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As everyone knows when ever you see Politics and Religion together its bound to be a sticky situation, but what about Games and Religion?
This particular person asked the Church if killing in video games is a sin, even though its not at heart and in real life. Well take a look at this Q&A and see what you think.
Q:
Ok I'm very sure that killing/suicide stealing and anything like that is not accounted as an actual sin if it's only in video games. But I'm still not very sure, when I play video games, I'm not murdering at heart because I would never try to take the life of any living thing. And whatever is a video game can't die because it's not alive in the first place, video games are a false alternate reality. Even if the people in video games were able to die, they're not humans or animals just computer generated data or artificial intelligence. I'm pretty convinced it's not a sin but please I just need some confirmation.
A:
As normally defined, taking the life of another in video games (as in acting or in any other fantasy situation) is not a sin against God's prohibition to murder. If, however, what is done in the video game is an expression of hatred or callous disregard for human life, then the heart and motives are wrong, and then it is sin in God's eyes. But if this activity is pure entertainment and not an expression of lovelessness against any fellow human being, it isn't murder.
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Most recently commented on by on Sep 26, 2008
Most recently commented on by on Sep 26, 2008
Comments
As long as you don't feel that way in your heart then I suppose it really is alright.
But I suppose its different if the person's mentally unstable.
on a side note, the Bible never says "do not kill". it just says "do not MURDER". killing and murdering are different.
And, killing and murdering aren't really the same thing. That's like saying attacking someone with violence and defending yourself with violence are the same thing. They're not, at least, not always the same. There are exceptions.
Well, I would love to comment on this one. I'm a Minister (not Catholic though), so anyone who would've liked to ask someone of clergy this stuff yourself, well here we go!
Anyways, killing in video games isn't the sin. It's not real. However, like it was mentioned, it really boils down to the attitude and heart of the person whose doing it. The hatred is wrong, and any excessive desire to see and enjoy gory killing (i.e. excessive to the point that you sound like a madman when you get to experience it, as if your euphoria is on overload at the sight and thought of it), would show something not right with the heart also.
I think it's safe for me to mention this for this article, but in the Bible it talks about (really summarizing here), there are certain things that are fine to do and aren't necessarily sinful -- however if they offend someone and cause them to take it too far because they see you doing it and think "anything goes" regarding it, then avoid doing that thing when that person is around because it'll cause that person to do something wrong. That's another thing to consider with Video Game Violence. Such as: an impressionable kid in the room, don't go playing those things around him/her until they're older.
Then there's one other thing to remember: Desensitization. If you're around it or see it so much, pretty soon it doesn't affect you as much as it did at first. And video game violence/killing, does flow over into real life too (see enough of it, play it, do it in video games enough and as time goes on when you hear of or even perhaps see killing in real life, it doesn't seem as shocking and horrifying as it did/would have at the start).
There's a LOT of things to consider and that could be said, but those things I just mentioned . . . I guess sum it up decently.
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