It seems everyone wants to blame the content of shows/games/movies etc. for teaching kids violence. However, they fail to realize that teaching kids right from wrong would stop them committing crimes. Violence is all around us (news, everyday life, etc.). Kids who have a mental problems/ are bullied need help. But, everyone avoids pointing a finger at themselves and what might be poor parenting. Instead they want to blame a work of fiction or a video game and want to say it is evil. Because obviously something not meant to be taken seriously should be called satanic.

Ex: Gun control

Politicians say that controlling guns would decrease crime rate. It will not.
Criminals will manage to get their hands on gun illegally and will commit crimes freely without worry.
The only difference will be that civilians will not have their own guns to defend themselves.

The thing they need to do is People Control, because it depends on the person, not the object.

I like thinking of martial arts; martial arts can be used as art or as self-defense. (Mainly the latter)
However, some kids get the wrong idea and use martial arts to bully others. The idea is to teach them why we use them (to defend from baddies) and when they are to be used.

People Control, guys… People Control…

579991 That is very true

Yes, everybody says that the content is harmful. Something meant for entertainment and not to be done in real life is harmful? Some games even point out that they are meant for entertainment purposes only when it should have been obvious! And they still blame it? Alexusu-Iega pretty much covers what I think.

I agree with the statements above.

mostly.

I agree that gun control is stupid, as is excessive censoring. The government has no say in what I do.

And yet, if I was a parent, I don't think I would allow my children to play such games as GTA. It has less to do with the violemce and more to do with the ideas.

Example, in GTA it is possible to hire a prostitute, have your wild way with her, and then kill her and take your money back. Do I really wantmy children exposed to this?

Once again, thanks for this group. God Bless.

579964

Oh boy. Here comes the black sheep.

While the effects of violent media aren't direct, I wonder how much of our society has become stoic against violence because of it? It's impossible not to say that movies like Rambo or Universal Soldier doesn't glorify it.

For example, let's pick a game like Postal. You are going around, slaughtering people, cutting their heads and using this as soccer balls. How can this be good for you? What is going at your heart at this time?

In violent videogames, most of the time we get pleasure is from brutally slaughtering people. Fictional people, yes, but still people. We wonder: "Which weapon will I kill these guys with?". Of course you aren't going to turn into a psychokiller because of it, but I wonder if that doesn't make 'violence' seem more normal to us.

Some may argue that in the bible there are passages of violence. That is true: but they are there because they happened, their purpose isn't to glorify it. Their purpose isn't to provide entertainment to the people. Others may argue that news are violent too: and that is true, because they want to shock. Shock news = more attention = more money. This is how the media industry rolls: the more grotesque and terrible the news is, the more people will watch it.

As Christians, I believe we have to stand for Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

Does this mean that Christians shouldn't have fun? No, of course not. But we should watch with what we are having our fun with. Most of the games offer chances to be jerks, but not all of them offer violence. For example, how about playing SimCity instead of Brutal Legend?

I won't lie: sometimes I too watch things with violence. It's pretty hard to avoid them on today world. Still, they should be kept to a minimum. Try to keep your noble thoughts to at least 90% of your day.

And since I am here, for everyone who wants here is a cool desktop to use:

here

580924 Thanks for that cool wallpaper! I think I might give my Final Fantasy VI wallpaper a break for a while.

579964
I am really against censorship and limiting freedoms, which seems to be the knee-jerk reaction of a society that doesn't know how to deal with the problem of evil.

Here's a quote I like from Thoreau: "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."

Blaming things like real-world violence on a video game is a great example of trying to hack at a branch of the problem. I actually like video games. Even violent ones. (Bioshock!) And I like violent movies and TV shows, sometimes. Yet there are many things--games, movies, shows, music, etc.--that I won't touch.

"Satanic" is such an abused word... I've heard church sermons I'd call "Satanic", because what was being preached was so far off from the heart of Jesus.

That doesn't mean it can't apply, to an extent at least. I shudder when I think of kids whose ages aren't even in the double digits coldly gunning down people-shaped "enemies" on screen. Funny thing is, when I was a kid I played hours upon hours of a little game called Doom... Does pouring hours of fantasy violence into your brain make you a violent person? I don't think so. I'm pretty harmless, myself. (And I don't think most people think the link between fantasy violence and real violence is so direct.)

But I really don't think we are as unaffected by what we watch/play/listen to as we might wish...

I think the biggest problem with violent content in media (to say nothing of other "morally objectionable" content) is that it desensitizes us. And we weren't very sensitive to begin with. When the Columbine shootings happened, people pointed their fingers at the film The Matrix. When the attacks on 9/11 happened I remember people kept saying it was like something out of a movie. Our brains put the event in the context of a summer blockbuster movie. How about that poor homeless guy in Miami who had his face eaten in an assault? We contextualized it as a zombie apocalypse.

A real life human being is attacked and I have Facebook friends cheering that the zombie apocalypse has begun.

We do not have empathy.

I don't think the effect that media has on a person is easily quantified. Something like this recent tragic school shooting happens, and you've got thousands of people willing to give you an opinion on why it happened and what we need to change to make things like this never happen again.

Some say we need to get rid of the guns, some say it's the video games, others that we need to be able to provide better mental care for people...

...and you've got plenty of Christians willing to say that it's the fault of a culture that has eliminated prayer in schools, etc...

...and I think it's a lot of hacking at the branches of the problem. Because the root, the real, horrible, pitch-black heart of the problem is not something we can defeat by banning the Call of Duty games, or making kids in public schools listen as Christian prayers are read over the P.A., or even getting all the guns out of the hands of the people. (And I don't personally think any of these are good responses.)

I believe God really does have an answer to the problem, but I don't think it's an easy one. (I don't think Christians can fix the world by trying to force it into a God-shaped box.)

And this post ended up a lot longer than I thought. Perils of wandering the Internet late at night, I suppose.

fixed grammar error

crap I meant to say rather than.

580921
Yes, I can agree it's idiotic, however like Saint whisper said it can desensitize us. Anyway violent games aren't really my problem as I prefer placing first in one of my exotic cars rather than blowing some guy up (in games, of course). And I lol'd at saint whispers simcity comment as I play that from time to time.

580924
i knew about that one loooong before you ever posted it.

579964
This is something to be careful about. To an extent, I agree, and that is in regards to some forms of violence in media. Just because a kid plays Halo or Call of Duty doesn't mean the kid is going to get a gun and start killing people. However, popular media has a habit of normalizing premarital sexual activity, lust, vengeance, and a plethora of other sinful behaviors that we see in the world today. For example, premarital sex can be shown in the media to be romantic, or harmless, or even just something that people do.

Kids need to be exposed to the darkness in the world, but they need to be exposed to it in a setting where they will be able to see how the darkness is, in fact, darkness.

587105 Okay thank you I was actually kinda hoping you'd have something to say on the matter.

580981 Kolwynia, that was a great post. I agree, although God does work through the political system when He chooses to, I don't believe that the extent of His hands' and feet's work in the world should be political change of any kind. He is a personal God, after all, and always works on the personal level.