Kids, Violence and Video Games

I’m having one of my “moments”.  I caught some news this morning and heard about all the hub-bub about the government wanting to regulate video games for kids.  Once again I am between a rock and hard place.  Of course, there are those biased and subjective studies that are supposed to prove that kids are not impacted psychologically by these games.  I’m sorry, I just don’t buy it.  I think you could line parents up all day long who would testify to a different drum beat on this one.  If anything, I think we are de-sensitizing a generation to violent behavior.  We are teaching them that there isn’t any responsibility for their violent actions.  Shoot or be shot.  Kick or be kicked.  Humiliate or be humiliated.  Fight or be fought.  Hunt or be hunted.  We are, in my opinion, (which isn’t worth much depending on what circle of social care you represent), teaching kids to become proactive in assertive and some cases violent behavior.  Sorry, that’s how I feel about this. 

Now let me state a few things here to get some conversation going. 
1. We are too deep into this thing for dear old Uncle Sam to suddenly become the parent over media games for kids.   I am not in favor of the government telling us what parents should or shouldn’t do with their kids and video games.   We are to render unto Caesar what belongs to him but we are not to surrender parental responsibilities.  It is not Uncle Sam’s job to raise our kids.   If government involvement is to simply “rate” the games, that may be a consideration on my part.  Informing parents what’s inside the game box or on the game disk could be helpful – but not stepping in to become the parent.  The government is an Uncle – not a mommy or daddy. 

That being said – I move on to more objective view points and observations. 

2. We have finally started bearing the fruit of the entitlements generation of offspring!   We saw this coming and the prophets were screaming in our pulpits…and no one paid any attention to it.  The entitlement generation is currently sitting in our congregations and making service demands on the church without getting involved themselves.  They deserve such and such being done for them.  Isn’t that why they contribute their hard-earned dollars to the church?   Isn’t the church a glorified, sanctified Burger King?  God is not a “Burger” king.  He is King of Kings and how dare we enter into the kingdom and act like He “owes” us anything.  But that’s what is happening.   The term “sacrifice” and “surrender” are far gone in verbage of too many that are sitting in our churches making vain demands on ministry personnel. 

3. We have raised a generation that has lost respect for authority.  No doubt about it.  This is why I really don’t think that Uncle Sam’s involvement in becoming surrogate parents will accomplish much.  To a small degree maybe – but we are far past this generation of kids having any respect for authority figures – much less Uncle Sam telling them what they can or cannot watch.  Bottom line – they will forgo and sidestep any one telling them what they can do.  

4. Comments made some of the news people and emails sent in were ridiculous.  Some were saying it’s the parents responsibility to watch what their kids watch.  Then here is the infamous by line that makes me sick to my stomach more often than not – “Children are a byproduct or an image of what they’re taught at home!”  Hog wash!   Bunk!  This is pure psycho-babble for those tree hugging, anti-Bible nuts who think they have psycho analyzed humanity to perfection.  No wonder we have kids out there who think they have arrived and can live beyond scriptural admonition for life principles. 

One of the first commandments God gave us to ultimately regulate morality in the earth was the mandate to obey parents.  Take a quick gander at Exodus 20.12  This is a mandate from God Himself who comes to us a Divine Father figure.  Clarke’s Notes on the Old Testament (e-Sword) says there is a “…degree of affectionate which is owing to parents.  For a considerable time parents stand as it were in the place of God to their children and therefore rebellion against their lawful commands has been considered as rebellion against God.”   Wow!  We left this principle out of our text-book theories didn’t we?  Before you dispensationalist’s start screaming this is an Old Testament principle let me direct you to Ephesians 6.1-4.   Again, the issue is with children obeying and honoring parental authority in their lives.  Why is this important to God? It is the first commandment with a principle attached.  Obey parents and you will be granted a long and fulfilled life.  Well now, generations into this thing and we have created almost a solid generation of ignoring this principle.  This didn’t happen over night.  The Beetle’s didn’t bring this wave of ignorance in.  Elvis Presley didn’t bring this in.  The denial of parental authority began soon after Adam and Eve so wonderfully created offspring by the name of Cain and Abel.  

This “first family” raise a murderer.   Now let me ask you something here.   With Adam and Eve breaking ground rules to begin with – where did this rebellion come from?  It came from the influence of sin.  Oh, I am not dismissing parental authority in raising children but I am saying that disobedience to parental rule has been around (and gaining strength) for nearly 6000 years.  Israel grew up and rebelled against God.  The purpose of the 10 commandments was to bring moral order to the world He created since our parental lineage invited sin into the household and stepped away from righteous perfection. 

Kids today do not “honor” or “obey” parental authority.  Parental authority is a type.  When children learn why they are to obey, respect and honor parents then they carry that over to other authority entities.  Let me remind you it wasn’t children who took prayer out of school.  It wasn’t children who weakened discipline in schools.  It wasn’t children who gave untimely and unjustified judicial rights to minors.  It was a generation of parents who made a choice to deny Biblical standards of teaching order and structure in the home.   We are reaping what we have sown and in most cases it is bitter and sometimes violent and fatal fruit.  We have created a garden of nearly uncontrollable weeds.  And now we suspect that government regulation will do the trick.   Not so.  Remember the guys in government who will make this decision can’t even abide by rulings created to keep them in check.  Why would they think that a ruling created by our government will do any more for their children or their grandchildren.  What a joke! 

The problem here, not to simplify this issue, is sin.   Sin is lawlessness.  Lawlessness is the rejection and rebellion of authority.   God comes to us as a Divine Father image.  When society as a whole rejects and dismisses His rule for morality in the land – why would we grasp as such a meager straw for our children?   Get back to teaching children “why” they are to obey, honor and respect authority – starting with parental authority – and we may gain some ground.  This is not a job for Uncle Sam. 

I have seen Godly parents raise Godly children – only to see them dismiss how they have been raised and turn toward the world.  I refuse to believe that the charge against parents is the easy escape for assuming adult responsibility once a child has been raised.   Moral law was given for us to keep order in society.   I remind you that for the most part it is those of us who assume responsibility as adults that are charged with keeping and teaching moral law.  A child cannot teach a child.  We do the teaching.  Once a child has been taught moral law they will not “depart” from moral training.  This is a standard of mental assent to the law.  They will never depart from the law inbedded in their mind.  This does not guarentee behavioral assent any more then it did when God Himself gave us the law – and as adults it was ignored.   The problem I have seen is that when children grow up to be…well…adults – they willfully choose to ignore moral and righteous law.  Adults are responsible for their own choices – regardless of how they were raised.   Understand this principle – if children disobeying parents is the parents fault then Father God, Abba Father in most cases has done a pitiful job in raising His children.   Now then, you want to rethink that nasty charge against all Godly parents for how their children turn out?  Doesn’t work in all cases.