Biblical Violence vs. Computer Game Violence: What’s the difference?

I am ashamed to admit that once again I think we need to own up to our own hypocrisy.

As Christians, we like to ensure that we point our finger at the violence in computer games whenever the subject is brought up. We wonder how we are meant to respond as Godly people to gamers desiring to blow each other up over and over again, over a gentle round of any First Person Shooter. Yet, we Christians also like to ensure that even our 5 year olds devote themselves to daily readings of a book that is far more violent than any computer game I’ve ever played. A book where God sends a brutal army of Babylonians to slaughter his own beloved people. A book that records Kings sacrificing kids to their pagan gods. A book that records followers being physically stoned to death. A book that climaxes at a crucifixion(!) – arguably the most heinous human experience ever. We really have become numb to this reality. So when people ask us here at 2ndcity Studios how we are going to turn The Bible into a decent computer game without using violence, the reality is that it’s really, really hard. Not because we are making a computer game, but only because we are simply reading The Bible.

Maybe what puts us off is the medium. To be fair, the experience that a computer game can give us is extraordinary. No matter how vivid a reader’s imagination is, it cannot compete with moving images in front of us that are looking ever so real as our graphics cards and screen sizes continue to expand. Moreover, not only are games immersive, but they are also giving the player agency. People don’t just watch computer games, they interact with them. The player can chose what to do in their fantasy world; the player is the one playing out the actions; the player is the one learning new behaviours. Surely this affects the well-being of the average person playing a computer game?

Well there are in fact telling statistics amongst all the political banter and opinion over the way violent computer games affect the user. There are also more to come. President Obama has recently thrown US$10 million into researching the effects computer gaming has on the American population. That will be interesting. For now, let’s consider the following six snippets of information:

“In the US, violent crime, particularly among the young, has decreased dramatically since the early 1990s. During the same period of time, video games have steadily increased in popularity and use, exactly the opposite of what one would expect if there were a causal link.”

(http://www.theesa.com/facts/violence.asp)

 

“Many games with violent content sold in the U.S. – and some with far more violence – are also sold in foreign markets. However, the level of violent crime in these foreign markets is considerably lower than that in the U.S., suggesting that influences such as the background of the individual, the availability of guns and other factors are more relevant to understanding the cause of any particular crime. In fact, an analysis by The Washington Post of the 10 largest video game markets across the globe found no statistical correlation between video game consumption and gun-related deaths.”

(http://www.theesa.com/facts/violence.asp)

 

“Both sides seem to agree on one thing: the majority of published studies do show some sort of connection between video games and aggression… an aggression variation increase of roughly 2%.”

(http://kotaku.com/5976733/do-video-games-make-you-violent-an-in+depth-look-at-everything-we-know-today)

 

“Willoughby and Adachi tracked violent competitive games (ex: Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe), violent non-competitive games (Left 4 Dead 2), non-violent competitive games (Fuel), and non-violent non-competitive games (Marble Blast Ultra). What they found was fascinating: it wasn’t violence that triggered aggression; it was competition.”

Conclusions from: Adachi, Paul J. C. and Willoughby, Teena. The Effect of Video Game Competition and Violence on Aggressive Behavior: Which Characteristic Has the Greatest Influence? American Psychological Association, 2011.

 

“Two studies examined the relationship between exposure to violent video games and aggression or violence in the laboratory and in real life. Study 1 participants were either randomized or allowed to choose to play a violent or nonviolent game. Although males were more aggressive than females, neither randomized exposure to violent-video-game conditions nor previous real life exposure to violent video games caused any differences in aggression. Study 2 examined correlations between trait aggression, violent criminal acts, and exposure to both violent games and family violence. Results indicated that trait aggression, family violence, and male gender were predictive of violent crime, but exposure to violent games was not. Structural equation modeling suggested that family violence and innate aggression as predictors of violent crime were a better fit to the data than was exposure to video game violence. These results question the common belief that violent-video-game exposure causes violent acts.”

