Dragonball z possible blasphemy?

[joyfulcross2288]

Dragonball z is one of my favorite anime of all times. When I was little I recall waiting expectantly for the new episodes of DBZ each week. One of the things I loved was the characters. But something has been troubling me lately. Bare in mind I am highly scrupulous and if you respond please provide evidence for your post. Ther is a character in the show whose name is “kami” which in japanese translates to god or deity. His role is basicly that he watches over the earth. The English anime assigned him the role of guardian and kept his name in japanese so people would not be offended. And I approve of these changes, But my question is this. Is the fact that kami can be used to describe our lord in some fashion mean that naming the character thus and putting him in this role ( which actually was god in the original manga) blasphemy or am I just being way to scrupulous about this.

I recently picked up xenoverse and kami is nowhere in the game, and I really like the game but will give it up if I must.

I will be speaking with my confessor about this and I really think this is just me going too far, but the opinions here would be nice. Again please be charitable and honest with your answers. I must point out again I am OCD and tend to worry myself sick over everything to the point that I do not trust my judgement at all. This is a legitamate concern for me and I am wondering if I can still watch the show and play my game?

 

[Beryllos]

In fictitious worlds, such as you may find in games and literature, it is okay to have characters who are called gods, lords, guardians, and so on. Lots of books feature Pagan or Greek gods or even God as we understand him. Those characters may be “gods” or even God in their fictitious worlds, but I don’t think anyone is saying they actually are God. Do not worry. Talk to your confessor if you need further reassurance.

 

[elsker]

Hello

I have dabbled a toe into anime but am more a hard core sci fi, dystopia type of gal but your post was so intriguing I’ve decided to risk embarrassment anyway- please be gentle with me as well!

The church has the wonderful distinction of being very hands off in regards to what we view, read etc in terms of basic entertainment (the exception being pornography and anything whose aim is to purposely lead us into occasions of sin, like ‘50 shades of gray’ whose purpose is to glorify violence against women, pre marital sex and…well you get the point) she trust us to use our informed conscience to judge whether something is worth partaking in or better left alone. That said, we should not over analyze something to the point where we start to see subtexts in it that aren’t there. This is where scrupulosity can come in and effect our judgement.

In the example you site with that particular anime, manga, and game-you need to ask yourself a few questions, such as:

Do I understand that this is not based on actual reality but is part of a genre with fictional qualities and a fictional basis even if it does borrow from some real world concepts?

Has viewing, reading, playing this game made me question what I know to be the truths of the Catholic faith? Are these materials explicitly designed to promote an atheistic, non-christian or pagan agenda for the purpose of leading persons of faith away from Jesus Christ and his church?

Do these materials glorify gratuitous sex and violence for its own sake with no moral lessons to justify the content?

Do these materials inspire me to commit acts of immorality (“self abuse”, drug use, fornication…so on)?

Is this entertainment taking up a majority of my time; taking me away from my responsibilities to work, family, religious obligations and so on?

Is my use of these entertainments becoming addictive to the point where I could not cut myself off-EVEN IF I KNEW IT WAS CAUSING ME HARM IN ANY WAY?

Lastly, do these materials defame the name/person of Jesus Christ, God the father, the blessed mother, the holy church, Catholics, the doctrines-dogmas-practices of the church, religious believers of any god fearing faith?

That last one is definitely the most important because as Christians we need to defend the faith with our words and actions if necessary and buying into things that take our money while mocking our sacred beliefs is being in material cooperation with things that want to rid the world of the light of the savior.

It is important to be aware of possible threats to your personal belief especially if you are struggling with issues of faith or personal strength in regards to temptation and attachment to sin etc. but if you know yourself well, are committed to the faith and ALL that holy mother church asks of us, understand where the line is between reality and fantasy and don’t look to entertainment first in matters of faith and morals instead of looking to the CCC and the Holy Bible you are probably fine, granted, this is JUST MY OPINION!

The fact that you can understand the difference between what a fantasy version of “god” is and who YOU KNOW is the actual GOD whom we worship and adore in the sacraments means that you have your feet firmly planted in reality.

If you decide to take this up with your confessor understand that he may not be up on things such as anime and manga so you may want to contact a seminarian (who are usually younger brothers) as they will probably be more able to guide you in this issue.

