God Mode

1up has an interesting look at the curious place where religious beliefs and gaming habits intersect. From the article: "'We view games as just games,' says Kendrick Kenerly, founder of +CGO+, Christian Gamers Online. 'They all boil down to a few things: They have a goal, they have a reward for the goal, and they have a set of rules that need to be followed to reach the goal. The violence in most games isn't something we get worked up about. It's merely presentation, simply a way to convey an experience to players so they can follow the rules to reach the goal.' Abstract games like checkers, chess, and Monopoly operate in the same fashion, Kenerly argues-they merely employ different presentation methods."

Comments

The Warrior Man

[teratogenicbenzene]

The article brings up an interesting point that I've always used to defend myself against more radical religious elements I've come into contact with:

Men are fricking war machines, and throughout nearly any of the world's holy books war is a fact of life: the Bible, the quran, (heck even the Bhagavad-Gita is narrated in a war setting).
In today's culture, men are told that the very things that selected their genes for greatness in the past (i.e. warrior prowess and the ability to survive) are liabilities. Thousands of years of genetic selection aren't going to be reversed in a few hundred years.
In that vein, I believe video games are a reasonable (and even constructive) outlet for a man's natural agressions. It could be said that God made men this way, so who are we to deny that?

For me, my faith is almost exclusively about self control, but at the same time I'm fully aware of my own humanity. Having a safe and (legal) outlet for myself is a wise choice. Obviously, games can become pathological, but that's true about anything.

My personal poison is Halo, and I've found that during the game I increasingly find myself looking after the welfare of my marine NPCs. I do generally tend to steer away games that are violent for violence sake. I think if you look back, the reason so many early games were generally pointless (i.e. DOOM's run-and-shoot mentality) is because back then that was already pushing the limits.

Just my two cents. Most rabid religious types are simply afraid of change. There are some of who aren't blindly reactionary, and realize that this isn't an bridge we want to burn our credibility/time over. Don't lump us all together.

Most violent book I have ever read

[FidelCatsro]

You know the most violent book I have ever read.. The Tanakh (What Christians would call the old testament)
It has sexual assault , Genocide , All forms of Killing , Hell The entire Human race is drowned to death bar 1 family.
You know what though , it is an enjoyable read , filled with many philosophical and metaphysical thoughts .

Games .. well they are a lot of fun , a good experience that you can live through , something that would be impossible or out and out idiotic in real life.
They allow people to de-stress , perhaps live out some primal urges and have a lot of fun. You can even learn things on occasion.
It's all about how you look at it.

You could see either as pure blood thirsty pieces .. or perhaps you could look a little deeper , not take them so literally (that one goes out to the Creationists) and just have fun .. and perhaps learn something.