Religious statesman Rajan Zed has urged leaders of various religions not to worry about mobile game “Pokémon GO” mania sweeping the world and becoming a powerful cultural force.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement in Nevada today, indicated that “Pokémon GO” was a passing fad and religions had nothing to fear from its unprecedented popularity. Although it was a strong distraction, but leaders of diverse religions should not be worried about losing their congregants permanently to it.
Although the religious world had feared in the past whenever technologies brought new changes—like undermining of the religion through printing press, evil spirits traveling through telephones, etc.; but technology had not been successful in eroding religion significantly; Rajan Zed noted.
Zed further said that although “Pokémon GO” was an immersive play which blurred reality and fantasy and which had taken over the lives of many; it was not worth fearing and it would not be able to lead us away from religion and God.
“Pokémon GO” is a location-based augmented reality mobile game on iPhone and Android devices platform; which permits players to battle-train-capture virtual creatures, known as Pokémon. An announcement says: Explore cities and towns where you live—and even around the globe—to capture as many Pokémon as you can…As you walk through the real world, your smartphone will vibrate to let you know you’re near a Pokémon. Playable in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish; it was released on July six.