Are Video Games Bad For the Soul? w/ Fr. Boniface Hicks
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- Опубликовано: 4 дек 2024
- Full Episode: • Parenthood, Video Game...
They certainly can be, but like any art form they can also serve as a good and entertaining point of community and growth. Obviously the key with games is temperance, but Catholics should not look down on people who play games. Matt and Father riminess about games of "old" and Matt explains Detroit, Become Human.
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Weirdly, it’s because of a video game I played as a young teen that I’m Catholic today. It was an MMO and just so happened to meet a friend on there who was a Latin-mass-going homeschooled kid (I didn’t know it at the time, but was enchanted by how good of a person he was). Long story short he inspired me to start taking my faith seriously.
Were you already Catholic, or did you convert because of him?
I think they should be viewed just like any other medium of entertainment. Some can be harmful, but many are beneficial.
I prefer it better than watching movies or shows.
It's actually the opposite. Entertainment is like any other group of anything: a few winners and a whole lot of losers.
Many are harmful and some can be beneficial.
Sure, but all adults should mature out of it in my opinion. What is edifying and righteous in staring at a screen and living in pleasure? Working out, reading, preaching, praying, taking care of responsibilities, and more are all superior alternatives. We should seek to dedicate our time to the Lord, and being satisfied with a less than noble pastime that yields much less fruit is a true tragedy.
On the point about "Being removed from creation", I think we need to bear in mind that games are part of His creation. Pasteur talked about marvelling at God's creation through his scientific work, and I feel much the same way about computer science. The elegant laws of boolean logic and electronics that allow us to make such nuanced things from the clay itself, is a testament to the precision and beauty of God's work.
In my childhood, I probably played 2-6 hours of video games a day. I LOVED role-playing games, and I loved how they gave me novel and wonder for life. I haven’t played games regularly since maybe 8 years ago, but I almost wish I could just get lost in a virtual world again and not worry about the bills, working out, caring for my family, etc.
That's the problem with gaming. Many adolescents get lost in the virtual world and feel like they are achieving something when In Reality they aren't , then the switch goes off and the real world hits. They spend so much time gaming they neglect important areas of their lives and when adulthood arrives they aren't prepared. Gaming is ok as with everything, in moderation.
2-6 hours of video games per day mean 0 hours of reading, that would have given much more novel and wonder for life, and also would have helped you to create your own criteria. A pity.
@@themajor333People can get lost in so many things that are not gaming, how many times do people let football dictate when they go to Mass on Sunday?
I agree that temperance must be practiced when gaming.
@BeatleCristian Yup. That's a thing that rubs me the wrong way.
"Oh, you play video games, what a waste of time! What do I do with my free time? I yell at athletes on my TV screen while drinking beer, mostly. And watch endless Friends reruns."
@@beatlecristian not really relevant to my point though is it. I never said there wasn't other forms of escapism. My point is many kids are over gaming. The recommendation is max 2 hours a day. I work at a school and kids tell me they will play for 10 hours solid if they can. It satisfies the desire for achieving on a shallow level then they are left depressed because it's not real.
I think it's beautiful that we are staying to have priests that understand the medium and promote evangelism within it. God bless
Like many others have said, it’s all about what type of videos games we are talking about and the usage of them.
I play “casual games” almost exclusively. I don’t play games with dark spiritual themes. I like fun loving stuff like Mario, Pokémon, Animal Crossing, Minecraft, and so on. Some games allow me to talk and have fun with friends that are far away from me.
For any parents, it’s very similar to the usage of tv, social media, etc.
I also agree with Father Boniface here that storytelling in video games is very much unexplored for Catholic/Christian worldviews.
I may be less sensitive to the gory and visceral content out there, which is why I don’t mind watching dark movies/video games with serious content, even if it is critical of (what they think is) Christianity or Catholicism. Ironically one of the most memorable biblical stories for me comes from the last few chapters of Judges; it screams to me just how broken humans are. I consider myself fairly well formed and seeking to follow God; certainly if someone is not well formed it’s not prudent to engage with this stuff, but I like to think that there are people in the muck that I can reach out to by being there with them.
