Dear Greg,
Great piece. I’m amazed more and more how militaristic we are as a culture. About 15 years ago, I remember scoffing at the whole “say no to war toys” movement. In the past few years, I’ve come to scoff at my former scoffing …. Toys ‘R Us … How sad.
Best,
Brian J Foley
Another CounterPunch reader writes:
If the christian group is striking the “roots of America’s violence”, maybe games aren’t the place to start.
As a Christian, i learned our heritage from Adam and Eve is evil, corruption and pain. That’s part of all humans, no matter the place, games they play, etc. As they told me, the only way to not share Adam’s gift is to be cleansed by Jesus. I belive it to be true. But even then temptation to sin(in effect, all that is evil) is an uphill battle.
People were thiefs and murderers before games settled in. And games create more obese, spoiled geeks than soldiers. We’re not in this stupid war because Bush played Fable. We’re in it because of the monetary and political interests that placed him at the top. Converting more people to Christianism is a more usefull than playing censor.
And you know the worst part? What is today’s “bad influence” will be tomorrow’s “that was better than now’s” And to the record: wich ones a worst infuence, Elvis or Marylin Manson? You answer the later and i’m right.
Gabriel Jacinto Ramirez Cruz
Reply: Ah, human nature. What do we have the right to expect from ourselves? King argued that Liberals systematically underestimate the problem of evil in human affairs. The fall from the Garden of Eden is therefore a classic reminder that something stirs in the shadow side. The email argues that Christians should be busy with the missionary life, not “censorship,” if salvation is to be achieved. On the other hand, I think about King’s Christian activism, and maybe my problem is that I think about it too much (see story above). He was not so much involved in the missionary solution.
For the record, I respect both Elvis and Marilyn Manson, which I hope doesn’t prevent me from respecting Christian activists, too. Where to start is a question with many answers. Certainly, a clear focus on monetary and political interests is crucial. A focus on video games should not obscure anything else of importance, including the broader interests of the culture industry. To mass produce obese, spoiled geeks? Why should the culture industry worry about that?
And this reminds me also of Gandhi who said the important thing always is to exercise your courage. A passive life is not worth living. Therefore, a soldier’s life may indeed be morally preferable to many. That’s why William James suggested a moral equivalent of war. My goodness, what an email! –gm
MoPress 
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