Do your religious beliefs effect HOW you play games?

[LekryceMack]

Not really, but the way i see it, our mind is like a computer. What we take in, gets stored somewhere in there. and the more we feed that storage (sex, violence, peace, anything etc...) the more it grows and takes effect no matter what. I don't really play video games like that anymore but when i do i play NBA 2k12 or somethin. I do usually play red dead redemption. Not the greatest "christ like" game but hey. Im not out killing ppl but I'm taking in and feeding violence 24/7 when playing the game. My point being, play games but be cautious. Because the bible does talk about spiritual forces. Not just games but movies as well. Mainly those kill, kill, KILL gory type movies. Im a strong willed guy so of course it doesn't effect me mentally but spiritually it does in a way. Its just one of those things we have to balance as christians. All games themselves are really worthless if you ask me, not all games are bad of course but in my honest opinion idk how a christian can really play games that involve witchcraft and magic with dragons and stuff and powerful demons and all that. I don't want to offend anybody but I'm just being real. the bible does say "Test everything. Hold on to the good"1 Thessalonians 5:21, "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." Romans 12:9. deff not saying video games are bad but as a christian, games that promote witches, witchcraft, demons, heck...satan himself (diablo) is deff not my liking. the bible talks clear about stay away from it

Deuteronomy 18:14 "For those nations, which you will dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so."

We have to understand we live in a world that loves and adores the world itself. We christians live in the world but we are not of the world. So of course regular non beliefs or even those who practice witchcraft will promote those activities and embrace it. Its seen in movies, shows, games, and even objects. Most of those come with deceiving spirits that have an effect on our lives. So we have to be careful and those who feel not prob with playing those games well ask the lord about it. Ask your holy spirit. pray about. Then find your answer.

 

[ChildOfTheLight]

yes

 

[Creek]

Yes.

For example (talking about racing), in the video game Need for Speed: High Stakes, I normally play as a cop chasing speeders ONLY; otherwise, if I want to race with a non-pursuit vehicle, I race on one of the "Raceway" tracks (which are race tracks). I tend to avoid the "illegal" driving aspects of Need for Speed: High Stakes, which is also why I don't play most of the "newer" Need for Speed games like Need for Speed: Most Wanted (which I use to have).

 

[stonze]

my beliefs don't have any effect on how I play games or which ones I play.

 

[VA Hunter]

My beliefs generally do not affect me when it comes to playing video games, because my favorite games are Halo and Battlefield. The only time I stay away from games is if there is nudity in them.

 

[WisdomTree]

I don't limit myself to anything. Whether this is a good thing or bad thing, who knows.

 

[DanielReeLee]

Well I don''t play bf3 anymore because of Microsoft. I hate Microsoft because my Live subscription gets eaten up because I don't play on weekdays. Back to the topic. I think that games like bf3 can say I'm a christian if you act like one. You give advice, encourage them, and throw them a medkit or ammo box. You also can't troll and can't curse. Dont be proud like 'Oh I got a 1000 m headshot' or 'I just got a triple kill'. Just shut up, 1000m headshot will not raise your kd ratio higher than 1m headshot. Also who cares about triple kills, you could've been wiser and got 10 kills in one life but you had to go for the triple kill. The point I'm making is apply christian principles to multiplayer games. Remember, the mic is for telling teammates where enemies are and to discuss strategy to win and the occasional encouragement, not brag about 1000m headshots or triple kills

 

[BelieverX]

I have three teen agers, and we do LAN parties. What we believe as a family definitely affects what we play in our house. Because horror movies and games were never allowed in our home, my kids shy away from it. If some one asks them to play a game such as Left 4 Dead, they would decline. It's not about being restrictive, it's about being responsible.

 

[SonOfTheWest]

While I considered myself a Christian(I now am a deist). My beliefs didn't have much impact on gaming decisions. When it comes to stuff like Skyrim,Mass Effect,etc I generally just go off of the backstory already set for the PC(or in the case of Skyrim that I have in my head) and go from there. Ironically I usually don't go badguy in a lot of those type of games because well...the rewards tend to suck. Not a lot of games have done the good stuff if you do bad stuff route well.

So all in all, no. Then or now as a deist my beliefs have little to do with it.

On a side note, as a kid growing up watching Freddy Krueger movies. I never really understood the stigma some fellow religious families had about horror movies and games. About all horror movies growing up did to me a a child is make me want to work in studio as either a set designer, writer or make up special effects artists.

 

[Geoffthebunchie]

Yes, I almost completely gave up Skyrim after I had to make this priest submit to a Satan-like figure by beating him with a mace. I got bored of Skyrim quickly anyway though.

