I was initially a little upset to learn that my husband had bought an Xbox... not so much that he brought it into our home, but that he'd made such a large purchase without consulting me!
I was also worried about the distraction from our family. We are newlyweds, expecting our first baby in 2 months, and we have plenty of friends who turn away from thier families to play video games. These men have strained relationships with their wives and children. We also know families where the older children play video games for many hours a day. These families also have strained relationships, and the children addicted to these games are not being raised to love God, only video games.
After talking about this, my husband wished to return it right away. I also had a change of heart... after all, winter is very cold where we live, it is a rural area, and we have trouble finding fun things to do together during our long, snowy winter. Building a snowman in 8 degrees is only fun so many times. We will spend most of this summer holed up with a newborn baby, and when he's old enough to go out, it will be winter again. I asked, "maybe this is something that we can use together?" After all, technology is like money, not inherantly evil, but something that needs to be used with care. We do enjoy watching family sitcoms together on our cable box, and it seems like everyone here likes their internet alright.
Now, I can't see our family becoming like the others we know. By the time our son is old enough to play, Xbox will be a thing of the past. My husband doesn't play video games often at all, and we both easily agree that very violent games will not come through our doors ever. I have always been fairly conservative with technology, and my husband has adopted my minimalist life without much complaint. He's been a good sport, and works hard, and it just seems fair for him to have something that he has wanted for such a long time. We only have one television, and neither of us carries a cell phone. We're the only 20-somethings I know with a landline phone!
However, we were both disappointed with the lack of 2 player games at the video game store (one player racing games? REALLY?). We were surprised that the console only came with one controller... thought video games were a social thing like they were when we were young? I'm not naive, but was still shocked to see how inappropriate some of the games are (a busty girl in a cheerleader outfit on a killing spree with a chainsaw? a mentally ill teddy bear that can't stop killing all the other stuffed animals?!?). Then again, we could slide something equally evil into our DVD player, but don't.
We did have fun playing the clean two person game we picked up... reminded us of the board games that we play so often. But we are both equally on the fence about if this thing should stay or go back to the store. We're worried that if using it in a manner becoming of a young Christian family, it might just sit there and collect dust. And it was very expensive.
How do you feel about the Xbox? Do you have one? Would you?
I was also worried about the distraction from our family. We are newlyweds, expecting our first baby in 2 months, and we have plenty of friends who turn away from thier families to play video games. These men have strained relationships with their wives and children. We also know families where the older children play video games for many hours a day. These families also have strained relationships, and the children addicted to these games are not being raised to love God, only video games.
After talking about this, my husband wished to return it right away. I also had a change of heart... after all, winter is very cold where we live, it is a rural area, and we have trouble finding fun things to do together during our long, snowy winter. Building a snowman in 8 degrees is only fun so many times. We will spend most of this summer holed up with a newborn baby, and when he's old enough to go out, it will be winter again. I asked, "maybe this is something that we can use together?" After all, technology is like money, not inherantly evil, but something that needs to be used with care. We do enjoy watching family sitcoms together on our cable box, and it seems like everyone here likes their internet alright.
Now, I can't see our family becoming like the others we know. By the time our son is old enough to play, Xbox will be a thing of the past. My husband doesn't play video games often at all, and we both easily agree that very violent games will not come through our doors ever. I have always been fairly conservative with technology, and my husband has adopted my minimalist life without much complaint. He's been a good sport, and works hard, and it just seems fair for him to have something that he has wanted for such a long time. We only have one television, and neither of us carries a cell phone. We're the only 20-somethings I know with a landline phone!
However, we were both disappointed with the lack of 2 player games at the video game store (one player racing games? REALLY?). We were surprised that the console only came with one controller... thought video games were a social thing like they were when we were young? I'm not naive, but was still shocked to see how inappropriate some of the games are (a busty girl in a cheerleader outfit on a killing spree with a chainsaw? a mentally ill teddy bear that can't stop killing all the other stuffed animals?!?). Then again, we could slide something equally evil into our DVD player, but don't.
We did have fun playing the clean two person game we picked up... reminded us of the board games that we play so often. But we are both equally on the fence about if this thing should stay or go back to the store. We're worried that if using it in a manner becoming of a young Christian family, it might just sit there and collect dust. And it was very expensive.
How do you feel about the Xbox? Do you have one? Would you?
