Pope Condemns Games As Being Evil Influence On Kids
Pope Benedict XVI has denounced violent video games, and animated films, as being a vile influence upon the youth of the world. The statement, while not exactly surprising since it comes from someone who most likely has had very little exposure to the world of video games, will probably provide more ammunition for the religious right to fire at the gaming industry:
"Any trend to produce programs and products - including animated films and video games - which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray anti-social behavior or the trivialization of human sexuality is a perversion, all the more repulsive when these programs are directed at children and adolescents,'' Benedict said."How could one explain this 'entertainment' to the countless innocent young people who actually suffer violence, exploitation and abuse?'' he asked.
The pope said children should be introduced to classic literature, fine arts and "uplifting music.''
Uh... huh. Classic literature, eh? How about Shakespeare? Nothing quite like sorcery, adultery, incest, cannibalism, and a little murder to inspire young minds. Fine art? Did you know that Michelangelo was gay? I'm sure that little factoid wouldn't go over to well with the Catholic Church.
What I'm not sure about is why His Holiness thought now would be a good time to raise the issue of video games' unholy influence over the world's younger generations. This whole situation stinks, and I would much rather see the man address more important things (like, say, living up to his promise to not judge and instead listen) instead of such trivial issues.
Boy of Tomorrow
Posted to Hot Stuff, Miscellany on 24 January 2007
· Comments (8)
Other stuff like this: animation, pope, pope benedict xvi, video games, violence, wtf?
Every week the pope condems homosexuality, and now he condems video games too.
I'm a guy who loves guys and video games,
If I were a good catholic (thank God i'm not) what would I do?
Sad thing is here in Italy a lot of politicians genuflect to what he says.
isnt this the same guy that was a nazi? did video games and movies make any of them do the shit that they did? i think not.
To be fair, I do see the point of reflecting on the sex and violence in entertainment... but not to the point of calling an entire medium evil. Now, when you carefully read that quote, he doesn't quite say that, but it certainly sounds like he does and I don't think he'd complain if that's what people understand.
Complaining about video games is like shooting fish in barrel. I wonder if he's trying really hard to not upset anyone the way he did some months back.
Interesting that he mentions "animated films," too... I wonder if he's discovered anime.
Maybe when your priests stop molesting children I'll start caring about what you have to say, Nazi Pope.
Oh, and kirasakuya, he was in the Hitler Youth when he was young because it was a law you had to join. So...yeah. He was a Nazi for a bit, but there was something wrong with him physically that prevented him from going into any kind of combat. There's an article on Wikipedia.
there's a nice little editorial in the economist this week about games, specifically germany's moves to ban (which is probably what prompted his holiness in the first place) and how ridiculous they are...
check it out!
I don't know. I pretty much agree with what he says there in the first paragraph. Depsite his background or the Church's past, it makes perfect sense.
oooooooooh get her! little miss hitler youth 1939! lol she needs a go on mariokart!
Woah, we should try to tone down the hostility a bit when responding to articles of this naure. Responding with insults and hostility focused on the person who tells us our entertainment is too violent or a bad influence just creates circumstantial evidence to support their perspective.
That being said, I would have to strongly disagree with the pope on this one. First of all, people have been entertaining each other with violent content for centuries, and we are currently not all violent savages who go for each other's throats and enjoy doing unspeakable things to each other.
Anyway, I enjoy violence in video games because it helps me to relieve some frustrations in a harmless manner where nobody gets hurt and nothing gets damaged. One example of this would be during a previous job where I managed to get rid of the urge to vandalize my former supervisor's car (which I was tempted to do after dealing with him trying to stab me in the back (in a figurative sense, of course) every day and do other nasty things to me) by playing a video game and killing a video game character that looks like him. Had I not had that outlet available, I would have ended up in jail or at least with a debt of a few thousand dollars to fix his car. Of course, that does not mean video games are a good way to relieve stress for everybody, but for a number of people it seems to work in a positive manner.
As for whether or not video games made me violent, well, I definitely do not go around pushing others around or picking fights. I mean, it is entertaining in movies and games but not when people actually do get hurt in real life.
There is one point I do agree with, sex should not be trivilized too much in entertainment. I believe that sex should be an act of bonding and trust between friends and/or lovers, not something that should be forced on another or be meaningless. It is more enjoyable that way.