Colmstock, Religion, and Developer blindspots

information came out yesterday that Colmstock in Bioshock Infinite originally had a different... something.  Due to spoilers the incident wasn't really given context but a few things were made clear in the article.  Ken Levine is not religious.  A senior (and well respected) artist in the studio is deeply religious. (It does not say what religion, but considering the Christian imagery in the game, we'll go with that.) 

At some point near the end of the game, the artist booted the game up, played it a bit, turned it off, and sent in a letter of resignation.  Whatever happened had offended him that much.

However, Ken Levine did NOT want to lose this particular artist, so he brought the artist in, sat down, and talked out the problem.  As it turns out, Ken Levine kind of forgot the revolutionary power of the New Testament (his words)

Forgiveness. 

Which, as a Catholic, is kind of bugging me that he only thought about how faith could be corrupted, or that the only people who can be faithful are racist and misogynistic hypocrites. 

However, it appears to have changed since then. 

First off, it appears that the Artist and Ken Levine worked out their issues so they got to a point of mutual agreement.

Second, going by some of the teasers and the sample of "Bioshock Infinite: Mind in Revolt" (the prequel book available digitally)  the religion has changed from a corrupted form of Christianity to a worship of the Founding Fathers.  (I directly quote: "I pray to Father Franklin hourly for our success.  May he open our eyes to The Mystery and allow us to discern the transmundane" )

Thirdly, the imagery has changed so while some is biblical in the abstract, there is very little specifics.  It's a cult of personality drawing on basic and vague biblical imagery, rather than stating chapter and verse.

Finally, forgiveness seems to have been adapted as a theme of the game.  Booker has a repeated phrase "Bring us the girl, and we'll wipe away the debt."  Which is a form of forgiveness, not a good one, but a form never the less.

There also seems to be some questions of forgiveness with Songbird, Elizabeth notably says she's sorry for running away to keep Songbird from hurting Booker.  Again, corrupted. 

And Elizabeth MAY be seeking forgiveness.  At the very least, she seems wary of herself and asks if Booker is scared of God. 


Maybe that's what the game will end up talking about in the end.  Forgiveness.  The ability to let the pain and fear of the past go and treat an incident like it never happened.  No strings, no threats, you just move forward and improve from where you were at that point. 


But, we'll see when the game arrives.  We have less than a month now.

How Kingdom Hearts 3D showed Religion in a great, and subtle, way.

I don't know why, but games shy away from using crosses in games.  I can see if someone was using to use a cross to impale people... yes.  That's offensive.  But using it in it's proper context or as an easy way to mark a grave isn't offensive at all.  (And I'm saying that as a Catholic)

Now, in Kingdom Hearts 3D, one of the worlds you can visit is "Les Cities de Cloches" aka "City of the Bells" or Hunchback of Notre Dame.

This world:

For various (and should be understandable) reasons, Disney modified the original novel into the movie.  (Such as making Frollo a judge instead of a priest, and having a lot of people live at the end, along with various edits for time since the novel is massive and animating is a very time intensive process)

But they did keep most of the religious imagery in, it's called "Hunchback of NOtre Dame" for a reason.

Now, Kingdom Hearts 3D takes the story and... shortens it even more.  Almost all of the religious imagery was stripped, characters vanished, and Frollo became much less conflicted (Okay, Okay, I know it's space reasons and Kingdom Hearts always does the abreviated versions... but the movie and book are very complex and deserve a bit more discussion!)

Which means I was very happy when I noticed this: (yes, I took the picture myself)

It's not the best picture, but it's a carved picture  of  "Jesus' Ascension into Heaven" which, while not a cross, is a very important theologically.  It's also behind a wooden altar in the Cathedral... and you can't step on the altar (I tried in order to get a better picture.  It made me quite happy when I couldn't.)


Okay, Okay, theology time.

At the end of the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke, they both spend a bit of time talking about what happened AFTER Jesus rose from the dead.  After 40 days past, Jesus took the disciples up to a hill, gave one final speech, the rose up into the clouds and disappeared.  After the Apostles spent some time looking up after him, Angels showed up and basically told them to leave.

I'm horribly simplifying it, but the main part is, this is a KEY part of Christianity.

And while there is no cross in the game, there is a Nave, and in that Nave, right where the Crucifix and the Monstrance should be, there is a wooden Altar and a carving of Jesus being assumed into Heaven.


All this Catholic Symbolism, without it being actually said.  It's brilliant.