Should I avoid this game?

[baltobetsy]

Well, maybe to be perfectly safe, you should do as I do and stick to Free Cell and other solitaire card games. The only language problems you would have would be what I might say when I make an error and lose unexpectedly.

Look, these things do not have hard and fast rules. You must abide by your own prudential judgement. If YOU think there’s a possibility of scandal, or YOU are offended by the language, then YOU can decide not to play.

Maybe this is God’s way of suggesting to you that you find something to do with “real life” people instead of electronic devices. Getting involved with others might be very helpful to you in general, taking your attention away from all the things you are afraid might be sinful, and putting it on your friends and what you can do to make them happy instead.

Betsy

 

[Apryl]

Well, if you were not a Christian and you read this.

Let us do evil so that good may come?

What would your first thought about Christianity be?
Isn’t this potential scandal?
If a game did speak

The Lord’s name in vain.

Is that a reason to avoid the game?

And YOUR answer to the question you have posed is…

 

[SonCatcher]

Well, if you were not a Christian and you read this.

Let us do evil so that good may come?

What would your first thought about Christianity be?
Isn’t this potential scandal?
If a game did speak

The Lord’s name in vain.

Is that a reason to avoid the game?

Does the game include a citation? If not, the non Christian likely won’t even know it came from the Bible. Even non Christians know that scripture is taken out of context and misapplied daily. There is only scandal if they think that’s what they actually believe. I guarantee they won’t come to that conclusion from a game.

If you’re looking for a reason to stop playing it, you don’t need one. You can stop any time.

 

[Angel7]

Yes there is a citation.

I enjoy these games, So I want to play them. but if these reasons are enough to make the games “immoral” then I will avoid them. (Should I avoid games made by the same company?)

In my mind, I think these reasons are enough to avoid the games completely, (not sure if I should avoid games made by the same company)

However, Since I have scrupulousity, I want to know what the right thing to do is, are these reasons enough to avoid the games? and the companies that made them?

 

[SonCatcher]

However, Since I have scrupulousity, I want to know what the right thing to do is, are these reasons enough to avoid the games? and the companies that made them?

That alone is not enough to avoid the game or the company.

 

[Angel7]

What would it take for me to have to avoid the games, and the companies that make these games?

 

[SonCatcher]

What would it take for me to have to avoid the games, and the companies that make these games?

I suppose if the game material required objectively immoral actions in order to advance. E.g. murder of an innocent. Many games allow such activities but I am unaware of any that require them. I doubt that boycotting the company would be necessary but the game might so as to avoid scandalizing others or yourself.

 

[Sophiethenerd]

I would say, pray about it. Ask God what He thinks, and follow whatever conviction He gives you. If the game is dark, and focuses on evil or has devils or demons in it, then leave. But the fact that it has the word Armageddon in it probably isn’t a good reason to leave.

 

[SonCatcher]

I suppose if the game material required objectively immoral actions in order to advance. E.g. murder of an innocent. Many games allow such activities but I am unaware of any that require them. I doubt that boycotting the company would be necessary but the game might so as to avoid scandalizing others or yourself.

I should qualify that as being my current opinion. It is certainly fallible and subject to change.

 

[Moscati]

If you want a specific answer, you need to ask a specific question. What is this game? (I or someone I know probably plays it, for the record.)

What’s the plot? What kind of character do you play? How does the game make you feel? What do you think the overall message of the game is?

A faithful Catholic has to go through this kind of process when they take in any kind of art or entertainment. There are very hard and fast rules that will let you off the hook about discerning it for yourself.

 

[presidentjlh]

If the game is dark, and focuses on evil or has devils or demons in it, then leave.

But what if your job in that game is to shoot said demons? coughDoomcough

Sorry, I’ve been playing doom recently. I personally don’t find anything particularly wrong about it: Demons don’t get the protection from God that human life does.

 

[DexUK]

These are the questions that you need to ask yourself and answer for yourself.

Is the game blasphemous in and of itself?
Does it promote blasphemy?
Does it glorify acts of objective evil such that by playing it you are encouraged to commit those acts in real life?
Are you capable of separating fantasy from reality?
Are you capable of acting responsibly in real life?
Are you reliably capable of withstanding any temptations that might be inferred from the use of this game? (If not, then you should avoid the game as it would be placing yourself into a near occasion of sin)

What is the outcome of playing this game? Are there objective and SINFUL disadvantages in the real world as a result of your playing it? By which I mean that playing it causes you to commit a sin against someone else or against God.

If your answers to these questions are that nobody suffers, you don’t blaspheme, you don’t incite sin in others or sin against them yourself, then you should be alright.

Don’t let your scrupulosity encourage in you the imagination of far-fetched hypothetical outcomes that might just be hideous.

Remember that scrupulosity itself can be a sin - because you end up living in a perpetual state of guilt and shame and you cut yourself off from the life-giving and life-affirming graces of God.

You are not a Puritan. You should not view all enjoyment as intrinsically evil.

Play the game. Enjoy it (as you say you do). Do not feel guilty for your enjoyment of it. Only stop playing if bad things either happen or are about to happen. Do not OVER play it to the detriment of other areas of your life. (Do not worry about potential detriment - you’ll know it when it happens or is about to happen, don’t obsess about it beforehand).

Life the life God gave you in joy and rely on his eternal love.

STOP WORRYING!

 

[Angel7]

Well some specific examples.

in the game Legend of Legaia.

An answer to a question in the game is

The Book of Genesis

I don’t think the game made fun of or insulted This Book Of The Bible.
but is having it as an answer to a question (an answer that stands out as not being a part of the game) wrong? and enough to avoid the game?

in the game, a character was calling the main hero a “savior, who freed them for their “death” (brain washed by magic creatures)”

The words used (savior, freed us from death) made me uncomfortable because it sounded similar To what Our Lord did.

I thought it was very innapropriate and wrong, but I kept playing, (I reassured myself later that it was maybe something I could ignore ((I didn’t KNOW if it was wrong enough to avoid the game)))

There is a idol in the game. (sadly many games have made up deities in them)

a warrior monk in the game offered to teach a character a fighting move.
It was worded “shall I teach you the teachings of…”

I wanted to just learn the move and it isn’t real so hopefuly saying yes wasn’t wrong.

I’m sorry for being so specific.

 

[DexUK]

In none of those examples can I see anything specifically wrong. It’s simply acting. It’s just fiction. And the consequences go no further than the confines of your computer.

Honestly - it’s all imaginary. Lord of the Rings is imaginary. Harry Potter is imaginary. Stargate is imaginary. If it doesn’t lead you into error or encourage you to act wrongly in real life then just have fun exercising the creative bits of your brain. Don’t obsess over it. If you’re having fun, play along. If it stops being fun, give up and do something else.

STOP WORRYING!