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Religion Meets Virtual Reality: Christianity-Themed VR Demo Scheduled For Easter (nbcnews.com)
"Anyone looking to experience God in a brand new way will soon have his or her chance -- virtually," writes NBC News, reporting on "a new immersive faith-based virtual reality experience...part of a larger project created by L. Michelle Media called Mission VR." An anonymous reader writes:
The company was founded "to create a signature virtual reality environment -- a faith world of sorts -- where dynamic, never before seen, Christian lifestyle stories and experiences could have a home." Demos have been timed to coincide with this weekend's Easter celebration, while the official launch happens later this spring. Viewers will apparently experience biographical stories combining VR applications and YouTube videos to showcase the power of belief. "Up until now, we've only been able to watch Christianity from a third person perspective -- preached sermons, music videos, interviews, even reality shows..." says the founder of Mission VR. "This is the future of Christian programming."
But one reverend told NBC that VR worlds could be dangerous because they "may take people from community and from the incarnational aspects of Christian life... [W]e always run a very serious risk that the medium overtakes the message... What we must do is guard against the use of technology through market logic where people become brands and all things spiritual become commoditized."
But one reverend told NBC that VR worlds could be dangerous because they "may take people from community and from the incarnational aspects of Christian life... [W]e always run a very serious risk that the medium overtakes the message... What we must do is guard against the use of technology through market logic where people become brands and all things spiritual become commoditized."
I was going to make a snarky joke here but there are so many I can't even pick one
This is bullshit. Even if God isn't real, community is, and that's pretty much all I can say about that.
Christians use technology to share their faith. At least one Christian expresses concern that this might interfere with his interpretation of what Christianity is. Other Christians probably see it as a tool to better engage people in their interpretation of Christianity.
Hmmm... I personally like the NASA VR experiences of Mars better and I also like playing Minecraft on Oculus. I suppose this is just posted here as flame bait?
There's been a really cool 3D visualization of the Sistine Chapel out for some time now. It's a great way to appreciate it.
I'm certain that when all your religious holidays have been preempted with massive consumer frenzies, you're message has been already overtaken.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to eat this chocolate bunny butt first.
In one way, this could help religion by providing people with a religious experience or even a very realistic recreation of religious events, connecting people to the origins and mythology.
In another way, religions could view it as a threat. I've read several times that psychedelic drugs were often suppressed by religions because they provided people with a transcendental experience not controlled by the religion. I can see someone producing a slick VR religion program that's not endorsed or controlled by mainstream religions being seen as a big threat.
So in this VR world, are the Pyramids grain stores?
and people come to realize that they wasted time perfecting a skill that doesn't work. How to salvage the situation? Create a VR game where prayers do work!
My idea of hell.
Jim, meet David. David, this is Jim.
American jihad is at it again.
Stupid cunts.
This is hardly the first religious game/experience and it certainly won't be the last: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_video_games
I had the (dis)pleasure of playing Super Noah's Ark in my lifetime, don't count on me jumping for joy over the VR experience.
proJduct, BSD's would you like to
Or did y'all watch the movie instead of reading the book?
(Keywords: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Mercerism, Empathy Box)
They've also built a virtual-Messiah twitter account. It's first tweet was, "I drew much bigger crowds than Moses. Believe me."
You are welcome on my lawn.
Tried it out but I'm not sure I did it right.
*At the crucifixion*
Me> Bro, that looks painful, you need some help?
J> Uhh... I'm dying fo-
Me> I hear ya! Let me just equip a hatchet and-oh here we go.
J> No, you don't understand I'm daying for your-
Me> For my help, yeah dont' worry just gimme a few more seconds! I'll cast resurrect if you don't make it.
J> That's noooOOOT-
Me> TIMBER!
*Game segfaults*
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
"This is the future of Christian programming."
Or am I?
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
...a faith world
Nonsense is so entertaining. Okay, not really.
If this technology shows promise in spreading the Good News and making more disciples of Jesus Christ, then we will use it. Just like the printing press, radio, and internet before it. if it's just a distraction or poor use of resources, as I suspect it is, we'll just go with what works.
Virtual Zombie Jesus
Don't let him catch you. He will consume your soul.
At least this puts christian theology back where it belongs: in the land of make believe.
Now let's all watch the faithful numpties mod me down for daring to insult their delusional fairy tale....
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Religion Meets Virtual Reality: Christianity-Themed VR Demo Scheduled For Easter
So...virtual reality meets virtual reality.
My work here is done. yoink!
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Mystical is in your head. Reinforce something and....
https://thehumanist.com/magazi...
