According to Dutch university graduate Theo Zijderveld, WoW could be considered a religion as it meets the four dimensions required to constitute one by French sociologist Danil Hervieu-Lger's: Community, ethics, culture and emotion.
There is certainly a healthy WoW community, the rules could be considered ethics, the Warcraft Mythos or Lore is the culture and the emotion is the feeling we get from playing WoW.
"You have to level up as a way of self-realization. It can be very spiritual," said Zijderveld. He concludes "In the Western world where the grand narrative has largely disappeared, virtual worlds can mediate the search for identity and spirituality. "
Read his full write-up in the subject here.
Friday, January 30, 2009
World of Warcraft is being Considered a Religion?
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WoW could only be considered a religion by stretching the definitions of each prerequisite term beyond the breaking point. For instance, rules (especially game rules) are not at all the same as ethics. They are intended to balance the game with the ultimate purpose of increasing sales by making it more fun for the most people. The fact that some rules seem to conform to common ethical trends is because they reflect, rather than guide, common pratice.
ReplyDeleteThe most important thing missed here is that the purpose of a religion is to answer the mysteries of life, however flawed those answers may be. Regardless of the entertainment factor of WoW, it does not attempt to do this.
While I concede that WoW is a vastly superior way to spend one's time than religious practice, I think it farcical to suggest that WoW is itself a religion.
Another point I'd like to make is that if you pay for a subscription to play WoW, at least you GET something in return. The same is not true of religious offerings.
Interesting blog, i have bookmarked it for future referrence
ReplyDeleteLoved the information here I'll have this bookmarked and will be back to read more.
ReplyDeleteI used to play Warcraft a lot, but I had to quit. It just got too time consuming for me.
ReplyDeleteSweet! I feel like I just dug up gold ;)
ReplyDelete