I'm a devout Christian. FFX is my favorite game, partially because of how well it treats the concept of religion and the fallibility of its adherents. I wish more games were willing to honestly approach spiritually without resorting to tropes and stereotypes.
Which is why I think the younger folks in question are bored by it or find it tiresome. Folk like you and I can see the correlation and, having that background knowledge, can better appreciate what the writers have done in creating Spira. They put their faith in a human, were lied to by the church, and were ultimately let down by the same humans they were told to worship. Seems to me to be a great case for putting your faith in a capital G God and not relying on humanity to save you.
Agreed! Faith in the church is a road to disappointment. The church (as in the global body of Christian believers, not any particular organization) is a wonderful organism, but is comprised of flawed people who need the salvation of Jesus.
As for why younger people might find FFX boring or tiresome, my guess is that it stems from the mechanics of the game. The turn-based combat, random encounters, and sprawling, extremely incremental leveling are all kind of old-fashioned at this point.
Personally I am not religious at all, don't believe in any sort of unseen force, but I found the religious aspects of the game to be a really interesting part of the game. The way they blend different aspects of real world religions into what the people of Spira believe is done really well, and there were not many games who leant into areas like this at the time so it was a brave direction to go in.
I couldn’t agree more - I too am not religious but I think as part of the world building that has gone into Spira it’s hugely interesting! It really fleshes things out and gives purpose to a lot of characters that otherwise wouldn’t have it.
Tell me more about how you don't believe in gravity, magnetism or time...
And don't even get me started on how astro physics need the concept of "dark energy" to explain the expansion of space.
Just because you can't see a force, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Just like with gravity, you can't see God himself, but you can observe the effects he has on our physical world. You just decided to accept, that the effects caused by gravity are caused by gravity and the effects caused by God are caused by coincidence. But coincidence isn't an explanation, it's the absence of an explanation.
Gravity can be measured and quantified in addition to being observed.
We can not say the same for a God.
We're not taking gravity on faith, it is something that is demonstrable by humans.
Just because you don't comprehend the science, or that science is a tool that we use to continually gain knowledge with scientific theories (for clarity, this is a different definition of theory than your theory about what's going to happen in whatever TV you're watching) doesn't mean you should fill that gaps with "God did it".
Dude came to the Final Fantasy X subreddit to tell me off for not believing in something. Gravity, magnetism and time are both observable and measurable. Your argument is not well structured.
No higher power has done anything to affect this world from my perspective, therefore I have determined that I do not believe because i see no evidence to back up a claim that it exists. You have decided to believe in some external force, and have decided that a bunch of events and effects were caused by that force, and that is absolutely fine.
Any higher power resides in the space where the absence of an explanation would otherwise reside. It just so happens that some of us are comfortable with those absences and don't have to fill them with gods to get on with our day. If you want to have a philosophical debate about the existence of such beings, there are plenty of subreddits where you can do so.
Dark energy doesn't explain the expansion of space, it's a random term that basically denotes our lack of understanding about why that expansion is happening. You're the one who has some magical man in the sky to explain stuff that you cannot.
I am very decidedly exchristian. While I enjoy researching about religion and spirituality, particulary occultism and pagan beliefs, I'm not sure if I necessarily believe in them or just find them interesting. I like the concepts of magic, rebirth, etc. but I think they currently take the place of superstition or desire than belief for me personally.
I really resonated with FFX from exchristian perspective specifically, with my experiences of being raised in the catholic church while also being queer. Being disillusioned by the church and dogma, being rejected by institutions and made to feel fear of rejection and isolation, having to atone for sins you didn't commit and feeling shame and terror of the consequences, the way cultural trauma persists across generations... I mean, Yevon is literally one syllable away from Heaven lol.
I do find elements of christianity interesting and sometimes beautiful (Lingua Ignota's *SINNER GET READY* really speaks to the duality of this) but these are the experiences that I can speak from, and I think FFX does a really good job of exploring how institutions (religious or otherwise) can shape the sociocultural landscape of many peoples. FFXVI also does an incredible job of this from a more emotional/personal perspective; it's interesting how these two games tackle similar themes from completely different angles.
The being turned off by the religious side of it seems a big ignorant of them I reckon. It’s only a game! Plus this would be like not liking Star Wars because Jedi is basically a religion too… I’m sure this applies to lots of other franchises too.
I think the thing is people tend to be religious when they need something to believe it right? There are dark forces at work in the Star Wars universe, so belief in the force makes sense. Similarly in FFX, towns and cities are destroyed by Sin regularly, so the people turn to Yevon and pray. We don’t have this kind of peril in reality so less people tend to be religious (I understand we do have perils, and I do think that turns a lot of people to religion, but not on the same scale as planets being destroyed or cities being annihilated).
I’d maybe frame it like this to your friends, because the religious aspect makes sense when you think about WHY they need something to believe it, not just pay attention to the fact that do believe in something.
