Is playing GTA a sin?

THE_ENCORE · #1 Jun 25, '12, 9:23 pm

As some of you may know in this forum I converted to Eastern Catholicism may 1st from believing in christ but not really exploring any faith or carrying for it. GTA=Grand theft auto, I am a big gamer and I play many games on a high level on my xbox(such as Halo, and minecraft) but today my friends told me to buy Grand theft auto and I did, But it seems to have a very sinful nature behind it; killing, pre-martial sex, Stealing, swearing, pretty much the exact opposite that we as followers of christ try to live. So when I started playing today with them I tried to just not do any of this and race my car around but I couldn't get a car without stealing one, which made me feel bad. I know all of these things are morally wrong but if one plays this game for pure entertainment and knows its wrong(but doesn't dwell on the fact and plays purely for spending time with friends) just to have fun with friends is this sinful?

David Alexander · #2 Jun 25, '12, 11:54 pm

I know it is fun but we have to ask why is it fun?

Our actions can be influenced by what we fill our minds with and so you are right to be cautious and you should trust your instincts.

Whether it is a sin or not officially, I do not know. But what is your honest opinion about whether it should be?

Servant31 · #3 Jun 26, '12, 12:21 am

This is a very interesting question. I hope we can hear from an actual priest or authority on the subject. I have two thoughts about this.
1) Yes it would be a sin because you are promoting acts which are against God.

However, on the flip side you arent doing these acts to anyone in reality. Personally I played video games for quite a while and remembered playing Bond, Starwars Battlefront, basically first peerson shooters. TO be honest I found it great at stress relief. I of course clearly knew that this was not reality and would ever engage in shooting someone in real life, but now that I dont play anymore, I wonder if I have more agressive thoughts that I would need to "let out" somewhere else. Perhaps being less patient with others or snapping at my roomates on occasssion...

2) So my thought here is that it would not be sinful

THE_ENCORE · #4 Jun 26, '12, 1:43 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Servant31

This is a very interesting question. I hope we can hear from an actual priest or authority on the subject. I have two thoughts about this.
1) Yes it would be a sin because you are promoting acts which are against God.

However, on the flip side you arent doing these acts to anyone in reality. Personally I played video games for quite a while and remembered playing Bond, Starwars Battlefront, basically first peerson shooters. TO be honest I found it great at stress relief. I of course clearly knew that this was not reality and would ever engage in shooting someone in real life, but now that I dont play anymore, I wonder if I have more agressive thoughts that I would need to "let out" somewhere else. Perhaps being less patient with others or snapping at my roomates on occasssion...

2) So my thought here is that it would not be sinful

Ok. I have come to conclusion that games such as halo or call of duty were their is a mission or purpose to the game are not sinful as it is done as competition and not in evilness(like the killing of things) but in GTA im not sure as there is no mission in multiplayer, its just steal and kill basically( and of course i tried not to kill but just race but its so hard to drive your bound to hit someone)

Servant31 · #5 Jun 26, '12, 12:10 pm

Yeah Ive thought about it and whatever the principle behind the theory is Grand Theft is a pretty extreme game and it definitely puts some junk in your head you dont want long term. I would at least avoid that game altogether. Plenty of other games out there that are, at the very least end of the spectrum, less extreme.

Gift from God · #6 Jun 26, '12, 4:40 pm

It's just a game. It's just graphics projected on your screen. There is nothing sinful about GTA

Booter · #7 Jun 26, '12, 7:39 pm

I forget the context of the conversation but I remember a college professor asking me, "Why is grand theft auto fun?" or something along those lines cause I used to play it and I couldn't come up with a good answer. Maybe b/c it's only a game, maybe b/c of our human disposition, the media hype of violence and the like.....Anyway after thinking all this through I decided I was done with GTA and games of the like.....I'll probably having to account for a lot of time I've wasted with mindless junk but not this anymore

domNoah · #8 Jun 26, '12, 8:05 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE_ENCORE

As some of you may know in this forum I converted to Eastern Catholicism may 1st from believing in christ but not really exploring any faith or carrying for it. GTA=Grand theft auto, I am a big gamer and I play many games on a high level on my xbox(such as Halo, and minecraft) but today my friends told me to buy Grand theft auto and I did, But it seems to have a very sinful nature behind it; killing, pre-martial sex, Stealing, swearing, pretty much the exact opposite that we as followers of christ try to live. So when I started playing today with them I tried to just not do any of this and race my car around but I couldn't get a car without stealing one, which made me feel bad. I know all of these things are morally wrong but if one plays this game for pure entertainment and knows its wrong(but doesn't dwell on the fact and plays purely for spending time with friends) just to have fun with friends is this sinful?

First your conscience made you feel bad, second you know that these actions are morally wrong, and third you would be participating in this (and giving consent to the evil with others). We are called to be salt to the world not to just go a long with the flow.

Stand fast and refuse to play the game. It is a sin because you are using the will to actively perform evil (even in a virtual world). If you use your will to much for evil you will develop a vice (like maliciousness taking pleasure from inflicting evil on others) and ally yourself with the demons in hell who do the same thing.

Have courage my friend, and follow your conscience. The path is narrow that leads to eternal life and broad that leads to destruction.

zombiekidcrazy · #9 Jul 25, '12, 6:18 pm

hey guys. I play that is called
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
It does have some violence in it, because you do have to KO enemies(its a crossover fighting game) you have to actually look it up to understand how it plays. here is some gameplay.
http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/07/10...2-grand-finals
I was wondering if it was a sin to play this even though i mostly bounce around in training mode where the cpu doesnt move. I was confused about weather it was a sin because i am also a 1st degree black belt in taek won do martial arts so i do things like sparring (1 vs 1 fighting).
I am actually against things like killing and murdering and raping in real life. The reason why i dont play things like GTA or dead island is because they resemble too much to real life.