Is magic and other things bad in video games?

[SentinelofTruth]

dshix:

There comes a point at which playing with dark magic in a game will affect your mind.

That’s why I said “(that doesn’t lead to you to immoral thoughts)”.

dshix:

St. Padre Pio’s gift of bilocation was certainly a recurring miracle.

It was a miracle that he received the power, but it wasn’t a separate miracle every time he used it.

 

[dshix]

It was a miracle that he received the power, but it wasn’t a separate miracle every time he used it.

No, it was a miracle each time. Padre Pio didn’t bilocate at will; he did it whenever God willed him to, and he obeyed God and did the assigned work each time we was bilocated.

 

[SentinelofTruth]

dshix:

No, it was a miracle each time. Padre Pio didn’t bilocate at will; he did it whenever God willed him to, and he obeyed God and did the assigned work each time we was bilocated.

Certainly, he only did it when God wanted him to. A “miracle” is when God directly alters the physical world. “Magic” refers to the concept of humans doing it. BTW, it’s technically magic every time a human moves a muscle, since the human’s will (residing in his/her immaterial soul) would be directly causing a physical action.

 

[dshix]

Certainly, he only did it when God wanted him to. A “miracle” is when God directly alters the physical world. “Magic” refers to the concept of humans doing it. BTW, it’s technically magic every time a human moves a muscle, since the human’s will (residing in his/her immaterial soul) would be directly causing a physical action.

Heh, you’re funny.

Human body movements are not magic; they are controlled by the brain. The soul’s connection to the mind, which commands the brain, is not really understood by modern science, but to call it magic is a misnomer.

 

[Pedro_1987]

Which leads to my other question; Is magic ok in games? I don’t use magic at all in Skyrim, I didn’t even choose a sign at the stones near Riverwood, but I used shouts. I would like to explain these things in a sci-fi sort of way, saying that the dragonborn has genetic abilities inherited from dragons, however in the game the gods of Skyrim’s religion are actual characters, making them real in the game world. They’re the ones that you get magical abilities from I believe, even shouts. Some of them are good and I guess you can get power from them and do magic but wouldn’t that be like worshipping false gods in real life, even though it’s in a game? And what about shouts? I’m honestly quite stumped on this; maybe I’m over thinking, but maybe I’m rightly worried.

Thanks, God Bless

I’m a little fuzzy on the magical lore in Skyrim, but I think you do spells under your own power, not the gods, hence you have magicka. But shouts would be from the in game gods.

Regardless, it’s completely fine. For one thing, video game magic is not even remotely close to real life occult practices. And I’m not exaggerating. Especially a game like skyrim, it doesn’t come close to the occult. Nobody steals souls for enchantments, throws fireballs, or summons elementals (well maybe that last one, but nothing like you’d see in game). People constantly freak out over fantasy magic when it’s literally nothing. The real picture of occult practitioners looks more like a new age hippie than Merlin.

As for false gods, I wouldn’t worry too much. No worse than reading mythology. You don’t worship Zeus just because you like Hercules do you? And if you feel tempted to worship daedra or skyrim’s dragons, then you need to get your head checked because you’re following gods explicitly made up for entertainment that aren’t even meant to be worshipped.

On the other hand, the church frowns upon enjoying simulated sex via softcore porn, so why would simulated killing and simulated spell casting be any less sinful?

Because the purpose of porn is to illicit lust and to fantasize about the performers. People (sane people anyway) don’t fantasize about killing or stealing when playing a video game. And I already explained spell casting. Similar to an action movie, you’re entertained by the action and not by the violence per se. Whereas with porn, it IS all about the sex.

 

[Sky_River]

Hi everyone,

So I recently started playing Skyrim, and I think it’s an incredible game. However, something that’s been troubling me for a while concerning games is, is it ok to do things that would be wrong in real life in video games? I don’t do things like killing innocent people, stealing, etc in games, but obviously in real life you shouldn’t kill random bandits and stuff. But on the other hand a game isn’t real, they’re programmed in the game for the player to level up on them.

Which leads to my other question; Is magic ok in games? I don’t use magic at all in Skyrim, I didn’t even choose a sign at the stones near Riverwood, but I used shouts. I would like to explain these things in a sci-fi sort of way, saying that the dragonborn has genetic abilities inherited from dragons, however in the game the gods of Skyrim’s religion are actual characters, making them real in the game world. They’re the ones that you get magical abilities from I believe, even shouts. Some of them are good and I guess you can get power from them and do magic but wouldn’t that be like worshipping false gods in real life, even though it’s in a game? And what about shouts? I’m honestly quite stumped on this; maybe I’m over thinking, but maybe I’m rightly worried.

Thanks, God Bless

Here’s my response. It depends on the game. For example, some forms of magic and supernatural creatures are just a part of a fantasy world (such as elves, dwarves, and dragons), and that probably depends on your conscience and how you interpret it (Corinthians talks about gray areas). Even some references to magical powers, such as magical artifacts and rings, are just story devices to make a fantasy story seem more epic.

However, if the magic crosses the line into real life-occultism, such as spell-casting and summoning spirits and controlling elements and stuff like that.

But even if there’s some occult overtones in the story, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the video game itself (or the fantasy movie or book) is sinful to watch, read, or play. Why is that? Because even in those stories, the entire story doesn’t revolve around spellcasting and occult powers. That’s just a part of the story. There’s other aspects to the overall storyline, which don’t involve that stuff. Just because the story has some occult references, that doesn’t mean that the entire story revolves around that. You can enjoy the positive aspects of the story, and ignore the occult reference in it.

 

[webmiesterph]

Well, I’d never allow my children to play GTA… but seriously: I don’t know any boy who doesn’t gets sexually aroused when watching simulated sex (i.e. softporn), and I don’t know anybody who have asesine instincts when playing violent videogames.

Anyway, if somebody notices that he becomes very violent when playing those games, has the duty of stop playing them.

Hi, this is exactly my experience so I stopped playing different video games. I discovered for one, that it ate up the time which I could use productively or in prayer. I also found that by playing certain games, such as a karting game, for instance, whenever I close my eyes to pray the rosary, I would still see the tracks.

I am also finding that although I have never killed anyone, I have developed some sort of violent fantasies which i tend to imagine every so often. If so, I told myself that even my fantasies and these ideas should conform to the fantasies of God. So because of these, I seriously limited my games. Now I think other people are not as susceptible as me, and others perhaps are even more susceptible.

 

[Garvnis_Tercrat]

Thanks for all the responses!

For those of you who are famililiar with Skyrim lore and play it, do you know if the black books in the Dragonborn DLC are considered ‘occultic’, along with Apocrypha, Daedra, etc ie forbidden knowledge?

 

[jritenour]

Which still begs the question: Why is simulated sex wrong, but simulated killing is OK?

I would think that when you’re simulating sex, you are in the process of fantasizing about having sex or perhaps there is another person at the other end of the process who is fantasizing the same. The sex act in my mind is somewhat sacred when done licitly.

When you’re playing a game, you are not actually fantasizing about killing (hopefully) someone who resembles the victim in the game. Did you not play war when you were a kid? I was raised by a former monk. He actually encouraged us in this (probably to get us outside and quit annoying him ).

I think someone said, all things in moderation. However, if you think it’s sin it’s ok to stop but not ok to prevent someone who is not engaging in evil. My 2 cents.