by somebody who he'd angered with the intent of killing him. My guild at the time was a neutral trading guild and generally avoided the major guild wars, but even we listed him as KOS.

He eventually accused me of persecuting him for his faith, demanding that me, all my guild mate and everybody we've associated with be permanantly banned and all their items given to him (with such a small game, this effectively amounts to 90% of the server population) and when the facts of the matter came to light (chat logs, screenshots, etc), he ended up with an IP ban and was never heard from again.

Re:I thought Landover Baptist was satire, right?

[Schemat1c]

Ive heard that there are some americans who take religion very seriously but surely that couldnt be this bad!

In my early 20's I got a case of what a friend of mine likes to call AOC(Adult Onset Christianity). And speaking as a former victim of this horrible mind virus I can say that they can very well be this bad and much, much worse.

Congratulations

[Anonymous Coward]

Congratulations, you've managed to post a troll site on Slashdot.

If you look at the content on this site, it's either obviously fake or belongs to a cult, none of what they have posted is even remotely close to any church I've ever been to.

I suggest deleting this story and forgetting someone ever submitted it.

Re:Congratulations

[Attaturk]

I suggest deleting this story and forgetting someone ever submitted it.

That's funny. Whenever I accuse the church of adopting that strategy I get in trouble. ;-)

Re:Congratulations

[Entropius]

"[N]one of what they have posted is even remotely close to any church I've ever been to."

You've not been to Alabama, have you?

Re:Congratulations

[Temporal]

Congratulations, you totally missed the fact that this story is tagged "humor".

Re:Congratulations

[DarkFencer]

Actually it is marked that way on slashdot, but not overtly. The 'Foot' icon that is shown (below the FF2 icon for rpg) is for humor. Its a Monty Python thing.

Hilarious

[rogueuk]

That whole web site is hilarious. Apparently not too many people realize it's a joke..as seen here

Re:Hilarious

[malakai]

Look at the ad on the bottom of that JesusSave.us site: http://www.preparingdaughters.com/
"PreparingDaughters.com, Dedidcated to building up Godly young ladies. *Now With Recipes!*"

Jesus H. Christ, they're cooking their children! These sickos must be stopped.

Re:Hilarious

[dougmc]

Hydrogen Monoxide has killed over 100,000 people THIS YEAR ALONE.

Hydrogen monoxide? You mean dihydrogen monoxide, also known as hydrogen hydroxide?

I believe the death toll you're referring to is over 200,000 people now, but it can't be purely blamed on DHMO -- large amounts of monosodium chloride was also found on the deceased, for example.

Also, when you say `this year alone', you should be more specific. You mean in the `previous 365 days', right? Not `2005 so far' ...

LOL

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

Great troll, and slashdot fell for it. I actually believed the website until I came to this line: "I have a hot-key macro that broadcasts, Jesus Loves You! Please Love Him Back or He Will Burn You in Hell! PM Me if you want to learn more!

Of course, to recognize the troll, it helps to have been a fundimentalist Christian in one of your past lives...

Re:LOL

[Ayaress]

I'm not sure if the Baptists in Saginaw are a breed apart or not, but that sort of speech isn't that unusual at all. The only way I can distinguish this site from any of the pamphlets that gets stuffed in my door jam every Sunday morning is the free PS2 giveaway in the sidebar and the WWJD thongs.

In other news from the site...

[HotNeedleOfInquiry]

Sign your kid up for Vacation Bible Gun Camp

Please tell me that people know this is satire

[Meiyo Neko]

If one were to actually take a glance at the Terms of Service Agreement they would have noticed, "The Landover Baptist Church is a complete work of fiction. It is a satire/parody."

Umm, humour?

[mrpuffypants]

I really hope that everybody realizes this story is a hoax...

Landover Baptist is the same 'church' that sells Jesus thongs and other terribly funny stuff.

The same guys that run Landover Baptist also do WhiteHouse.org

Re:This guy calls himself a Christian?

[Attaturk]

What we want is MMORPG where the Christian meetings have to be held in secret for fear of all the attendees getting crucified and/or thrown to the lions. Oh wait, there already is one and it's in my sig! ;-)

Gotta love the adverts..

[euxneks]

I saw this on an advertisement in the article:

WWJD Thongs

Absolutely Classic.

