Young People Ask Should I Play Electronic Games? Their Dark Side! ?⚫️?⚫️?⚫️?

[Bible Speaks]

Young People Ask

Should I Play Electronic Games?

Their Dark Side!

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Many games blatantly promote immorality, profanity, and violence—all condemned by the Bible. (Psalm 11:5; Galatians 5:19-21;Colossians 3:8) 

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Some games glorify occult practices. Adrian, 18, describes one popular game as featuring “gang wars, drug use, explicit sexual content, foul language, intense violence, blood, and gore.” And each new release seems to make previous games look tame in comparison. James, 19, says that the most popular of these games can be played live on the Internet. This ability takes gaming to a whole new level. “From your home computer,” says James, “you can challenge people who live on the other side of the world.”

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Role-playing games have become hugely popular. In these, participants create online characters—whether human, animal, or a blend of both—that inhabit a computer-generated world populated by thousands of other players. This online world contains shops, cars, homes, dance clubs, brothels—in essence, it is a replica of the real world. The players in these games are able to instant message one another as their computer-generated characters, called avatars, interact.

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What goes on in those virtual worlds? “Ordinary people indulge in activities they never would, or could, do in real life,” says one journalist. He adds: “Sex is commonplace, as is prostitution.” Just by pressing a few buttons, the players can make their avatars engage in sex acts while the real-world participants talk about sex via instant messaging. In addition, those worlds are “full of virtual crimes, Mafia men, pimps, extortionists, counterfeiters and assassins,” says the journal New Scientist. Another magazine reports that “critics have raised concerns about activities that would be illegal in the real world, such as the brothel that features rape fantasies, or people who indulge in sex acts using avatars that resemble children.”

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▪ Will my choice offend Jehovah? The type of game you choose can affect the way God feels about you. “Jehovah himself examines the righteous one as well as the wicked one, and anyone loving violence His soul certainly hates,” states Psalm 11:5. Regarding those who engage in occult practices, God’s Word says: “Everybody doing these things is something detestable to Jehovah.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) If we want to be friends of God, we need to follow the advice at Psalm 97:10: “You lovers of Jehovah, hate what is bad.”

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▪ How will the game affect my thinking? Ask yourself, ‘Will playing this game make it easier or harder for me to “flee from fornication”?’ (1 Corinthians 6:18) Games that expose you to sexually arousing images or conversations will not help you to keep your mind on things that are righteous, chaste, and virtuous. (Philippians 4:8) Amy, 22, says: “Many games desensitize you to things like violence, foul language, and immorality and can cause you to let down your guard in other aspects of life. You have to be very careful what you choose to play.”

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▪ How much time will I spend playing the game? Deborah, 18, says: “I don’t think all computer games are bad. But they can be very time-consuming, almost addictive.” Even the most innocent electronic games can consume a lot of time. So keep a log of how much time you spend gaming and then compare that with the amount of time you spend in other more essential activities. Doing so will help you to keep your priorities in order.—Ephesians 5:15, 16.

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The Bible doesn’t require that you spend your whole life studying or working. It reminds all of us that there is “a time to laugh . . . and a time to skip about.” (Ecclesiastes 3:4) It is worth noting that the expression “to skip about” implies not only play but also physical activity. So why not use some of your free time to play games that involve physical activity instead of limiting yourself to sitting in front of a computer screen?

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https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102008006?q=ps+11%3A5&p=par