Manchester Cathedral to Make Its Demands in Sony Battle
The Church of England will send a letter to Sony insisting that an apology is given over its use of Manchester Cathedral in a violent gun computer game.
by Daniel Blake
Posted: Monday, June 11, 2007, 8:57 (BST)
The Church of England will send a letter to Sony insisting that an apology is given over its use of Manchester Cathedral in a violent gun computer game.
It has been reported that the Church will demand that Sony remove all images of the virtual version of the Cathedral from its game.
In addition, the electronics giant will also be asked to offer its full backing to anti-gun campaigns in Manchester.
However, Sony has said that it has received all the necessary permissions for the game 'Resistance: Fall of Man' for its Playstation.
Despite these claims Church officials have disputed that fact, and have threatened legal action against the entertainment firm.
A spokesperson for the Cathedral has said that it has received many emails supporting its stance, and the Cathedral's David Marshall said Church leaders would meet on Monday to draft a letter and discuss what other action to take.
According to the BBC, the Manchester Cathedral spokesperson laid out four aims for the letter:
1) An apology for using the Cathedral in the game.
2) Withdrawal of the game, or for the Cathedral interior to be removed from the relevant sections of the game.
3) Sony should make a substantial donation from the game's profits to the Cathedral's Education Department targeted at 18 to 30-year-olds.
4) Sony should also support other anti-gun groups and campaigns in the Manchester region.
The game has sold more than one million copies so far.
Sony has said that it would contact the Cathedral's representatives on Monday to try to "understand their concerns in more detail".
Copyright © 2009 Christian Today. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Monday, June 11, 2007, 17:51 (BST)
Shouldnt the church focus on issues of real gun violence rather than just complaining about a game? Plenty of people have been victims to gun crime and am against firearms of all kinds yet I play games of this genre all the time. Does that make me want to go and shoot all the Churches? Only when no one cares if its destruction or violence around other landmarks, but if it affects them in any way they have to threaten with legal action. Well Im glad this has brought the game so much publicity. Sony as far as I know has asked for the permission neededand if not they should of. But saying how the game is a monstrosity having never thought to play it yourself is a joke. Try it first. Demanding withdrawl of a game requiring much hard work and investment is stupid. It may have no affect on you when its the statue of liberty blowing up and shoot-outs in the whitehouse but; only when it affects you do you care. I hope sony wins this 'court battle' as people who hadnt played the game would have it removed without having witnessed its potential. I just hope the church also recieves an appology and that sony do donate some of the profits to gun crime. I just dont think the church should recieve a penny of it.
matt, Manchester, England
