Catholics and Gaming

A friend of mine asked me to find information for her on the Catholic position on gaming in general and Role-Playing Games specifically. I was interested enough that I'm posting what I found here.

Let's start with Jimmy Akin, a convert to the faith, much like my friend and I. I think this part is key to the whole discussion-

There are many individual games that I would not participate in due to moral repugnance, and so I concede the potential force of the argument, but I note that it applies only to particular games and not to the concept of Role-Playing Games as a whole.

Who can morally participate in what games will depend on the nature of the game and the dispositions and moral fortitude of the player. Different people have different temptations, and one ought to stay out of games that foster one's temptations.

I read a lot of Jimmy Akin's writing as I was studying to become Catholic, and it really shouldn't surprise me that he's a gamer too! There's probably more good stuff over on his site, but I'll let you find it! ;)

This message board talks a lot about computer RPGs, but I think most of the things apply to the the pen and paper variety as well. Mostly things about spending too much time in the activity being more of a problem than the game itself.

This guy sounds like he could be one of my circle of friends! He writes a bit about gaming here- mostly about MMORPGs, but I just like his blog. I'll have to bookmark it!

But as to an 'Official' statement from the Vatican or the US Bishops, there is nothing I could find...which means that gaming and RPGs are not intrinsically evil in and of themselves. Some games, like the computer game Grand Theft Auto can be considered evil based on their premise, but most are not. How they affect our lives, our relationships, and our Christian witness is another matter.

As for me and my house, we will fight evil in the world AND in Paragon City!



Tags- Religion, Gaming