What dose the church say about video games?

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excaliber

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Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question.
But you are supposed to confess sins before communion.

I don’t watch realy fithy movies…ofcourse you want to stay away from pornography…and I don’t listen to hardcore rap or anything.

However…I always thought video games were harmless fun.
But every now and again you play one and its like WOOOAH ! that was VIOLENT!
Im talking about games like bio shock and those assasin games.

Can you actualy sin by playing an electronic game?

I know we all can’t be perfect angels this side of heaven.
 
excaliber said:
Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question.
But you are supposed to confess sins before communion.

I don’t watch realy fithy movies…ofcourse you want to stay away from pornography…and I don’t listen to hardcore rap or anything.

However…I always thought video games were harmless fun.
But every now and again you play one and its like WOOOAH ! that was VIOLENT!
Im talking about games like bio shock and those assasin games.

Can you actualy sin by playing an electronic game?

I know we all can’t be perfect angels this side of heaven.
Click to expand...
There are plenty of games with minimal violence and reduced objectionable items. Like anything in this life - it takes being a knowledgeable consumer and all things in moderation.
 
excaliber said:
However…I always thought video games were harmless fun.
But every now and again you play one and its like WOOOAH ! that was VIOLENT!
Im talking about games like bio shock and those assasin games.

Can you actualy sin by playing an electronic game?
Click to expand...
I think that some forms of electronically simulated violence are undesireable and tend to provoke violent fantasies, maybe even acts.

The problem is we don’t yet have experience. Clearly something like “Space Invaders” is harmless, whilst graphic sexual violence is wrong, but we don’t know where to draw the line. Just banning all war or fighting themes is just as bad as permitting excessively violent ones, because it denies boys a channel for aggression and promotes unrealistic and self-indulgent ideologies.
 
excaliber said:
Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question.
But you are supposed to confess sins before communion.

I don’t watch realy fithy movies…ofcourse you want to stay away from pornography…and I don’t listen to hardcore rap or anything.

However…I always thought video games were harmless fun.
But every now and again you play one and its like WOOOAH ! that was VIOLENT!
Im talking about games like bio shock and those assasin games.

Can you actualy sin by playing an electronic game?

I know we all can’t be perfect angels this side of heaven.
Click to expand...
It’s not a stupid question at all. Immoderation is immoderation, whether it is drinking too much, or playing video games to the neglect of your duties.

Content-wise we have to use prudential judgement. *Grand Theft Auto *would certainly be off the table as it has you simulating objectively immoral acts. Something like the Call of Duty series would be a judgement call I think.
 
Scottgun said:
It’s not a stupid question at all. Immoderation is immoderation, whether it is drinking too much, or playing video games to the neglect of your duties.

Content-wise we have to use prudential judgement. *Grand Theft Auto *would certainly be off the table as it has you simulating objectively immoral acts. Something like the Call of Duty series would be a judgement call.
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Grand Theft Auto is a great game… I love it.
 
ribozyme said:
Grand Theft Auto is a great game… I love it.
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Yes, I loved it too in a former life. BUT there is no getting around that you are simulating objectively immoral acts and glorifying criminal violence. The parallel to pornography cannot be seriously denied.
 
Scottgun said:
Yes, I loved it too in a former life. BUT there is no getting around that you are simulating objectively immoral acts and glorifying criminal violence. The parallel to pornography cannot be seriously denied.
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It did have some innuendo such as the use of the word “coffee” and the number 69. I wish I never learned about their meanings.

At least Carl “CJ” Johnson teaches about the virtues of “sharing” and our constitutional rights. Only played with San Andreas though.
 
What happened to me is that I played halo 3. The game was flat out fun…just deffending the earth against aliens…no big deal.
But it was rated Mature.

So I got bio shock…and its fun…your in some crazy mans wounderland…there is more fowl language THOUGH…but what botherd me is the part after you kill your first big daddy.
There is a man that was hung with blood everywhere, but beside the body was a bible and a cross with Christ on it…THAT IS TAKEING IT TO FAR.

Has anyone played it??
Do you think Im over reacting…it is just an electronic game?
 
excaliber said:
What happened to me is that I played halo 3. The game was flat out fun…just deffending the earth against aliens…no big deal.
But it was rated Mature.

So I got bio shock…and its fun…your in some crazy mans wounderland…there is more fowl language THOUGH…but what botherd me is the part after you kill your first big daddy.
There is a man that was hung with blood everywhere, but beside the body was a bible and a cross with Christ on it…THAT IS TAKEING IT TO FAR.

