Nouslife: Gunfight in the Cathedral

15 June 2007

Gunfight in the Cathedral

Apparently a gaming company (Sony, no less) unwisely used the interior of Manchester Cathedral as a virtual venue for a chapter in a shoot-em-up game. You can see footage on You Tube. The cathedral staff were upset and I can understand why (though one of my sons is unconvinced about why when we discussed it the other day.) For me the issue is both the portrayal of violence which is promulgating an ideology/mythology -redemptive violence- which is at odds with the Cross as well as the issue of permission being sought to use a public building in this way. Film-makers get proper permission even when they are only using bits in a composite (eg Harry Potter where Durham, Christchurch (Oxford) and Hereford Cathedrals are used). The dean of the cathedral said that it "can only be described as virtual desecration.” Now that's a relatively new idea and might not be a good one: do we worry about novels where such things are described? On the whole not. I guess the new factor is the graphic portrayal and use of images without permission in a context that is so inimical to a fundamental Christian themes of belief. As the dean goes on to say, citing the work of the cathedral against gun culture in Manchester and the aim of their work is to help young people

“to appreciate an alternative to the violence that they experience in their daily lives. . . Seeing guns in Manchester Cathedral is not the sort of connection we want them or anyone to make. For a global manufacturer to re-create the interior of any religious building such as a mosque, synagogue, or, in this case, a cathedral with photo-realistic quality, and then encourage people to have gun battles in the building is beyond belief and, in our view, highly irresponsible.”