Landover Baptist is a joke, but not ToJ...

[Kevin143]

There really is a WoW Christian Guild, named God's Peons. They are a chapter of the Tribe of Judah.

The best part of the ToJ webpage is the FAQ about why Mormon's can't join the Tribe.

Re:Landover Baptist is a joke, but not ToJ...

[theantix]

That's delicious! A *Christian* arguing that *another religious group* has no evidence to support their outrageous claims and that the text is self-contradictory. Pot, meet kettle... kettle, say hello to my good friend pot. And while we're at it... someone call Alanis Morisette, because it sounds to that it's like rain on your wedding day, don't you think?

as stated already

[ptrangerv8]

why was this even posted?

normally I don't bitch about the stories posted on /. but c'mon - this is a well known satirical site....

I almost bought it untill I saw the link..

Re:Satire or not...

[Ayaress]

It's a joke on a particular facet of the Christian community. Your in the same boat I am on it: There are so many people who actually act like that that it's not immediately clear wether or not it's a joke.

Hard to take them seriously

[panzerjedi]

I find it hard to take them seriously when they start out by insulting the people who play the game, referring to us as lonely low lifes that are either gay or fat. My they have an open mind. I also like how they admit to spamming the general chat with their message of "God".

It's also hard to take them seriously when there is an ad on the bottom of he page for a thong that says "What would Jesus do?".

Time for a can of whoop ass

[Bruha]

" Billy has what gamers call, a Level 57 Undead Priest with Holy Focus. "I'm also in one of the largest Christian guilds on our server," he says. "I think the reason so many people are open to hearing about Jesus in the World of Warcraft is because the majority of people who play the game are lonely kids who don't have any friends. I doubt any of them play sports so you can pretty much guess that there are lots of gay boys and fat little pale-faced Wiccan girls on the servers who hate themselves and escape into virtual characters so they don't have to deal with their pathetic lives. When they hear that someone loves them, even if it is just the Lord Jesus Christ, they always want to hear more!""

I'd love to see this jackass. I mean I spent 5 years of basically hell in the military protecting his damn free speech rights and whatnot and just to hear someone like this who claims to be a Christian spew forth crap like that just plain pisses me off.

I think he needs to be eyeing his purity a little closer than saying were a bunch of moon faced wiccan fags with no friends.

I'll get modded down for this...

[Wyatt Earp]

But, this is exactly why I won't pay for /. Crap editing, dups and crap submissions. This is /. not Fark. If we are going this far with /, where are the Boobies links?

Very Un-Christian Behaviour

[queenb**ch]

If you don't agree to accept their religion, they use their character to kill yours. Hmmm...that seems to violate both the old and new testament. Old Testament - Thou shalt not kill.
New Testament - Love thy neighbor as thy self.

They protest about being stereo typed but they offer up a pretty grim stereo type of gamers that isn't even accurate. Stastically speaking, the average gamer is 23 year old male with a life who likes to game to blow off steam.

I personally like to game. I scuba, rollerblade, and ride horses when I'm not gaming, so I'd say that the no sports thing is probably a wash too.

Then they actually brag about following people around to annoy them in to converting or staging "conversion duels". Frankly, if they are free to express their religion, I'm free to express mine.

BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP ME NOW, PUNY MORTAL!!!!

Re:Very Un-Christian Behaviour

[slaker]

Having spent more than a little bit of time on that site, living in a place where such unctious Jesusland behavior is an accepted norm, and given the attitude of offense certain people take at the particular flavor of satire, all I can say is,

If you look at that site, and cannot instantly tell that it is meant to be humorous, you completely and utterly deserve the mockery and scorn of everyone else who can.

The authors of that site have a very valid message that is delivered very effectively. If you're offended as a xtian, why don't you take some time and convince those xtians you know who DO act like that to stop behaving in the ways that landoverbaptist lampoons?

Remember while you're being offended at someone who can make fun of your religion, that the evangelical xtian community didn't get upset when Jerry Falwell blamed 9/11 on gays and feminists, and George W. "Born Again" Bush has in the past publicly described the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as "Crusades". These are not exactly folks with shining ideals of tolerance and goodwill. Kind of makes me think that "people are what they claim to be" is only true if you START from the point of view of Landoverbaptist, at least as far as evangelical-types go. If you feel that their humor is in poor taste, just remember that those on the other side feels much the same way about you.

