![](https://web.archive.org/web/20070904101746im_/http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2007/06/vicarofdibley.jpg)
The Church of England in their statement says, "In the meeting with Sony we will discuss our outstanding demands, how this game came to be produced and where the images of the Cathedral came from." Those outstanding demands? Oh, removing the game from store shelves for the use of guns (to protect the planet from Aliens in an alternate time line) within the church and a "substantial donation."
Please find the full text of Sony's apology letter after the break including the Church of England's full response
[Via GamePolitics]
Sony's apology letter, according to the Church of England:
Dear Dean Govender,
Thank you for your email of 11 June 2007.
Please understand that Resistance: Fall of Man is a work of science fiction.
It is fantasy entertainment set against a backdrop of an alternative reality of 1950's Britain. History has been rewritten and the Second World War has not happened but a race of alien creatures has attacked the earth and the human race is engaged in a struggle to defend itself from this alien invader.
Early in the time line of the story, Manchester Cathedral is utilised as a field hospital to tend to the human casualties of the war. When the story line reaches chapter 8, the Cathedral is empty and abandoned, no longer used as a place of worship and the sequences that take place inside are to defend the building from the aliens.
We do not accept that there is any connection between contemporary issues of 21st century Manchester and a work of science fiction in which a fictitious 1950's Britain is under attack by aliens. We believe a comprehensive viewing of the work will make its content and context clear.
Accordingly we would be pleased to demonstrate it to you at a mutually convenient time.
It was not our intention to cause offence by using a representation of Manchester Cathedral in chapter 8 of the work. If we have done so we sincerely apologise.
In conclusion we note that you are consulting lawyers. We confirm that it is our policy to seek all necessary permissions for our products and services, and we believe with this particular work we have done so.
Yours sincerely,
Dr David A Reeves
President
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Church of England's response:
Today at 4.30pm, Manchester Cathedral received a letter from Sony Computer Entertainment, which can be found below. In response to the letter, the Dean and Chapter have made the following remarks:
We acknowledge the admission by Sony that the building in the game is Manchester Cathedral. We thank Sony for the apology they have made.
However, we do not move from the position that we are against violence and especially the gun violence seen in this portrayal of the Cathedral.
We are pleased that Sony wish to come and meet with us in Manchester as today we offered them such an invitation.
In the meeting with Sony we will discuss our outstanding demands, how this game came to be produced and where the images of the Cathedral came from."
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note: Vicar of Dibley rocks.
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What will happens if in games or movies, we can't represent the real monuments, even in fiction.
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Also, it was pretty damn funny watching this teenager beaten to the ground and arrested by like 4 policemen with Mp5's just cos he had a toy gun.
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...
Now this just straight pisses me off.
"Thanks but no thanks, we wanted M$N$Y."
I honestly would love to see a battle royal in court. I would love to see Sony pay out huge to their lawyers, but in return they don't spend a dime to the church. In fact, I'd love to see them counter sue for eleventy-billion dollars---win, causing the church to go bankrupt and christianity to fall, and then the end of the world....oops, I've gone and went to far.
Sony's reply: "I'll see you in hell!...From Heaven."
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If that doesn't scream "WE'RE IN IT FOR THE MONEY", I don't know what other part will.
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I do admire Sony in this case, just because it seems like they are sticking up for Insomniac in a time where Insomniac might not stand a chance against the media blitz and accusations on their own...
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As for the church of England, which takes a strong stance on anti-violence, and then is used in a violent setting, I can understand England's frustration. That would be like portraying another religious figure in the same light. Can you imagine the amount of shit hitting the fan if Jesus was portrayed in GTA with Hot Coffee? Holy shit!
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And while we're here, doesn't the bible forbid homosexuality? Sorry Christianity, you have no credibility, go back to your church and pray to become less dumb!
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Well, let's see. We've had video games where you play as Snoop Doog and pick up your hoes (True Crime), We've realistically reenacted Pearl Harbor WITHOUT changing anything to make it more acceptable, and our country's media stood behind and applauded Super Columbine Massacre RPG. I do wonder where out country would stand on this particular incident? Truthfully, I don't think anyone would give a shit. Majority of the media saw the punishment doled out to that texas student over the counter strike map completely unforgivable and reactionary.
I mean, let's put it this way. Alternate history in media isn't exactly something new. Never has been, never will be. Hell, I saw a movie once where Hitler was an alien hoping to wipe out the jewish people since only they could stop the invasion. No one bitched. Course very few people besides myself say it but no one bitched.
I think my main problem given the current situation is that most people who are siding with the church haven't even seen the sequence which takes place IN the church. It's literally under 10 minutes. You go in, "what happened?" hold the line, push through the church, and it's done with. Literally no big deal.
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Let us not forget that the very same CHURCH OF ENGLAND are the D-BAGS that caused our forefathers to flee England and set up shoppe in what would later become the RED-WHITE-AND-MOTHER-F'N-BLUE!!!
Seems like this church is up to its usual shenanigans once again. Stand up to the tyranny and represent! The US is all about life, liberty and freedom to play WHAT WE DAMN WANT (oh yeah, FU! Jack Thompson).
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The Church of England doesn't take kind to being liberated from an alien being.... in a fake WWII setting. It's immoral and intolerable.
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...OK, not all, actually -- this is probably the product of the disparate views on guns. When you try to pretend that you can get rid of all the guns just by making them illegal, you tend to get a bit oversensitive to "gun violence" (as opposed to, say "knife violence", which is totally fine).
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England is another part of the world with different problems and issues than us and this situation is obviouly a sensitive issue for them. Don't make the presumption that its all about money just because of your perspective. It would kinda be like someone walking into a graveyard and urinating on your parents or grandparents tombstone and then claiming that they didn't realize that is what it was.
