Of course it is.    I found the article and thought it a good idea to share it. 

If you read the article you can get an idea why BioWare plans to create an update that allows players to practice homosexuality as part of the gaming experience.  Evidently, BioWare has caved into the pressure from homosexual activists, experts on social engineering and getting kids exposed early to this kind of sexual behavior. 

There are no marriages, but you can date your companions. Why not date the same sex? I see no negative reason not to. As far as gameplay goes, as a spy, I flirt with every person I need to use. As in real life, if you are not gay or your religion prevents you from being gay, don't be gay. No reason to stop other from doing what they want. I don't think anyone was pressuring MMO's to allow gay equality. I do, however, see there being religious groups putting pressure on this game to not have it.

Funny how that works...

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/star-wars-video-game-to-allow-characters-to-have-homosexual-romances?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8921c1fcb0-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines_03_16_2012&utm_medium=email

Well, yes, according to the article there was pressure applied and for quite some time. 

I intuit you are an adult and if you want to play in gaydom that up to you, but the concern all along is for children.

And rightly so. ....at least minimumly in the form of rating it "mature". 

Ah yes, we must protect the 'children'. Best way of doing that is obviously denying that homosexuality exists. If not they will all become gay

But I doubt Lula cares about games beyond insulting them as forms of society's moral collapse. And the romances I assumed were with NPCs just like with the heterosexual romances already in the game. But clearly my attempt to avoid it has failed, so may as well go all in.

Technically this game has a teen rating, parents should not let mere children play it. As it has a subscription fee and thus needs a credit card or equivalent, I find it unlikely that they are ignorant that their kid is playing. If they object to that and fail to do their research that's there fault.

I admit I was surprised it got a Teen rating in the first place as it has apparently always been possible to get laid in the game, but it did and I don't think its justified increasing the rating just because homosexuality got added to the types of things your characters can do if you choose. If teenagers can handle the concept heterosexual sex they can handle homosexuality as well. Indeed a very small homosexual relation if not sex was in the first Knights of the Old Republic, and it has a T-rating.

I think you're missing the part where society itself is being far more tolerant of homosexuality (especially among the younger and more secular groups who actually play these games) and thus having it in there can be a sound marketing decision to appeal to gays.

If we go by the standards of other games, there is no cause for a mature rating. There is more sexual content in most other games that are only rated teen. Are you making the argument that homosexual sex is somehow more mature than heterosexual sex? I really don't see the logic in that.

super busy being a nerd in lol tonight...i so wish i could reply more atm

There is with your companions. As for the whole homosexual thing, I personally feel from my reading of the scriptures that God condemns the practice but He is the one to judge and take action, not me or some web surfing individual. As for its possibility in the game, well I make the decision in real life to not got that way so I can make the decision to not go that way the game way. The fact that it is in there is between God and the developers.

As for the gameplay itself, I have been playing the 1.2 beta patch and see come nice things coming along. More will be added later with 1.3 and so on.

I wish all the Christians were like you. Not everyone understands the bit about God being the judge. Too bad so many millions of people have been oppressed and murdered over this lack of understanding. I really wish the author would have added a few more chapters about homosexuality in the Bible to curtail all the homophobes from using it a blunt instrument. 

But as far as the game goes, it would be nice if robosexualuality was an option too. I am a proud robosexual, but we are even more oppressed and obscured as there are very few available robots in this time-space. Fortunately the Bible has yet to comment on robots. (Not Kidding) 

Well, Bioware went there in Mass Effect 3, so it's possible. And in terms of other minority sexualities, kissing your sibling is very Star Wars... 

Yes, we must endeavor to protect all children. The Christian duty is to love God and one another. The secular counterpart might be, "He ain't heavy, he's my brother." Aren't all children included here? Don't children and their innocence matter anymore?  If not, what kind of world is this?  

No, I'm not missing this at all. 

That's mainly why I posted the article about homosexuality being included in the upcoming update in the game. 

I know we are far beyond just tolerance of homosexuality. The changes coming to this game show the homosexual activists fulfilling their agenda...making homosexuality normal, acceptable,and respectable as heterosexuality within marriage. 

