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Peter Hitchens: If the Devil had to invent a game, it would be this one
The London Daily Mail ^ | September 22, 2013 | Peter Hitchens

Posted on 09/23/2013 12:45:14 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

If the Devil had his own bible, it would probably take the form of a computer game. It would be sly and witty, enjoyable and slick. It would start with small, almost funny misdeeds.

It would offer the player the joys of money, successful violence and easy, responsibility-free sex. There would be drugs which didn’t fry your brain or burn holes in your nose.

You would be made to feel brave, while not actually needing to be. None of your pleasures would be paid for in coin, pain or grief.

Everyone else in the game would be disposable and forgettable. And it would contain one big lie. You would come out at the end happy and unharmed, and wanting more.

As I understand it, this is roughly what happens in the new, much-praised Grand Theft Auto V, now being played by thousands of 14-year-old boys in bedrooms near you.

Officially it’s for those aged 18 and over, but nobody takes that seriously in modern, child-hating Britain. If you haven’t got it, you’re not cool.

The shops were ready for the rush with great stacks of it. Parents who refuse to buy it for their sons can expect ballistic rage, stamping and sulking. Perhaps it will turn out to be a human right.

Would anyone care to say that this doesn’t matter?

It’s a curious coincidence that Aaron Alexis, the man who massacred 12 people in Washington DC last week, liked to play such games for hours on end (Call Of Duty was apparently his favourite).

As usual, the liberal media are more interested in the fact that he had guns than in what was in his head.....

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: aaronalexis; evil; hitchens; marijuana; navyyard; videogames
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To: Ophiucus

Can’t smoke on TV.

But be as gay as you want.


21 posted on 09/23/2013 4:16:03 AM PDT by TurboZamboni (Marx smelled bad & lived with his parents most his life.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

IMO, the problem with violent video games is two-fold:
1) They depict lurid, criminal behavior as a normal lifestyle choice, thus “dumbing down deviance”. Kids raised to think crime is cool, and endorsed by weak “parents” who provide/allow the games, are less likely to grow into mature adults, who are able to control themselves, thus requiring expensive intervention (police, courts, and jail). Moral action starts in the mind; and you are what you eat.
2) Video games do not “cause” killing sprees, etc., but facilitate them and make the killer much more “effective”. For people with certain mental illnesses (some schizophrenic males), they train the mind to a pattern of violence that the real nuts finally act out like a script. With apparently millions of loons out there, (and they seem to attracted to the games), it’s a matter of odds that some will take to murder training.

So do we a) deny the “right” to the relatively few people who make mega-million$ making/selling mass-murder trainers; b) take away the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms from innocent citizens; or c) tolerate the inevitable massacres?
We are doing c by default. A sane society that wants to preserve itself would opt for a, on the same principle as “you can’t shout fire in a crowded theater.”.


22 posted on 09/23/2013 5:20:22 AM PDT by Chewbarkah
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To: Elsie

The koran specifically tells them to kill real people.


23 posted on 09/23/2013 5:38:03 AM PDT by Impy (RED=COMMUNIST, NOT REPUBLICAN)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Many kids play GTA and COD until they get bored or grow up.

Others are mentally ill and have violent tendencies and never grow up (accept responsibility for themselves).


24 posted on 09/23/2013 6:04:13 AM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The monsters are due on Maple Street)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

If the Devil had his own bible, it would probably take the form of POLITICS. It would be sly and witty, enjoyable and slick. It would start with small, almost funny misdeeds.

It would offer the player the joys of money, successful violence and easy, responsibility-free sex. There would be drugs which didn’t fry your brain or burn holes in your nose.

You would be made to feel brave, while not actually needing to be. None of your pleasures would be paid for in coin, pain or grief.

Everyone else in the game would be disposable and forgettable. And it would contain one big lie. You would come out at the end happy and unharmed, and wanting more.


25 posted on 09/23/2013 6:06:20 AM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The monsters are due on Maple Street)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
How Do Video Games and Modern Military Influence Each Other?
26 posted on 09/23/2013 6:08:06 AM PDT by Heartlander (We are all Rodeo Clowns now!)
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To: 9YearLurker
All the research showing those who watch more of such violence are more violent is actually upside down?

I grew up watching ROADRUNNER. Pretty violent.

We used to play 'army'. I had a belt fed machine gun that fired plastic bullets. Pretty violent. I had a pistol and holster like Roy Rogers. I had cap guns. Then I had a pellet gun that fired BB's or Darts. I had a .22 rifle and a shotgun and would target shoot. I also went hunting with them for rabbits, and sometimes frogs. I had a blowgun that shot long steel tipped darts. I used to load my model airplanes with firecrackers, then light them on fire and throw them. Pretty violent. I used to blow up a lot of stuff on July 4th. Pretty violent. For years, as an adult, I played Dungeons and Dragons RPG. Again, violent. (Though it wasn't about violence, it was about team work)

I was trained to handle a gun safely and fire it. I was taught to rig a bow and make my own arrows, and taught how to use the bow. Violent, I guess. I was in wrestling in high school where one forces their opponent to submit. Violent. I went to football games where the guys clobbered each other. Violent. I used to watch tons of Clint Eastwood movies, and War movies, and Charles Bronson movies. Violent. I have probably seen thousands of 'violent' movies. Kill Bill, Iron Man 1,2,3, hundreds of Kung Fu movies, Django Unchained.

So... why am I not a violent mass murderer ?

27 posted on 09/23/2013 6:22:38 AM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The monsters are due on Maple Street)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I don’t blame inanimate objects, be they guns or video games.


28 posted on 09/23/2013 6:27:10 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

IMO, tetherball is the devil’s game


29 posted on 09/23/2013 6:29:59 AM PDT by GSWarrior
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To: UCANSEE2

Do you understand statistics and that the majority of people wouldn’t be expected to take such action, even if it had an influence on people overall?

It seems as if the profile of a mass murderer of this type is

a) to be mentally ill, often schizophrenic or some such,
b) to be thus treated with drugs that have been shown to contribute to murder and suicide (again, not for all or even nearly the majority), and
c) to be heavily into violent video games.

I’d suggest that youthful traditional guns and robbers or responsible youthful or adult hunting or other gun use are not the same as the effects of thousands of hours on video-game violence simulation particularly by those who already fit category a and b.


30 posted on 09/23/2013 6:32:07 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: UCANSEE2

The Devil would be even more devious than that. Here is a quote I remember reading a few years back:

“If Satan took over Philadelphia, all of our bars would be closed, pornography banished, and pristine streets would be filled with tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other. There would be no swearing. The children would say, ‘Yes, sir’ and ‘No ma’am,’ and the churches would be full every Sunday… where Christ is not preached.”


31 posted on 09/23/2013 6:32:20 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: GSWarrior

Heh heh, I’m surprised nobody has said “Soccer” yet?


32 posted on 09/23/2013 6:33:37 AM PDT by dfwgator
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