Posted on 05/01/2008 8:30:22 PM PDT by lowbridge
Grand Theft Auto IV as a test of Christian conscience
No doubt I'm going to draw flack for suggesting this, but it needs to be said. Yesterday afternoon I bought Grand Theft Auto IV.
And having played it for a few hours, as a follower of Jesus Christ I would like to recommend that my mature brethren in the Christian faith (both spiritually and those who are not teenagers anymore, parse that as you will) play Grand Theft Auto IV as well. And not to gleefully look for reasons to condemn the game either.
Why?
Because I think that a lot of people who play Grand Theft Auto IV are going to end up condemning their own sense of self-righteousness instead. And I can't say that it would be a bad thing at all if they did.
Grand Theft Auto IV, whether by design or not, might be the closest thing there's been to an actual "Giant's Drink". In the classic science-fiction novel Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, the child Ender Wiggin is given a computer simulation called "the Giant's Drink" as part of his battle training. Nobody is supposed to beat the giant. The whole point of the exercise is to test a student's morality. After countless times of getting killed in the game Ender finally tears loose from the constraints of his scruples and murders the giant in grisly fashion. He becomes the first student to defeat the giant but instead of elation he feels disgusted with himself and abject shame. Ender doesn't like the fact that in order to save his own life he had to kill another... even if it was just a computer game. He "wins" the game, but he finds himself crushed for violating his own principles.
It only took a few hours of playing Grand Theft Auto IV to finally understand what Ender went through after beating the Giant's Drink. And I don't know if I would have fared as well as Ender did either. Because every time I accidentally hit a pedestrian in Grand Theft Auto IV, I have to stop and re-start from my last saved game, and attempt it all over again from there. Because you can do lots of things in Grand Theft Auto IV: Drive cars, shoot guns, make calls on a cellphone, change radio stations or watch television, even eat food... but saying "I'm sorry" is not one of them.
And I'm feeling so bad about the people that I inadvertently hurt in this game, that I feel compelled to go back and try it again, and try to do it right this time, without the wrongfulness of my actions being something that weighs on my mind. If only real life could afford that kind of opportunity...
The technology of Grand Theft Auto IV at last drives the nail into the coffin for the clean kill in video games. This isn't the "twinkle and they're gone" effects of bygone days. When you hit an innocent person in Grand Theft Auto IV, and you hear their realistic cries of pain and you see them grimace in agony and trying to nurse their injuries as they limp away, it becomes a very hard thing indeed to want to have to experience that again. It's even worse when you run over a person and they don't get up again. Ever.
I bought this game expecting something like Death Race 2000. You know: over-the-top cartoony pseudo-violence. Instead Grand Theft Auto IV's graphic ultra-realism completely horrified me. Intellectually, I know that Liberty City doesn't exist. But the depiction of this world and its denizens is so convincing, that it's almost impossible to completely disassociate myself from having empathy for these people.
I don't know if God will ever judge me for an action that I take in a video game. And that's why I think that Grand Theft Auto IV might do a lot more good than harm for many of my fellow Christians. Make no mistake: the world of Grand Theft Auto IV is a lawless one where malicious behavior runs rampant. But the real world is no less vulgar and cruel, and rife with temptation.
But it's not the temptation itself that is sinful. Even Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by no less than Lucifer himself. It's whether we choose to succumb to the temptation that makes a sinful act.
Here, with Grand Theft Auto IV, you can at last confront the evil world like never before... and be confronted by it in turn. Without fear of eternal consequence: the ultimate exponent of the lure of temptation.
In Liberty City, there is no "Christian counter-culture" to run and hide behind. Not that you should try to hide either. It's just you and whatever conscience you can claim to bring, set loose in a world that will destroy you if you're not strong enough in your convictions and your faith. In short, it's exactly the kind of bold life that the Bible instructs us as believers to live in the real world. It's just too bad that it takes a video game to demonstrate that. Maybe Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive should have been given the rights for what became the disastrous Left Behind: Eternal Forces game instead, but I digress...
So if you are someone who considers himself (or herself, no chauvinists we!) a righteous Christian, consider this a test of your character. Either buy Grand Theft Auto IV or rent it or borrow it from a friend. Don't just merely play Grand Theft Auto IV: immerse yourself completely in the character of Niko Bellic. Let your own raw morality become his own.
Just know this: here, in the game, there are no everlasting consequences. You can be as sinful as you wish, and you won't be condemned by your peers. You can steal cars, beat up defenseless people, commit vehicular homicide, and brutally murder your enemies without turning the other cheek. You can supposedly even pay prostitutes for sex. And then kill them in order to get your money back, if the fancy strikes you.
All of these things and more, you can do in Grand Theft Auto IV.
The question is: Will you choose to do them if given the chance, if you knew for certain that there would be no real-world ramifications of your actions?
I have to wonder also: there are a lot of people in America who cheer for the war in Iraq, or even war in general. Too many of those are professing Christians. They cheer for war, I've little doubt, because they themselves have never had to face meaningless death. Deaths in a foreign land are just a statistic to them, and if "one of our own" is hurt or killed then all too often I only hear something about "prayers for the family".
