This game seemed to have more faults as a religious tool than positives. First off, I assume that this game is directed more towards Christians than any other religious affiliation because of the use of “the hand of God” as the controller, though my opinions can be used across the religious board. The concept of being able to play God seems blasphemous, not to mention the mundane tasks that “God” has to go through (such as gathering wood). It seems like God is positioned as a human with power and authority, it would seem that a god’s role is to take care of the people’s faith and emotion and eternal soul, not whether they have enough wood to build his temple. Which brings me to another forced construction that God has to play; it seems egotistical that the first job you have as God is to help your worshipers build a temple for you. The whole concept of playing God is a statement that implies humans know what the position entails and think they’re mighty enough to take a whack at it. Now, that being said, there is a positive to being able to play God. It may help some see where their place lies in his eyes and understand exactly how much power a god has. As well as understand the devotion a god may expect (depending on religion of course) and the “other issues” that take up his time, not just a prayer for a new car. That being said,with all my discouraging criticism, the game seems like a lot of fun, a game to lose time in. On a side note, possibly we could use every other Wednesday (that you’re trying to fill) to play a game the entire class. Everyone could just take turns giving it a try and we can explore them more. I find it more critical when we see how religion is being interpreted in these games and discuss that, as oppose to each of us just reading individual examples and trying to give a generalized theme, that way we can all have a hand in the process as oppose to just the generalizations.
