Ya, i doubt that I would ever go out and kill someone (except for some of my drop-in kids at my youth center...pressure building...must keep it deep down inside...). I think the point "for me" is that yes, it is a short escape from reality, but is it a vaild one in relation to my walk with God?
I think I may have already answered myself.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by minihack:
This is a tough one. When I look at the beatitudes and Jesus says that we should look at ourselves and strive to emulate Him.
One of the goals of psychotherapy is to help
a person realize that their social personality
comes from sublimating all the basic instincts
that are contained in their individual personality. However, these suppressed drives
are very powerful, and can exist at a level
in the psyche ( mind ) that becomes unreachable
and yet can exert extreme pressure on a persons
feelings and behavior .. sometimes to the point
that the individual can not resist that pressure ... leading to behaviors that seem
totally out of character. For example, the
serious problem Catholic Priests seem to be
having with child abuse. Priests are forced by
their faith to renounce sexual relations. The
process by which they do this is incompetent,
and leads to irresistable pressures. The goal
of therapy is to bring out from the subconscious, these buried drives, and understand how they are willingly held in check
and thus reducing their influence. Our
personality is a duality of opposites which
we understand and make mature decisions about.
We do this through an active imagination ..
not by guilt associations and trying to bury
what cannot be buried, but only remoted .. to
remain as an unreachable and cruel drive in
our subconscious. These computer games are
indeed training simulators that work for police, soldiers, athletes, on and on .. and
a game like Far Cry does make you a trained
combatant. You know things about combat that
the police wish you did not know. What does
that mean? Are you going into the street with
your trusty M4 and have it out with legal
forces? Nonsense. If anything, you know what
these guys are up against and respect it even
more. I respect a policeman or a soldier who
has to go in harms way to keep our country
safe. I understand them better because I have
sensed what they go through. And, would you
think of them as failing to emulate Jesus?
Or would you be able to make a mature judgement
about where we "draw these lines in the sand?"
Would you walk through Hell itself to save
Valerie? Or would you bless the Mercs ? :-)
If any1 has doubts about wether they should play a video game because of spiritual or moral issues then they should probably not play them. If you feel convicted or uncomfortable with the elements of the game then I would suggest that the game is not for you. This is obviously a personal decision that each person of faith has to reconcile themselves with. It doesnt neccesarily mean that any said game is bad for an entire group of people-it merely means that it poses issues of doubt or uncertainty to some individuals which leads them to question their belief system. If playing a game causes you to question that belief system then it is highly probable that the game isnt for that individual.
Have fun and take care in whatever you do!