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On Religious Violence And Videogame Violence
Thanks to the IGDA for its 'Culture Clash' column discussing the violent nature of many religious texts, and how that relates to religious criticism of game violence. The piece references The Passion Of The Christ, mentioning: "The film's portrayal of the delight these men took in administering the scourging draws an alarming parallel to some claims that video games desensitize young people to violence." It then goes on to argue: "The history of opposition to games is a long one, and religion is often used to justify that opposition, though naysayers tend to ignore the fact that religion itself is a major source of violent acts", before concluding: "Frankly, the arguments for and against violence in games, as in any entertainment media, must be assessed in context or not at all."
This article is great. It brings up major points on both sides and addresses a very sensitive issue in a way that should make most people stop and think.
I think, though, that there still is a fundamental difference between media like Passion of the Christ and a violent game.
In this particular movie, (though I have not seen it) I believe there was a message for people of religion, to look upon a man they believed in and see what he went through specifically for them. The violence was there as a tool to make people think in one specific way (as religion is so oft to do).
However in most games the violence either exists for the sake of violence itself (Doom; because its fun to blow up enemies), or merely as a more exciting vice for conflict (Counterstrike, which could be developed with nearly the same mechanics using a more innocent, but less gripping, theme).
Still, killer article. Glad to see people tackling such great subjects. True gaming journalism is NOT dead, it's just out of the limelight.
> more people have been killed in the cause of
> religion (crusades, inquisitions etc)
More people have been killed in the cause of *xenophobia* than have been killed in the 'cause' of religion.
Christianity didn't tell the crusaders to slaughter all the men, women, and children in Jerusalem when they surrendered. It didn't tell them to rape the nuns when they took Constantinople in the 4th Crusade. Islam didn't tell the terrorists to fly a plane into a building.
Don't know enough about the Christian concept of a 'Just War', but there are several rules of engagement for combat in Islam:
- Treaties must be upheld.
- Cannot kill innocents/non-combatants.
- If the enemy seeks quarter, give it to them.
- Prisoners are never tortured, and fed well.
- Declaration of war unless you are occupied.
- Cannot destroy churches, synagogues, etc.
- Cannot destroy property, trees, animals, etc.
- Should try to reach an agreement first.
- No religious compulsion or coercion should ensue.
- Give prisoners of war a chance for freedom.
- Bury the dead with dignity.
The Qur'an describes those people who are permitted to fight:
[Quran 8:61]"If they resort to peace, so shall you, and put your trust in GOD. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient."
[Quran 4:90]"...... Therefore, if they leave you alone, refrain from fighting you, and offer you peace, then GOD gives you no excuse to fight them."
However frustration and the feeling of impotence makes people willing to believe anything. I don't think that religion is the cause of all evil - I think it's evil people that are the cause of all evil.
This is a fascinating topic. I remember the spate of school shootings in the US a few years ago, with Columbine as the grisly centre-piece. I remember how shocked people claimed to be that this spate of shootings was centred on the "Bible Belt" and how quick religious groups were to blame games and how shrill they were in this condemnation.
This got me thinking...
Aren't "bible-belt" communities going to be more likely to ostracise and condemn those who don't fit into their own (fairly narrow) pattern of social behaviour? Aren't they, whether well-meaningly or maliciously, going to make life worse for those who, as they go through an extremely difficult stage in anybody's life, find themselves as outsiders? Aren't these religious groups and communities actually the real "pressure cooker" that create the environment in which these events can occur?
Maybe these fine, upstanding religious groups are so eager to blame computer games because it stops the finger of blame pointing where it really should... at themselves.
more people have been killed in the cause of religion (crusades, inquisitions etc)
Whoah, hang on a second there. The crusades and the inquisition were political things - the crusades were used by the Pope as an attempt to hold on to political power in the face of growing nationalism, and the Spanish Inquisition was basically an early version of McCarthyism, i.e. targetted at political dissidents. I assure you, no knight of the crusades had anything more holy than his own enrichment in mind, and no inquisitor ever thought he was working for the benefit of anyone's immortal soul.
If you are insinuating that there are a number of children running around with no adult supervision/guidance, then they have much bigger problems than violent videogames.
I'm not arguing against Matt Sakey's article because I'm religious. In fact, I'm an atheist. But, I think that Matt just had a bone to pick with relgion as opposed to a strong debate pointing out religion's opposition to video game violence, an opposition that he never did show to exist.
I agree. I'm a Christian involved in youth ministry, and I don't see any sort of conflict between games and God. Games are just something to do when you're bored - there isn't some spiritual/ephemeral component to them.
As a Christian gamer, you just use the same discretion with games that you use with movies. I won't watch a late show on Skinimax, and I'm not really interested in GTA. That doesn't mean those things should be banned, but it isn't something I would want to watch, either.
It's very difficult to legislate morality. If someone wants to live a clean lifestyle, that has to come from within.
"If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti
Go read the Book of Joshua.. txt
http://www.gutenberg.net/etext05/web0610
Unilateral agression. Conquest. Pillage. Rape. Genocide.
All _directly_commanded_ by God.
Wait a minute. Didn't I say that on the other side of the record? I'd better check
society is already value-less enough as it is. why should our commercial art forms -only- be used to further debase these values even further?
Our commercial art forms arent 'only' being used that way. There are plenty of non-violent, and even educational games out there (they just dont get as much press).
It is the parents, or guardians, job to watch over their children. It is their job to keep them from playing emotionally damaging video games at young ages.
If the children do not have this supervision and guidance, then yes they will be affected by these games. But if you take away the games the problem still exists. The children will still not have the guidance they need to properly develop values, and will most likely be degraded by other means (movies, drugs etc).
