Game card denigrating Shri Shiva to be removed after protests from Hindus

Jyeshtha Shuklapaksha 3, Kaliyug Varsha 5116

On May 2nd 2014, alert Hindus notified Forum for Hindu Awakening regarding an online card game called Lies of Astaroth. The game was using the revered Deity Shri Shiva in a playable card. Moreover, Shri Shiva was classified as a demon in the game. Below is the image of the denigrating card:

Forum for Hindu Awakening promptly contacted the game developers and explained to them how it is insulting to include Hindu Deities in a game and how this denigrates Hindu Dharma. In the meantime, alert Hindus protested the card through an application built into the game. Consequently on May 18, 2014 the developers apologized and promised to remove Shri Shiva from their game as soon as possible.

Congratulations to all the courageous, devout and vigilant Hindus who protested against this denigration! Let us all pay heartfelt Gratitude to GOD for this success! Let us unite all supporters of Hinduism so that in the future people will refrain from the denigration of Hindu Dharma. It is our duty to do something about each and every denigration that happens all around the world; let us fulfil our duty as our debt unto God.

Please see below the correspondence with the game developers

Letter from FHA

To whom it may concern,

We, at Forum for Hindu Awakening, are writing to you in reference to http://lies-of-astaroth.wikia.com/wiki/File:Shri_Shiva.jpg

Forum for Hindu Awakening is a non-profit organization that strives to awaken society to the unique spiritual science behind Hindu Dharma concepts and practices, to motivate people to live and preserve them, and to facilitate the spiritual progress of humanity. One of the ways we do this is by addressing misrepresentations of Hinduism. We are emailing you today because we have received some complaints from Hindus about a misrepresentation of the revered Hindu Deity Shri Shiva in your game called “Lies of Astaroth.”

It was brought to our attention that one of the cards in your game is called Shri Shiva. Hindus consider their Deities sacred and beyond human limitations. This is why it is disrespectful to name a card in your game Shri Shiva. This hurts Hindu sentiments. Moreover, Shri Shiva has been classified as a demon in your game, when in fact Shri Shiva is a Deity worshiped by millions of Hindus.

We urge you to consider the above and remove the Shri Shiva card from your game. We stress that our aim in bringing this up is to educate and ensure that Hinduism gets accurately represented in society. Hinduism has been misrepresented at many levels from the level of school textbooks to popular media. Though it is an ancient tradition, Hinduism has a lot to offer the modern world and we want children and adults alike to be able to understand and study it without it being misrepresented. You can take one step towards ensuring that Hinduism gets represented properly by making changes to your game as mentioned above.

Sincerely,

Forum for Hindu Awakening

Response from the game developers

Dear Player,

Much thanks to your report. It was not intended to cause offence and we apologize if it has. We will change his/her name as soon as possible.

Best Regards,

LOA Team

Source: FHA