I grew up on video games and although my current work and home situation does not allow me much time to play, I still enjoy ever chance I get to play video games by myself or to get together with some old friends and “throw down.”
That being said, it appears video games are not quite what they used to be.
Ace links to a story about a new peace protest video game.
Now, I am not opposed to nonviolent protest and the like. They have impacted this country for the better on many occasions, but I cannot think of a more boring concept for a video game. Are they asking for ridicule or what?
Also via Ace, a child’s ranting and raving at his mother is recording by Xbox Love. The child screams as his mother to “get me some mother****ing chocolate milk” as he plays Rainbow Six.
Do I even have to get into what would happen 1) if I would have said that as a child 2) if my son(s) were to say that to my wife? Needless to say, it would be a long time (if ever) before my son played another video game.
What is even sadden though is that this mom, who is already letting her young child play a video game rated Mature, probably went and got the kid his chocolate milk. Is it wrong that as a parent, other parents’ actions disgust me?
Parents in this country are a G*ddamned joke. Please excuse my language, but parents who don’t know when to say no, who don’t expect their children to say please and thank you, who don’t enforce some sort of code of conduct are ruining the next generation in this country.
It’s a total joke and apparently it’s time for a Blue Moon again Aaron, because we’re totally in agreement.
Well, not to be a contrarian, but I think your agreement on the problem of parenting is dandy, but the question of why it is so, and how to fix it, might show some differences.
I think parenting is in decline because:
– we are overly materialistic
– we have abandoned scriptural approaches to morality, parental authority and discipline of children
– we are overly sedentary (TV and internet, doh)
– television (esp. that aimed at tweens) promotes precosious brattyness in children, and disrespect for "stupid" parents
– we devalue marriage through the promotion of pre-marital and extramarital sex
And as an aside, I am a former (too busy now) gamer who still enjoys a nice first person shooter with giblets. Not sure if I want my 2 year old daughter fragging, though. Hmmmm. I *am* building her her own computer – maybe I should just buy her a swingset for the back yard.
Yeah Seeker, the reason parents have no idea what they’re doing is because they aren’t Christian enough.
Yep.
That's part of the problem – we've abandoned wisdom, esp. the wisdom of the scriptures. We listen to Dr. Spock instead of the sriptures.
But then again, I don't necessarily expect you or everyone to recognize or acknowledge scriptural wisdom.
Part of the wisdom of God's way is that God has "hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes." Matt 11:25 That is, he resists the proud.
Not to mention Eph. 4:18
They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
and 2 Cor. 4:4
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
We'd have a far healthier population if we just had more virtue in society and in the business world.
Not virtue Seeker – intelligence.
If parents were smart enough to realize that they were enabling their children's dickish behavior by themselves tolerating it, then they'd presumably stop tolerating it. If people would realize that parenting is more than spoiling your child, then our society would be better off.
How that translates – in your mind – to Biblical wisdom is beyond me. Parents of all backgrounds have raised children successfully, be they Christian or otherwise, and since you can't possibly be suggesting that children raised by Biblical parents are thusly better children, I can only assume that you're in agreement with me. We need smarter parents, not more Christian ones.
You confuse intelligence with wisdom, which is the marriage of knowledge and character. Karl Marx was intelligent. But that didn't make him a good person.
Removing ignorance may deal with the problems people have in their mind, but they need spiritual help for the heart. They need motivation other than "it's good for you." They need fear of consequences, conviction of what is right ("righteousness"), and faith that doing good will pay off, and faith that when it does not immediately pay off, that God ultimately rewards doing what is good.
And sure, nonchristians can raise decent kids, but not without the morality based in objective spiritual and emotional truths. Some of these are available without the bible (i.e. common or empirical truths), while others are not (revealed truths)
Seeker,
So, so I'm clear, you're a better father than me because you're Christian? And my child will end up worse off than your child because I haven't raised her Biblically?
That can't possibly be what you mean.
I’d like to know how he proves these “objective spiritual truths” exist.