 

[SonOfTheWest]

Yes, I almost completely gave up Skyrim after I had to make this priest submit to a Satan-like figure by beating him with a mace. I got bored of Skyrim quickly anyway though.

Daedra are not Satan like figures but that is an entirely different thread subject.

 

[Geoffthebunchie]

Daedra are not Satan like figures but that is an entirely different thread subject.

Well I cannot think of one that does anything good. To me, they seem to always try to kill or bully the people of Tamriel (at least I think that's what it's called).

 

[Moopz]

For me scripture is everything; I live my life by it because it's the word of my Lord, the only source of life. Two scriptures that are probably primarily responsible for the way that I game are:

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers,..." - 1 Peter 1:18

and a third that also affects that is:

"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." - Luke 6:45

For me personally, having already been in the gaming culture prior to knowing Christ and still afterwords, I have seen how empty gaming has filled me up. The gaming world as a whole is pretty irreverant in speech in particular, with many people completely puffed up by the anonymity that the internet offers, allowing them to speak garbage with no real repercussions as in person. In my own life I have found that when I begin to fill myself with this without purpose my heart stores up a great deal of evil in it, and I begin to look like the darkness that the scripture says I should have no fellowship with. Not that I can't or don't love my unsaved gamer friends, but as a Christian I am called to look completely different from the world in every way, and to be a light of love in the darkness.

The Corinthians verse above fills me with a desire to (as stated in the beginning of either 1 or 2 Peter) be holy in everything that I do because I represent Christ everywhere that I am and he deserves all of me. 1 Peter 1:18 is true in my life, in that prior to knowing Christ most of what I did, no matter how good, was ultimately useless. Gaming without some sort of purpose in me just isn't that enjoyable anymore, and I know that it fills me with air and nothing of real substance.

[as a side note, I read earlier in the thread someone saying that we inherit good morals from our fathers, etc. I would say that according to this scripture that is an incorrect assessment, unless your fathers' morals were based in Christ and provided by God. After all, the heart is fickle and above all things desperately wicked, so says the Word]

With that in mind, it does affect the way that I play games, but really as a natural effect and less of a "think before every move" type of thing. the more time I spend soaking in the presence of God the more the idea of gaming "for him" or in a way that is glorifying to him becomes "second nature." I still make the choice, but I'm not wrecking myself over every choice, nor am I purposely keeping myself from making in-game choices that I want to make in order to practice some sort of personal asceticism. He's just changed my heart and it fills my game time in many ways, though not perfectly yet.

 

[Acebopata]

It can have an effect on how I play certain games, such as rushing to be the first to discover Christianity and Judaism on civilization 4 game when the goal is conquest galore. However, My religion is more likely to dictate what games I play rather than how I play them. For example, I'm not willing to play call of duty modern warfare 2 and 3 due to the levels where you kill innocents unnecessarily, even though I could skip the levels. It's a bit of an honer thing I have, so to speak.

 

[MehGuy]

No, when I was a Christian I rather enjoyed violence in video games. I'd even gross my friends out by repeatably hitting enemies/dead guys to see how much blood I could spray around.

The only thing I really backed away from was anything to do with magic, it was just one of those things that was taboo in my household. Even to this day I don't really care for magic in video games.

 

[Imperiuz]

The reason why violence in games and movies are a lot more youth-friendly and less spiritually dangerous than things with sexual content, is because most people doesn't get tempted to sin because of it. I would never read erotica or play erotic RPG:s is because I would get sexual temptations myself. I however don't exactly get tempted to ritually murder people just because I'm the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood. Nor do I get a temptation to visit Wicca heathens who stand for most things I hate just because I joyfully electrify some enemy NPC using "magic".

If you ask me, I'd say that a hug from a girl you like can be a lot more spiritually dangerous than a thousand smashed skulls of imaginary NPC:s. I rather have my future son/daughter mutilating imaginary things on the computer with their friends than making out with them. For us who are not native English speakers it's a good way to learn the language, and many games contain all-round education.

By the way, death to the Stormcloaks and long live the Empire!

 

[George95]

No I wouldn't. Now, there are certain things in a game I may not do, but it won't shut games off.

 

[SuperLuey]

No. I dont play game's based on religious beliefs.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

I said yes because because my moral compass wants to play a good guy story, or a dark rebel standing against evil.

But... I have been know to play a murdering psychopath just for grins.

 

[SuperLuey]

I will not play doom though. Its soooooooo not godly in way too many ways