@@killianmiller6107 are you talking about the story of the woman who gets violated to death, and the husband sends pieces of her body to the tribes, causing the extermination of the Tribe of Dan?
That one made me phisically sick.
Yes, that story. I’m pretty sure the genocide was against the tribe of Benjamin though. It is amazing just how messed up the story is, but it’s so revealing, and it hits hard when you realize the recurring theme throughout the whole book: “in that time there was no king, everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
I don't recommend pokemon.
I wanna see Matt Fradd Let's Plays
My husband plays Age of Empires with a group of friends online regularly. It gives him a way to socialize and connect with his friends.
based AoE player
As a gamer who happens to be Catholic, I disagree with the notion that games are bad for the soul or are negative influences.
They’re simply another medium for entertainment and/or storytelling.
It really depends on the game, though. Or - since you mention "entertainment and/or storytelling" - not all entertainment and/or storytelling is equally good.
On the other hand, I doubt that playing a Muslim in CK3 for the additional challenges that brings is a bad thing...
I love playing video games in general, but I've started to play them so I can talk to people about them. Like the people I work with. It helps start a relationship with others in a very simple way. And if I can get to know someone better and, God willing, even begin to discuss more serious matters such as faith, then I think it's worth it. I also argue with a priest friend of mine about this topic and I think this might give me a different view point for him so thanks XD
One of the few games I play frequently is called Space Engineers, which is basically Minecraft in space with physics and voxels. There’s no story to it (I wish they had more endgame material) so I mostly build spaceships. One thing that I’m working on right now is a big space cathedral, and I recently finished a few compact space churches, because, you know, those space engineers need to go to mass too! I even wrote a bit of lore surrounding the concept. I don’t see too many depictions of what a church in space would look and function like.
I studied game design as one of my majors and it has been a long-term dream of mine to make a beautiful video game that preaches Catholicism in a Lord-of-the-Rings-type-way.
It's very time consuming though, so it will have to wait until I have made money through other means.
Same here! I am actually writing basic game scenario that I have in mind right now.
Redeemed Zoomer has a Christian Minecraft server where each denomination has its own continent and people build churches. It's always closed on Sundays too.
I’d be very interested in watching some expanded discussion on the importance of play.
Video games can be enjoyed responsibly by adults. Children however are not mature enough to play video games. Game devs know this, and they design games to addict children. These days it isn’t rare for a kid to have a gaming or gambling addiction before they hit puberty. Scary stuff!
i would never have guessed matt plays detroit become human 😂
Detroit Become Human is one of my favourute video games of all time. Brilliant acting and story, I hope you finish it Matt.
There's this old gem of a game called Ultima. From "Ultima IV" onwards, the whole point was to be an "Avatar of Virtue" - the Virtues being Spirituality and Humility; Compassion and Valor and Honesty; Justice and Honor and Sacrifice. These last three were a combination of the previous three; Spirituality was "the pursuit of virtue" and Humility was the opposite of all the vices (i.e. opposite of the Virtues already named).
And if you didn't behave according to these virtues, you couldn't proceed in the game. In "Ultima VI", if you behaved not according to The Virtues, you couldn't even level up.
For my part, I think that's been a fairly positive influence on my life. I've asked myself "Is this what the Avatar in Ultima would do?" and then tried to behave accordingly.
As someone who grew up and loves video games, I'm realizing there are objectively MUCH better use of our time. Now it's multiplayer games with the kids on special days of the week. Gone are the days of highly addictive RPGs and grinding shooters. While a great media for sure, I believe the world would be better off without video games more advanced than the 90s era games
It really depends on the video game you choose. I played cooperative games where the entire point of playing was to help others and solve puzzles to protect people.
Beat the Mass Effect trilogy a few weeks ago. Aside from the sex scenes, I was pretty miffed at the ending. It felt utilitarian in nature. There are three options, so there’s that. But the “right” option is pretty utilitarian, as in sacrifice a few to save the many. But other than that, they’re pretty solid experiences.
I’m fine with video games being explicitly religion-free (leaving aside that most portray Christianity in a very negative light, which is typical of the industry). I would LOVE to play some games that were covertly Christian, at least in their ethics… 😪
I would say that the Red Dead Redemption series is covertly Christian. The second one even has some conversations that are pretty philosophical that the character Arthur has with a nun.
