Christianity & Violent Video Games

[Lord Nepenthean]

Thanks go to gamepolitics.com for pointing me in the direction of this article.

1Up.com has an interesting article regarding the combination of violent video games and Christianity.  With the huge percentage of Christians in the U.S., it is pretty obvious that many gamers are members of the same religions that some anti-game crusaders (i.e. Jack Thompson) are.   Apparently there are even Christian gaming clans.  I would have never thought of it, but they even have online radio stations, do counseling, and hold services online (presumably in-game).  WTF?

Owen Parker, aka Colonel Zaph, is an "A," or 18-years-or-older "adult" (as opposed to "YC" or 13-to-17-year-old "youth corp"), member of the military-themed Christian online gaming site Men of God International. "We're more than just a gaming clan-we're a full-blown ministry," Parker says. "Right now, everything is online. I'm the commanding officer of the Men of God radio network, for example. We have our own online radio station and expect to have two streams soon." MOG, in fact, offers a wide array of services that circulate through and extend beyond its game portals. "We offer counseling; we have actual certified Christian counselors as well as preachers that are on the leadership team," explains Parker. "And we have Sunday-night services, and so on. We do a lot of outreach work and provide family-centered game servers that focus on the Christian topic."

Read the full article.  It can be found here: http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3146863

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

Dude, you seriously believe that all Christians are like Jack Thompson? WTF? Thompson's a bastard so says a hardcore protestant friend of mine.

There're a bazillion Christian clans on Americas Army.

[Lord Nepenthean]

Dude, you seriously believe that all Christians are like Jack Thompson? WTF? Thompson's a bastard so says a hardcore protestant friend of mine.

Dude, you seriously believe that's what I said?  WTF?

Maybe I didn't make it clear in my first post, but the point was that much of the media likes to make a huge battle of Christians vs. video games.  Obviously it's not true for many Christians.   Hell, I'd bet $500 that the majority of this site's members are Christians.  I just thought the article was interesting, and that Christian clans that hold services in games and preach to fellow gamers is a bit scary.

[Izret101]

"Non-practicing" Christian/Catholic here.

In anycase i think thats pretty cool.
I think alot of people who are on the more religious side would shun members practicing and even running sermons thru games.
Especially violent ones.

These would of course be considered extremists/schizms/cult groups from the mainstream religion
Depending on the vocabulary of the person and how much or little they know.

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

Dude, you seriously believe that's what I said?  WTF?

Maybe I didn't make it clear in my first post, but the point was that much of the media likes to make a huge battle of Christians vs. video games.  Obviously it's not true for many Christians.   Hell, I'd bet $500 that the majority of this site's members are Christians.  I just thought the article was interesting, and that Christian clans that hold services in games and preach to fellow gamers is a bit scary.

I do believe that's what you're saying. Sure the article's interesting but screw the article. It seems to me that in your, and lot's of other people i know, eyes that all Christians are :pissed:  and SCARY.

Why? Why is Christianity scary to people? It teaches peace and love and that war is wrong.

Sure, Jack Thompson and all those fiery preacher boys can seem like they're trying to impose themselves on you, which they are, but it's a free country, and at least they aren't trying to blow you up.

If you don't like Christianity for whatever reason, just ignore it, I have atheist friends who pay more attention to Christianity, looking for threats and the latest breach between church and state, than I do, and I go to church every Sunday.  

People do this because for some strange reason they have had the idea implanted into their minds that Christianity is a threat to us all. Which, and maybe I'm just ignorant of some secret Christian conspiracy, it isn't.

I'm bad at keeping my thoughts together in a rant so BLAH BLOO BLEE!!!!! I'm going to go impose myself on Americas Army. :pissed:

[Izret101]

Someone seems a tad sensitive.

He clearly stated that gamers also make up the same group as Mr. Thompson psychos.

Not that all Christians are oooh scary angry world taker overers.

I am not against any religion.
If i where a muslim i would have taken extreme offense to you suggesting all muslims are trying to blow people up.

Which is what i inferred from your post.

Who else is stereotyped for trying to blow people up.

[Lord Nepenthean]

I do believe that's what you're saying. Sure the article's interesting but screw the article. It seems to me that in your, and lot's of other people i know, eyes that all Christians are :pissed:  and SCARY.

Why? Why is Christianity scary to people? It teaches peace and love and that war is wrong.

Sure, Jack Thompson and all those fiery preacher boys can seem like they're trying to impose themselves on you, which they are, but it's a free country, and at least they aren't trying to blow you up.