Ryat, we are not to judge hearts and souls, but God tells us to judge behavior and to judge rightly.  That's what our laws and justice are all about. 

As far as the game is concerned, it's more than just between Almighty God and the developers. 

As far as God is concerned and exposing children to these games which offer these kind of sexual activities, I would have you read St.Matt. 18 verses 3-7. 

Verse 7 answers my question, "if not, what kind of world is this?"

Attack of the Nuns!!!

Run for your liiiiiiiives

I am not 100% certain marriage is even a thing in the Star Wars galaxy. Not canon if you ask me. Wouldn't you also have to argue that playing a game where you murder thousands of people is too much for children and Christians in general. I can't think of a reason why sex is so much worse for them to see than throwing a grenade at another human being. If you are going to shelter your children, the video game censorship ratings are not a good path to follow. Even the E rated games have murder on the scale of Stalin. So why make a big fuss about a little kissing and some sexual implication (the screen just goes black when you get it on)? At least you don't murder them afterwards (50% of the time).

The answer is YES I would and do argue against murder and violence in video games because it ends up desensitizing children to the point they are not disturbed by it.

I know this to be true. Add to that the quality of these video games which makes the violence and murder so realistic, that it is all the worse. Worse yet, some glamorize murder and violence. 

Anyway, thankfully, there are resources out there for parents who want to keep tabs on video games. 

One very good one that I used was "ParenTools" which not only gave the rating but info about the content as well. 

http://www.esrb.org/parentools

http://www.mariowiki.com/Entertainment_Software_Rating_Board

But you only showed up here on this thread once word got out it might include homosexuality. Which just shows where your priorities lie.

Being the source of so many of our problems today, I'd vote to keep children away from religion. Rather than filling their heads with it when they can't tell truth from fiction and sense from nonsense, let them decide what they think about it when the turn 18/21.

Just not if they're a fag right?

A world where religious bigotry is just as intolerated as your views on homosexuality? Slavery and murder has been "justified" by scripture before, so I'm not too keen on accepting homosexuality as against God's will because our version of the Bible says so. The Bible isn't meant to be a literal translation of history or God's will, it's meant to be a tool for those with (or without) faith to feel God's love and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. If the Prince of Peace were here right now I'm sure he'd be more pre-occupied with healing the sick, feeding the hungry, sheltering the poor or helping bring peace to the Earth... not so much campaigning against pretend, implicated homosexuality in a video game (or in real life either).

Christians and their ability to pick and choose from the bible amaze me.  A couple of passages that might be interpreted as not allowing homosexual relationships is the big topic of the day.  Have you read that book?  I have.  Go through the entire book of Leviticus and tell me that Christians really follow these rules.  Shit, how about the 10 commandments?  And pictures of Jesus or angels in your house?  Ever worked on the Sabbath?  Not that Christians even know why they go to church on Sunday anyway. Don't get me started on the Holy Trinity crap. Talk to women while they are on their menstrual cycle?   Eat pork?  It's all bullshit.  Yea, your religion says it's okay to own slaves, but not be gay.  Maybe you should grab the real important things out of the bible, there is a lot of wisdom there if you don't get bogged down in old rules and customs, and listen to the actual words Christ spoke.

I don't think we're supposed to be discussing 'religion' on these forums, but while this thread remains open I guess I can throw my cents into the mix.

While I am a man of 'faith' I haven't been referring to myself as a christian for some time now.  The following are some reasons why:

1.  I cannot on any level agree with the sentiment being expressed by the christians of the world today.  Yes we are to 'judge behaviour' and take actions in our personal lives accordingly but we are NOT to condemn which is unfortunately what most christians take 'judgement' to mean.

2.  Adding the word christian to something/anything in this material world does not in fact make that material object/action into a spiritual one.

