Today as I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, I saw some old cover art from the Atari port of Space Invaders. Frankly, it was amazing:
But as someone who literally grew up playing Atari games from the time I was old enough to hold a controller, the reality was…slightly less magical:
Still. A for effort.
Atari and all the generations of video games which have followed have contributed catastrophically – along with the corrupt music industry – to the vapid mindlessness of our youth, whose attention span can’t be held for more than a few minutes by life’s ( and Eternity’s) more serious and compelling realities.
For most, it takes a powerful grace to pry them free from such addictive, often irrational (gratuitous violence acted out by malleable, susceptible young minds) entertainment, along with television.
When one considers the serious obligation of parents to dispose their children from their infancy for the action of grace and the prompt fulfillment of the Will of God, I think it’s safe to say that video games would not have a place in a civilization committed to the glory of God.
It’s possible to be full of joy and good healthy fun while also in the pursuit of virtue without the likes of video games and television and their deleterious effects which hamper and interfere with the influence of Grace in the minds, souls and consciousness of our children.
The standard Our Lord gave us and which He counseled us to pray for daily is “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven…..” I don’t see how an honest response to that would include generations of video games being foisted on our young.