When I approach sci fi and dystopia I ask myself if it is trying to portray a moral, shows a definite struggle between good and evil, portrays Christianity and faith in a neutral or favorable way, does not challenge me to doubt my faith and instead challenges me to weigh the pros and cons of living a life with moral certainties as opposed to living with no moral compass at all. I love stories where characters are working their way towards redemption and where consequences of sin our frankly discussed. Even if a show is rife with violence it is not bad if the violence is necessary to accurately show the arc of a character’s evolution towards their eventual redemption.

Hope this helped you somewhat.

Blessings, Elsker

 

[BackHand]

In fictitious worlds, such as you may find in games and literature, it is okay to have characters who are called gods, lords, guardians, and so on. Lots of books feature Pagan or Greek gods or even God as we understand him. Those characters may be “gods” or even God in their fictitious worlds, but I don’t think anyone is saying they actually are God. Do not worry. Talk to your confessor if you need further reassurance.

The Chronicles Of Narnia also have a “God” like character but they are just books and this is just a show and game, unless they are directly making fun of God like say in a South Park episode, then I’d say your fine.

 

[Petaro]

I would take the kind advice of your Confessor. However, even as children we knew the difference between reality and make believe. You have always been aware of this difference, no matter how tied down with your tragic scruples. Scrupulosity is a terrible burden and you must use all your will to recognise the love of God in his forgiving of seven times seventy and beyond rather that the pilpuls of rules and regulations. They are obviously guides for us towards His loving heart in a fallen world; however they can be the nails that can bind scrupulous people to their own cross that others do not carry.
Saying that , your enjoyment of Dragonball z is quite licit and is in no way blasphemous. Remember blasphemy is found in your will not the media taking your attention. Your devotion to our God is your very protection against such a possibility.
If all fantasy has the possibility of blasphemy, we would discard some of the great Christian writers such as Tolkien; C.S. Lewis; Chesterton. No, we can draw ourselves into allegory and withdraw with impunity, taking only the shadows of our beliefs imprinted on the characters of fiction, taking such inspiration as we are open to within our faith foundation.
Dragonball z has a positive moral framework which can be enjoyably drawn upon without ascribing our reality into what is obvious fiction.
May St. Peter, that most tremulous of leaders, take you in hand and bring you trembling into the arms of our Saviour. May Mary have a special cuddle for you as well.

 

[joyfulcross2288]

Thank you all for your kind words.
Looking over dragonball z as a whole, the show shows many characters with admirable traits like mercy.
The show has several name gags throughout and the kami issue is the only one really bothering me. However in the show kami is portrayed as a kind elderly and wise being who gave the dragon balls to humanity. We learn that the character of kami is the earths protector but most of the time serve to prepare and aid others to fight. There have been other guardians before him, but he is not like The Lord, falling into a whole pantheon which resembles buddhist faith. The only thing about this whole setup that is a little unsure is that when some refer to The Lord in japan, they call him Kami. So I am genuinely curious if this use of naming a character kami for the guardian of earth is in anyway disrespectful to God and the third commandment.

Maybe this is the OCD talking but I am not so sure…

 

[elsker]

Your very welcome

The naming of Kami and how the Japanese might be interchanging the fictitious character with how they relate to God in the real world is more of a cultural issue for them and does not have a bearing for us in America or Europe or South America so you might want to pray that the Japanese are not heavily relying on their art culture for the truths about God-I can’t imagine they are naive to that extent if they are professed Christians (Christianity is a major but not the only religion in Japan) and they do have free access to the Bible unlike our brothers and sisters in N. Korea and China who are not free to seek knowledge of God the father and might be cobbling together a understanding of God based on a mixture of facts and fiction without any real way to discern what is accurate.

Praise God that we have the freedom to ask questions, seek guidance and believe in God-or not; to belong to a church or not. I can’t imagine living in fear or profound ignorance with no way to overcome it because a government entity forbids it. I have been to places where freedom is profoundly restricted and I believe that God holds none responsible for what they can’t know or access. In the end he wants us to use our reason, intellect and will for the good of others and for his glory. Pray for those who are not as free to seek enlightenment or who outright reject the truth. Keep doing what your doing as a good, faithful Catholic and remember we are all sinners working our way one day at a time towards eventual sainthood and we have an awesome father who loves us and is with us every step of the journey.

Blessings and love.