Have your religious beliefs ever conflicted with your gaming?

[ravendta]

It appears you are ignorant of what they are used to communicate.

Do you listen to sad music when you want to feel happy? No? I'm saying I avoid that too, that's all.

OK, the ignorant comment was completely unnecessary.

And what pentagrams are used to communicate is a meaning that is made by MAN. MAN took that symbol and decided it was a satanic symbol. Jesus never said, "Beware the circled star" or anything of the sort. Too often our society falls victim to the over-exaggerated fears of the church. You know how people make the "devil horns" symbol with their forefingers and pinkys at rock concerts? Does that make you feel like you want to worship Satan? For that matter, does looking at the pentagram make you think, "Boy, if I keep looking at this, I may fall at Satan's feet!"?

Nothing is anything without the meaning behind it. Everyone says that Christian's don't swear when in reality what we should/should not say is not limited to the specific cuss words selected by society. Jesus said, "Let no unwholesome word come from your mouth" (don't remember the exact wording, but its the same idea) and that means calling someone a jerk is just as bad in God's eyes as calling them something that I can't write on this board. Yet society, for whatever reason, puts more emphasis on cuss words because that is the meaning that MAN put behind them.

The point I'm trying to make is that I don't allow the symbols and definitions of man to interrupt my relationship with Christ. If I want to put a pentagram on my car because I think the logo looks cool, there's nothing wrong with it. If I want to put it there because I worship satan, then that's different. But the logo, in itself, only means what you allow it to mean.

And actually, sad music comforts me when I'm down. I use sad lyrics as a prayer to the Lord when I'm depressed because many times they convey my feelings better than I can do it myself.

 

[FlaymSior]

It's like the English language on what is implied and what is inferred. People infer things because of lack of understanding to how it's implied, yet refuse to say it's anything but out of ignorance and pride.

Swastika - Do you know that it actually means power, wealth, and a symbol for the sun? Not Nazizm, evil, and old German vids?

Cross - Not a means of salvation but a means of death, a long agonizing death, the best torture device created.

How we view symbols is less about the symbol itself but the meaning we derive from it. So to say a symbol is evil in incorrect, it's our view of it that makes us associate it with evil.

As for music, I love listening to classical, preferably strings, while waking up. Odd as it usually puts everyone else to sleep.

 

[ravendta]

As for music, I love listening to classical, preferably strings, while waking up. Odd as it usually puts everyone else to sleep.

Funny you should say that. While about 10% of the stuff on my ipod is metal/rock, the rest is orchestral. Movie albums, game music, classical music - I love it all. Some of the most emotional and powerful music out there.

 

[Gottservant]

"Narrow is the path that leads to life, but wide is the road that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it" (from memory - the gospels).

Do you suppose you can go through life without discerning good from bad? That's easy. Do you think you can just do what is easy in life? You will find yourself mistaken on Judgement Day (see the Word of God above again for clarification of what I mean).

 

[TheTexasHillbilly]

For me, Ive given up on the flashy first person shooter games. Ive been getting heavily into the old school turn based historical wargames. Games from www.mattrixgames.com and www.hpssims.com These games keep me going. But yeah. I just dont like the violence in games.

 

[Theogonia]

One word

NO

Even if the game was about commanding a demon army helping satan overcome the world and in the end killing God. (awesome idea btw)

 

[FlaymSior]

"Narrow is the path that leads to life, but wide is the road that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it" (from memory - the gospels).

Do you suppose you can go through life without discerning good from bad? That's easy. Do you think you can just do what is easy in life? You will find yourself mistaken on Judgement Day (see the Word of God above again for clarification of what I mean).

In my previous post, I did indeed discern what is good and bad. It is the meaning you yourself give to it that matters to you. Swastika, cross, even the pentagrams which, in my own mind, mean nothing and are quite silly and pointless as I have a higher deity looking over me and the world and the realms. Chalk lines hold no power over me, so why fear them? Do I embrace them? No, but they give me no dread.

Exposure =/= acceptance.

 

[FlaymSior]

One word

NO

Even if the game was about commanding a demon army helping satan overcome the world and in the end killing God. (awesome idea btw)

..... if you say so
No really, as a gamer, I can't really see how that could be done, or if there'd even be a market for it... mainly the first. And that's without looking through a non-denom Christian aspect.

 

[Breetai]

Really really

Oh, I see. Really!

Really?

 

[Breetai]

Well excuse me, who made you spit your dummy out?

What? I have no clue what you just said...

LOL you seem to be really deadly serious on things it's hard to explain,

Deadly serious I understood. I have no idea what the subject of "it" is supposed to be, unfortunately.

I didnt mean any harm by what i was saying.

