Where's the line?

I was just scrolling through Twitter and came across a link to this article and it links in pretty well with a discussion we had in a G2 cell group that I crashed last week. At cell we talked about 'the little things' and how we decide where the 'not okay' line is drawn. We touched upon issues like provocative clothing, flirting and 'white lies'. The big issues like robbing a bank or murder are easy to have an opinion on, but the little things are easier to justify and explain away.

So how does the article fit into this?

First of all, I'll open with a little disclaimer, when I write I make as much effort as I can to be inoffensive, I'm really not interested in causing an uproar. In this post I'm going to be thinking about a relatively sensitive subject, so if you feel I've phrased something thoughtlessly, let me know!

Secondly, maybe you couldn't be bothered to read the article? Let me summarise for you! A video-game called Mass Effect 3 has caused some controversy by including the option of a homosexual relationship within the game play. It's this option that's causing offence; each individual player can choose whether or not to play with this element of the story as with all other sexual encounters in the game.

The particular article that I read quoted complaints from Christian gamers; “The homosexual views of this game are very offensive to my Christian beliefs. I think Bioware should be much more aware of how many of their fans are Christians,”. It's worth noting that this quote isn't in it's full form and I've only read one article about the game, but I'm mostly using this example as a starting point for some thoughts.

Mass Effect, once all of its complexities have been stripped away, is essentially a war game (I'm sure plenty of gamers, including Sam, will writhe at such a simplified plot synopsis...). This begs the question, why is it okay for Christians to play video games about shooting guns, but the moment there's a homosexual element it's offensive? Equally, the option of heterosexual encounters doesn't seem to be causing particular offense.

Double standard much?

Of course it is. But where should the line be? It's all fictional and virtual. Is it all okay? Or is none of it?

Leave a comment if you've got something to say,
Night! xo