I lived near Springfield and I remember as a kid going to Manassas and finding a bullet. It was slightly mangled and my father wondered out loud if it had killed somebody. He did that purposively and his comment made its mark on me. I can see somebody being interested in history, or wanting to play a computer war game (chess by any other name), but there are some things in our history about which we should be ashamed. Slavery and all things connected with it are certainly one of them. Perhaps 'extreme moves' are required because some in the South want to celebrate their history without thinking about its human cost. We asked the Germans and the Japanese to renounce some parts of their history, and we should do the same.
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Apple Removes Civil War Games From App Store Over Confederate Flag Usage [Updated]
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I lived near Springfield and I remember as a kid going to Manassas and finding a bullet. It was slightly mangled and my father wondered out loud if it had killed somebody. He did that purposively and his comment made its mark on me. I can see somebody being interested in history, or wanting to play a computer war game (chess by any other name), but there are some things in our history about which we should be ashamed. Slavery and all things connected with it are certainly one of them. Perhaps 'extreme moves' are required because some in the South want to celebrate their history without thinking about its human cost. We asked the Germans and the Japanese to renounce some parts of their history, and we should do the same.
Boy, I do hope someone will save us from the roving band of guns going around shooting people in the chest. As we see on TV, guns just "go off"! You can't trust that guns won't shoot people at a moment's notice, with no warning whatsoever, without anyone actually pulling the trigger. Yup, no person is needed when it comes to shooting people with guns. People don't kill people, evil guns that just "go off" do.
With that said, we should also deal with hammers and machetes that just "swing" at people ON THEIR OWN! It's a major issue in today's world that we have hammers and machetes in the hands of so many people that they can use on their neighbors at will. Indeed, hammers and machetes (and MacBook Airs which can double as hatchets) are absolute dangers to society, and must be dealt with. While we're at it, let's get rid of pitchforks, cars, and windows (which can break and become sharp). That way, we'll all be safe from those evil and dangerous objects with nefarious intentions.
...or we can start dealing with the mental illness and delinquency that leads to gun crime. Guns have no capacity to kill without some maniac behind the trigger.
Yes you are right we have gotten to sensitive. Lets loosen up restrictions porn. Sexual education is relevant even to this very day. Why must we keep people from learning about their bodies and sex.
Those are related to history. The games are not related to history and have offensive images in them. They are games and simply games. No one is stopping you from buying the offensive confederate flag having games from somewhere other than Apple's App Store.
Maybe Apple should allow pornographic imagery in their apps as well. If hate flags are okay simply because of "it is history" then porn should be ok as well.
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The problem with your post is that no one is removing all imagery of the confederacy. Apple is removing only certain confederate imagery from games not books or courses on the subject. People are moving confederate imagery to the museum for people to see at the museum....but please make what Apple and other people are doing more than what it really is. Complain that the government is taking your freedoms away. Apple is not in the business of anything goes types of speech when it's featured on their app store. They've said quite the opposite. You have to read the TOS.
I find it's always easier to not be offended by certain imagery when you are not directly affected by what the imagery represents. I'd argue that porn is much less offensive than a flag people used to represent them when they instigated a violent rebellion against the US government and enslaved whole groups of people.
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Unless I'm taking your statement out of context, this has not happened. Some State governments are removing their indorsement of this symbol. Some corporations are doing the same. This flag still exists for viewing in a historical context where IMO it should only be found.
I don't know of any "generally banned" symbols in the US, at least not officially. There are many symbols that are locally banned, such as images of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny in my kid's day care. In my brother's high school, there was a ban on t-shirts with alcohol or drug-related imagery or messages.
Though the rhetoric can get heated, there hasn't really been a general ban on Confederate symbols or Nazi symbols. What has happened since Dylann Roof is that some state governments that ceremonially celebrated certain Confederate symbols have decided that it's embarrassing to be associated with those symbols. There's a difference between banning a Confederate flag and deciding not to fly it on the capital building grounds (chained and locked with a padlock so that it stays safely and proudly displayed as an officially blessed emblem of the state).
Yes, it most certainly is.
The first amendment provides for freedom of speech. NOT freedom of speech... that everyone is okay with. "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Voltaire.
I abhor what that flag stands for, but I will defend to the death the right of freedom of speech and free expression. To do otherwise is to be falling into "PC Crap."
The old, ancient one was not tipped on one corner, and was "spinning" the other direction. That symbol still has its original meaning
It doesn't look like that is Apple's understanding.
You have never played Wolfenstein have you?
Not even remotely
I don't know anyone that is "confused" about what the Confederate flag stands for.
What I see is confusion as to what "or abridging the freedom of speech" means. That is the only confusion I have witnessed.
You seem to think that once Apple made a decision it is always "ok" because it's well reasoned. That's arbitrary of course, why else having this debate? Second, I don't think it was done for specious or superficial reasons, I just happens to disagree.
I conclude with the fact that removing games that contains elements of this controversial flag doesn't help at all. Neither does it contribute in a way that helps the discussion about discrimination and racism.
Banning history is the same as denying history and the suffering.
While I agree the CSA flag should be removed from political venues, something like a game that recreates the struggle without supporting a side or cause should not. The games listed do not seem to do that.
OTOH, I am sure there are many apps that justifiably need removal.
Wrong. And you would know you were wrong if you had played any of the games. Most of them are based on the historical struggle of the Civil War.
And books are simply books. Both books and games are considered protected free speech. That's a big damn deal.
It shouldn't HAVE to be from places other than the Apple store, Apple is not right in this action.