To be honest, I wasn't quite sure just what you were saying... No harm done! Actually... I don't know what was done, but I am having fun reading your posts! It's like a mystery that needs to be solved!

 

[Breetai]

How many pentagrams do you have to have shoved down your throat before you say "hey, maybe I don't need this"?

42

 

[Breetai]

Swastika - Do you know that it actually means power, wealth, and a symbol for the sun? Not Nazizm, evil, and old German vids?

I thought it was just an interesting symbol on Buddhist temples... and Hitler bars in Korea. Yes, they exist.

 

[Breetai]

"Narrow is the path that leads to life, but wide is the road that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it" (from memory - the gospels).

"No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord." (from memory - the Torah)

 

[FlaymSior]

I thought it was just an interesting symbol on Buddhist temples... and Hitler bars in Korea. Yes, they exist.

I had to look it up once when someone insisted it was a variation of a Catholic cross of some sort. For once, Wiki agreed with other, non-editable resources!

 

[Breetai]

I had to look it up once when someone insisted it was a variation of a Catholic cross of some sort. For once, Wiki agreed with other, non-editable resources!

It isn't a Catholic/Christian thing. It was used in India long before Christianity, and inherited by Buddhism. It's known as a maan here (phonetically spelt), and is on nearly every Buddhist temple. If anything. Christianity borrowed it from outside sources. Possible from India, as a result of Thomas' work there in the first century.

 

[FlaymSior]

It isn't a Catholic/Christian thing. It was used in India long before Christianity, and inherited by Buddhism. It's known as a maan here (phonetically spelt), and is on nearly every Buddhist temple. If anything. Christianity borrowed it from outside sources. Possible from India, as a result of Thomas' work there in the first century.

Understandable as India and Britain were so intertwined and of course there's the church of England. So it might have once been a Catholic/Christian symbol, but I couldn't find anything on it, and it certainly wasn't that to originate.

And since I didn't make it clear in my last post, Wiki and the other sources concurred against that person's claims. Soz, I'm tired.

 

[Breetai]

Understandable as India and Britain were so intertwined and of course there's the church of England. So it might have once been a Catholic/Christian symbol, but I couldn't find anything on it, and it certainly wasn't that to originate.

Perhaps you could do with a bit of history study. Britain didn't stick its nose into India's business until the imperial age (16th century, as far as getting heavily involved in India via the EIC). It wasn't the Catholic church who was using swastikas; it was the Nestorians (Persian Christians). In fact, some scholars believe that it wasn't the Christians who took the swastika from the Buddhists (or Hindus), but the other way around. The Buddhists took it from the Nestorians. Don't look west for the origins if the swastika... look east, to Persia or India.

 

[Theogonia]

..... if you say so
No really, as a gamer, I can't really see how that could be done, or if there'd even be a market for it... mainly the first. And that's without looking through a non-denom Christian aspect.

Well no one said it wouldn't be cheesy.

Painkiller in reverse.

 

[cat1]

What? I have no clue what you just said...

Deadly serious I understood. I have no idea what the subject of "it" is supposed to be, unfortunately.

To be honest, I wasn't quite sure just what you were saying... No harm done! Actually... I don't know what was done, but I am having fun reading your posts! It's like a mystery that needs to be solved!

I said this :you probebly should ask this? doesnt make sense maybe u ment shouldnt LOL hmm as far as im concerned no games have affected me my fave ones are war ones COD and MOH and even tho this isnt a war one i like the Silent Hill colection. all is good.: And then you said that you couldn't understand what I was saying I was saying that no Horrer games, shoot them up kinda games affect my religion as i just see them as games. The "it" was me "trying" to figure out if your serious about me saying what i said i dont even know what you dont understand when you mistakenly missed letters out I was just joking I guess I shouldn't have so sorry about that. The no harm done bit was me not wanting to cause a disruption or argue of the sort

 

[Breetai]

I said this :you probebly should ask this? doesnt make sense maybe u ment shouldnt LOL hmm as far as im concerned no games have affected me my fave ones are war ones COD and MOH and even tho this isnt a war one i like the Silent Hill colection. all is good.: And then you said that you couldn't understand what I was saying I was saying that no Horrer games, shoot them up kinda games affect my religion as i just see them as games. The "it" was me "trying" to figure out if your serious about me saying what i said i dont even know what you dont understand when you mistakenly missed letters out I was just joking I guess I shouldn't have so sorry about that. The no harm done bit was me not wanting to cause a disruption or argue of the sort

Ok...

I'm being really honest here, it's difficult to read what you write because you have huge "run-on" sentences. Try just writing short sentences more often, that might help. This site also has a built-in spell checker. Just right-click on a word with a red underline! Unfortunately, it's always the American spellings... but it's better than nothing!

I'm not trying to be mean, I'm really trying to help!