Yeah they made a mistake but this would still offend you. At least I hope that it would offend you.
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Are you mad, no one could lift a PS3, especially not were one! Duh...
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And even them I am sure that some batshit crazy group of people out there find a ball bouncing back and forth between two sticks sacrilegious.
The Church got it's apology, now they need to fucking drop it.
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"The Church got it's apology, now they need to fucking drop it."
This is the reason why there is a problem. You just validated everything that I just said with that statement. I'm not even going to waste my time picking apart your silly and adolescent arguments. I have a life. Enjoy your Saturday night alone in front of your computer screen. Peace!!!
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Actually the reason there is a problem is cause of people like you that give importance to something as moronic as what the church is doing. And the Church knows it. That's why they went to the media.
Enjoy your night.
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Actually the reason there is a problem is cause of people like you that give importance to something as moronic as what the church is doing. And the Church knows it. That's why they went to the media.
Enjoy your night.
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"Don't make the presumption that its all about money just because of your perspective."
You know, I didn't assume it was just about money due to my perspective. Let me outline the sequence of events before you assume that everyone here is simply misunderstanding cultural differences.
On a Friday, the CoE announced their issue with Sony and immediately demanded the pulling of the game and a sizable donation to the church. They urged Sony to get in contact with them by the following Monday. This was the first utterance of this issue. Note the two key demands, pulling the game and money. Before they even talked to Sony, they gave demands. Before Sony was even contacted, the press was alerted to this issue. Now, what kind of message does it send when someone is more interested in creating a public stink than talking to the accused.
But fine, we'll offer benefit of doubt as time passes. While Sony says they look forward to resolving this issue, CoE is getting public on their side through limited information and even misinformation. Within a couple days, a sequence in the game that takes place for less than 10 minutes is suddenly painted as a full game, hundreds are forced to be killed, and the fact that these are aliens remains hidden to most. Because the Church has been using the term "opposing force." Typical misinformation trash. They also keep mentioning that this is a contemporary problem in Manchester and naturally the fact that this takes place in 1950s has nothing to do with the fact that it's a gun sequence in manchester. Where was this complaint during The Getaway, BTW?
And so, we flash forward to Wednesday, and the CoE is urging the Japanese to join their cause. HOW FUCKING MISPLACED IS THIS RETARD THOUGHT? Christianity in Japan is a trendy thing. As culturally relevant as the iPod and McDonalds. A Christian Wedding over there is a themed situation. And their purpose behind this urging? Apparently Sony is a Japanese company. The game was developed in America. They also reiterate the necessity of a donation, once again. You'd figure if they really wanted a payout, they would at least do some fucking research.
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Jesus, a lot of hate towards Christianity today...What the hell is with all the "crusade" shit talk? OMFG, youโve got to be kidding me! The crusades started in 1095 in the less than civilized Europeโฆ.in 10freaking95!!! They got spanked. They learned their lesson. They lost the holy land. They shut their mouths. The Spanish inquisition? Happened in Spain (not England) CENTURIES ago! Their grandchildrenโs grandchildren have been dead for hundreds of years!
Why is the Church of England today in 2007 responsible for the crusades and the Spanish inquisition and every other war waged in the name of Hay-soos? Is there someone there that is 1,000 years old that is still dictating church policy? If so, why arenโt they in Italy at the Vatican where the real power in Christianity lies?
Have you been spanked by Mother Mary a bit too hard and want to vent about how much you hate Christianity? I just think itโs pretty god damn weak to hop on the hate- Christianity-train because of barbaric policy in a less civilized time in history!
Stick to the damn topic! Itโs about Sony vs. Church of England, Good vs. Evil, Artistic License vs. Greed, Intellect vs. Stupidity, Video games vs. Faith, The House that Kutaragi made vs. The House that Jesus made, Apology vs. Payment, Us vs. Them.
FIGHT!!!
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M@
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"No greater atrocities have been committed in the history of the world than by the christian church and in the name of their god."
Incorrect. As I've posted on an earlier thread on this topic, all the religious wars over the last 2000 years combined don't hold a candle to the number of human life extinguished by atheism. Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Hitler and Pol-Pot name just of few. Godless Darwinism also motivated ideologies such as Marxism and fascism which has caused a slew of deaths. It is actually atheists who are in no position to point fingers.
Every time anti-religious (namely anti-Christian) zealots try to make a case against God or Christianity they point to the same old things; the Crusades and the Inquisition. Both of which were far more influenced by politics than religion, but no one cares to blame politics for millions of deaths every year, even though that is the case. No, religion is by far the favorite scapegoat of all hypocrites worldwide. Never mind the fact they've never cracked open a Bible to actually see what it teaches. Does scripture support the Crusades or the Inquisition? Absolutely not. So the problem is obviously not with what Christianity teaches, but with how humanity twists it for personal gain. Blame humanity NOT God.
Dan:
Yes, the Bible DOES teach against homosexuality. It also teaches that man is fallible, fickle and prone to hypocrisy, which is why we need to constantly check ourselves against scripture. Your derogative remarks only show how true scripture is despite your intention.
Really, this is the THIRD time the exact same comments have flooded joystiq. Do they really need repeated? If you feel the need to flame Christianity due to the legal proceedings of one organization, please go read the two other threads posted here on this site before you type the same old misguided opinions.
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Show some respect. Movies, TV shows, etc get permission before using a site in their works. Obviously Insomniac did not do this and now they should pay.
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-Christopher Hitchens
=P
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Lol, Hitchens is almost as controversial of a figure as Jesus Himself. What I find remarkable about Jesus is He was a humble servant who sought no attention, while Hitchens is about as arrogant and attention whoring as they come ;-)
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