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Montie_Claunch
Guest
Just curious. I am a big Mortal Kombat fan (have been scince MK3). What does the church say about such vidiogames? Is it all right for me to play them?
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AlanFromWichita
Guest
My kids play those kinds of games, and it hasn’t seemed to cause them to have bad ideas.
Some of them are interesting, as one of my kids tells me about how many aspects there are to the characters that gives a person a lot to think about, though some of the ideas involved are medieval, and others think they are troubling or worse, destructive.
Just my :twocents:
Alan
Some of them are interesting, as one of my kids tells me about how many aspects there are to the characters that gives a person a lot to think about, though some of the ideas involved are medieval, and others think they are troubling or worse, destructive.
Just my :twocents:
Alan
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Kristina_P
Guest
I’d like to know, too, if the Church has made any particular statement about such games. In the absence of such a statement, I’d like to ask you some questions:
- Do you feel that these kind of games promote an ordered view of life, death, violence, etc.?
- Do you feel that they are edifying to your soul, damaging to your soul, or neutral in that respect?
- Have you experienced any spiritually negative effects of playing these games? For example, have you noticed a tendency to glorify violence in your mind?
- Do these games fulfill the criteria of Philippians 4:8?
In light of how you respond to the above questions, formulate a plan for how you’ll approach MK and other such games.
- No.
- neutral
- I already have a tendency to glorify violence in my mind, thanks probably to natural predilection and the influence of popular media. I haven’t noticed an increase in this tendency that could be easily attributed to video games I’ve played.
- Not very well, no.
Based on my above answers, I’ve decided to take a cautious approach toward violent video games. I don’t completely abstain from playing them, and I don’t insist that others not play them. I just try to avoid devoting too much time to them, and I monitor the effects they could be having on me.
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AlanFromWichita
Guest
Here’s an angle that’s never occurred to me before.
The Bible is filled with stories of horror worse than any man’s imagination can conjure.
Why is it that things on tv or in games that are violent are considered bad and unedifying, while things far more sordid are considered sacred and are studied and discussed with great piety?
Does this mean we should reduce our recreation to limit the range of exposure, or perhaps that we should pick and choose which parts of the Bible we allow people to read?
Maybe it means that certain types of activities should be done under cover, with close supervision, lest the enemy finds out.
For some reason, I can’t help but wonder what it was that so bothered the Protestants that they took books out of OUR Bible.
This is very strange indeed.
Alan
The Bible is filled with stories of horror worse than any man’s imagination can conjure.
Why is it that things on tv or in games that are violent are considered bad and unedifying, while things far more sordid are considered sacred and are studied and discussed with great piety?
Does this mean we should reduce our recreation to limit the range of exposure, or perhaps that we should pick and choose which parts of the Bible we allow people to read?
Maybe it means that certain types of activities should be done under cover, with close supervision, lest the enemy finds out.
For some reason, I can’t help but wonder what it was that so bothered the Protestants that they took books out of OUR Bible.
This is very strange indeed.
Alan
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Steven_Merten
Guest
Hello Montie,
I think focusing on violence being automatically wrong all the time can be harmful to one’s soul also. I heard no calls from the Vatican for UN troops to go into Rawanda to stop the atrocities. I read where Pope Benedict focused only on the Church’s error in not preaching the gospel in Rawanda as the cause of the atrocities. No mention of erorr on the side of the international community for standing by idly with their weapons undrawn while the atrocities against the innocent were happenning in Rawanda. Was their no sin in the international community not responding with force (mortal combat) to protect the people of Rawanda?
From behind the protection of Swiss Guard snippers, Pope John Paul II stated, “Violence is never the answer!” Is it evil, sin and defiance to the will of Jesus for the Pope to have a violent force at the Vatican to kill attackers for his protection (mortal combat)?
I read on another thread where a poster did not want their son to go hunting because he might become “violent”. What about those sons who go into combat in Iraq at age 18. Actually a little duck hunting at age 16 might have prepared them for the honorable, loving, non-sinful act of protecting the innocent as a soldier (mortal combat).
I do believe that there are video games and tv shows that are more violent than is good for young people. I think there are also some pacifists out there that can do a great deal of spiritual damage a young person’s understanding to what is the morally right thing to do.
I think you are right in balancing and moderating your violent video games.
I think focusing on violence being automatically wrong all the time can be harmful to one’s soul also. I heard no calls from the Vatican for UN troops to go into Rawanda to stop the atrocities. I read where Pope Benedict focused only on the Church’s error in not preaching the gospel in Rawanda as the cause of the atrocities. No mention of erorr on the side of the international community for standing by idly with their weapons undrawn while the atrocities against the innocent were happenning in Rawanda. Was their no sin in the international community not responding with force (mortal combat) to protect the people of Rawanda?
From behind the protection of Swiss Guard snippers, Pope John Paul II stated, “Violence is never the answer!” Is it evil, sin and defiance to the will of Jesus for the Pope to have a violent force at the Vatican to kill attackers for his protection (mortal combat)?
I read on another thread where a poster did not want their son to go hunting because he might become “violent”. What about those sons who go into combat in Iraq at age 18. Actually a little duck hunting at age 16 might have prepared them for the honorable, loving, non-sinful act of protecting the innocent as a soldier (mortal combat).
I do believe that there are video games and tv shows that are more violent than is good for young people. I think there are also some pacifists out there that can do a great deal of spiritual damage a young person’s understanding to what is the morally right thing to do.
I think you are right in balancing and moderating your violent video games.
R
Ruthie
Guest
I’ve never played Mortal Kombat; the closest I’ve come is Diablo and Diablo II.
I think that, as long as you can keep the violence and immorality in the world of fantasy, not bringing it to the outside world, you are OK.
This isn’t as easy as it sounds! For example, if I’m running a sorcerer character, it’s easy enough to know that he/she is fictional; and that sorcery is a sin in the real world.
But there are helper characters that, once you’ve heard their spiel, you don’t want to listen to it again, so you just hit the “leave” button when you’ve got what you need from them. That kind of rudeness is a good deal more subtle than the fictionality of a character.
I remind myself frequently that this, too, is not acceptable in the real world.
So you have to know yourself to know whether the games are good or bad (or between) for you.
Take Kristina’s excellent quiz!
I think that, as long as you can keep the violence and immorality in the world of fantasy, not bringing it to the outside world, you are OK.
This isn’t as easy as it sounds! For example, if I’m running a sorcerer character, it’s easy enough to know that he/she is fictional; and that sorcery is a sin in the real world.
But there are helper characters that, once you’ve heard their spiel, you don’t want to listen to it again, so you just hit the “leave” button when you’ve got what you need from them. That kind of rudeness is a good deal more subtle than the fictionality of a character.
I remind myself frequently that this, too, is not acceptable in the real world.
So you have to know yourself to know whether the games are good or bad (or between) for you.
Take Kristina’s excellent quiz!
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