@@zenocarrow4671 I’ve heard that. Been meaning to play the second one for a while now. I’m cautious with regard to violence in games, especially when Rockstar is at the helm. Did you find any unedifying content worth being worried about? What’s the best way for a Catholic to play games that have questionable content? Not play them? Or play them conscious of any bad material?
Doom is an explicitly Christian game, you go around killing demons
(Sort of joking)
@@zenocarrow4671something I noticed in RDR2 is that all of the Protestant characters are given the usual stereotype of being dumb, hateful, etc. but all the catholic characters (the nun, the monk, and the priest) are all super wise and philosophical voices of reason
How are you on the Dragon Age series? They don't have Christianity there, but something very similar with the Chantry (along with the obvious "fantasy-world switcharoo", such as the Chantry only allowing women to be priests/clerics/whatever they called their version of "Pope" (was it "Divine" or "Most Divine"?).
But they don't really show religion as a bad thing, at least. Sure, there's religious people that *do* bad things, but I've never seen their bad deeds being a result of the religion, more that they were bad to begin with and then found a useful tool in the whole structure around the faith. Maybe there's some real-world similarities.
But for my part, even if the actual main religion shown in Dragon Age is a weird fantasy-version of the medieval Catholic Church, the game has plenty of positive religious NPCs, and there's no penalty for playing a devout character yourself.
My all time fave video game franchise is the Sid Meier's Civilization series. Been playing since the first one in '91. That game got my dyslexic brain into reading, history, and science.That lead me to have an interest in the SimCity series which helped give me a practical view of money management and basic math. I wouldn't be where I am today, education wise, if it weren't for those games. I'm now a registered nurse with a BA in Theology!
Resident Evil helped with problem solving, Mortal Kombat with my rubbish hand-eye co-ordination. I'm amazing at Shang Tsung, despite him not being my fave character. Strange world, indeed.
I played a lot of WOW back in the mid - late 2000s, and there I found a rather vibrant and open community, including being involved in a Catholic guild. Sadly, the game has changed so much, the gave devs have changed their direction, and it's just not the same feel, far too many people have dropped away, those who play it now don't seem all that interested in the social aspects of developing friendships, meeting folks the world over, and even just helping with quests. I don't play it much these days for those reasons. I miss the personal connections that came out of a really good dungeon raid.
I think video games are a marvellous tool for people, not just to get us weird brained folks into a better understanding of educational requirements, but also for building communities. It sounds counter productive to say we can find authentic connections here, but for a lot of folks, they do. From there, we can gently shove people out into the real world. I've also had some of the most fruitful conversations about Christ and his Church. There's something about being behind an avatar, culling dungeon monsters for some good loot, where speaking of Jesus comes easy, and not so confronting. People seem less likely to dismiss you as a Christian if instead of ranting about the evil waste of time that games are, you're telling them you run a Horde Shammy.
Oh yeah, Civ. Civ2 was the top, though. But I remember when my dad's friend came over one Friday with a couple of 3.5" disks (or maybe even just one) and said "Skúli! You HAVE to try this!"
He came around 7pm. At 2am I went to bed, and we were still figuring out things about the game. I woke up already at 8 or 9 the next morning - should have gone to confirmation-instruction (I don't know what it's called in English) but skipped that and went straight into playing, because I knew that as soon as he'd wake up he'd want to have a go at it. Turns out I could have gone and made it back before he woke up, because he and his friend were up until 6 or 7 in the morning and he slept until 13 or so.
I remember memorising the whole tech tree, just so that we wouldn't have to look up the code protection in the manual all the time...
It would be interesting for Fr Pine to answer your last question Matt.
He did, but I guess you don't see the real world in in in the video games medium but only getting out of the house and interacting with nature or people. The philosophy pursuit and choices are presented in game also. It challenges your faith too when it presents the other religion/belief against the Catholic faith. What is the Catholic faith different from other faiths/beliefs? Relativism and indifferentism are heresy, and how do we know unless it presented to us, and/or we must learn from the Church.
Time is in short supply, so is moderation.
If you have the moderation and the time then so be it. Pick a wholesome game and give it a round.
