This is a crazy thread.

[SteelDisciple]

So you people really think that watching and playing violent games and movies (Hot Coffee, Doom, Underworld etc.) will get you saved?

Today's world is pretty black and white. 99% of the time, everything you do is either good or bad, there is no "in between". Take for example driving a car, do you think it's good or bad?

And one more thing, if all this virtual and fantasy stuff is ok, why didn't God create it for man from the very beginning?

What do you think Jesus would do?

Wait...was that a serious post or sarcastic?

 

[SteelDisciple]

My immediate family does not even own a video game system, but I grew up playing them. I am talking old school Atari and Nintendo. Anyway, a couple of years ago I went to visit my 15-year-old cousin and found him playing one of the Grand Theft Auto type of games. It made me sick. It wasn't just the stuff the character on the screen was doing, but the stuff my cousin was saying while playing it just broke my heart.

As far as the Christian standpoint, I believe God tells each of us what is wrong and we had better listen. God knows that what one person is OK with might be a huge stumbling block for me, so He tells me to avoid it. If God tells me to smash my music or whatever, then I must do so no matter if He tells you to or not.

My personal opinion is that games which are fantastic are also a way people are desensitized to violence. Movies can do the same thing to sex and relationships. There are many ways a Christian can get thrown off course, and we have to be careful to avoid the things which are awful to us personally.

I am direct proof that violent movies and games DO NOT make you cold or hard hearted. Having played them and watched them for YEARS I still get incredibly sick to my stomach at seeing real world violence, hate or blood.

Believe it or not...the only people who seem to be effected by games are the people complaining about them...everyone else is just having fun playing together and not thinking anything of it. Just having good fellowship with friends and new friends I make online in games.

 

[SteelDisciple]

You know I see those points. I guess I'm just talking about the real trash I see. I mean like a good RPG isn't bad and I'm not saying it is. I'm saying there are those games that are so graphic its like we get this happiness from smashing someones head in. Or a huge laugh when someone is set on fire by a flamethrower. I'm not saying a good stradegy game is bad, or a quest against mystic creatures. I guess I just wish there were more kind hearted games out there with no violence, and I know there is, but I don't see my 13 year old cousin playing them. It's not popular to have a good quality game these days, and it bums me out. God Bless.

Jon

you know what...if I see a bad guy with ragdoll phsyics fly through the air, smash up against a building multiple times, then land on the ground only to get run over by a car....I laugh. Not because it's fullfilling some violent fantasy...but because I just think it's funny...because it;s NOT real. If I saw that in person...I would feel horrible. But because it's not real...because it's fake...I can laugh at it because it's not possible.

 

[Stanged]

Alright, I've been lurking these forums for too long now. I found a blog today that has some interesting views on this topic of the occult in media, video games included. This is from John Paul Jackson, he's a prophet, and founder of Streams Ministries. I will quote the most interesting part of the article below.

Another multi-billion dollar industry that dominates the market today is occult-oriented role-playing games. These role-playing games foster a sense of personal power and authority through identification with the characters portrayed in the game.

Some psychologists have warned that imagination and make-believe can cause children to emotionally experience or simulate the role being played. This becomes dangerous when the acts are violent in nature. Tactics such as inflicting pain through slashing, psychic power, fits of rage, and "draining the life force" out of an opponent belong to Satan, not to God.

Role-playing games have also been known to desensitize children toward violence. Distinctions between good and evil often become blurred. Therefore, what was once unthinkable behavior becomes acceptable or normal behavior. This is known as gradualism.

Remember the parable of the frog that jumped into a cooking pot on the stove? At first, the water was temperate, even comfortable for the frog that was stranded in this strange human abode. Gradually, the temperature became warmer and more uncomfortable. When the water began to boil, the frog didn't notice. It never felt the increasing heat. Despite the fact its skin was burning, the frog wasn't alarmed. Not long thereafter, the frog lost consciousness and became dinner that night. In a similar way, what is true in the physical sense is true in the spiritual or ethical sense. In a culture of increasing darkness and depravity, it's easy to drift along, unaware of impending danger, until it's too late.

While many Christians would not allow their children to bring a pentagram or a voodoo doll into their homes, they have unknowingly opened a door to the demonic simply by allowing their children to read books, watch programs or play games that are pagan, and that employ principles practiced in occult worship.

It is surprising how many Christians are deceived concerning the dangers of witchcraft and sorcery. God does not consider sorcery or witchcraft to be innocent fun for children or adults. He confronts it in the strongest of terms. So, let's take a moment to examine how seriously God views this sin.

Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:31)

There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things is an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out before you. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)

If you think about it, God dislikes all sin equally. If it is a sin be sorcerer, just as it is to be an adulterer, does that mean playing a game where you cast spells is just as bad in the eyes of God as to play a game where having sex is part of the gameplay?

I'm tired of opinions. I want to hear God say to me either "You can play Guild Wars", or, "You can't play Guild Wars"! I want HIS TRUTH!