Violent video games are not the problem, parents are. The games are just one median which unsupervised children can be adversely affected by. It's not the games fault, they weren't made for young children. If you take away the games, you'll have to take away the movies, and the news, and every other form of media that could affect children if their careless parents allowed them to experience them. Do that and you leave no entertainment for the rest of us. That's not the world I want to live in.
Religion doesn't cause war any more than a gun will rise up and shoot someone all by itself.
People cause war. We may use religion as an excuse, but I think people that wage war--at least in the name of Christianity--are adhering more to the word of man than the word of God. Unfortunately, favoring the word of man over the word of God seems to be the standard MO for most religious people today.
I find this quote the most intriguing of what is said. How violence in video games and in any other media "must be assessed in context or not at all." Saying that the violence portrayed in The Passion of the Christ is the same as some of the violence in games spoken against recently like GTA, is definitely taking things out of context. Sure there is violence in both media...but how is it being portrayed. Who is performing the violence? Why is it happening? How is it looked upon?
Violence in Christianity is frowned upon by Jesus himself. When Peter rose to his defense and cut the ear off of the soldier...it was Jesus who calmed Peter...Jesus who put the ear back on. As far as historical events "in the name of religion"...just because they were done in the name of Christ doesn't mean those who committed the acts were right, or acting justly. Just look at Scripture and you will find no justification for the Crusades...Jesus said to love your enemies, not exact violent punishments upon them in His name.
Which brings me back to my point, the context in which the violent acts were being performed in The Passion of the Christ were performed by the antagonists of the film. The 'bad guys' per say. The sheer delight the soldiers took in punishing Jesus was wrong and portrayed as such.
The problem with some violent video games is how the violence is portrayed. I've heard people quote that they enjoy playing games like GTA so they can committ crimes and not be punished for it. Some people find pleasure in pretending to committ violent acts. The violence is glorified...a selling point if you will. People didn't go to The Passion of the Christ to see violence, they went to see the story of Christ and His suffering for our sin. Some play these games for the violence and the violence in context is detestable. Some violent games I don't have a problem with...wars happen, sometimes you have to fight and kill in defense of a nation, or a world. In those respects the violence is inescapable. But when the violence is glorified...pursued...that's when I have issues with the violence in the respective video games that contain it.
It's all to be taken within context. Just like Scripture. If you want to know why one verse says what it says, you must compare it to the verses around it, as well as the grammatical techniques being used. I would encourage people to stop using old hat attempted justifications of violent games by speaking of the Crusades and other such events. A relationship with Christ and understanding of His word is all anyone needs to know that those were not Biblical acts. The Bible teaches of false prophets...those who will do things in disobedience to God in His name. Do not be surprised and do not believe for one instance that they have Christ's approval. Another thing that isn't funny is these jokes about video games in which Jesus comes back with things like shotguns and swords exacting violent punishment. This portrays Jesus to be like those who have taken His name in vain and mocks everything He lives for. Jesus meant for us to have life and have it more abundantly. He came to seek and save the lost. He died for our sins. He intercedes on our behalf to God. He lives for us. Please do not mock Him for a punch line.
Joshua
His God is the "this is what the priest/father/cleric/pastor told me, and I'm about 14 so it seems more or less workable." And as an atheist who's found himself surrounded by christians, some born again (yikes!), his whole life, I've done a lot of investigation on this, into innerspace and other places. God is supposed to be a refuge not from infallability, or a source of easy answers. God is supposed to be a refuge from regret, the inequities we work, those worked upon us, and doubt. Faith is the star that guides one to that refuge. It's entirely a feeling, free and independant from reason. It's about questioning everything, even God, and being certain that one with be provided with the strength to find the answers. God doesn't want to be worshiped, in so far as a typical monotheistic God would want anything. It's not about being the center of attention or winning American idol. His hope is not for himself, but for us, that we each allow Him to lead us to that refuge so that we may more easiliy make a life that is better for ourselves and those we cherish. His reward isn't presents it's peace.
Religion, however, is a completely different animal. It would seem to be the get rich quick scheme to spiritual wealth. Even in TPoTC the problem wasn't the Jews but the Priests who wanted to maintain and consolidate their power. Not so different from clergy who just move people who prey on children around because they don't want people to find out and have donations dry up. Or Imams who preach about America being the great satan because it puts asses in the seats.
The Old Testament is fully the word of God and is what s being referred to when Paul writes in 2 Timothy that 'All scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped for every good work.' We are still instructed to obey God's law, which is given in the Old Testament and summarised by Jesus as loving God and loving your neighbour. At no point are the laws contradicted. rather, Jesus says that he has come not to take away anything from the law, but to fulfil it. The problem here is twofold:
Firstly, people don't understand the laws and think, for example, that ti is wrong to eat pork. In actual act, it is wrong to eat unclean food. Pork is described as unclean in the OT, but following the crucifixion and resurrection, it was declared clean and could be eaten.
Secondly, people fail to distinguish between law and punishment. Homosexual acts are cited as being sinful in the OT and NT. The difference is that there was immediate judgement on earth and punishment in the form of stoning in the OT. In the NT, judgement is left until after death and there is no earthly punishment required to be administered by society. The law didn't change, just the time of judgement and punishment.
The majority of the NT is written by martyrs. Paul died while awaiting trial as a result of his missionary work. He died a martyr. The gospel writers were martyrs.
Incidentally, the core value is actually love God and love your neighbour. God is at the centre, not man.
Of course, if you ask a Rabbi about who the Messiah is or whether God is a trinity o not, you'll get different answers to what a Christian would say. At the end f the day, I'm more concerned about what the Bible actually says, rather than what people claim it does.