You mean like the porns you can watch in HBO Now?
There's no such thing...
And it should be (and is) for adults.
This is just a sign that the Twitter generation controls this country now - if it can't fit in 140 characters, it doesn't matter. You can't provide context in 140 characters. Everything is Disney-fied - good or evil, there is no gray area.
Symbols of the Confederacy in a video game that is based on or about the U.S. Civil War shouldn't be offensive to anybody. But you can't explain why in 140 characters, so it must be offensive!
Symbols of the Confederacy in a video game that is based on or about the U.S. Civil War shouldn't be offensive to anybody. But you can't explain why in 140 characters, so it must be offensive!
I completely agree. I find it interesting that apple has removed the confederate flag and they have allowed the swastika to remain. In my opinion, this is just another example of political correctness. During the time of the so-called civil-war, it was the victor of any conflict that got to write the history of that conflict. And because of that, and because of revisionist history, most people wrongly believe that the civil-war was fought over the issue of slavery. It wasn't. And, the issue of slavery was not even brought up until Lincoln (a demented bastard who has benefited greatly from revisionist history) brought it up after learning that England was planning on entering the U.S. civil-war, on the side of the southern states. Another example of revisionist history is that Lincoln, and the emancipation proclamation, freed the slaves. In reality, the emancipation proclamation only sought to free the southern slaves.
The flag that we commonly think of as the "Confederate Flag" - actually was barely used in the Civil War, apart from a few Confederate Naval vessels. Most Confederate armies actually marched under a banner that looked like this:
The familiar crossed bars on a red or orange background was largely adopted post Civil War as a symbol of Southern independence and - most disturbingly - promoted by groups such as the Klu Klux Klan as one of continued opposition to integration of African-Americans into society.
The "Confederate Flag" being hauled down in Statehouses and taken off the shelves of Wal-Marts really is a symbol of racism. Its got nothing to do with the heroism or sacrifice of great-great--great grandpappy in the Army of Northern Virginia.
The familiar crossed bars on a red or orange background was largely adopted post Civil War as a symbol of Southern independence and - most disturbingly - promoted by groups such as the Klu Klux Klan as one of continued opposition to integration of African-Americans into society.
The "Confederate Flag" being hauled down in Statehouses and taken off the shelves of Wal-Marts really is a symbol of racism. Its got nothing to do with the heroism or sacrifice of great-great--great grandpappy in the Army of Northern Virginia.
But, there's a difference...there's good offended and bad offended. Such as...a gay person being offended by a Christian who says they favor traditional family values.....that's good offended and is politically correct.
The reverse is bad offended. A Christian who happens to believe in traditional family values being offended by someone being a homosexual....that's bad offended and not politically correct and is irrelevant and that person must continue to be offended.
Another example....An illegal alien being offended by someone flying the American flag on "cinco de mayo" is good offended and is politically correct. However the reverse is not true. An American who is offended by all the illegal aliens demanding amnesty while flying the flags of their home countries, that's bad offended and not politically correct and nothing will be done about.
Dont you just love how depending on what point of view you subscribe to, who's offended by what takes on different meanings??? UGH. People need to get thicker skin. All of this P.C. crap going on, like people can honestly expect to go through life banning any little thing that offends them or someone with a political point of view they agree with is tiresome and wasteful. Toughen up. Nobody really cares about your precious little feelings.
Yes, it is. That's why we are citizens, and you are a subject of a queen.
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As you know, Apple has only removed some games, for reasons that go beyond "contains elements of this controversial flag". Other games with the flag remain in the App Store. So perhaps the real reasons the games were removed will be helpful even if the fake reason that you keep repeating would not hypothetically be helpful, were it the hypothetical reason for their removal.
Actually, that's not what Apple did. Read the update. Games are back when they correct the offensive mean spirited usage to an accurate historic portrayal.
As to why I would object to removing your movies - because you have not explained why they would remove those movies. Because they won't remove those movies. Because those movies are not portraying things in an offensive way, they are portraying things that are offensive in an appropriate way. Once the games do that, Apple says they are back in.
Your straw man is "Apple wants to ban the depiction of all offensive things." That is incorrect. Apple has banned the offensive PRESENTATION of something.
Revisionist history. The Civil War was fought over states' rights to have an economy based on chattel slavery. That was the only significant issue. Other collateral issues were raised after the war by Confederate apologists. This has been addressed by historians over and over and over. This is not an opinion, you are just wrong. Read the succession documents from the Confederate states - not one mention of state's rights. LOT's of slavery.
You clearly don't actually understand what freedom of speech means if you think it has one iota of relevance to a discussion about Apple's app store policies.
They, Apple, have removed apps from the App Store that use the Confederate flag in offensive or mean-spirited ways, which is in violation of their guidelines. What's offensive or not is entirely in the eye of the beholder. Monty Python made this very clear that this should be open for debate with their masterpiece Life of Brian. that was in 1979, now 36 years later you're still struggling to understand it's context.
Censorship doesn't work mate, debating controversial matters does.
which is offensive in the eyes of Apple might not be offensive in the eyes of others. It's Apple's right to remove stuff from their Apple Store because they own it, but it doesn't mean it's a good thing to do.
I remember the days Life of Brian got banned from the cinema in some countries as well as Paths of Glory from master director Stanley Kubrick, history learned that these "bans" where a mistake. Apple should have known better.
Understand what "censorship" is. This is not it. Apple IS participating in the public debate by making a very clear statement. Besides - how does selling apps with the Dixie Cross contribute to the debate? It doesn't, it just perpetuates the symbol.