In his yearly world Communications Day Address, entitled "Children and the Media: A Challenge for Education", Pope Benedict XVI passed holy judgement on on all forms of visual media, though he focussed on games and film, for producing "programs and products, including animated films and video games, which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray antisocial behavior or the trivialization of human sexuality is a perversion, all the more repulsive when these programs are directed at children and adolescents". The pope then requested that leaders of the various visual industries "to safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human dignity, and promote respect for the needs of the family."
Source: Gamespot [ more info ]

I know I'm likely stirring the wrong pot here, and I can't say I'm offended by what the Pope has to say. I just don't think sole responsibility should be placed on the shoulders of visual media. It's just that, I read the bible a couple of times in my youth. It was a yearly event in the church my mother attended. And what I read was violent. It promoted anti-social behavior and trivialized human sexuality to a far lesser degree, but it's there.

Now, I can't say that I want to get into a discussion of the bible here. That's not the point. As a matter of fact let's ignore the pope and the bible all together. And since we've had the "who is responsible" discussion time and time again, there's no real good reason to talk about that either. Which leaves, I guess, Urotsukidoji. If you have no idea what that is, I'm sure a Google or WikiPedia search will bring you up to speed. Though, it might be advisable not to commit to your search at work.

Urotsukidoji was the first piece of anime I ever saw. It was, to say the least, a bit of a shock. After getting past the feelings of "is this what anime is" kind of questions, I watched other Anime and dismissed Urotsukidoji as the exception not the rule. Older and wise now, I know better and understand that the truth is somewhere in the middle.

What I will close this writeup with is something the Pope and I agree on, advocating education. But as I've always said, that shouldn't be the responsibility of any industry, it should be the responsibility of the parent or guardian. [Note: The Pope seems to agree.]

Alrighty, now let's hope I don't have to take a fire extinguisher to this thread to put out the flames. **crosses fingers**

UPDATE: Thread Closed:
The full details behind the closing can be found in the final post of this thread. And since most of the animosity was directed at me, I feel obligated to clarify issues for any person that is new to this thread:

In no part of comic or writeup did I bash the Pope or religion. I have no reason to bash the Pope, especially in this instance since we seem to agree. And the only problem I have with religion is when it's taken to extremes.

I did read the Pope's message, several times. And I don't see where what I had to say contradicts or belittles that. A lot of what can be found in his address can also be found in my posts on the subject scattered around these forums. And, susequent posts in this thread show support for aspects of the Pope's message and demonstrates my disagreement with aspects of the "source" article. And yet, I have to defend myself from people accusing me of things I haven't said or done. People seemed to fill in blanks with their own bias and I can't appreciate that. Some of you really disappointed me as I didn't expect that kind of thing out of you.

hehehe......urotsukidoji is much better with a few drinks in you and a bunch of friends to make up new lines for the caracters.... other then that......yea it's a bit sick.

of cource I wonder what the pope would do if he DID google that particular animie. when I hear that statement all I could think was "and here I thought it was the PARENTS responability to look after their kids...not the midia" thak goddess there is still a few that do.

To an extent, of course, but if a disturbing amount of content is trending a certain direction, what responsibility DOES the "forces of society" (I know that's broad) have to curb things? I'm with you on the re-focusing of responsibility back to the personal level when possible, but whereas it's wrong to abdicate it completely to the societal level (saying actions are solely society's fault, taking no responsibility to the person), I do think it's also irresponsible to say that the society itself has no role to play at all, and it's ONLY the parents' fault. Sure they are the "the buck stops here" side of the equation, but that doesn't mean that the society should make it AS DIFFICULT as possible.

Now I don't think we're there yet, not like "He Who Must Not Be Named At GU", but I don't think a refocusing into games with generally a more positive message is necessarily a bad thing either. For example, games where you're the villian in some over-cliched way, like Dungeon Keeper is fine, but ones where the objective is to go out, kill cops, enslave women, etc (yes I'm harping on GTA), I think is pushing the line just a bit too far. Games where that OCCUR and you fight against it, OK, but where it's encouraged? At the LEAST we should be much more careful than we are right now IMO.

On topic: I've never heard of Urotsuki, though I wouldn't be surprised if my friend has it (he was stationed over in Japan, and has quite the collection of anime now). A little search at www.animenewsnetwork.com would give a little more info to those who haven't seen it.

I agree with the last paragraph of what Eriol said.

An episode from Family Guy where the grandfather was reading the Bible to Stewie came to mind after reading this. You would see Stewie, this evil baby bent in world domination, extremely passionate about the shier evil and destruction that was depicted in the book.

Originally Posted by Woody:

What I will close this writeup with is something the Pope and I agree on, advocating education. But as I've always said, that shouldn't be the responsibility of any industry, it should be the responsibility of the parent or guardion.

That seems to be the going thing nowadays. I did it, but it was the game or movies fault...not mine.

Ultimately, yes, the parent is responsible... in setting values and boundaries.

As a parent with two teen age gamers (we game together btw and have for over 8 years), it's always been my responsibility to help guide them towards values and options and hopefully see that they internalize those and make informed choices from there.

What does all that gobbledyguck mean?

It means at early ages (1-6): it's my responsibility to share values ( for instance: don't hit others). It means as they grow from there, (6-13)exposing them to opposing values when they are ready (it means paying attention to your child) and understanding what they can handle, and helping them process it (society). And it also means, by the time they are teens, if you have built a mutual relationship with them (from the day they were born), based on two-way respect, then you are still acting as guide/mentor as they take your values, what's happening in society, their own that are forming and hopefully they integrate those into something they can live with and society can live with.

As for gaming: it is neither evil or good. It is what people perceive it to be. And what they want to get from it.

What we've found, playing with them online from the time they were ages 9 and 10, is that some games, MMORPGs for instance, offer a great way to help them learn about society since they are in essence micro worlds made of real people. They get an opportunity to see immediate cause/effect of reputation, community, helping, finances, politics, social structures, and all the things the bible "warns" you about: greed, ecetera. Talking with them, analyzing that and then helping them with critical thinking apply that to the real world, helps them understand the world around them and become "better" citizens. And they are part of that decision making process.

So, my response back to games being "bad": au contraire, they are a great educational opportunity. Just like anything else in life. Seems to work for my kids, one is headed to Stanford in the fall to study Neurochemistry, well-loved and respected by peers and teachers alike. The other is headed to high school with a set of teachers and friends that admire her and another set of teachers eagerly anticipating her arrival. Sorry, I don't see games as the problem here. That's religion passing the buck.

Oh and btw: the first statement:

""Ultimately, yes, the parent is responsible... in setting values and boundaries.""

should include:

And the child (person) is also responsible for their choices. Sorry I didn't include that, I thought it was, uh, obvious.

You all frighten me...and I like it.

But I'm in the same mindset as wiccalight, always thought it was the parents job. Then, after a certain age, when a kid becomes aware of thier actions, it's their own fault IMO.

His goals would probably be more potent if he would focus on the bigger picture. Aiming at bad people aiming at kids can only go so far.

But hey what do I know, the man preformed a long distance exocism on hitler not that long ago, so maybe its beyond my realm of thought.

The kid next door to me got three vary violent games for x-mass. Gears of war, Down of war, and i think halo 2. Thats not media faltey, thats bad perinting.

Yet for wereing a Warhammer 40k Chaos hoody, i'm followed at school by admins becose I look like i'm "A problem kid." Sad thing is i do a lot of the school beutaficashion events, and i'm most likely going into the Army.

"Problem kid." That just sickend me.