"Pastors who read their Bibles usually believe that there is a direct link between sin and demon possession. The fact is well documented that all sin is addictive in nature, that these addictions ultimately alter the mind of the sin-addict, and that the Devil takes advantage of this altered state of consciousness by taking control of the addict. In the New Testament, the literal term for demon possession is 'demonized.' I have observed, in varying cultures, both modern and primitive, what appeared to be demon possessed people who were 'possessed' through involvement in the occult, in drugs, in long exposure to overpowering rock music, in alcoholism, in involvement in cultic religions (including Roman Catholicism!), etc. We are now seeing evidence of demon possession through addiction to technology, particularly through violent video games. The London Telegraph reported that Aaron Alexis, who murdered 13 people in at the Washington Navy Yard last month, was addicted to violent video games, playing them as much as 16 hours a day, and 'friends believe it could have pushed him towards becoming a mass murderer' ('Gunman obsessed with violent video games,' The Telegraph, Sept. 17, 2013). When we were teaching in high school some years ago I asked who had played a computer game the longest and one boy said he had played non-stop for 38 hours. I know little detail of these games, but looked up a review of Grand Theft Auto IV recently and was shocked to see what Christian teens play all the time. Apparently Call of Duty (one of Alexis' favorites) has also been found to be very harmful. We are appealing to parents in our church to ban these (and other) vile, profane, immoral, blasphemous, crime promoting, murderous, anti-authority, anti-Christian games, and even to restrict their children's playing of 'harmless' video games to an hour a week. Better yet, their children should be taken outdoors and taught to kick a ball, or to swim." (Heads Up! October 2013 <[email protected]>) Comments are closed.
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