I’ve played video games since I was young kid and I think exposure to games such as Zelda: The WindWaker helped me learn to read and contributed to my appreciation of the visual arts as a child. I also played some more violent games like Halo: Combat Evolved. But again even past playing the game, I’d pour over art books filled with concept art. I now want to be a fine arts painter, and I don’t play games nearly as much as I did in the past, but still that initial exposure I think really engaged my interest in the arts.
Halo: Combat Evolved is great. Well, all of Bungie’s Halo games were/are.
I'm torn on that one. I spent countless hours playing video games, 20% RTS, 50% turn-based or grand strategy (Civ, Paradox Games) and 30% FPS. Obviously it was fun and particularly the strategy games taught be a lot of history and geography, but I can't help to think that those hundreds or thousands of hours could have been spent better.
I understand the need to tune out once in a while, but I feel we're substituting escapism for facing reality head-on. A safe haven is good, but the older I get the more I feel that digital entertainment obscures the real world. I still play games, but I keep losing enthusiasm year by year. It's a passion turned guilty pleasure turning into a last resort time killer.
I'd say it depends. All those hours spent in Civ - were you neglecting something more important?
And yes, it is escapism, but I don't think it's worse escapism than watching sport or sitcoms or whatever on TV (or streaming) - except that doing the same as "everyone else" opens up more doors for conversation. If you watched the same game as your coworkers, you can get into that conversation - but if you're the only one playing Civ or CK (or whatever Paradox game you like - I'm a CK-guy, never got into HoI, haven't yet tried EU), and played that instead of watching? Myeah, that'll lock you out of the conversation (but then again, so will most other "non-mainstream things", whether that's reading or learning how to tango).
@@thossi09 More like I wonder what else I'd pick up had I not just sat there evening after evening pursuing cultural victory as the Chinese.
@@ten_tego_teges But what is Civ, if not chess with a lot (I mean, A LOT) of extra rules? Would we think someone who spends night after night trying to solve various chess problems (someone who isn't a professional chess player, anyway) to be wasting their time?
I think when people criticizing video games (being lazy, not doing anything), I usually say that watching sports can also lead to the same problem - at its worst. Most people watching sports are watching other people living their own lives, some times worshiping and idolizing them, and usually just sitting on the couch eating potato chips.
Minecraft especially, and some other games, are very open to good enriching encounters. Minecraft is a creativity game: I became somewhat well-known on a medieval network on minecraft for a unique way I used banner-blocks to make a replica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in a lot of detail. I also faced TONS of flack when my stances on homosexuality and abortion came out, and I hope and pray I've been an unexpected example of charity rather than a source of scandal toward those views to members of that community. Time will tell.
Hello Pints with Aquinas: can you make a video about: can Catholics play Dungeons and dragons and tabletop rpg games?
@@TempleHolyFathercm Ive been trying to find that out, I play Warhammer 40k.
One of the Toronto Oratorians wrote music for a well known video game that was recorded by the philharmonic orchestra.
I have made a concerted effort to remain open to arguments against enjoying video games, and have tried to develop some myself to see just how far they could go. I am, nevertheless, an avid gamer. There is so much which games offer that can be missed by those who haven't kept pace with the industry since 2014. Whether the game successfully simulates symptoms of schizophrenia (Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice), or involves spatial reasoning puzzles in non-Euclidean geometries (AntiChamber), or only gives you instructions and hints in a language you can't understand (Tunic), or explores what it means to be human if technology can successfully simulate consciousness (SOMA), or provides a stunningly artistic exploration of the grief of losing a mother (Gris), games today are pushing the boundary of artistic expression and entertainment in a way movies haven't been able to do in well over a decade. The variety of video-game genres far outstrips the variety of movie genres (and for good reason, for while a video-game can also be a drama, or a comedy, or a thriller, a movie cannot be a metroidvania, platformer, puzzle game, etc. - for those are properties of the structure or mechanics of an interactive world). Video games are, at least potentially, everything a movie can ever be, plus more.
