Well folks i am back, and doing well. very well actually as i am writing this from my new wirelss keyboard and using the wireless mouse that came with it tp push the post button. (the mouse is heck of alot better then my old one.)
so today we are going to continue the discussion on violence.
now first i would like to take this time to say that this blog can very well feed off of peoples comments if you so desire. like in todays post im taking some comments that brent said a couple posts ago. so if you want here my thoughts on your ideas or want to have a sort of a conversation about these things, please post your comments below :). i know you are out there i havent visited my own blog 50 times haha :P
now onto violence, a little bit of a recap since its been 2 weeks since my last blog, violence is pretty much every in the geek world, comics, video games, anime most of these things central subject is violence, is this okay?
well i have been thinking about this(well duh im writing a blog about it)
i personally dont play video games that put me in as the bad guy, i will never play a grand theft auto or similar game, just to many things wrong with that if you ask me. now ill play a game like fable that gives you a choice and i wont say that i never killed a random villager in that game, but i always went with the goal of being good.
a game that promotes senseless violence is not a game i want to play as it goes against what i believe, now if there is a good story that makes the fighting have a purpose then good. also i always enjoy multiplayer (hmm now might that be senseless fighting?)
now brent had some good points
but lets put it through a sifter :D
he says that it is different for each person which i full hardedly agree with, its something that each person has to judge for themselves. now i also think there is a line that no one should cross (senseless violence, just being evil) then again thats me. what do you guys think what is the line in the reasoning for the violence
he brings up another good point, on maturity and how on handles it (see above)
as we grow older we can not get as caught up in the game and not let it control our emotions.
then he mentioned something about football and i just stopped reading.....
these questions can really be asked for geek stuff or any real life activity
so i guess they could be applied to foot ball also uugh :P
now we have all heard the rule garbage in garbage out, so even tho we can handle it better at older ages, does it still affect us negatively? does it change us with out even knowing it? as funny as it sounds does playing mario kart give me a higher chance to road rage? would we have the same dark thoughts that we would never act on but think about in our anger if we had not played that FPS, would we want....
so it can have some harm on us, but does it do any good? and if has a chance to do harm but no good, then is it worth it?
well feel free to comment on this below, i encourage it :)
tues i plan on talking about gore and magic so you can put up some preemptive comments about those also.
and if i get enough comment about the violence section ill make sure to leave time for that also
Seth
Shigi Noth
Christian Geek
2 comments:
I think a lot of the reason that the violence in games is appealing is the age old need for the "rite of passage" act. It hasn't been that long ago where hunting was the typical rite of passage for young boys becoming a man. And warfare/serving your country was the same way. So I think there is a part of guys especially that needs an outlet to develop that part of them God has given to be the protector and provider. Our society here in the USA just no longer really has that rite of passage. God designed males to be the head of the family, the protector, the provider which for thousands of years included hunting, warfare and the like. (Just take a look at the OT)
I agree it is a maturity thing and you have to be careful that you balance it with compassion and understanding in other ways and reality checks to make sure you are not internalizing the violence.
We have a fascination with that which intrigues us and no matter what it is we need to balance it with God's wisdom and Word and not let satan use it to harm us.
I don't actually know who you are and probably have never met you. I merely stumbled upon your blog via a link from an old friend.
In re: to your post, I'd like to recall another "rule" that we all know:
"Practice makes perfect."
It makes sense that if I do something over and over again, I'll start to develop habits and muscle memory that will inevitably lead to skill.
Now I suppose a critic of my thoughts in this instance could say that the muscle memory developed by playing a first person shooter game like Call of Duty or Halo is merely that of moving a joystick the right direction and pressing the x button at the right time-- and some people get pretty damn good at moving joysticks and pressing buttons.
However, my gut tells me that participating in a competitive activity that involves things like pulling a scope up to center on a human target in call of duty or watching the blood spurt out of the hooker's head you just shot in Grand Theft Auto is not the best way to practice for peace.
If you really want peace on earth, then it has to begin with you. You have to practice peace until it becomes so ingrained in your being that you don't have any other response. Breathe it in and then breathe it right back out.
According to the story in John, that's exactly what Jesus did when he first appeared to the disciples after Mary found the tomb empty.
"...Jesus said, 'Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.' And with that he breathed on them..." (John 20:21-22)
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