Might be silly to ask, but...

[Andrey Vershinin]

I was wondering if videogames are a sin?

[Eugene]

Everything that separates or distracts us from God is a sin.

[Antonios]

Well said, Evgeny. The Greek word for sin, Andrey, is amartia, which literally means "miss the mark". The only time we are not sinning is when we are gloryfing God through prayer or deed (and even then we may sin if we are not doing it with a contrite and sincere heart).

[Theopesta]

1jon3: 4

(HNV) Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.

(Darby) Every one that practises sin practises also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

(ASV) Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness

anthology of comenteries electic notes http://www.monachos.net/mb/clipart/triangle_down.gif
{He who commits sin (not transgresses the law, * but) acts lawlessly. His conduct is without the restraint, without the rule of law. He acts without curb; for sin is the acting without the curb of law or restraint of another's authority, acting from our own will.

Thus "lawlessness," as it is the true mind of God, gives a far reaching sense to the word that is commonly rendered here "transgression of the law." It is quite a different expression and differently applied. Transgression of the law does occur in Scripture, as, for instance, in #Ro 2:23 (translated "breaking the law" in the English Bible), and "transgression" in the same sense without "the law" is expressed in #Ro 4:15 Ga 3:19 He 2:2 9:15. But the word in our verse is "lawlessness" simply with a sense distinct from "transgression of the law."

[Leandros]

Dear brother Andrey Vershinin,

Playing videogames is not a sin. There are many videogames that are really fun and can help a person to relax and to enjoy some unconcerned moments.

There is no restriction for you to play and to pray at the same time, if you feel like it.

There are games like chess, golf, race simulation, athletic simulation, and many others which are games with no violence at all.

As I understand your question, you ask about the “thirst for blood” and the “kill everyone” violent videogames. This is a personal question that has to be answered by your spiritual father or by a priest that know you personally, so that he may give you a personal advice.

Of course, there are also other issues like addiction, self-isolation and the issue of substituting normal life with game playing. All these are issues that have to be answered by your self. You may ask yourself “how many hours do I play and for what reason and how does my life look like without playing these games?” Only you have the answers to this kind of questions.

Whatever we do, alone or with others, has an effect in our hearts. It either brings peace or it upsets our heart and makes us uneasy and troubled. How do you feel about videogame playing in your heart? Does it makes your long, hard day, easier and gives you peace so that you can pray with your heart or does it make you even more anxious and tired ?

I am a computer engineer and I am aware of the side-effects that the videogames playing can produce. The only way to avoid them is to live a normal life and to give to videogame playing the proper time of your life. There is time for playing and there is a time for living. If we live with no fun, or if we have fun with no “real” life then the balance of life fails and the “personal” problems are at hand.

But in any case, living or playing, do it for the Glory of God, like St Paul is saying: (1 Corinthians 10:31)So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

As a teenager I also used to play videogames some twenty five years ago like pac-man and amiga games and even today I recall the fun that I had with my friends in those days.

Here is what St Athanasius of Alexandria is saying on the issue of sin, in his work Against the Heathen (http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-04/Npnf2-04-12.htm#P1570_526894%20) :

“5. But the audacity of men, having regard not to what is expedient and becoming, but to what is possible for it, began to do the contrary; whence, moving their hands to the contrary, it made them commit murder, and led away their hearing to disobedience, and their other members to adultery instead of to lawful procreation ; and the tongue, instead of right speaking, to slander and insult and perjury; the hands again, to stealing and striking fellow-men; and the sense of smell to many sorts of lascivious odours; the feet, to be swift to shed blood, and the belly to drunkenness and insatiable gluttony. All of which things are a vice and sin of the soul: neither is there any cause of them at all, but only the rejection of better things. For just as if a charioteer, having mounted his chariot on the race-course, were to pay no attention to the goal, toward which he should be driving, but, ignoring this, simply were to drive the horse as he could, or in other words as he would, and often drive against those he met, and often down steep places, rushing wherever he impelled himself by the speed of the team, thinking that thus running he has not missed the goal,-for he regards the running only, and does not see that he has passed wide of the goal ;-so the soul too, turning from the way toward God, and driving the members of the body beyond what is proper, or rather, driven herself along with them by her own doing, sins and makes mischief for herself, not seeing that she has strayed from the way, and has swerved from the goal of truth, to which the Christ-bearing man, the blessed Paul, was looking when he said, "I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of Christ Jesus", so that the holy man, making the good his mark, never did what was evil.”

