78 comments | showing # 1 to 50

Bioautographical

Man, that's a relief. The only things that take MY attention away from God are masturbating, gambling and my monthly abortion.

Holyetheline

Seriously. I've been killing in videogames for years now and I never once even thought about whether or not it was a sin.

Iron Dragon

"video games can involve other departures from God's will... Typically, this can involve a colossal misuse of valuable time"

Ohh shit... Wasting time is a sin now? I'm so going to hell.

Cartman

Looks like we've dodged a bullet.

Professor Pew

So it's bad until you confess your sins and go to church on sunday?

Superfluous Moniker

Wow, such a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I was extremely concerned an invisible man in the sky was silently counting every Goomba and prostitute I killed to use against me at the pearly gates. I mean, what would He have that's better to do?

But this was rather obvious. What I'd really like to know is whether it is a sin to put large amounts of small change in the collection basket. Or better yet, obviously counterfeit bills.

e-roder

we get the point jim, but some of the comments below mock christianity in quite poor taste. were they really necessary?

PKN

I think it's cool that it was regarded as a serious question and answered in an honest manner. Too all the people reading who want video games to be widely excepted and mainstream.. There are still an ton of people on this planet who do believe in a God and want to play videogames!

faultymoose

e-roder: Respect on the internet?! Don't hold your breath. And don't let it get to you.

Bioautographical

"If I use a God Mode cheat in a game, does that count as blasphemy?"

Only if you use it to summarily wipe out everything in the game.

Iron Dragon

@PKN: Why would any gamer want games to go mainstream? How could that be a good thing for gamers? Sure it's good for the companies but mainstream = casual crap for the gamer. Yeah I said it.

Mainstream has done nothing but hurt what we gamers love. I speak of course about the Wii and Nintendo E3 08. I loved the crap out of my N64 and Gamecube but I haven't really touched my Wii for a while now.

It comes down to: Why spend the money to make Fallout 3 or other games when Wii Play will move more than 10 million units? Mainstream is "Zomg 10 buttons I r confused! Makez it simple!" and I'm terrified that they're going to steal the hobby we love so much and morph it into something for my mother.

Also I'm horribly off topic now... So how about killing those virtual people? Yep... *runs*

orao

Thank the fish for that! I was worried that pressing a button that instructed my pixelated pseudo-form to attack other pseudo-monsters and then have them undergo animations that depict dying.

Joe Burling

What about in Viva Pinata when you make two pinatas fuck, then they have a baby, and you make the mom fuck the baby, then they have a kid, and you make the dad fuck that kid?

Is that bad?

Could you contact them and ask for me, Jim?

Wait, who is God?

John B

How unbelievably pathetic that some people actually think that the calculation of ones and zeros within a computer CPU can be equated to the taking of a human life.

TheDreadHawk

I can see the concern of some of the more "ignorant" Christian gamers. I never thought of it as a sin, and I'm a Christian, durf a durf.

Cheeburga

Well, that's a relief.

Bioautographical

"Someone was genuinely concerned about something, asked someone whose opinion they trust, and received a satisfactory answer. That is all."

No, someone asked an antiquated, corrupt governing body a question about something that should've been so common sense, it shouldn't have even been asked. Hell, I probably could've told him that the only real "sin" was potentially idolatry - which could apply to golf, drinking, watching sports, and probably eleventy-billion other hobbies that are infinitely more interesting than mass and being molested in the rectory.

MaxVest

Why on earth would anyone criticize religious figures for not being familiar with video games when it's clear that many gamers are not at all familiar with religion?

Here's a novel approach to life: if you don't know much about something, there's absolutely nothing wrong with keeping your mouth shut and your mind open. I'm no fan of blustering and hypocrisy, wherever it comes from.

Sharpless

MaxVest is right, as usual.

And the guy who answered the question was pretty spot-on, in my opinion as a sensibly nutty Christian. Christianity is, in reality, about the heart, about the motivation. An action might be perfectly innocent in and of itself, but if there's a selfish or hateful motivation behind it, then it's no good. Also, for a Christian, God should always come first, even before vidya gamez. (Also also, "glorification" has nothing to do with giving God an ego boost. In Christianity, it's seen as the only appropriate response for creatures like us to have towards a being like God. He certainly doesn't need it.)

But hey, this is the internet, so let's mock and deride the religious people, because who do they think they are, having their own belief system that isn't anything like ours!

mr spooky

eating an apple is not a sin unless it bleeds or screams.

thinkfreemind

This is a thought that crossed my mind for a few seconds a long time ago. I figured it out for myself of course and told myself that it would just be silly for God to hold it against me, but I can understand why someone would ask. There really is no such thing as a stupid question.

Jim Sterling

Lesson learned: Christian people don't like jokes.