In recent years Persinger set out to investigate so-called âoemysticalâ experiences under controlled laboratory conditions. He got volunteers to wear a helmet fitted with a set of magnets through which he ran a weak electromagnetic signal. Persinger found that the magnetically induced seizures in the temporal lobes generate the same sort of hallucinations and mystical experiences reported by epileptic patients. Four in five people, he says, report a âoemystical experience, the feeling that there is a sentient being or entity standing behind or nearâ them. Some weep, some feel God has touched them, others become frightened and talk of demons and evil spirits. âoeThatâ(TM)s in the laboratory,â Persinger notes, referring to subjectsâ(TM) knowledge of a controlled environment. âoeHow much more intense might these experiences be if they happened late at night, or in a pew in a mosque or synagogue?â
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I suspect they'll "forget" to model 2 Kings 2:24, or any of the other awkward moments. https://www.kingjamesbibleonli...
Putting faith in God is great. Putting your faith in claims that other humans make about God is stupid.
When you put your faith in the Bible, and your church's interpretation of the Bible, you aren't putting your faith in God. You are putting your faith in the humans that wrote the Bible, the humans that translated it to English, and the humans who tell you how to interpret it.
You can't get around this with the "all scripture is God-breathed" argument...that claim is made by humans. And, as every Christian knows, humans are fallible.
If you choose to believe in the nightmare-universe in which the overwhelming majority of people are kept alive forever just so that God can keep torturing them without end...you owe it to yourself to have a damn good reason for believing. "Because a bunch of humans wrote about it a long time ago" is a terrible reason.
I grew up in a Christian home, so I’m one of those people who rebelled against their up-bringing, etc., etc. People like me also get riled up by Christian fundamentalists, like those weirdo creationists who are the poster chldren for cherry-picking evidence. Personally, it’s more important to me to experience the excitement of a new scientific discovery than to derive some kind of false comfort from an ancient philosophy. Nevertheless, I can see its value for others.
The truth is that we all live in a world of delusions. Even in science, we know that the latest and greatest or most advanced theories are just approximations of reality, so we choose to apply what we know now as if it were true because it gets the job done. Improved versions of the theories in the future may or may not get the job done better. (Relativity and QM don’t always improve over Newtonian physics, because the added complexity is usually not worth the often immeasureable improvement in accuracy.)
In many ways, religion is effective as a meditative philosophy. Things like yoga, martial arts, Buddhism, etc. all come with psychological/spiritial/traditional baggage beyond the practical effects of teaching discpline, exercise, and other things. But people actually NEED a basis for finding emotional comfort and psychological stability, and religions often get the job done (even if they’re mosty fictional). Do we pick on people for reading fantasy novels, watching Star Trek, and playing video games? It’s all the same.
As Richard Dawkins has said, compared to “certain” relgions, Christianity is relatively benign. And choosing between one “relatively benign” religion and another is like choosing between Karate and Kung Fu and also indulging in the quasi-religious philosophies that come with them. 6 of one, half dozen of another. What difference does it make which delusion you choose? The value in choosing one is the comfort or practical value it brings you. And for many peolpe, they are involved in their religion primarily to belong to a community, with the beliefs being secondary.
Yes, there are those prominent people that turn religion into a weapon, tell you all about how you’re going to hell if you don’t believe EXACTLY as they do, etc. Well, there are “scientists” who regularly engage in fabrication and falsification. Computers have no positive or negative moral aspect per se, but there are people who utilize them to commit crimes. We don’t disavow something just because some assholes abuse it. And we don’t completely disavow something just because it contains ideas we realize are inaccurate.
When we want to pick on Christians, maybe the first representative we think of is Ken Ham. Yeah. He’s a bad guy. (He doesn’t mean to be, but he causes a lot of damage.) Instead, why not think of Kenneth Miller? Despite being a devout Catholic, he has been one of the most vocal opponents to religious bullshit impinging on science since the 1970s. We could all use him as a role model. And BTW, he benefits from his religion.
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What we must do is guard against the use of technology through market logic where people become brands and all things spiritual become commoditized.
My upbringing taught that religious music was a deliverance of gospel and the performer would have objected vehemently to any attention to self via admiration or applause because the gift was presented by God Himself.
Now it's a goddam industry.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Now people that believe in things that do not exist can actually see them!
Next we'll upgrade to virtual priests so we won't waste humans to perform non-value-add tasks.
Rejoice my heathen brothers, this is progress!
I wonder if such a tool could be used to improve human health and treat certain medical conditions. People who struggle with managing stress or who suffer from certain mental illnesses can benefit from finding faith. I don't question at all that some people experience benefits to mental health from religion and faith. If VR can be used to help mentally ill patients have a religious experience and find faith, it's entirely possible that this could be used as a medical treatment. Despite all the criticisms of religion in other threads, I definitely think this could benefit people if used properly.
Those self-appointed men of God have long used technology to perpetuate their scamming.
I can see artistic merit in a Christian VR experience. Of course my wish would be a VR experience of one of the great old world Cathedrals while a chorus sings Gregorian chant. If it were well done it would have enough artistic merit standing on its own to be a worthy experience regardless of one's religiosity.
I'll be here until sunday...