Asking whether something is wrong or not does not automatically identify it as sinful. Mankind would have no need for philosophy nor indeed God if it were that simple.
vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_15101998_fides-et-ratio_en.html
Your appeal to math as “proof” of youthful degeneration doesn’t hold water, least of all because you fail to cite any source or provide any actual math.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misuse_of_statistics
I can’t help but notice your assumption that Antonio_022 is a minor. His profile only lists him as Catholic, there is no birthday there. The majority of gamers today are in their mid twenties or early thirties (like me).
theesa.com/facts/index.asp
Furthermore, even if he is a minor, I would suggest reading “Engaging a New Generation” by Frank Mercadante
amazon.com/Engaging-New-Generation-Reaching-Catholic/dp/1592767222
Try not to be so dismissive of others, Antonio_022 is looking for constructive advice in his faith formation and you dismissed him out of hand with a soapbox diatribe that contributed little if anything. Your view of teens today and their spiritual state is sadly uninformed and one of the reasons Catholic youth ministries is suffering so much in America today.
It’s really too bad we can’t be sitting in a room together talking, instead of on the internet. No one really knows or gets to know, the other person(s).
I work in the media. I’ve learned about age levels, who is the primary demographic for what, unintended secondary consequences and so on. A quick look at a number of trade publications can give anybody a snapshot of what’s being sold to any age group.
The last sentence, above, about Catholic youth ministries, is very broad brush. Teens have parents who have lived through bad cultural experiences/experiments.
Horror games come in many different forms. Some are simple and just meant for fun, others are more complex and so on. How many people in their teens know who H.P. Lovecraft or Robert E. Howard were? They’ve just bought a game, they want to have fun. We have a good number of these games from Kickstarter projects, and they range from scary and fun to questionable. Take Dungeons & Dragons. Are the spells “real.” No, not if you’re informed, but to the average parent: who knows? They look and sound real or realistic. So why give this to your teen? Why not warn him about it?
Let’s face it. Catholics know bad influences can come from anywhere. No, a game will not make you do something but you must be honest about it. I monitor the media spectrum as part of my job. Game fiction, book fiction, TV fiction, etc… All I’m seeing is dark, dark and more dark, heroes who make deals with the bad guys presented as “I’ll do this bad thing to eliminate this other bad thing or for a good end.” That’s not a hero.
In video/computer games, a coworker showed me part of a new game. There is a scene where a young lady is laying on an old-style, recliner piece of furniture. The camera pans past them. There is a vase on a table stand. Suddenly, I hear these feminine sounds, the vase starts rocking back and forth, until it finally falls over. The camera pans back on the character and his quest continues. Seriously?
More profanity on TV, nudity in games, perversion in games. Each game needs to be judged on its own merits, but: if it contains anything morally offensive or very graphic violence (chopping off hands on TV is starting up), then dump it.
It is not “modern” to enjoy immoral or almost anything goes anything. Nudity, out. Profanity, out. Violence for defense, not revenge, but not with blood and guts flying. “Pushing the envelope” usually means something bad is desired. To become acceptable or average or normal.
The full phrase is: “Pushing the envelope of what people find acceptable.” Which people? Certainly not the people creating any kind of fiction who already think nudity, partial nudity, sexual situations, profanity and lots of blood and gore are OK. They are OK with it. They want you to be OK with it.
I’ve spent decades watching Western culture gradually, little by little, being poisoned. All anyone has to do is go back 40 or so years and see for yourself.
Ed
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