thethingthatlurks said:
Did you know that thought crime = real crime in the bible (Matt. 5:28, Matt 5:22, 1 John 3:15)? So yes, liking video games in which you, as the protagonist, perform actions that are contrary to your faith (eg killing, contract killing, bribery, stealing, perjury, that whole coveting business, not remaining in Jeebus lest you be picked up as a branch and burned, not acknowledging the rights of others to own slaves from different nations, etc - sorry, there goes Skyrim) does make you a hypocrite, and a major one at that.
First, I took no offense to your comments, but thanks for stressing that your intent wasn't to lash out
I welcome the discussion. Isn't that why we're here?
I think you're erroneously taking those verses to mean, "Thinking about sin in any capacity = sin," which isn't the case (though I understand where the confusion comes from). I'll address them verse by verse first, but I believe a more practical answer (from my point of view) will follow.
- Matthew 5:22 ("But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement ...") talks about actual anger toward another person, not make-believe anger in fiction. Now, you could make the case that, say, "Getting angry at Battlefield 3 opponents makes you a sinner!" or something, but that's not really a game-specific case. That's just a case of, "Dude, watch your temper," and you should. I would love to be on a mythical Xbox Live that didn't have thousands of voices screaming profanities and racist/homophobic comments out of sheer anger.
- Matthew 5:28 ("But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.") is an extremely common verse that's brought up often in these types of discussions. And it's true, lust is a real thing that should be avoided by a Christian, and if you find yourself lusting after the pixelated body of Lara Croft to the point where it's an actual problem, you shouldn't play Tomb Raider (the same would go for watching sexual explicit films or shows, obviously). This is a legitimate concern that people bring up, and it's why I believe that personal convictions should play a massive role in deciding what media you do or do not consume ("will watching Chuck make me lust after Yvonne Strahovski, or can I just watch the show and me entertained by it as a form of escapism?")
- 1 John 3:15 ("Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.") again is about literal hatred, not the idea of hatred. This in particular is a verse that can be picked apart from a lot of different angles, and needs a lot of different angles (for example, plenty of "former murderers" throughout the Bible are saved, so you can't take this verse to mean that if you kill someone you're locked out of Heaven forever). I can't recall a time I've felt real, literal hate toward a fictional character, whether in a video game or not. It's fiction. Make believe.
Now, what I think is an even better reply to your statement is this: Stories are very important for a wide variety of reasons, even to religious people. There's a reason Jesus taught in parables so often. The story of the good Samaritan wasn't an actual event - it was a work of fiction used to teach a lesson. The Bible never criticizes fiction or escapism, and when used creatively such things can always teach a good lesson (it doesn't have to be a religious one. I would say GTAIV has plenty of lessons it tries to teach). Granted, there wasn't nearly as much fiction/escapism then as there is now, and it was almost always through oral storytelling (most of the people couldn't even read, after all), but it is still a very important of who we are as humans. All of us love stories. All of us tell stories. Not all of those stories consists of pearly gates and people getting along.
As to the point where I as the protagonist am "doing" actions like lying, murdering, etc. in a video game, I just don't think that's true. In my very little free time I'm an amateur author, but when I kill a character I never think I am literally committing an act of murder. If my protagonist lies, that does not make me a liar. It's the exact same thing in a game. I'm either experiencing the story the creators wanted me to experience (in a linear game like Modern Warfare) or helping shape the story as I see fit (in a non-linear game like Skyrim). But it's all about the story - not real life. In role-playing games I do tend to strive for the "good" path of actions, but that's mostly personal taste. I just didn't want to blow up Megaton, man.
You never want to make the mistake of simplifying things the Bible supposedly says (this is done by both Christians and non-Christians all the time). We're talking about a religion that has been around for thousands of years (especially if you take it back to pre-Christianity days), and we still haven't figured it all out. It's not exactly something you can look at casually and say, "Yep, right here. It says you're a hypocrite."
You probably still disagree with me, but thanks for bringing up an issue that I thought was worth addressing.
