How much do violent games desensitize us?

[toasted_bagel]

The reason I’m wondering is because I stopped playing shooter games about 2 years ago because I think they affected me with too much violence. However, this was before I converted to Christianity, so I guess I was much more prone to violent thoughts.

Now I understand and agree with the Catholic teaching on just war and self-defense, and I think it would be fun to play Call of Duty co-op with my two younger brothers. However, I don’t want to be desensitized to violence again, and I am not sure whether I am still prone to violent thoughts (I am a 16-year old male). At the moment the most violent game I play is probably Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and I haven’t felt any side effects so far.

Also, I read an article in the March 6 paper of The Wall Street Journal:

Brain scans show that violent videogames can alter brain function in healthy young men after just a week of play, depressing activity among [brain] regions associated with emotional control, researchers at Indiana University recently reported.

 

[Student09]

You have to think not just about yourself but also about your younger brothers. Is playing violent video games going to be setting a good example for them? Is that how you want to encourage them? Also, is it going to help your spiritual life or contribute to the glory of God to play them?

The Catholic Church acknowledges that there are circumstances under which it is appropriate to fight and to defend oneself, but that does not mean it is desirable or that violence should be sought out or indulged in for fun. There are plenty of non-violent video games that can be quite enjoyable, so why not play those with your brothers?

 

[toasted_bagel]

I usually do ask my brothers, when they are playing C.o.D, whether they want to play a different game (usually a constructive one like Minecraft), but they just say no and keep playing their game.

 

[SaintPatrick333]

I grew up on video games. They were my anti drug all through school. As I got older, the better the technology got and naturally, the more violent the games got. I think this really all depends on the person. Personally I love games like grand theft auto. Playing it I can easily gun down innocent people (in the game) and feel nothing about it. Does that make me a bad person? No. Can it make me a bad person? Again, depends on the person. I still tear up when mufasa dies in the lion king lol. It all depends on if someone can differentiate between reality and video games. Just because I go on a rampage in games with a crazed bloodlust, doesn’t mean I enjoy seeing people die in war. Not everyone can make the distinction so I believe there is valid cause for concern. It all depends on someone’s maturity and ability for discernment. I suppose I come off as a hypocrite lol. Not quite my intention. Just wanting to say that while there can be harm that come from video games, and desensitization and the sort, doesn’t mean it will. All depends on you.

 

[Student09]

I grew up on video games. They were my anti drug all through school. As I got older, the better the technology got and naturally, the more violent the games got. I think this really all depends on the person. Personally I love games like grand theft auto. Playing it I can easily gun down innocent people (in the game) and feel nothing about it. Does that make me a bad person? No. Can it make me a bad person? Again, depends on the person. I still tear up when mufasa dies in the lion king lol. It all depends on if someone can differentiate between reality and video games. Just because I go on a rampage in games with a crazed bloodlust, doesn’t mean I enjoy seeing people die in war. Not everyone can make the distinction so I believe there is valid cause for concern. It all depends on someone’s maturity and ability for discernment. I suppose I come off as a hypocrite lol. Not quite my intention. Just wanting to say that while there can be harm that come from video games, and desensitization and the sort, doesn’t mean it will. All depends on you.

I’m sorry, I just don’t buy that. I think it is wrong to trivialize violence and use it for entertainment. Apparently, so does the pope: catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=22807

 

[WMichael]

At the moment in my life I play games like team fortress 2. I’m slowly realising that these games are harmful.
But that’s how life works Satan can be very tempting, I see if we’re willing enough to follow god we must leave what drags us away from him. In Matthew 6:24 we are told we can’t follow two masters, we either follow Good or Evil, Jesus Christ or Lucifer.

If we’re tempted by friends to play video games, maybe we need to spend less time with them, **as its better we cut off our right arm than go to hell. **

I myself am currently playing games that can be violent so I can’t be classed as an example, but hopefully I and others can follow the example Jesus taught us.

God Bless

 

[R_C]

The reason I’m wondering is because I stopped playing shooter games about 2 years ago because I think they affected me with too much violence.

You are asking a great question.

Holy Mass always begins with a prayer asking the Lord to forgive our venial sins, in which we confess I have gravely sinned in my thoughts, in my words, in what I have done, in what I have failed to do. We say gravely sinned, yet if we were guilty of a mortal sin we could not receive Communion…thus we see that venial sins, while they do not separate us from the Beloved, are not to be taken lightly…

If I play a shooter game in which I kill people, I am not so much meditating on whether the game is about a just war or if I am killing in self-defense etc., I am simply enjoying it, having fun. Well I don’t want to take this too far, but the Lord said: “anyone who looks at a woman to desire her has committed adultery in his heart”, then a similar reasoning applies to other sins - such as killing, for instance. Yes, I did not really kill that videogame character…but neither did I do anything more than looking at that woman and crafting lustful thoughts in my mind…

…unfortunately nowadays, between movies, music, and videogames, we are almost in a permanent state of sins of thought…but it’s like the apostles being in the Garden with the Lord, at night, with no torches…they were surrounded by darkness, but they did not care, for the true Light was with them.

 

[Nec5]

I grew up on video games. They were my anti drug all through school. As I got older, the better the technology got and naturally, the more violent the games got. I think this really all depends on the person. Personally I love games like grand theft auto. Playing it I can easily gun down innocent people (in the game) and feel nothing about it. Does that make me a bad person? No. Can it make me a bad person? Again, depends on the person. I still tear up when mufasa dies in the lion king lol. It all depends on if someone can differentiate between reality and video games. Just because I go on a rampage in games with a crazed bloodlust, doesn’t mean I enjoy seeing people die in war. Not everyone can make the distinction so I believe there is valid cause for concern. It all depends on someone’s maturity and ability for discernment. I suppose I come off as a hypocrite lol. Not quite my intention. Just wanting to say that while there can be harm that come from video games, and desensitization and the sort, doesn’t mean it will. All depends on you.

Well said. These games also serve to remind us that evil does exist and needs to be confronted. This is important in a society that advocates calling a lawyer when being threatened.