In this passage of St Athanasius of Alexandria, the paragraph: “For just as if a charioteer, having mounted his chariot on the race-course, were to pay no attention to the goal, toward which he should be driving, but, ignoring this, simply were to drive the horse as he could, or in other words as he would, and often drive against those he met, and often down steep places, rushing wherever he impelled himself by the speed of the team, thinking that thus running he has not missed the goal,-for he regards the running only, and does not see that he has passed wide of the goal” looks surprisingly like the violent videogames of today that have no other goal but to “run”. This was presented, by St Athanasius, as an example of evil doing; as an example of spiritual “madness” that "missed the goal".

In the example of St Athanasius, the chariot race-course is a normal activity because it has a specific normal justification: the prize for the fair winner.

I think this example will help you understand what the evil play is and what the fair play is, because the play by itself is neither evil nor fair. All the difference is in the player.

May God bless us, all.

(Message edited by lpap on 20 July, 2005)

[Andrey Vershinin]

I want to thank you all, Evgeny to Leandros. I understand what everyone is saying, I accept that anything that takes the mind off God, is bad..but i've spent alot of my life in isolation, I admit it...there are problems with me, and problems with my family, and I quite too often turned away or played games away. But I enjoyed putting together computers in the past, and I enjoy playing games, I've learned some things from them, but I wonder if I really can keep games and God together! the game I was playing was a demo of Command and Conquer: Generals; in which the influence of several elements is well present(American, Chinese, and Muslim elements), but I often neglect that peoples lives are lost on both sides of the game.

But the stranger thing is when I play a game or do something else common, I unexpectedly become witness to an evil out in the open, and this changes my outlook on life in an instant!

[Andrey Vershinin]

I forgot to mention above, Leandros, that videogames truly do help me relax! and I forgot to mention that I am extremely and utmostly concerned about saving the people that I am playing with!

Blessings from God to all!

[Charalambos Andrew Geo]

I recommend talking to a spiritual Guide, I personnally loved and used to like playing games, used to pray sometimes for winning etc. (THIS WAS BAD AND A SIN) as I later found out from a spiritual person, I also noticed that after playing a certain numbness remained with me i came off as if suprised that people are around me, i really got into them, maybe a bit obsessed, the point was I guess God for me tried to show me a better way and i find avaiding them is best for me, ask your spiritual fr.
May God inspire you through the prayers of his All Holy Mother and Saints.
+

[Justin]

I often play strategy games (Civilization, Age of Empires, etc.), as they help me relax. Whether they are a sin or not, I think depends on whom you ask. However, I have found from experience that if I do not play video games or have some other such diversion, my idle mind finds much more sinful ways to pass the time (simply adding more prayers works in theory, but in actual practice I rarely do the extra stuff I plan on doing). Plus, I would normally get all psyched-up about finally getting rid of the "sinful" stuff in my life, and then I'd be back doing the same stuff 2 weeks later. It's better to do what you can, and not try to do what you can't.

[Vasilis Kirikos]

> REGARDING PRAYERS FOR SUCCESS AT GAMES: There was a documentary on TV about a Roman Catholic church located in Atlantic City, NJ. People frequent that church praying for success at the gambling casino owned by Donald Trump; Trump Taj Mahal. This particular church is very near the casino. I wonder what, if anything, the parish priest does or says about people coming there specifically to pray to win at gambling. These visitors have got to be a source of at least some income for that parish. But what is the difference between that and allowing bingo in church halls? Bingo is gambling . I wonder what the Lord thinks of such behavior. Vasilis

[Kosmas Damianides]

Playing Bingo for fundraising in Orthodox Churches in Australia is not permitted, by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. But some schismatic Orthodox groups have used this as their income and have even built the Churches with adjoining gambling halls. I think this is giving a bad example to others.

There are so many other better ways of raising money which do not give a bad example. Like having lunches, quiz nights and auctions.