True or false: Most Gamers are athiests

Discussion in 'Discussion' started by Cin, Nov 12, 2006.

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  1. VI schemer Destiny Islands Resident

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    I'm a gamer and an aeitheist, and IDIOTS at my school keep trying to "convert" me. It's really getting to me. I can't beleive that people belive something written in a book that has no proof. I blame the parents, not videogames. although videogames can influence it, like in FFX when Rikku questioned Yevon. "Where's the proof?"
     
  2. Aurora Merlin's Housekeeper

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    Playing a lot of video games does not confuse our perception of reality, no matter what our age. We are the ones who rationalize, justify, and explain all the information that our brains are flooded with every single second of every single day of our lives. And that's a lot of confusing information to try and make some kind of sense out of, because our world is filled to the brim with mixed messages.
    Because of that, our minds need a way to think of something as being not just one thing or the other, black or white, but in a grey area with white and black around it. If you're out in the wilderness and by looking around, you find you cannot see the sun, and yet you're not in pitch blackness but in twilight, then you know there's a number of reasons that could explain why. Not all of them assume the sun has set. Perhaps it is rising. Or perhaps you're in a gully with high cliff walls that block out the sky. Or maybe even a big storm is approaching and the clouds have blocked out the sun.
    A human being can find a way to survive that makes use of every single one of these possibilities without negating any of them or without it being necessary for any single one of them to be correct at all. Or it can decide to choose one of the scenarios as the most likely and put all its effort into forming a strategy that takes advantage of it.
    When there's only one person confronted with making a decision based on the information at hand, it's a lot easier to do than if you have a group of people, each of whom have their own eyes and ears and brains, and each of whom has an opinion on which explanation is most likely.
    That's when a person really starts getting mixed messages, and when they have to make a decision which ones they're going to accept.
    If you hear thunder, and your friends come up to you and say no, we did not hear thunder, and there can't possibly be a storm coming because we don't see any clouds, and we don't care what you say, even if there was a storm coming you're a wuss and we're going to keep walking instead of finding a nice place to shelter in, what are you going to do? Give in to popular opinion or go hide in a cave by yourself for hours while your friends laugh at you?
    If you give in and keep walking, does it mean you have to accept their explanation and dismiss the evidence of your own senses as a hallucination? Or do you walk a few steps behind them, seething with resentment because you KNOW you heard thunder and you're going to be there to point your finger and say "HA! I told you so!" when the lightning strikes one of them? Or would you put it aside as something that only time will tell?
    I'm sure you can think of a million other ways to deal with these problems, and that's part of my point. Take away our flexibility to see the Real World as individuals instead of subscribers to a single belief system about how the world really is, and you take away our ability to survive at all.
    I can completely accept that there are two 'real worlds' when I am playing a video game. The 'real world' where Heartless don't live under the bed I'm lying on, and the 'real world' in which the game I'm playing has certain rules that cannot be ignored if you want to keep on 'existing' in it. That is, if you want to keep Sora alive, you kick Heartless butt all over the worlds.
    It's not hard at all to transfer from one world to another so that I'm not keyblading my bed or telling Donald he needs to put on pants. And I think a lot of people would agree that it's not. Adults don't give kids enough credit. A three-year-old knows the difference between 'let's pretend' and reality. A three-year-old also knows very well whether or not it believes that hot dogs are blue, girls are allowed in the boys' bathroom, or if Santa Claus exists.
    They know the rules they are taught by adults, and they also know the rules their own minds have made up for them about the world.
    Ask even the smallest child capable of speech if they can fly like Peter Pan, and chances are that after running around the room making zooming noises and waving their arms around, they will be very confused when you tell them no, you meant can they REALLY fly like Peter Pan. They'll laugh at you. They'll say no, you're being silly. But ask them what if they were in Never Never Land, and they may laugh and nod and say yes yes, but only if Tinkerbell sprinkles me with pixie dust!
    So the answer to your question is "No, I do not believe video games make atheists out of people of any age". It would be insulting people's ability to make their own judgments about things, whether it was a video game or a movie or a book we were talking about. And I know there are lots of folks out there who believe just that, that human beings are very susceptible to the messages of video games, movies, and books. It's why those folks tend to burn them.
    But I'm pretty sure that people, whatever their age, tend to believe what they want to. They choose to believe in angels or faeries or blitzball. Messages can be powerful, but the person's Heart really does have to be open to that particular message for it to sink in.
     
  3. Ienzo ((̲̅ ̲̅(̲̅C̲̅r̲̅a̲̅y̲̅o̲̅l̲̲̅̅a̲̅( ̲̅̅((>

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    I'm religious yes but I don't play loads of videogames- I'm usually on KHV or doing HW or watching TV. I've never heard of the word 'athiest' before though.
     
  4. Thir13en King's Apprentice

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    I'm atheist but I don't necessarily think its from videogames.

    I believe nothing because I don't feel anything to make me want to. It sounds selfish but wait. I am Catholic by my baptism as a baby (I know, just a baptism doesn't make you Christian I'm speaking technically) and I have heard that people are drawn to their church, they feel a sense of commitment, I just really haven't felt that. I have morals, I don't think of murdering someone is right in any way, but I don't feel anything that makes me WANT to believe...

    Did I just keep repeating myself over and over again?
     
  5. southy787 Merlin's Housekeeper

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    I agree. From seeing religion threads on other gaming forums it is clear that this view of aetheism is held by the majority of gamers.
     
  6. Roxas is Hot I'd lick his Sea Salt stick anytime. ♥

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    I disagree.

    Yeah, video games can certanly spell it out for others, but I don't think they'd turn into an Athiest from it. I didn't.
     
  7. darkelven123 Traverse Town Homebody

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    im an athiest and i always have been
     
  8. Roxas is Hot I'd lick his Sea Salt stick anytime. ♥

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    Meh, join the club.
     
  9. Lulus_Moogle Twilight Town Denizen

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    I'm a hard-core gamer and a christian! And you know what! If you really think about it Video Games (like Final Fantasy) can be uper religuis!! Ok lets take FF VII for example: Aerith (Aeris) prays, 'Holy' the great materia, the 'promised land' Hmmm.... Sound familur??? you know what, I could go on for like ever!! Probly the most important one: Cloud what's to be forgiven, he whats his sins cleared! That's probly my favorite aspect of FF VII!!!!! (well Advent Children....) And a lot of kids at my church love KH and FF too! I think that theirs a mix... Religuin dosen't matter! It's just how you see the game! I see it regluis, others may not... WHO CARES!
     
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