Hello my siblings in Christ, I'm Bojan and welcome to another low-quality episode of Pencils & Prayer Ropes. The topic today is video game addiction. World Health Organization has finally classified it as a disorder. I want to share some of my thoughts on this particular action.
As some of you have noticed, I include a lot of video game references in my clips. I used to be an avid gamer as all things video games can be used for good or bad. I'll list my own example. On the negative when I used to play video games a lot, I would have a real scoliosis problem. Also, it would take a lot of my time. On the positive side, I really learned English well. Yes, all of this that you hear isn't from some language course, it's from obsessive critter destruction in Heroes of Might and Magic.
Video games can be a great fun and a great way to unwind, but also they can take precedence over anything else we do in our lives. Regarding the World Health Organization,
there are essentially two camps. The first camp, the Worried Mother's camp, is "Oh they're so addictive, my son never does anything else, please help us make this an disorder, he played games for two hours today, help us, help us, think of the children. On the other side of the spectrum are the Gamers, who see this as making the game's scapegoat for all of the social ills. Where is the truth in all of this? As always, it is in the middle.
Let me share one story with you. I used to have a friend and he played World of Warcraft a lot. I'm not a fan of that game. For me, there is a definite time and a game should finish. It could be around a session, whatever, but there needs to be an end. World of Warcraft never ends. As a friend of mine once remarked: "They killed the Lich King, who else can you kill?" Well, there's always some dragon made of lava or something, they can always put up a new villain and it can go on forever and ever. The problem with online gaming of course is that it is perpetual. It never ends, and the more players are engaged, the more profits the producers make. That is an issue.
Let me go back to that friend of mine. I called essentially World of Warcraft an e-drug. He took great offense at this and he didn't wants to be my friend anymore. Now, of course, a lot of people don't take such drastic actions, but there is a problem if you want to sacrifice a real-life friendship for the sake of a video game. Some basic discernment is at hand: do you play video games too much, can you use your time more productively?
I was never an extremist, I'm not the kind that would go: oh stop play video games, you could pray so much. That's great if you can, a lot of people can't. The best advice is so regarding video games, as with any leisure activities - do them once you've finished all of your daily chores and obligations. Here we hear the echo of what the Church has always taught: pleasure is addictive. There should be a limit to it. There is a time and place for any leisure activity, video games included. If you play video games to deal with the stress of your life, I'll finish this episode with a famous quote of Saint Augustine who said: "You have made us for yourself, oh Lord, and our heart is restless until it's find its rest in You."
Recently I've been thinking of making a Q&A episode, so if you guys want me to answer any
questions regarding the Bible Illustrated or Christian life in general leave a question in the comments and if there are enough questions I just make a separate episode out of that.
As some of you have noticed, I include a lot of video game references in my clips. I used to be an avid gamer as all things video games can be used for good or bad. I'll list my own example. On the negative when I used to play video games a lot, I would have a real scoliosis problem. Also, it would take a lot of my time. On the positive side, I really learned English well. Yes, all of this that you hear isn't from some language course, it's from obsessive critter destruction in Heroes of Might and Magic.
Video games can be a great fun and a great way to unwind, but also they can take precedence over anything else we do in our lives. Regarding the World Health Organization,
there are essentially two camps. The first camp, the Worried Mother's camp, is "Oh they're so addictive, my son never does anything else, please help us make this an disorder, he played games for two hours today, help us, help us, think of the children. On the other side of the spectrum are the Gamers, who see this as making the game's scapegoat for all of the social ills. Where is the truth in all of this? As always, it is in the middle.
Let me share one story with you. I used to have a friend and he played World of Warcraft a lot. I'm not a fan of that game. For me, there is a definite time and a game should finish. It could be around a session, whatever, but there needs to be an end. World of Warcraft never ends. As a friend of mine once remarked: "They killed the Lich King, who else can you kill?" Well, there's always some dragon made of lava or something, they can always put up a new villain and it can go on forever and ever. The problem with online gaming of course is that it is perpetual. It never ends, and the more players are engaged, the more profits the producers make. That is an issue.
Let me go back to that friend of mine. I called essentially World of Warcraft an e-drug. He took great offense at this and he didn't wants to be my friend anymore. Now, of course, a lot of people don't take such drastic actions, but there is a problem if you want to sacrifice a real-life friendship for the sake of a video game. Some basic discernment is at hand: do you play video games too much, can you use your time more productively?
I was never an extremist, I'm not the kind that would go: oh stop play video games, you could pray so much. That's great if you can, a lot of people can't. The best advice is so regarding video games, as with any leisure activities - do them once you've finished all of your daily chores and obligations. Here we hear the echo of what the Church has always taught: pleasure is addictive. There should be a limit to it. There is a time and place for any leisure activity, video games included. If you play video games to deal with the stress of your life, I'll finish this episode with a famous quote of Saint Augustine who said: "You have made us for yourself, oh Lord, and our heart is restless until it's find its rest in You."
Recently I've been thinking of making a Q&A episode, so if you guys want me to answer any
questions regarding the Bible Illustrated or Christian life in general leave a question in the comments and if there are enough questions I just make a separate episode out of that.
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