3.  Too many 'christians' are reading the bible as a "book of what not to do" instead of a guide on what to do/how to act while forgetting that much of the bible can only be applied to the timeframe within which it was conceived.  Without becoming long-winded here, the old testament (while it may have some historical value etc.) is really just the shadow cast by the light of the new testament being shone on this broken world.  So taking this or that verse out of the old-testament to 'use' for an agenda goes against the core values the bible (as a whole) is attempting to teach. 

I believe true faith/spirituality is stifled by placing it in a box, tying a neat ribbon around it and calling it 'religion'.  For that reason all organised religion is not for me.

The problem is, material things must be dealt with in the 'material/physical realm' just as spiritual things must be dealt with in the 'spiritual realm'.  Rules from one realm do not apply to the other.  Video games fall squarely into the 'material/physical realm' and as such cannot be dealt with using the bible or any other form of spiritual guidance.

Lula had at least two other threads going on something related to religion for quite some time. Though this is the first time on a video game thread, perhaps they will be harsher.

Internet Griefers and their ability to pick and choose certain sad comments and make idiotic, sweeping comments about Christianity amaze me.  A couple of comments that might be interpreted as all Christians not allowing homosexual relationships is the big topic of the day.  Have you met most Christians? I haven't, but go meet 10 and tell me that they all interpret the lessons the same way.  ... I tire of this.

The only thing worse than Christians who aren't educated in their Religion, is idiots of harp on them like they're the only type Christians to exist.

How many Republicans are running on an antigay marriage platform?  It is a big issue to gain the Christian vote.

And I know lots of Christians, shit I live in Kansas, this state tried to end the teaching of Evolution in schools because it conflicted with the bible.  I know lots of Christians.  And few know anything about their religion or holy book.

First we had: 

And then: 

Yes, we judge behavior, in this case homosexuality, by either approving or condemning it. Approving homosexuality goes against God. 

So what!

I'm here for the first time simply because I found a timely article about updating Star Wars:The Old Republic video game and brought it to your attention. Did not Pacov entitled his article a "discussion thread"? 

I'm not the one who first brought up religion or Almighty God in the discussion. It was only after others framed their comments around religion that I added my 2 cents worth.

Yes, of course the rules (or laws) from the spiritual realm apply to our material/physical thoughts, words and actions. We can't get away from it even if we try. These rules are called the Natural or Moral Law which is written in our heart.  The sense of moral obligation confirms these rules. In every one of us there is a sense of right and wrong. A man knows interiorly when he is doing wrong. Something rebukes his conduct. He knows that he is going against an inward voice. It's the voice of conscience, a law we did not make and which no man could have made for this voice protests whether other men know our conduct or not. This voice is often quite against what we wish to do, warning us beforehand condemning us after its violation. The law dictated by this voice of conscience supposes a Lawgiver who has written His Law in our hearts. 

Now, apply that to the coming updated video game and the issue and choice of either condoning or condemning homosexuality and exposing that to children. 

You are not posting from a Stardock video game forum. You have not gotten any karma from a video game related thread. I'd check your post history but I can't seem to find it. I've never read any posts from you to indicate that you are a gamer and certainly not of this game. Thus with what I know about the content of your previous posts I conclude you do not care about this game or the industry other than your wish for your own morals to influence them. Even if other people really took off with it your link is clearly the cause of this thread derailment.

Morality is a subjective aspect of the human psyche. There no moral absolutes in humanity. In fact, some people have totally thrown out the idea of right and wrong in favor of more pragmatic terminology. I guess this is opinion-logic you seem to mistake for logic. I have never heard of any legitimate claims of innate morality. We see other moral codes and internalize them. I guess that is what it comes down to in your argument and presence in this forum that is foreign to you. Seeing gay performed in a game will probably affect children below the age of 12. It will seem normal and harmless. One choice among millions that doesn't affect anyone else in a significant way. If morality was innate, you might have a point, but really you are just trying to spread your brand of morality on the assumption that children need special protection from homosexual content. I guess if there were any other parents on this forum that also wanted to make sure their children thought exactly what they did, your presence here would be slightly welcome. As it stands, you seem to barking up the wrong tree.

I've been reading right along... been super swamped at work and then being a nerd/good husband after hours... hope to catch up with some thought out posts when i can.