Is playing violent video games a sin?

TheOtherHockeyMom said:

Having sex (in the context of a marriage or not) isn't really the issue that I'm trying to get at here, nor is actually killing or hurting people. It's about the fantasy of playing these games and/or viewing porn.

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The thing with the former is that it's still fantasy, whereas with porn...you're still left with porn no matter which way you try to spin it.

I think if you want to compare something with actual porn, then you would have to bring-up snuff films. But of course, I'm going along with watching said materials.

TheOtherHockeyMom said:

If I fantasize about killing my boss (which I wouldn't really do...I have a pretty great one), and picture him as the victim when I play video games, is that more moral than fantasizing about having sex? I'm not saying playing violent video games is wrong, just that to me, fantasizing about violence using video games as a tool is not a lot different than fantasizing about sex using pornographic materials as a tool.

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I don't think fantasizing about sex or nudity is wrong, just as some people who fantasize something bad happening to someone who may have irritated them really isn't bad...at first. It's when you continuously have said thoughts that it becomes a problem.

TheOtherHockeyMom said:

I have a good friend who was discussing how troubled she was by the popularity of the 50 Shades of Gray books and how she would never read them. She had read the Hunger Games books, though. I told her that I was a bit confused...in 50 Shades of Gray, the story includes graphical descriptions of consensual sex between adults, and in the Hunger Games, there are graphical descriptions of the murder of innocent children. How is the first one sinful and the second just fine (even for teens?)

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Again, I think the disgust with one over the other is that we are more likely to have sex than pickup a firearm or kill. It's true that with regards to violence, we take on this Wild West approach whereas with nudity/sex we are more Puritan America.

I didn't read 50 Shades but I did read Chuck Palahniuk's "Choke" and I did read a book that only had like two paragraphs but was close to 200 pgs. and it also involved an explicit sex scene. I would say leaving the reader to their imagination still isn't as bad as actually showing said sex scenes.

And there are movies - not porn - out there that have encroached into showing full penetration or other sex acts.

Shouldn't we aspire to bring glory to God in all that we do?

FriendlyJosh said:

I want to get a shooting game, that i've played in the past but I don't know if it's a sin or not.

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I used to play video games a lot, spent lots of money in them. Now I regret wasting so
much time and money.

FriendlyJosh said:

I want to get a shooting game, that i've played in the past but I don't know if it's a sin or not.

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Shooting by itself is not immoral. One can shoot for good reasons. Cops shoot criminals who draw weapons. Soldiers fight in just wars. People shoot home invaders. Women shoot would be rapists. Etc.

There are however, video games in which people engage in immoral shooting, such as Grand Theft Auto. If you play these games too often, you are retraining your conscience to be numb to immoral acts. I don't think God would approve.

DMCS said:

Shouldn't we aspire to bring glory to God in all that we do?

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Indeed! We should stop with all the *worldly* things and focus on God. After all, Jesus' coming is getting closer and closer. More signs are appearing on the news! Pornography and video game quarrels are the least of our worries. People are out there who need witnesses and ministers of Christ to step up and testify about God's love, not people who confess to be Christians that come and do the same acts and deeds as they are doing and accompany them on the wider path. Please stay on the narrow path; it is narrow for a reason. You will surely be rewarded in Heaven for your deeds!

(≧∇≦)/ stay strong children of God and remember that the devil is afraid of you; not the other way around. That's how much power you have in and with Christ!

FriendlyJosh said:

I want to get a shooting game, that i've played in the past but I don't know if it's a sin or not.

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It shouldn't be a sin. But if it leads you to sin, then it is a sin.
I'd recommend spending the time on reading a good book, that'd make you happier.

This thread is from 2012.

And was resurrected by 3 posts in Dec 2017 and then again today

I don't understand zombie threads being dug up lately. Makes more sense to make a new thread.