It's funny because...

[ikewillis]

Landover Baptist has to be the most prominent religious parody on the Internet and yet people still believe it's real...

Re:It's funny because...

[goatan]

Landover Baptist has to be the most prominent religious parody on the Internet and yet people still believe it's real...

Probably because it's still not much of an exageration.

Oh, the complaints

[jgoemat]

When I first read the snippet, I thought "Here may be an insightful article on the intersection of religion and virtual reality games." Then I clicked on the link and saw that it takes you to the Landover Baptist Church website. Check out some more articles from them:

• Kids! Accept Jesus Christ as Your Lord and Savior and Get a Free PlayStation 2!
• Speak in Tongues in 5-Days or Your Money Back!

  Landover Baptist Ministries puts its reputation on the line by promising to retain only 85% of the $2,304 cost of this deluxe one DVD set if you are not completely satisfied -- all you have to do is tell us you weren't 100% happy and pay the $350 shipping costs and allow the Landover Baptist Sin Patrol to scan your hard drive to ensure you didn't make a copy of this proprietary software -- or have photographs or movies that Pastor Deacon Fred has deemed after careful study to be offensive or sickening."

• Lucifer's Toy Chest

  Leap Start Learning Table - Marketed to Caucasian children and Colored adults, this so-called "Learning Table" spits out lies about math, science and other secular bunk Christ-haters teach in public schools. We suggest you just start your toddler out with an illustrated King James Bible and a spanking instead.

• How to Prosper During the Coming Financial Apocalypse

  8. Dispossess any children you even THINK might be gay before they're rounded up. Cut your losses now.

• What to Do With a Sissy Boy Who Says "No" to Sports

  2. If your boy approaches you in a contemplative manner about giving up sports (that is, he hasn't quite made up his mind, but is just coming to you for advice), hold your hand up with the backside toward his face and smack him firmly across his cheeks repeatedly until he cries like a little sissy. This is called, "bitch slapping." It is a humiliating and extremely effective way of showing your boy that he is embarrassing you by acting like a little girl.

• Penis-Shaped, Talking Masturbation Teaching Toy Marketed to Pre-Teen Girls!
• The Easter Bunny: A Deadly and Dangerous Trick From Satan!
• Good News For Christian Video Gamers! Unreal Tournament 2004® Bible Based Maps and Characters are on the Way!

  UPaint Software was used to create Bible Characters like Jesus for the Bible Blood Bath Christian Map Pack used with Unreal Tournament 2003.

• The "Return of the King" is NOT About Jesus!

  ... had many Christians convinced they were going to witness the final battle in the valley of Armageddon. As it turns out, unlike the KJV Bible, the film is just a silly made-up fantasy story written by some old homo in England.

• Book Burning Safety Tips

You guys can tell that this is a satirical web site, right?

Re:If you're offended as a xtian??

[slaker]

Do you understand the difference between parody and hatred?

Do you understand that everything under landoverbaptist is a very subtle dig at some attitudes in desperate need of exactly the treatment given there?

The very fact that some humorless evangelical can't tell the difference between Landoverbaptist and the real, scary kind of evangelical rhetoric suggests to me that perhaps some of that scary rhetoric needs to change.

Re:If you're offended as a xtian??

[LWATCDR]

" Do you understand the difference between parody and hatred?"

Yes I do. But this article was not presented on Slashdot as a parody. Do you not understand the difference between parody and hatred? One is intent. If someone put up a parody showing all Muslims as terrorists would you call it a parody? Sure the south park guys got away with it but they did it using puppets. This really looked like a news article and the way it was linked was linked in Slashdot was misleading. If you think otherwise take a look at the comments.

As too some real scary kind of evangelical rhetoric needing to change. Of course there is! There is all sorts of real scary rhetoric of all kinds that need to be changed but labeling all Christians with it is as wrong as saying all follower of Islam are terrorists, all Jews hate all Arabs, all blacks hate all whites, all whites hate all blacks.
It is just wrong and hateful. Every bit as bad as some of the "Christan" sites that you may take offense too.