Having said all of that, there are bad video-games. In fact, many of the most popular games are, in my estimation, trash. They are the "junk food" of video games, the same way "reality TV" is the junk food of TV (even if, in both cases, they somehow remain nearly the most popular of their respective kinds - which is nearly incomprehensible to me). So, to anyone who might be inclined to write video-games off because of how unappealing first-person shooters and MMORPGs are, I'd highly encourage looking a little deeper - there's a lot more here. Much of it is even Catholic (like Gray Dawn, a game I played just recently which tells the complex tragedy of a priest coping with the loss of his child) or clearly has Catholic influence (like The Turing Test, which, along with exploring seriously high-level philosophical puzzles in the philosophy of mind, also introduces players to the principle of double-effect).
Video games are just as much “reality” as anything else, they’re just a certain instantiation of it. I think when people say “reality” in contradistinction to games they mean “responsibility” - which is fine, but let’s get our terms straight.
To the frair’s point, games can absolutely help us return to our responsibilities with increased insight, understanding, skill, etc. but games aren’t just utilitarian in that regard, they are narrative spaces, recreational spaces, aesthetic spaces etc. it’s an artistic medium. Absolutely nothing inherently evil with video games, but a million evils with those who make them and their motives.
Life-long gamer here. I've always been so keenly interested in the medium. Consider it like any other aspect of life: it can be used both for good and for bad.
I find them to be such exciting invigorating challenges, relaxing immersive experiences, and even a way to bond and work together with loved ones. But they can definitely become an escape and a distraction from what's important in life and a waste of time. Not to mention sexual or gorey games are obviously not edifying. In fact, I find such games prey and gorge on the sinful parts of our psyche, which we should keep mindful of.
I find, with games and art is general, it really exemplifies how we are made in God's image--we are creative beings who love to create!! (Also, hearing Matt is fond of Detroit Become Human is quite surreal and funny, glad he likes it 😂👍)
Polish Dominican friar, Adam Szustak, among the numerous evangelistic content posted on his YT channel, runs also the series "Priest plays a game". In addition to the standard gameplay, each episode contains a short punchline with a subtle dose of evangelization. This is undoubtedly the implementation of Saint Dominic's motto: "To preach Gospel to everyone, everywhere and with every possible mean".
And here is a link to his... "Detroit: Become Human" gameplay:
ruclips.net/p/PLVdrvbY9AVQp0AQ7KxEMxXWh-MXisqnOJ
Matt you should watch "Leslie Nielsen in Detroit Become Human"
Wow…and here I was thinking this was just gonna be another “video games cause violence” or some other such statement. I’m impressed👏
I know games are addictive for some people, but I have never had that problem, I just was too absorbed in school that last few months to play any games, but it's fun sometimes. Definitely never understood the strong opposition.
detroit become human is so cool!!
I'm a die hard fan of Resident Evil.
I'm developing a video game that's based in an alternate history where the Roman Empire never fell. The Catholic Church is a significant component in the setting, theme, and gameplay. For instance, the player will guide the tech tree forward by investing in monasteries, and I'm taking the opportunity to use lots of quotes from Saints and the Bible as flavor text throughout the game. I have lots of devlog videos on my channel if you're interested in checking it out! God bless.
Always have games with my siblings when we are able to get together at my sister's or mothers place. But they are board games. It's a bit different to computer games I guess.
I feel like kingdom hearts offers this with its light triumphing over darkness. It's fostering of strong virtuous friendship and its wholesome way of giving a story of what really matters and reaching for people who are lost in darkness and how they lose their soul to the darkness, as a kid it really did teach me alot about friendship. Not to mention. I find great beauty in music and anything good and beautiful points directly to God. Watching the orchestra videos of these composers playing those songs live and packing halls, must touch people deeply in some way, video games asecetically have really come a long way.
Very good!
So what would you say about the Uncharted series of games from a Catholic perspective?
Fr. Boniface's last point there hit the nail on the head - video games can be for fun or relaxation, but the primary focus of any entertainment form should be for cultivating a type of 'lens' to see the world through, in an inspiring way. Imagination is a powerful thing, and games are just another way of igniting a passion for some topic.
