Aug 22, 2023
Gamers Hate Orson Scott Card
The controversy about Shadow Complex, Orson Scott Card, and gay rights – This is an important one for Christian gamers to pay attention to. Lots of interesting things going on here.
Richard Clark
Richard Clark is the Founding Editor of Christ and Pop Culture. He is also the managing editor of Gamechurch and a freelance writer for Unwinnable, Paste, and other outlets. He lives with his wife in Louisville, KY and has a MA in Theology and the Arts from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Get Our Weekly Newsletter
Get our weekly recap email for the latest from CAPC, delivered straight to your inbox.
Become a CAPC Member
Support our work: Become a member and get exclusive membership perks.
Give a CAPC Membership
Introduce friends & colleagues to the CAPC world with a gift membership.
Be a Guest Writer
Learn more about writing for us.
Editor Picks
Recent Columns

Sep 12, 2023
Coach Prime: Redefining College Football Leadership through Relatability

Aug 29, 2023
Ryan Clark’s Compassionate Accountability Is a Striking Lesson in How to “Adult”

Aug 15, 2023
The USWNT’s Soccer Failure Might Actually Be Good News

Aug 1, 2023
How (and Why) You Should Play Fantasy Football

Jul 18, 2023
Victor Wembanyama Is Proof That Giants Are Only Human, Too
Recent Podcasts

Sep 22, 2023
Seeing & Believing 400 | An Ethos of Faithful Filmgoing

Sep 15, 2023
Seeing and Believing 399 | A Haunting in Venice & Gosford Park

Sep 8, 2023
Seeing and Believing 398 | Bottoms & Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Sep 1, 2023
Seeing and Believing 397 | The Starling Girl & The Devil’s Backbone

Aug 25, 2023
2 Comments
I think this becomes more amusing when one considers that the game’s writer, Peter David, has (if memory serves) a portfolio containing many gay-friendly characterizations. In short, he couldn’t be realistically seen as supporting Card’s anti-homosexual stance at all.
Chick’s response to David’s admonition that those opposing Card’s perspective “can display the sort of tolerance for someone who is different from them that they feel is lacking in Orson and thus prove they’re better” is, frankly, inadequate. He misses David’s point by creating a false dichotomy, positing that one can only respond with either blanket intolerance or blanket tolerance. Never mind the option of offering tolerance while offering critical discourse and persuasive discussion.
The gamers who boycott over Card’s connection to the game (despite the lack of offending content within the game itself) are behaving just as irrationally as those Christians who boycotted products advertised during NYPD Blue episodes or those that refuse any Disney products based on Disney’s employee benefits program.
I guess the newsflash here would be: PEOPLE STILL BLINDLY INTOLERANT OF THOSE WITH WHOM THEY DISAGREE.
You’re right. This whole debate has discouraged me quite a bit and left me wondering if there’s room at all for a game critic who refers to himself as a critic.
Comments are now closed for this article.