Is it ok for Catholics to play violent video games?

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Hello, I think I may have come to a verdict and I want to hear any opinions. In violent video games I am thinking that I should avoid all unnecessary violence. As in, I will not attack unless being attacked or for some other cause that would be deemed just, as in preventing the oppression of an innocent. Just want your thoughts on this.
 
Also, I don’t play gta or any other games with completely unjustifiable violence. The games I play usually have you playing as the “hero” figure. As I’m trying to prevent some greater evil. I also avoid games with sexual content. In fact most of the games I play don’t really have female characters. And the protagonist pretty much always has some form of development or moral reason for their actions. Either that or they repent of whatever wrong it is they may have committed.
 
Oh, do you mean non-violent video games? Well, there must be some, but they’re probably pretty hard to come by.
 
Ositokc said:
The irony here is that almost every video game out there involves killing someone, shooting someone, trying to destroy someone and almost all these games are rated T for Teen to M for Mature.

But don’t you dare show a nipple or suggest sex!
A for Adults only!

The hypocrisy of Violence vs Sex in the USA.
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Would you say most people have a desire or tendency to want to commit violent acts?

Would you say most people have a desire or tendency to want to commit sexual acts?

I would say “no” to the former, and “yes” to the latter. I would therefore argue brutal violence in video games - which does sometimes merit an AO rating (if you look at the list of AO games, there are a few ones dedicated primarily if not solely to violence) - is less influential than explicit sexuality in video games.

I don’t imagine you consider masturbation, or all manner of what we’d call sexual immorality, immoral. But it is more likely you’ll fap to a sexual image than attack someone after seeing a violent one.
bisco1 said:
are there really no violent video games?
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You probably know there are tons of nonviolent computer/video games. The trouble is, many of them are either very generic (like mahjong or tetris clones), or are for younger persons (such as Animal Crossing or edutainment), or are not made very well in the desired genre (for example, any number of Christian FPS games, I’m sorry to say).

There are a lot of good, non-violent or low-violence games, such as Sim games like Sim City, tycoon games like Roller Coaster Tycoon, railway games like Railroad Tycoon. There are even a few good low-violence FPSes, such as the Portal series, or Warsow. I grew up on that sort of thing. But they don’t appeal to everyone. And, sometimes, a person just likes to blow up something that will spatter into a million, gory, bloody chunks.
 
As for AC I don’t usually play it for the killing, it’s more just that I like exploring the map and checking everything out. Though I did do some stuff in AC4 which might be considered moral, but it was more the pirate theme and the sort of childhood fantasy thing that got me.
 
DMITRIYL said:
As for AC I don’t usually play it for the killing, it’s more just that I like exploring the map and checking everything out. Though I did do some stuff in AC4 which might be considered moral, but it was more the pirate theme and the sort of childhood fantasy thing that got me.
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I hear you. I knew a kid once who said he played GTA just because he liked driving nice cars around the city. I don’t think people generally think very deep into why they play what they play. In the case of porn and sex, given our culture, that’s a deep problem. But violence is not institutionalised in our society; it’s actually discouraged.

I’ll speak for myself. I play a lot of medieval-type warfare games, and even the occasional game of Team Fortress 2. Any point to it? Actually, no. All those games can be summed up as: defeat all the enemies, or simply be the best player. That’s the be-all and end-all of those sorts of games. I don’t play for story. I play to feel good about myself, like I’ve accomplished something. It makes me feel, even powerful, you could say. It may feed my Cruasderistic tendencies when dealing with atheists and hostile non-Christians. But it’s no impetus to thrust a pike into the innards of a Moslem, or to learn archery so I can shoot people from my rooftop.
 
Yes, what you said about violence being discouraged. That is true in the sense of the ridiculously unbalanced repercussions if a student shows any semblance of violence (the ludicrous stories of children being suspended for playing cops and robber being an example). But then there is also the promotion of violence through media outlets. Even though I do play these games, I am typically a passive individual, really the only thing that gets me angry is this problem that I’ve have had that has been causing stress for several years now (the problem being OCD). I think years of pressure being what it takes to crack you is decent.
 
there are a few good games that are nonviolent and pure…we can make a list…
 
My fellow Catholics -

Be careful of what you put into your heads. Spending an hour a day or hours a week playing violent video games is like meditating on violence. The worst is the most realistic looking, but even some of the less realistic have useless sexual content as well. Something else we should avoid. I’m not suggesting you will automatically become a violent or more violent person, all I’m saying is that the images you see stay in your head. Try to find more positive, uplifting and non-violent hobbies and games.

Best,
Ed
 
edwest2 said:
My fellow Catholics -

Be careful of what you put into your heads. Spending an hour a day or hours a week playing violent video games is like meditating on violence. The worst is the most realistic looking, but even some of the less realistic have useless sexual content as well. Something else we should avoid. I’m not suggesting you will automatically become a violent or more violent person, all I’m saying is that the images you see stay in your head. Try to find more positive, uplifting and non-violent hobbies and games.

Best,
Ed
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Well said, thanks.
 
well, i can tell you from experience that pornography stays in your head. if that isn’t the work of satan, i don’t know what is.
 
edwest2 said:
My fellow Catholics -

Be careful of what you put into your heads. Spending an hour a day or hours a week playing violent video games is like meditating on violence. The worst is the most realistic looking, but even some of the less realistic have useless sexual content as well. Something else we should avoid. I’m not suggesting you will automatically become a violent or more violent person, all I’m saying is that the images you see stay in your head. Try to find more positive, uplifting and non-violent hobbies and games.

Best,
Ed
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Correct
 
bisco1 said:
well, i can tell you from experience that pornography stays in your head. if that isn’t the work of satan, i don’t know what is.
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Oh, yeah. I still remember that first exposure, over a decade ago, when I came across my first porn site…
 
They are video games. You move a little animated character around and do things to other animated characters. No real people are getting hurt. You might as well condemn someone for playing Monopoly. Being a greedy real estate mogul may be bad in real life, but nobody blinks an eye if you make your friend pay out the nose for staying in that dump you built on Baltic avenue because everyone is smart enough to know it is a game.
 
The difference between violent video games and sexualized ones is a pretty big difference. Lust, in a general case, is a mortal sin, and therefore experiencing that through a game (which may not be the case for everybody in every game) is clearly wrong. Violence is not inherently sinful, in fact there are situations where Catholics ought to resort to violence, as such we have a dichotomy. I tend to not enjoy playing games where I’m violent in ways that I would not consider appropriate in the real world. But games where I defend the innocent, or rescue the President, those are things I can certainly get behind.
 
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