Cream City Catholic
If you couldn’t already tell, our culture, led by our cumulative moral compass, is severely off course. I think at least one litmus test of a culture’s morality is gauging the way a particular culture entertains itself. Most of us let our guard down with music, film or games and, apparently, nothing is off limits these days. I have been following the sales of Grand Theft Auto V since its September 17th release . Since then, the title has prompted real world crime, for example, the robbing and stabbing of a 23 year old man who had just bought the game. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since the game itself is all about engaging in and glamorizing the most morally repugnant and brutal acts imaginable. Sadly, many Catholics who are ardent “gamers” argue that the fantasy world does not relate in any way to real world – this is simply untrue. If we are to believe that sin has a severe, pervasive and collective effect on society, and that allowing ourselves to fantasize about or “act out” sins is, in and of itself, sinful, then bolstering the industry by purchasing the game, playing the game or supporting it in anyway will certainly have broader negative implications for society.
Take a step back and consider the purpose of the game and then ask yourself, is this really healthy – no, it’s sick! How sick are we? Well, Grand Theft Auto 5, the game that represents all the evil our world faces, broke 7 Guinness World Records for sales and popularity.
- Best-selling action-adventure videogame in 24 hours
- Best-selling videogame in 24 hours
- Fastest entertainment property to gross $1 billion
- Fastest videogame to gross $1 billion
- Highest grossing videogame in 24 hours
- Highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours
- Most viewed trailer for an action-adventure videogame
Let’s compare those numbers with the estimated amount of money raised for families of NYPD and FDNY after 9/11 – $500 million, adjusted for inflation… $661 million. I see a disparity. Want another example? With the gross sales of the game, you could feed the population of the US and Mexico for a day.
My point is, our money is better spent. C’mon people. Wake up.