A bit difficult to explain, but a few personal examples would be strategy games like Total War or fantasy RPG series like Elder Scrolls/Witcher opening my teenage eyes to an interest in western civilization with their vibrant worlds and music (seriously an art form), various military shooters and milsim games inspiring me to get proficient with firearms etc., all of the above inspiring me to get into the gym and get fit, to hike. I actually thank God that I grew up with these things as opposed to, say, what would've been on offer on television in the 70's.
It's whatever you make of it - and obviously a distinction always needs to be made between someone using games relatively constructively and the type of person who spends 12 hrs per day playing WoW or Fortnite.
How about like Final fantasy and Zelda?
The “Hitman” videos (pre 2016) are simply PACKED to the brim with much CATHolic things ohhh yeah! I love those games so much! They force you to just think and solve some puzzles oh yeah heck yeah!
Perhaps should see if we can get Chris Tolkien to do a LOTR game. I think that’s a great way to get some Catholic theology out there. Get with some game editors and push out the Hobbit then do LOTR then do the older series. Can make several games out of it
What is the Catholic view on Skyrim?
I play a lot of city and colony building video games like Tropico or RimWorld. These games have systems that you can use basically however you want. They leave it in your hands whether you make your people happy or turn them into profit-making slaves. These games have been my bread and butter ever since the early 2000s, with Rollercoaster Tycoon and Sim City.
I've been eager to make a video series about the moral implications of such games. I've already made a few videos and I'm working on the script for the next. My first few are about 10 minutes long and about beauty and joy, the pain of reality seeping into a desire to help others, and how the hierarchy of needs informs these games and might inform how we engage with the world.
My next video will be on the limitations of all of these - the chief weakness being that AI tends to be too darn logical; humans just aren't. It makes being good look way too easy.
I play call of duty, hey. And I do play GTA. I’m a singleplayer fan! You’ll never find, me online! I’m an offline gamer I’m a one-damn-player-fan.
When I was in my early 30, I bought a second hand Play Station 2. I bought Grand Theft Auto, because I had always wanted to play it. I played it once, and sold it at a Game stop store. It felt extremely wrong and evil to run over the avatars and shooting them. Yes it is just a game, but God was sending me a sign to stay away from those types of games. Kingdom Hearts was my game of choice.
I myself am a big fan of kingdom hearts, but there’s one thing I would like to warn. Don’t follow your heart. It is deceitful.
I play video games for about an hour at a time, one or 2 times per week. I think video games can be an incredible medium for messaging (Detroit Become Human is actually a good example) but of course the addictions are not good.
MOST of you are prolly ok gaming BUT here me out.
I played Diablo 1,2 and 3 loved Warcraft 2. Yet I lost 5 I repeat 5 ppl in my family to video game addiction incl my daughter. What I have observed is vid games can open a door into the mind and suspend our ability to have custody of thought. I observed this leaving a lot of ppl a blank slate and more easily suggestible and influenced. I know more ppl who are less than they could be due to video games.
The pipe looks good on Matt Fradd!
I can't. I wish I could, but my ability to moderate play time is virtually nonexistent. It probably doesn't help that my games of choice are MMORPGs which are extremely hard, if not impossible, to play for short periods of time. I'm like an alcoholic at a bar when it comes to gaming. I've learned through much pain and suffering that I just can't go there.
I have a son who has a video-game addiction, which we are battling. I think some video games are very dark and I was informed by a reputable Catholic exorcist that dark role playing games like dungeons and dragons can open a portal to the demonic. This exorcist recommends no more than 1 hour a day on media entertainment 🙏🏻✝️
They must absolutely be properly ordered (no more than 3hrs a day, if that) and to be used as an end to help sanctifying your soul and elevating yourself to God. Entertainment and relaxation are ways of doing this as they can alleviate your mind, so video games must absolutely be the same.
unfortunately, in the world of MMOs and even some single player games (mostly MMOs) the name of the game is the grind, so they introduce ways to have you hooked and require you to log in everyday and/or even force you to play for x hours to get their event rewards. It is dangerous to say the least. I'd also argue that a certain level of fantasy game can remove you from reality and have you dreaming and thinking about that world instead of this one, whole idea behind Role Playing games are to pretend you are someone you are not in a fantasy setting. You have to be cautious
Speaking of World of Warcraft though, Blizzard put the “everything in moderation…” into their tool tips, but gamers in this particular MMO go hard for 20 hours in the first two days of a new expansion in order to get everything they can do before the first reset on Tuesday. That is a part of its particular Metaphysics in addition to paying for tokens to get gold or spend all your time in the game to buy someone else’s token. You hear it referred to as “pay to win”. Super Spenders are called whales, middle spenders are dolphins, and the free player is the chump that has to spend all day in a game in order to compete with the whales.