These people don't see past their own lives. They don't bother to realize that God has blessed others with life too, deserving of as much opportunity to seek Him out as anyone else. To such people, a reasonless war in a foreign land is like a video game. And they don't particularly care to understand that those killed in the real world are neither a high score or flickering sprites that quickly vanish when shot.
Could a game like Grand Theft Auto IV actually soften the hearts of people who have such callous disregard for the sanctity of human life?
If there's the slightest possibility of a game like Grand Theft Auto IV driving it into these people's heads that the lives of others are precious and worth fighting for, even at the cost of laying down our own if need be, then all I can say is that I hope that Rockstar Games has many more Grand Theft Autos on the drawing board... because this world sure as hell needs 'em.
Mario Kart Wii just came out and I got it for Lisa for her birthday. And then Grand Theft Auto IV went on sale two days ago, and I picked up a copy from the local Wal-Mart that afternoon. Suffice it to say that in between the work we both do (and now my being involved with a production of Children of Eden) Lisa and I have been compensating for outrageous gas prices by doing a lot of virtual driving lately.
Right now on Amazon.com, Mario Kart Wii is the #2 top-selling game (after pre-orders for Wii Fit) followed by the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV.
So... which one is the better game?
Now that I've gotten used to the controls (although still struggling to maintain my convictions as I wrote about yesterday) I'm certainly enjoying the deep narrative - especially having to choose when faced with moral quandaries - that comes with Grand Theft Auto IV. However when it comes to sheer fun, Mario Kart Wii is the hands-down winner. This is also best-handling Mario Kart game to date: when using the Wii Remote with the Wii Wheel, driving a vehicle in this game feels like very convincing and realistic (at least if driving through psychedelic landscapes filled with giant mushrooms is your idea of "realistic"). There's also the fun that comes with multi-player competition in Mario Kart Wii, in a way that I can't see a game like Grand Theft Auto IV ever providing.
So if you've somehow wound up with both a Wii and either an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, and have enough money for one game and don't know which one to get, I'd suggest going for Mario Kart Wii. Definitely a lot more sheer fun in this one, without the moral conflict... unless you genuinely feel bad about throwing turtle shells at your opponents :-P
http://theknightshift.blogspot.com/2008/05/mario-kart-wii-versus-grand-theft-auto.html
I’m no religious person, but I would think if someone is so fragile in their faith to the point a video games could be a corrupting influence, they have MUCH worse problems than the video games themselves...
Wow, is the writer an adult, and if so does he have a “real” life?
Actually he lost me when he used the phrase “a reasonless war”...and I assumed he was talking about Iraq.
I can’t even imagine wasting my time playing a video game in the first place.
Right; likewise I think the reviewer above is a bit overboard in seeing a video game as some sort of moral litmus test. I’ve played GTA III (for some reason IV is not available for PC) and I was actually quite impressed. What the social critics (none of whom ever play games, apparently) don’t get is that GTA is a groundbreaking series because of the non-linear gamplay. You can do very bad things in GTA, or you can spend the whole game trying to do cool stunts in cars and motorcycles, or play dress-up. It’s no more “amoral” than the Sims.
Who wrote this crap?
Did you ever use the cheat code to get the tank? If you do this in conjunction with the low-gravity cheat, you can turn the turret around and fire the cannon, and the tank will fly.
It’s just not out for PC yet.
I’m really enjoying it on the PS3. Some of the ignorant comments of my coworkers are almost as funny as the random dialog on the streets of Liberty City.
I did that. Used that cheat to get across the broken bridge just so that I could explore that other side.
I’m sorry I just had to weigh in here about him using the subject of the Giants Drink. I did not get the impression that he was crushed after winning the game, rather if anything he was relieved that he broke out the vicious suicidal cycle as opposed to giving up like most students had previously.
but on the GTA IV, I’m very tempted to pick up a copy and swipe my brothers 360 rather than wait until it comes out for PC like I have with the previous few.
Wow, does the phrase it is just a game mean anything?
Let’s see....
Listen to metal, check.
Played D&D as a kid, check.
Dig the zombie movies, check.
Gambling, check.
Love my Gin & Tonic, check.
Think O&A are hilarious, check.
Play and enjoy GTA, check.
Dont take myself seriously and piously, check.
When the end of the world comes, Im gonna pop some corn and make a drink and watch it on tv, check.
Yep Im going to hell. Thats ok I wouldnt know anyone (or like them all that much) in heaven anyway. According to this guy anyway.
"But the depiction of this world and its denizens is so convincing, that it's almost impossible to completely disassociate myself from having empathy for these people."
Wow, really? Seems like you've been playing waaaaaayyyyyy too much video games.
Yes, I felt the same way when I was playing Halo 3. Those aliens are so realistic. I couldn't detach myself from the situation. One time, there was a single grunt running away from me, screaming. A wave of compassion rolled over me, and I was going to let it go, but I accidentally pressed the trigger and blew up the poor creature with my rocket launcher.
Shocked, I stared at the TV and began to cry. WAAAAAAHHHH
bookmark
Real men play Call Of Duty 4.
:-)
Erg...typo - UT3.
Note to the author:
For $59.99 you could feed a family of 4 for two weeks. Stop pontificating about amorphous moral theory & hop to it, then.
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