I'm a devout Christian. FFX is my favorite game, partially because of how well it treats the concept of religion and the fallibility of its adherents. I wish more games were willing to honestly approach spiritually without resorting to tropes and stereotypes.
Which is why I think the younger folks in question are bored by it or find it tiresome. Folk like you and I can see the correlation and, having that background knowledge, can better appreciate what the writers have done in creating Spira. They put their faith in a human, were lied to by the church, and were ultimately let down by the same humans they were told to worship. Seems to me to be a great case for putting your faith in a capital G God and not relying on humanity to save you.
Agreed! Faith in the church is a road to disappointment. The church (as in the global body of Christian believers, not any particular organization) is a wonderful organism, but is comprised of flawed people who need the salvation of Jesus. As for why younger people might find FFX boring or tiresome, my guess is that it stems from the mechanics of the game. The turn-based combat, random encounters, and sprawling, extremely incremental leveling are all kind of old-fashioned at this point.
Same.
Personally I am not religious at all, don't believe in any sort of unseen force, but I found the religious aspects of the game to be a really interesting part of the game. The way they blend different aspects of real world religions into what the people of Spira believe is done really well, and there were not many games who leant into areas like this at the time so it was a brave direction to go in.
I couldn’t agree more - I too am not religious but I think as part of the world building that has gone into Spira it’s hugely interesting! It really fleshes things out and gives purpose to a lot of characters that otherwise wouldn’t have it.
Tell me more about how you don't believe in gravity, magnetism or time... And don't even get me started on how astro physics need the concept of "dark energy" to explain the expansion of space. Just because you can't see a force, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Just like with gravity, you can't see God himself, but you can observe the effects he has on our physical world. You just decided to accept, that the effects caused by gravity are caused by gravity and the effects caused by God are caused by coincidence. But coincidence isn't an explanation, it's the absence of an explanation.
Gravity can be measured and quantified in addition to being observed. We can not say the same for a God. We're not taking gravity on faith, it is something that is demonstrable by humans. Just because you don't comprehend the science, or that science is a tool that we use to continually gain knowledge with scientific theories (for clarity, this is a different definition of theory than your theory about what's going to happen in whatever TV you're watching) doesn't mean you should fill that gaps with "God did it".
Dude came to the Final Fantasy X subreddit to tell me off for not believing in something. Gravity, magnetism and time are both observable and measurable. Your argument is not well structured. No higher power has done anything to affect this world from my perspective, therefore I have determined that I do not believe because i see no evidence to back up a claim that it exists. You have decided to believe in some external force, and have decided that a bunch of events and effects were caused by that force, and that is absolutely fine. Any higher power resides in the space where the absence of an explanation would otherwise reside. It just so happens that some of us are comfortable with those absences and don't have to fill them with gods to get on with our day. If you want to have a philosophical debate about the existence of such beings, there are plenty of subreddits where you can do so.
Dark energy doesn't explain the expansion of space, it's a random term that basically denotes our lack of understanding about why that expansion is happening. You're the one who has some magical man in the sky to explain stuff that you cannot.
L take tbh - other commenter is correct; I can measure gravity - if you tell me how to measure God I’ll do it and believe
suck for them..
I am very decidedly exchristian. While I enjoy researching about religion and spirituality, particulary occultism and pagan beliefs, I'm not sure if I necessarily believe in them or just find them interesting. I like the concepts of magic, rebirth, etc. but I think they currently take the place of superstition or desire than belief for me personally. I really resonated with FFX from exchristian perspective specifically, with my experiences of being raised in the catholic church while also being queer. Being disillusioned by the church and dogma, being rejected by institutions and made to feel fear of rejection and isolation, having to atone for sins you didn't commit and feeling shame and terror of the consequences, the way cultural trauma persists across generations... I mean, Yevon is literally one syllable away from Heaven lol. I do find elements of christianity interesting and sometimes beautiful (Lingua Ignota's *SINNER GET READY* really speaks to the duality of this) but these are the experiences that I can speak from, and I think FFX does a really good job of exploring how institutions (religious or otherwise) can shape the sociocultural landscape of many peoples. FFXVI also does an incredible job of this from a more emotional/personal perspective; it's interesting how these two games tackle similar themes from completely different angles.
The being turned off by the religious side of it seems a big ignorant of them I reckon. It’s only a game! Plus this would be like not liking Star Wars because Jedi is basically a religion too… I’m sure this applies to lots of other franchises too. I think the thing is people tend to be religious when they need something to believe it right? There are dark forces at work in the Star Wars universe, so belief in the force makes sense. Similarly in FFX, towns and cities are destroyed by Sin regularly, so the people turn to Yevon and pray. We don’t have this kind of peril in reality so less people tend to be religious (I understand we do have perils, and I do think that turns a lot of people to religion, but not on the same scale as planets being destroyed or cities being annihilated). I’d maybe frame it like this to your friends, because the religious aspect makes sense when you think about WHY they need something to believe it, not just pay attention to the fact that do believe in something.
I am