March 16, 2008
GamePolitics readers will likely recall last October's controversy over whether Halo 3 and other violent games were appropriate material for church youth groups.The issue eventually reached a ridiculous climax with a staged Fox News trashing of video games (see: How Fox Morning Show Sensationalized the Halo-in-Church Issue). With the Easter season well underway, the issue has now been been revisited by The Baptist Standard:
What do warthogs, pelicans, energy swords and Spartan lasers have in common? And how do they relate to John 1:17?
The Standard quotes Greg Stier, president of Dare 2 Share ministries:
[Master Chief] is kind of a messianic figure... That is an opportunity to talk about [Christianity]... Personally, I don’t think that was an accident. I think that was some programmer who was trying to make a point.
You’re torn. Youth leaders are torn. You want to reach kids, but you don’t want to compromise biblically. [Of course,] If the Old Testament were a video game, it would make Halo 3 blush.
Mike Matlock of Christian Gamers Online, added:
Really, people can get legalistic—you can take complete objections to everything. We try to be very careful and be true to the gospel when we’re using gaming as an outreach tool... We just use it as an outreach tool just as you would if you had some live music... or if you were having some kind of athletic event.
Matlock's sentiments were cautiously echoed by evangelism professor Lyle Dorsett of Samford University:
We can entertain them, we can give them better coffee, we can give them more comfortable seats... They may stay for a year, but they will never become true disciples... unless the Spirit changes their heart and somebody gives them Christ...
The vast majority of teens today feel alienated... They need someone to get to know them and really listen to them. If you just bring a crowd of kids in and give them a show and entertain them and then give them a talk, you haven’t listened to them.
One voice who opposes using Halo 3 and other violent games to attract teens is Al Menconi, described by The Baptist Standard as "a leading expert on the influence of pop entertainment on the Christian family." Menconi said:
I wouldn’t do it because I think the games are constant killing. There is no redeeming factor. It’s just the adrenaline rush of killing. I really believe that I can validate scripturally that that’s not right.
Comments
Right because the military has needlers, Megaton Hammers, Stickys, and Bubble Shields. *Facepalm
I have no qualms with restricting game content to kids. I just think adults should be allowed to play whatever the hell they want.
It will be bad if THEY made the game, but its theology has potential. It has Xenu, dropping nukes into volcanoes and modified earth-made space planes! The source material is already rich.
1 Corinthians 6:12
Things not expressly forbidden in the Bible are allowed, but they may not be healthy. That said, video games are a form of entertainment, and I find it absolutely hilarious that this is even an issue, as a Christian with very strong conservative views on the Bible.
Stupid people believe stupid things.
As far as religious trailblazing goes, I see good points on either side. It's good to learn about pop culture and try to derive positive experiences from it, but Lyle Dorsett is right within his own context too. I think it ultimately depends on the person being addressed because different people have different needs. Sure, using Halo 3 may not work for everyone, but that doesn't mean its potential shouldn't be experimented with.
It's hardly as violent as people make it out to be after all. A shame Al Menconi reveals his ignorance on that field and his comment seems to be yet another one of those that is trying to proclaim Halo 3 to be completely evil rather than just erring on the side of caution. It's fair to be cautious around new and unfamiliar things, but one should not be quick to go so far as to judge them with no knowledge.
>_>
I know exactly who you're talking about, his username was FAMILYFRIENDLYGAMING. He was an ignorant asshole.
Al Menconi's website is fucking hilarious. Read their review for Tales of Symphonia. The reviewer claimed the cartoony violence in ToS was "mind-numbing".
Hahaha, please. What exactly makes this guy an expert? Last time I checked, saying that all games are about mindless killing and sex without even fucking playing them doesn't qualify you to be an expert.
Umm, no. Way to show your ignorance.
Not about killing. Exept if the guy is a dick of course. Or a squeaker.
The first paragraph in my above post is the quote. The second paragraph is my comment.
Gah.
How many unquote tags does it take to negate one quote tag? Jesus.
Ahh, so true.
A bit offtopic, but reminds me of a game of Halo 2 where I was running towards the enemy base with the bomb, while a whiny kid on my team kept squealing "GIMME THE BOMB! GIMME THE BOMB!" ... so I gave him the bomb. Bashed him in the face with it and killed him (in 1 hit, oddly) then I went on to score. Good times.
Really? dang it would be a shame that no one would get to see it since hardly any stores stock AO games
In other news who really cares about this, its old news that they drudged back up
I wonder why they can't seem to win people over with their holy book alone.
I think a great game to reach out to kids would be Burnout Paradise, teaching you the joys of Driving, burning out, and just joy riding. The idea should be how can everyone have fun and learn at the same time without being condescending and hypocritical. I can't stand the anti-game catholic's, they have no-argument.
But that's just me though.
BANE XXIII
Minneapolis, Mn
and if you show the master chief as one man giving up his life to save the world then i can definitely see a parallel to Jesus.
I guess you could make the argument that Revelation 1:17 or 11:7 do, but that's still pretty broad.
Christians, more specifically Baptist, (Which I am a Baptist Christian) do not want the rapture AT ALL! We would prefer the rapture to never come, becuase we want more time to try and get more people saved. Saying the Baptist's want the rapture to come is an uninformed statement.
I'd actually like to see him follow through with that.
And I hate it when all these uber-religious types give Christians a bad name. It's like they're TRYING to ruin it for everyone else.
We need to have a seperation of church and game!
There are plenty of other games they could use to recruit young people that don't involve guns and killing things like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Portal, Wii Sports, etc. Yeah to some these are too tame but it is church after all.
As for what kids play at home (yeah i'm swerving right off the road) who cares? As long as it is age appropriate, no worries.
“[Of course,] If the Old Testament were a video game, it would make Halo 3 blush.”
But its okay because the Old Testament isn't a videogame, its The Bible... and why should The Bible have to follow the same guidlines as some dumb kid's toy anyway?
Thankfully Wisdom Tree has already taken that initiative, and if their unlicensed NES game Bible Adventures makes Halo 3 blush, it's with embarrassment at how ungodly terrible the game actually is.
Hey, Bible Adventures was kind of cool, you have to admire the courage of the guys doing it without NoA putting the stamp on the game. Of course they still sucked more ass than the average zoofecaphiliac but then it goes in the realm of B-movies and laughing at the horrendous... everything in fact.
read that whole argument about how they think Pokemon = Killing each others monsters. How Anti-Christ pokemon is.
Proof that they're SOOO uninformed. They don't even kill each other (they only faint).
With claims like this, this is yet another site my parents wouldn't trust.
Hehe now that I think of it, its probably the same thing that makes some people messed up & psychotic when they play a game, read a certain book or whan someone looks at them in a perculiar way.
The uninformed or willfully ignorant with even minor power pose a serious danger though...
YOU KNOW THIS IS JUST DESPICABLE!!!!
How can they be allowed to use harmless fun games to indoctronate alienated teens in their religion...
A religion that has done more torturing and murdering over the years than can be fitted in any game because no one would have a hard drive large enough to install it... not to mention that the programmers would be sent to a mental institution for thinking up such horrid things...