Merry Ho

@MaxVest and Sharpless: Rock On

I'm really disappointed with many of the responses I've read here, because isn't this what we are looking for, someone to say that video games are not inherently evil, and who is not trying to bash them every chance they get? yet you all still want to mock him anyway just because of what he personally believes in. are you all really that insecure?

Jim Sterling

"I'm really disappointed with many of the responses I've read here, because isn't this what we are looking for, someone to say that video games are not inherently evil, and who is not trying to bash them every chance they get? yet you all still want to mock him anyway just because of what he personally believes in. are you all really that insecure?"

I think most of the bashing is aimed at the guy who had to check if it's a sin to kill someone in a videogame. As I said, that's just a little bit silly.

And for my part, what I said about glorification in the article was a joke. There's something to be said about insecurity there as well.

Merry Ho

@Jim: there is a difference between joking and mocking

mock: To treat with ridicule or contempt; deride.

Joke: Something said or done to evoke laughter or amusement

jokes are fine, its when they start mocking that it goes to far, use common sense if you are having trouble.

Bioautographical

<i>Here's a novel approach to life: if you don't know much about something, there's absolutely nothing wrong with keeping your mouth shut and your mind open. I'm no fan of blustering and hypocrisy, wherever it comes from.</i>

The "bluster", I suppose, is a matter of opinion (one with which I don't agree), but I'd love to see where "hypocrisy" came from. How exactly did I hold anyone to a standard to which I myself don't adhere?

<i>But hey, this is the internet, so let's mock and deride the religious people, because who do they think they are, having their own belief system that isn't anything like ours!</i>

Bottom line - people "obey" and talk to thin air, and yet are so in the majority, that others who rely on the common sense needed to realize that you can't have a relationship with a non-responsive nothing are the ones who are "crazy" or "weird" and in the minority. I can look at the ground in front of me, not see a chair, and state "There is no chair here" as an empirical fact, and that's fine. Acknowledge the same of "God"? No, no, no. Something is seriously wrong with that.

Am I about to throw anyone on the stake for it? Never. But make fun of them when they do idiotic shit like wring their hands over whether or not "gaming is a sin"? Absolutely. I suppose it's difficult to understand why that paints the epitomized picture of utter insanity to me, but it does.

Merry Ho

"I think most of the bashing is aimed at the guy who had to check if it's a sin to kill someone in a videogame. As I said, that's just a little bit silly."

Well if you really think about it it's not all that silly, its not the act of killing someone in a video game that is a sin obviously, its when a video game replaces God in your life that it becomes a sin, same goes for anything that replaces God. And this only applies to believers anyway, those of you without God in your life are living in sin whether you play video games or not.

Bioautographical

"mock: To treat with ridicule or contempt; deride."

And like he hasn't done that with . . . just about everything else? Depending upon who you are, or what side of the fence you stand on, it's either funny to you or it's not. Jump on the religion, and all of a sudden, no one can laugh at it. We can make fun of certain game devs, hypersensitive "feminists", hypersensitive race card players, but heavens no, not the Christians!

By all means, make jokes about atheists sometime. "Those idjits, not reading the Bible and praising Jesus, lulz!"

Bioautographical

"And this only applies to believers anyway, those of you without God in your life are living in sin whether you play video games or not."

HAHAHAHAHA.

I knew it would eventually come out, I figured we'd just be somewhere towards the 100-comment mark before it did.

Jim Sterling

"Although he wasn't actually concerned, he was trying to blow my mind I think."

Well? Was your mind blown!?

loquax

Jim, religion deserves respect. What you wrote at the end about glorification is unnacceptable. God created the universe, and to disrespect him is to sin at the highest level. For this reason I will no longer be reading any of your posts.

As Jesus once said, "we're no strangers to love. you know the rules, and so do I"

I think we should all follow this rule, the goldenest of goldens.

Jim Sterling

loquax:

So let me get this straight. I mock, criticize and satirize everything I can get my hands on in all my articles, but I make one offhand joke about one thing that YOU personally hold dear, and that's it, off you go.

Okay, fine. I'm sorry you feel that way.

GeneralWong

@ Ioquax

God does not exist.

Looks like I'm going to hell, I often look for Africa and Chinese people to run down while playing GTA and sometimes when Im just driving home from work.

loquax

I shall respond by quoting further scripture.

JOHN 4:20
"Never gonna give you up."

Velt

I remember a time when videogames were a sin and sex was dirty.

Comment with Facebook

Click connect and comment instantly!

Comment with Dtoid

New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds

Comments policy

Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?

Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!

Killing in videogames is not a sin: CONFIRMED!

Comment with Facebook

Comment with Dtoid

Comment with Facebook

Comment with Dtoid