Into:
Where to begin... First, great topic, and the following is in no way to be viewed, read, or interpreted as an attack on anyone regardless of how guilty it may make one's conscience... Second, I think it has gone a little off topic a little and will leave it at that.
Now for the meat of my reply...
I personally have a conflict with whether or not to continue playing HS due to my family. Yes... Southern Baptist.... Yes... The game is evil because it has demonic forces at work... read that as it is written.. not images.. not themes.. but AT WORK....
Background:
There are numerous agents out in the world that are vying for your soul. They will do anything, become anyone, and will present themselves in the most attractive and seductive form possible to steal you away from God. They do this in little steps at a time. They make cartoons that start off early giving our youth the mental images that objects/theories of current religious beliefs are not valid*1, and therefore when the child is old enough to make decisions for themselves they will have a more open mind to doing what "feels good" rather than "what is right by God".
Argument:
Look at it this way… The majority of the commercials on after 9:00 PM on the weekdays, and often times before noon on the weekends! Cialus, Viagra, Red-Bull, the Axe commercials, Call now for free adult chat services {adult my baboon butt cheeks! By the look of the women on the phone it is more than “adult”, 18+ years or older… I wonder how many old man heart attacks they have been party too…}. Yes, I am considered an “ultra-conservative” on a lot of things, but this DOES lead to the wrong mental images for someone of faith, especially children.
Question:
With this argument in mind, how can one justify HS as being playable by anyone? I can agree that the eyes are the most vulnerable part of faith, they are for me, but I grew up around D&D, EarthDawn, Stratego, shoot, even Monoploy is evil based upon the argument given above. Is this just a case of, “Wear the armor of God” and make sure there are no broken straps when you play these games?
Advice Seeking:
I know they are just games, so don’t get into a “Freak! It is a game” arguments… I just don’t know how to argue that point to my family, let alone use that as an argument for my 11-year old. Or my 5-year old for that case who wants to do everything that Daddy does and wants to win any game against her older sister!
I understand that every child is different, but when do you stand your ground on something when the argument is approaching fanaticism versus intelligent debating? The argument, at least to me, is valid as it was presented because it is not just a matter of what a figure looks like, but what it is doing to a person. It numbs the mind to what the religious side of things link to the physical appearance of the figure. Therefore, Marro’s or Zombies are evil because in religious visage, they are correlated to evil, and by accepting them as “only a game” then they are allowing other evil things to become acceptable in one’s life as they are breaking down the lines of what is good and evil.
Conclusion:
I am not sure if I have presented the argument, and my overall questions about the argument intelligently, or completely. I have re-read this post several times, changed a few things, and now am so confused I am afraid of making the whole thing complete gibberish that it would be unreadable and give the appearance that I have been mind-flayed*2. I am comfortable in my faith to be able to play these games, but what of my children? Is it a real indicator that I am having conflicts of faith that I find it acceptable?
Footnotes:
*1 The pink cat thing that was in the Hanna-Barbara cartoons. "Exit Stage Right Even" which was ALWAYS stated in a masculine voice but sounds WAY too feminine coming from a man!
*2 This term was coined before World of Warcraft in the Pen-And-Paper RPG of EarthDawn. It was probably used before even that though so.