Not to jump in, but I would like Louis to prove subjective spiritual truths exist. You want evidence for morality based on objective spiritual truths – murder is wrong. Murder is a moral question and most (all in some cases) oppose murder. Where does the reasoning behind that come from? It is a given objective truth.
You would feel it was wrong for someone to walk up to you and punch you. Why, because you would feel you did nothing to deserve that – based on a given objective truth of right and wrong.
You would feel it was wrong for someone to steal your car. Why, because you would feel it was not fair for them to take something that belonged to you – based on a given objective truth of fairness and the immorality of stealing.
You may can come up with exceptions to those rules based on certain circumstances, but those do not eliminate the rules. Exceptions merely show that we must justify deviations from the given objective truth.
I'd like Seeker's answer about his allegedly better parenting.
What is a "given objective truth"? Where is it located? How can you prove that it exists? I see no proof in anything you say. All you do is assert these values exist in some objective way. Sure, we believe murder and theft are wrong, but are these objectively provable, or are they merely agreed upon social ethics which we imbibe from childhood from our culture and which, therefore, seem to be objective or given?
Besides, I objected to the term "objective spiritual truths." I don't see how you can prove they exist.
I guess it depends on what you call "spiritual" and "prove."
For instance, is the principle of "sowing and reaping" spiritual? I say yes. What kind of proof do you want?
What if a study shows that spiritual people are happier than atheists, by some standard measures of happiness? Would you call that "proof"?
My favorite discussion of spiritual principles is in Covey's First Things First. Often called "wisdom,", people have proved over the genrations that certain perspectives and practices lead to long life and happiness, while others lead away. He calls many of these spiritual principle, and mentions a few.
You can't prove that Jesus is coming again, or that there is life after death. But certain sociologic truths in the bible, esp. w/ respect to parenting, are time tested and "proved" by psychology. Like balancing love and truth, like not disciplining in anger, like allowing your young adult children to make their own decisions, sometimes with warning, even if it hurts them (see Prodigal Son).
I claim that balanced, Christian parenting is probably better than any other kind of parenting out there. I don't have time to prove it, but there's plenty of inconclusive evidence out there ;).
Ridiculous. Seeker, you aren't a better parent than me. Seeming to claim so is crazy. Why'd you'd insult my parenting skill is beyond me.
I am saying that Christian parenting is based on timeless, tested truths, and that other models are inferior. I said nothing about your parenting, since I know naught about it.
You can be a good parent without being a Christian. You can be a better one if you are a Christian and follow God with maturity.
All that you've shown (not proven) is that christianity holds certain values which transcend any particular religion (ie, "truth"). The instances you mention above can be found throughout the world, in various cultures, and not just within the christian system. As usual, you come off as narrow and arrogant.
As to happiness: it's entirely subjective. "Studies" asking various people whether they are happy or not have little to do with objective truths. I, for instance, am happier outside of christianity than within it. Others are happier within it than outside it. So what?
And what is a "spiritual person"? I think it's someone who believes in the supernatural, that a realm above or beyond the natural exists and can be accessed for answers to life's problems – security. Of course, this is a matter of faith (ie, a belief that cannot be proven). According to orthodox xian doctrine, faith is a gift from God and not something we can create for ourselves. According to that definition, God has abandoned me. Of course, I see it differently: I don't believe xianity is credible. And I think it has had negative effects in the world. Reason is a better guide. My hero is Socrates, not Jesus. That makes me happy.
Seeker,
I can't comprehend that you'd tell me how to raise my daughter.
That's a jerky thing to do.
(Also, your commenting thing is again being STRANGE.)
I didn't tell you how to do anything – only that I believe xian principles of parenting to be superior. As far as I know, you might be raising your daughter using xian principles. It's not about you.
My whole point was to offer a solution, rather than griping that "parents in this country are a joke." If you're not part of the solution… ;)
Teaching my daughter to hate gays isn't going to make her a better person Seeker, as hard as you'd find that to believe.