Has anyone played it??
Do you think Im over reacting…it is just an electronic game?
Click to expand...
Are you a free-market Republican? At least you know what will happen in their utopia because you played “BioShock.”

Sadly, my computer couldn’t play “BioShock,” but I want to play it so I can learn about the Randian virtues advocated by many in the Social Justice Forum here.
 
ribozyme said:
Are you a free-market Republican? At least you know what will happen in their utopia because you played “BioShock.”

Sadly, my computer couldn’t play “BioShock,” but I want to play it so I can learn about the Randian virtues advocated by many in the Social Justice Forum here.
Click to expand...
Ok I guess I am over reacting acording to you.
I don’t know if Im republican yet…I was raised jw…so never voted before.
 
Some of the games that are available now makes me wonder whatever happened to enjoying the classics like Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog.
 
Yeah I worry about this too. I am a BIG Half Life fan. The game is great fun to play, and often helps me excape/blow off stress that builds up from school every now and then. I also love the adventure of exploring the environments and solving all the puzzles and what not.

The thing that gets me is that the game can get to be reeeally gory and violent. I think some times that it’s ok cus your pretending that you are defending mankind from evil alien invaders, but some times I wonder why should I expose myself to unnecessary violence the first place? It’s not like I really have to save anyone.

Any one else’s thoughts are greatly appreciated.
 
ThatGuy said:
Yeah I worry about this too. I am a BIG Half Life fan. The game is great fun to play, and often helps me excape/blow off stress that builds up from school every now and then. I also love the adventure of exploring the environments and solving all the puzzles and what not.

The thing that gets me is that the game can get to be reeeally gory and violent. I think some times that it’s ok cus your pretending that you are defending mankind from evil alien invaders, but some times I wonder why should I expose myself to unnecessary violence the first place? It’s not like I really have to save anyone.

Any one else’s thoughts are greatly appreciated.
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Hey, maybe you will have to save someone one day. And besides, we are all called to protect the innocent and help Jesus “save” souls from hell. So if a video game fosters a desire to do good and calls you to heroic virtue, that’s great.

To the original poster, you keep saying “it’s just an electronic game.” Don’t get bogged down with that too much. Yes it is just an electronic game but pornography is just a piece of paper. The question is not what video games are- it is what they stir up inside you. Does the particular game you are worried about stir up rightousness or wickedness?
 
This is a great topic. I am very involved with video games (gamerscore > 34,000 for those XBox 360 owners who know what I mean) and understand that what is needed is a good moral review system because games in the last five-ten years have started to become movie-like experiences with very objectionable content. pluggedinonline.com has some good Christian game reviews but it is hard to find many sources for this. I wonder how much of an audience is looking, as I am, for good moral game reviews.

Most games, like movies, depend on the player’s personality and conscience. A high level of violence can affect some people a lot more than others. I know there are certain games I want to stay away from because playing them either darkens my spirits or may lead to temptation. These are similar to L-rated USCCB movie reviews.

Unfortunately there are and in the near future will be many more O-rated games that should be avoided by all Christians.

Let me introduce a game that came out in 2007 that got great reviews from every major media outlet in the business. It is called The Darkness and the basic plot is that you play a man who becomes possessed by a demon and you must cooperate with the demon in order to kill your enemies (by ripping out their hearts among other actions).

This is where video games are even more problematic than other entertainment. It is already inadvisable to passively watch a movie where characters cooperate with demons to gain power. But now we are at the point where the player is asked to press buttons in order to cooperate with demonic spirits.
 
[MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI
FOR THE 41st WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY

Theme: “Children and the Media:
A Challenge for Education”

May 20, 2007 ](http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/b...0070124_41st-world-communications-day_en.html)

Any trend to produce programmes and products - including animated films and video games - which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray anti-social behaviour or the trivialization of human sexuality is a perversion, all the more repulsive when these programmes are directed at children and adolescents. How could one explain this ‘entertainment’ to the countless innocent young people who actually suffer violence, exploitation and abuse? In this regard, all would do well to reflect on the contrast between Christ who “put his arms around [the children] laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing” (Mk 10:16) and the one who “leads astray … these little ones” for whom “it would be better … if a millstone were hung round his neck” (Lk 17:2). Again I appeal to the leaders of the media industry to educate and encourage producers to safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human dignity and promote respect for the needs of the family.

B16 doesn’t say that it’s a sin exactly, but he does condemn games that “exalt violence and portray anti-social behaviour or the trivialization of human sexuality” as a perversion.

I only play video games that are approved by my concience, but as a new Catholic I worry that my concience isn’t formed correctly. Anyone know of more concrete guides as to what the church teaches?
 
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