If you don't like Christianity for whatever reason, just ignore it, I have atheist friends who pay more attention to Christianity, looking for threats and the latest breach between church and state, than I do, and I go to church every Sunday.  

People do this because for some strange reason they have had the idea implanted into their minds that Christianity is a threat to us all. Which, and maybe I'm just ignorant of some secret Christian conspiracy, it isn't.

I'm bad at keeping my thoughts together in a rant so BLAH BLOO BLEE!!!!! I'm going to go impose myself on Americas Army. :pissed:

Wow.  I didn't say anything to imply this in my first post, and then went on to further clarify that you had only misunderstood and that wasn't what I meant.  Why is that so hard for you to understand?  Not only that, but you totally went on some long tangent about ridiculous ideas that have NOTHING to do with what I posted in this thread.

News flash: I was raised Catholic, have Catholic parents, my favorite aunt is a Catholic nun, have Catholic friends, have dated Catholic and Baptist girls, would consider some of the best weeks of my life the ones I spent in a Catholic orphanage in Peru, and am planning on going on a retreat to a Trappist (Catholic) monastery this year.  Am I Christian?  Not in the sense that I believe in "God."  But, I do believe in most of Christ's teachings and do my best to uphold those morals, probably a lot moreso than most self-proclaimed "Christians."

I don't really need to prove any of this to you, so if you still think I'm a Christian-hating heathen, so be it.  Let's keep the discussions in this forum to video games, though, where this thread originally started.  Jesus Christ

[captain_nintendo]

Not that all Christians are oooh scary angry world taker overers.

World taker overers    

[Arrrhalomynn]

Am I the only one who thinks it's rather odd to basically have sermons IN a videogame? Wouldn't doing something rather sacred in a fake video game environment be rather sacriligious?

[captain_nintendo]

Am I the only one who thinks it's rather odd to basically have sermons IN a videogame? Wouldn't doing something rather sacred in a fake video game environment be rather sacriligious?

Not really.....

A "church" can be anywhere. Yes even online.


Of course, I dont think porn sites / porn chatrooms apply to my comment  

[Lord Nepenthean]

Am I the only one who thinks it's rather odd to basically have sermons IN a videogame? Wouldn't doing something rather sacred in a fake video game environment be rather sacriligious?

I think it is a bit odd as well.  I don't know if I'd really say it's sacriligeous, but I would imagine that the environment of a video game (be it violent or non-violent) wouldn't exactly be conducive to a sacred or holy atmosphere.  I guess my point is I'd have a hard time focusing on the important element(s) of a religious service (i.e. god, ceremony, etc.) with people speaking l33t elsewhere in the game, fragging one another, or trying to trade SOJ's.

[Tynstar]

I do believe that's what you're saying. Sure the article's interesting but screw the article. It seems to me that in your, and lot's of other people i know, eyes that all Christians are :pissed:  and SCARY.

Why? Why is Christianity scary to people? It teaches peace and love and that war is wrong.

Sure, Jack Thompson and all those fiery preacher boys can seem like they're trying to impose themselves on you, which they are, but it's a free country, and at least they aren't trying to blow you up.

If you don't like Christianity for whatever reason, just ignore it, I have atheist friends who pay more attention to Christianity, looking for threats and the latest breach between church and state, than I do, and I go to church every Sunday.  

People do this because for some strange reason they have had the idea implanted into their minds that Christianity is a threat to us all. Which, and maybe I'm just ignorant of some secret Christian conspiracy, it isn't.

I'm bad at keeping my thoughts together in a rant so BLAH BLOO BLEE!!!!! I'm going to go impose myself on Americas Army. :pissed:

All I can say about this WOW!

[Tynstar]

would consider some of the best weeks of my life the ones I spent in a Catholic orphanage in Peru

I didn't know you where adopted.

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

I know I went off on a wild tangent that had nothing to do with the original post but every time someone says they're scared of Christianity it makes me want to go suicide bomb said someone.

[CatchFiveBats]

I was raised in a Christian family and have grown to really respect a lot of the people I grew up around (who are pretty much all Christians).  Only the ones that end up on the news are scary.  Network executives know that only the most entertaining news will get good ratings, so they give us what we're asking for, and that would be (among other things, of course) the scary world taker-overers that make people afraid of Christians.  I never watch the news because I know that I'm only getting what the media wants me to see.

I also think that an MMORPG wouldn't be a conducive atmosphere for a sermon or other organized religious event, but from what I know about Christianity, the members of MOG think that even if the "sermon" is only heard by one person, at least that one person got the message, and that's all that matters to them.