(Ferguson, Christopher J., Stephanie M. Rueda, Amanda M. Cruz, Diana E. Ferguson, Stacey Fritz and Shawn M. Smith. “Violent video games and aggression: Causal relationship or byproduct of family violence and intrinsic violence motivation?” Criminal Justice & Behavior 35 (2008): 311-332. Web. 10 Aug. 2011.)

 

“It’s clear that the `big fears’ bandied about in the press ― that violent video games make children significantly more violent in the real world… ― are not supported by the current research, at least in such a simplistic form. That should make sense to anyone who thinks about it. After all, millions of children and adults play these games, yet the world has not been reduced to chaos and anarchy.”

(Kutner, Lawrence, PH.D. and Cheryl K. Olson, ScD. Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Video Games And What Parents Can Do. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008. Print.)

Thus it seems that at its worst, violent games cause a 2% increase in aggression which could actually be caused by an increased exposure to competition rather than violence. This is why the Supreme Court of America, concludes that “Psychological studies purporting to show a connection between exposure to violent video games and harmful effects on children do not prove that such exposure causes minors to act aggressively.”

Now don’t get me wrong, I loathe violence. I don’t think that any follower of Jesus should ever glorify violence in any way. But it turns out that two brothers having a friendly rough and tumble outside in the mud is more violent than sitting in front of a computer. Who would have thought?

I still do wonder however: How are we to make sense of playing violent computer games if we are interested in glorifying a pacifist? Regardless of whether or not violent computer games affect our well-being, should we still create demand for them if we want to bring an end to violence? My personal conclusion is that the very same way that we read The Bible is the same way that we can approach violent computer games. The Bible contains violence within it, but the violence isn’t the point of the book. The point of The Bible is the story of God. Likewise, most computer games that have violence in them aren’t actually about the violence, but are actually about participating in a grand meta-narrative. Halo, BioShock, Path of Exile, Diablo, Skyrim, the list is endless. For each of these games, the violence isn’t the point of the game, the narrative is and within that narrative violence appears. Just like Risk, Cluedo, The Lord of The Rings and of course The Bible. Where do you draw the line? I think that if the user is enjoying participating in a wider storyline but find violence within that context the violence is passable. Other enticing computer games are about indulging in strategic and lateral thinking. These games may have some form of violence in them too, but again the violence isn’t the point of the game. It’s the gameplay that draws the attention of the player. League of Legends, DotA and Age of Empires are like chess on steroids. Thus it is important to know that many of the violent games that we enter into aren’t necessarily for the sake of violence. They either primarily draw focus to the gameplay or the wider story.

Moving forward, yes, there are some games out there that in my opinion shouldn’t be enjoyed because the violence is glorious. However other games that might have placed violence as a minor means to the larger point of the gameplay shouldn’t be heaped into the same category. I think that this latter group is an acceptable form of fun and learning for those who follow a pacifist. A pacifist who is born into a wider more gruesome story as it stands.

This means that there is and isn’t a difference between biblical violence and computer game violence. We must ask ourselves: What is the context that the violence fits into? Biblical violence exists because it tells a story from ancient and Greco-Roman periods that were violent. Due to the fact that the Biblical texts are rooted in violent times and places, they will have violence in them. But that doesn’t negate from the grand story of God redeeming violence that is told through these texts. That is what makes violence acceptable when read in Scripture. In exactly the same way, for the majority of computer games, the gamer engages in a wider story that they are enjoying and if violence is found within the context of that story it has no difference whatsoever to biblical violence. On that basis, I think that followers of Jesus are invited to engage in these games also. Games that are violent for the sake of violence however do portray violence in a way that is different to biblical violence and I think that these games need to be avoided.

There is more to computer games than one might initially realise. This leaves parents with a new challenge. That which is going on in the screen in a moment in front of you isn’t necessarily a snap shot of the wider context of the game and it isn’t necessarily going to reveal the motivations behinds the decisions that your child is making either. That’s what is really important. What is the wider story that they are participating in? Get to know the games that your kids are playing. But really get to know them. What is the point of this game? Why are they enjoying it so much? What is your child learning by playing this game? If they are destroying enemies, what is the reason for that? Enter in at your own risk as you may end up finding yourself just as hooked by the game as rest of us!