Yes if the game they are playing is Grand Theft Auto
For a moment, he reminded me of Dr. Spock.
Anything that consumes your time more than your relationship to the Father is evil. How's that for provoking your conscience?
*Bl. Carlo Acutis has entered the chat*
TikTok has surprisingly good religious content, definitely a place for evangelisation
World of Beardcraft
The worst thing about video games is that it's a distraction from God, from family and from responsibilities.
You could play when you have down time... But even then, you should probably be praying or doing God's work.
Primarily, it depends on the game and the people who stand to benefit from it.
It is because of that why I say, “Neither buy nor play Detroit: Become Person”.
It is, like many games now, woke garbage.
If you get into video games, eventually you will have to cut the ties from your soul. It will keep you in the purgative state, over engaging your sensual passions.
Yes, they are. At the very first moment my kids had games, they automatically lost interest for their faith. So, yes.
Prudence and temperance have to be practiced with gaming, just like any other hobby.
Sounds like a parenting problem
First
When playing video games takes several personal hours, that is a problem, bc you are pleasing yourself instead of praising the Lord, and pleasing yourself leads to sin, sorry It has to be said. If you want to be a real Christian you have to deny yourself in every aspect, even with the things you love to do. (btw I love videogames, but I admit that I have to seek greater things and playing video games is not beneficial for the soul)
Games that use profanity is bad and worse is the one that 'call God's name in vain'. Then the one with sexual content and horror experiences are bad. Games can be good for entertainment and education within the limits of the good conscience and choices. Moderation is retained or playing can be addictive.
As a woman, I have to say that one of the least attractive traits in a man is an obsession with video games.
Facts
If a guy was a massive "film buff" or massively into fantasy novels (Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, etc.), would you treat those hobbies the same way?
Unfortunately I think they would consider those as obsession as well. Too often it would be that you have to fit in their definition of acceptable. So, spend hours reading fantasy and that's an obsession. Spend the same amount of hours reading what they perceive as worthwhile works of literature and they'll praise your diligence. It's all about what people perceive as worthwhile.
thank you. Nice to know there are some real women still out there
@@flyingphoenix113 I think there’s a valid difference between “consuming” media and being “consumed by” media. Generally speaking, if an obsession with a sedentary hobby results in a constant neglect of hygiene, fitness, moral formation, and continuous conversion of soul, then I find it unattractive. Call me crazy but temperance is attractive.
I think it’s VERY easy for people to OVER INDULGE in video games and cause sloth . Violent games and games with no useful information is a waste and idleness in my opinion . You could be filling your mind with better things
Very additive and a waste of time
@@Unclenate1000 I disagree. I think you could allways do somthing better with your time then play video games. The way video games stimulate your Brain is very different aswell to let's say you playing football or you reading a book or you going somewhere with your wife and family. Video games create a very high stimulus on the brain and in turn can become very additive, qlot more additive then other activities but also because it's high stimulus, the brain constantly wants that high stimulus. Which in turns makes other activities like the others I listed not as enjoyable to you because they don't offer the brain this quick and high level of stimulus. Thankfully more research is coming out now and showing us that video games and the likes of social media nearly affect your dopamine the same way a lot of drugs do. Best to stay away from them or manage to cut it down to very small levels but that's harder then it sounds
Read your bible thats a good one. I
used to be gamer . Not good for your soul.
Video games are for people who simply can't handle real life. People who can, play board games. ;)
Once you turn 18, leave the video games behind. Go have real adventures.
There are realistic simulators of all kinds, not everyone has the means or time to train to be a pilot or a train driver for example. Simulators can give you a pretty detailed experience of what this would be like, as well as educating you. There are really genres to suit all kinds of people.
Are vidio games bad for the soul===== is having no interest in girls and suppressing you're natural sexual desires good for the soul