But gamers have argued that the Bible's content is much, much worse

It said the 'sickening game' encouraged players to kill prostitutes and convinced Target to stop selling it

A petition, authored by former sex workers, was the reason why Grand Theft Auto sales were scrapped

But Target responded, saying 'We don't actually sell the Bible at Target'

Nearly 50,000 people have signed the petition for Target to withdraw Bible

Gamers argue the Bible contains more gratuitous violence that the game

Nearly 50,000 furious gamers have signed a petition for Target to withdraw the Holy Bible from stores in response to the removal of Grand Theft Auto.

It comes after Target decided to scrap sales of the popular game after an online petition slammed it for encouraging players to 'commit sexual violence and kill women'.

But when one gamer took to Twitter and tweeted: 'Withdraw The Holy Bible - over 40,000 signed!', Target responded: 'We don't actually sell the bible at Target, that's some pretty impressive numbers though!'

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One gamer took to Twitter to demand the retail chain to pull the Bible off their shelves but Target doesn't stock the Holy Bible in the first place

Furious gamers are demanding that if Target and Kmart are going to pull the R-rated game from their shelves then they should do the same to the Holy Bible.

It says the 'sickening game' encourages players to kill prostitutes and calls on Target to stop selling it. But gamers have argued that the Bible's content is much, much worse.

Gamers have now started their own petition on Change.org website – the world's largest petition platform – claiming that the Bible has more misogyny and gratuitous violence than GTA, and there were far more reasons for it not to be sold.

The petition page headline reads: ‘Withdraw The Holy Bible – this sickening book encourages readers to commit sexual violence and kill women.’

An online petition slammed R-rated video game Grand Theft Auto V (GTA5) for encouraging players to 'commit sexual violence and kill women'

So far the petition has 22,359 supporters, and in the petition the Bible is described as a book that 'encourages readers to murder women for entertainment.'

'The incentive is to commit sexual violence against women, then abuse or kill them to proceed or get 'god' points – and now Target are stocking it and promoting it for your Xmas stocking,' reads the petition.

'This is The Holy Bible. This book means that after various sex acts, readers are given options to kill women by stoning her unconscious, Setting them on fire, cutting off their hands, and killing their children!

'This misogynistic book literally makes a game of bashing, killing and horrific violence against women.'

26-year-old gamer Kiley McDonald diputes claims the game incites violence towards women

However the former sex workers petition made it clear why they were against GTA being sold.

'Games like this are grooming yet another generation of boys to tolerate violence against women,' the petition said.

General manager of corporate affairs Jim Cooper said Target would no longer sell the game.

'We've been speaking to many customers over recent days about the game, and there is a significant level of concern about the game's content,' he said in a statement on Wednesday.

'We've also had customer feedback in support of us selling the game, and we respect their perspective on the issue.

Kiley is an avid fan of the game and even has her own GTA character called 'SHADOWKiiLLA'

'However, we feel the decision to stop selling GTA5 is in line with the majority view of our customers.'

Manager of Facebook site Grand Theft Auto Tips & Tricks Kiley McDonald says the move is 'ridiculous' and disputes claims that the game incites violence towards women.



'I remember playing it as a 10-year-old, my parents got it for me,' She told Daily Mail Australia.

'It never offended me, it doesn't offend me now and I grew up alight.

'I don't go out and mow down people or pull a gun out and spray them or anything, so I just think it's a little bit over the top.'

McDonald claims that there is a significant amount of violence towards men throughout the game and believes women are in short supply.

She said she was 'speechless' as to why GTA had been specifically targeted and believes that parents who won't let their kids play the game, would probably be happy to give them permission to sit through an episode of Game of Thrones, or read a chapter from 50 Shades of Grey.

'If I don't like someone's clothing, I'm not going to ask the store to ban a certain type of shorts,' she said.

'If I don't like it, I don't look at it,because I've got better things to do.'

McDonald believes the campaigners against the game are 'misinformed' and 'threw a tantrum' when they didn't get what they wanted.

'I'm all for feminists and women's rights but this is going a bit too far.' she said.

26-year-old McDonald believes big retailers such as Kmart and Target should not have to suffer financially due to this unjust petition.

'I don't know why gamers should be punished for something that's not our fault, or the retailers fault because they've gone through all the standards and checked the game,' she said.

The petition, authored by former sex workers, has so far attracted almost 40,000 signatures. It says the 'sickening game' encourages players to kill prostitutes and calls on Target to stop selling it

McDonald said she understand the anger from former sex workers who launched the online petition, but believes GTA gamers do not play out these acts in the real world.

'It's up to the gamer to choose,' she said.

'I've played the story from start to finish, I'm 26-years-old, I'm a female and I was not once offended, I was not once appalled by the content,' she said.

'There are prostitutes in the game, there is a strip club in the game but very few of them that you see.'

Reports that the game depicts women as bimbos and prey for men has angered McDonald.

'Most of them are actually dressed quite normally.' she said.

'Games like this are grooming yet another generation of boys to tolerate violence against women,' the petition said

'These people actually look like they're going to work, they've got the content that perfect that some people are in uniform or they're in work clothes or summer gear.'

McDonald said little children are the worst offenders in online forums.

'They're the ones that taunt you on the microphone, saying 'I'm going to f**k you mum' and 'F you this', and 'F that', it's insane and they shouldn't be playing it' she said.

'Most people have grown up playing video games like that and we're fine,'

'We don't go shooting up people and punching cops'

McDonald said there are other children's games available that are much more dangerous.

'There's also another game which a lot of children play called World of Warcraft and a lot of sexual predators are on that game.' she said.

General manager of corporate affairs Jim Cooper said Target would no longer sell Grand Theft Auto V

The young gamer worries that this ban will effect future sales of Grand Theft Auto as there will be a monopoly on who will be able to sell the game.

Ultimately, she said it's really going to effect gamers who are keen on playing the game.

'My worry is that it's going to be banned so it's going to be a problem for future games,' she said.

Mr Cooper said Target would continue to sell other R-rated DVDs and games.

'While these products often contain imagery that some customers find offensive, in the vast majority of cases, we believe they are appropriate products for us to sell to adult customers,' he said.

'However, in the case of GTA5, we have listened to the strong feedback from customers that this is not a product they want us to sell.'