Archbishop Claims SCOTUS Decision Is "Poisoning" The Future

vansau

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May 25, 2010
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Archbishop Claims SCOTUS Decision Is "Poisoning" The Future



The man who still cites the Columbine Massacre as evidence of videogames' effects on kids has publicly announced that he disapproves of the recent Supreme Court verdict.

A lot of people have been coming out of the woodwork lately, lambasting the Supreme Court for its <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111300-Supreme-Court-Rules-in-Favor-of-Videogames>recent ruling in favor of the videogame industry. This week, the Archbishop of Denver Charles J. Chaput has publicly slammed the decision with in a new opinion piece for First Things, titled "<a href=http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2011/07/violent-video-games-and-the-rights-of-parents>Violent Video Games and the Rights of Parents," claiming that the decision is "wrong" and will "poison" the country.

Admittedly, Chaput does acknowledge that he doesn't think all games are bad, but he does note his problem with the fact that the recent decision "extends and elevates the individual's right to free expression - or in this case, a corporation's right to make a healthy profit - at the expense of family sovereignty, the natural rights of parents and the intent of the Constitution's authors."

There's about fifty things wrong with that statement, so let's just move on. Aside from this, he also argues that allowing children access to violent videogames violates "natural law and natural rights," and seems to ignore all the industry safeguards in place to prevent minors from buying M-rated titles.

However, this piece isn't all that surprising to read, since Chaput has been an opponent of violent videogames since the 1999 Columbine shootings. He claims the massacre was "indirect but brutally real proof" of the effect games have on kids. On top of this, back when he addressed a special session of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation two weeks after the shootings took place, Chaput claimed that violence in games had a "direct impact on youth and is among the roots of real-life violence."

Seeing as how Chaput was a pretty adamant foe of games back then, it's not surprising that he still hates them. That said, I'm willing to bet that Catholic priests have <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_sex_abuse_cases>done more harm to the youth of the world than videogames have, though this wasn't something that the Archbishop addressed in his article.

Source: Catholic News Agency via <a href=http://www.gamepolitics.com/2011/07/05/denver-archbishop-calls-scotus-decision-039wrong039>GamePolitics

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Johnnyallstar

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Feb 22, 2009
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He's almost right, but still wrong.

Parents who don't control what their kids come in contact with are poisoning the future. Games are just the medium used.
 

Outlaw Torn

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Dec 24, 2008
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He just doesn't want all of the choir boys playing Call of Duty instead of...well, you know what those priests are like.
 

SilverKyo

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Apr 15, 2009
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vansau said:
Seeing as how Chaput was a pretty adamant foe of games back then, it's not surprising that he still hates them. That said, I'm willing to bet that Catholic priests have <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_sex_abuse_cases>done more harm to the youth of the world than videogames have, though this wasn't something that the Archbishop addressed in his article.
I see what you did there... very clever.
 

starwarsgeek

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vansau said:
I'm willing to bet that Catholic priests have <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_sex_abuse_cases>done more harm to the youth of the world than videogames have
That was completely unnecessary.

The Archbishop has no idea what he is talking about here, obviously, but I'm sure vansau is perfectly aware that he is strawmanning. Ignorance is excusable (though really annoying). Poor debate tactics are not.
 

lumenadducere

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I was going to make a smarmy remark about the Catholic church being yet again out of touch and flailing to maintain relevance in a modern world that is rapidly leaving them behind. But I have instead decided to be the better man and ignore the ridiculous remarks.

You hear me? A better man. My maturity and grace know no bounds.

Poop.
 

slacker09

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Seeing as how Chaput was a pretty adamant foe of games back then, it's not surprising that he still hates them. That said, I'm willing to bet that Catholic priests have <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_sex_abuse_cases>done more harm to the youth of the world than videogames have, though this wasn't something that the Archbishop addressed in his article.
Damn, that's cold. I mean seriously, OW!

But on topic, it shouldn't be real surprising given this mans history that he opposes it.
 

cobra_ky

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Nov 20, 2008
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I wonder what the Archbishop would say if the Supreme Court started criticizing his decisions.

Render unto Caesar's what is Caesar's.
 

ninja51

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Mar 28, 2010
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The News Room: Archbishop is "Poisoning" the future with fanatical religion and ignorance
 

Saltyk

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Sep 12, 2010
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Ouch. Don't mind me. I just slammed my head against my desk about 100 times.

How can a person be so willfully ignorant? And sorry, but I refuse to state that it's because he's Catholic or reads a 2000 year old storybook. There's no excuse to pretend to be knowledgeable about something and ignore every fact and scrap of evidence out there.

For crying out loud, this law did NOT support parental rights! It took them away and gave the State powers that it did not need and couldn't really exercise! It was a bad law no matter how you looked at it.
 

Dogstile

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vansau said:
Seeing as how Chaput was a pretty adamant foe of games back then, it's not surprising that he still hates them. That said, I'm willing to bet that Catholic priests have <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_sex_abuse_cases>done more harm to the youth of the world than videogames have, though this wasn't something that the Archbishop addressed in his article.
That was low man, I mean, even for the escapist that was low :p
 

teqrevisited

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Mar 17, 2010
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Good to see the clergy is still in touch. I'm half expecting one of them to quote a fourteenth century text to back up their arguments.
 

soulfire130

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vansau said:
Archbishop Claims SCOTUS Decision Is "Poisoning" The Future



Seeing as how Chaput was a pretty adamant foe of games back then, it's not surprising that he still hates them. That said, I'm willing to bet that Catholic priests have <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_sex_abuse_cases>done more harm to the youth of the world than videogames have, though this wasn't something that the Archbishop addressed in his article.


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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNmlYGzEC8g
Anyway, the preist is kinda ignorant about games.
 

Chibz

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Sep 12, 2008
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starwarsgeek said:
That was completely unnecessary.
How's it a straw man argument? Catholic sex scandals are overall more prevalent than anything videogame related, and I'm pretty sure rape causes more independantly verifiable harm than exposure to fictional violence in a game.

I doubt he'll OPENLY admit that the religious officials cause harm, but the catholic church is rather openly uncooperative in prosecuting child molesting priests.

As "Jesus" said...

THE BIBLE said:
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
 

starwarsgeek

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Nov 30, 2009
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Chibz said:
starwarsgeek said:
That was completely unnecessary.
How's it a straw man argument? Catholic sex scandals are overall more prevalent than anything videogame related, and I'm pretty sure rape causes more independantly verifiable harm than exposure to fictional violence in a game.

I doubt he'll OPENLY admit that the religious officials cause harm, but the catholic church is rather openly uncooperative in prosecuting child molesting priests.

As "Jesus" said...

THE BIBLE said:
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
It's a straw man because that has absolutely nothing to do with the story.