shove off, saradomin - when runescape meets religion. rl religion.

don't actually come across this very often, but still. it's so messy.

an erstwhile nameless player makes his way through the packed lumby courtyard of a world just full enough that you'd need to refresh the page a few times at least before you got in. he walks up the steps, stops, and starts speaking. above the din of the gathered crowd, you hear "Jesus loves you!" he manages a few more lines unmolested. then he starts damning people to hell.

and that's where the trouble starts.

he's attracted a few 'you're so right's and about thrice that number of dissentors. every comment's pure flame bait, and for some reason people can't just ignore him and go on with their account selling and cybering. as they perhaps would an ad bot. then again, he's a mid leveled account with enough typos to be a real person. the difference is he just ploughs on, regardless of any and every legitimate debateable point people throw at him. he's not an ad bot, but he might as well be one, but because he isn't one, people can't just leave him alone and treat him like one, like a little blip on the radar you annihilate by clicking 'add ignore'.

it's not strictly muteable, it's almost reportable, but there isn't exactly a rule of the thumb for this sorta thing, no? it'd be intolerant if there was. so forget the report bit, for now.

joining in the fray isn't absolutely out of the question, but how dyou join in without being perceived as taking a side by the overly sensitive?

in the end, pm seems the best option. results in a short conversation, briefer explanation, abrupt logging out, and relocation to a considerably less populated lumby where he actually has what almost resembles a theological discussion with the only spectator. i got lucky.

but even so, it's volatile, and it's messy. so so messy.

i'm not against religious discussions, it's a topic you just have to broach if you've got a friend who can make intelligent conversation, but preaching's another thing altogether. in a way, i've no idea why he does it. was all about intimidation, threatening people with 'if you don't listen to me you'll go to hell' over and over. and i just got this sense, it's all he knew to say. either he's a child who hasn't a clear enough grasp of what he wants/ought to do, or he's got too poor a grasp of the language to know how to say anything more.

not that the exclamation marks and random capital letters helped any. or the name either. watching u *number* doesn't exactly inspire trust, or confidence.

and it's sweet of him to believe so strongly in what he does, but it's simply a flawed way of going about it. intimidation usually spawns defiance, forcing opinions and judgment on people isn't the same as persuading and debating with them. acting as if the other party doesn't exist by having what's in essence a one-sided conversation's just going to annoy. going to do more harm than good.

further complicated by the fact that i agree with him. more or less, on the salient points. salient points that nonetheless aren't half the picture, aren't telling it all. discussion goes round in circles, but because we're christian too, there's this pervading element of guilt. as if you're silencing something that matters.

not exactly the best of situations to be in.

there was this point raised about religion not belonging in runescape. about real life, the problems of real life not belonging in a game. not an argument that really works, considering that religion's a lifestyle, and for some of us, runescape isn't so much a game as a medium for communication, such controversy being a defensive measure against that 'i can't remember what happened eight minutes ago' syndrome. even if it isn't, it does seem pretty stupid to compartmentalise your life that way.

so religion crops up often enough, and when it does, i'm-a-guthix-worshipper type humour seems to be more of a cop out. is why i'm more wary about using it, but more to the point, i don't actually care for any of the rs gods. or demigods. or in between entities.

on an almost related note, i don't know why, but i always had this impression that christianity's a more common religion in western countries. uk, usa, europe, generally. as if all the catholic/protestant conflicts and declaration of independance automatically renders christianity the majority religion. then i go into a game that seems to have an even smaller percentage of christians than statistics say about real life. puts you vaguely off balance.

but then again, that's what arguments do.