On Monsters and Dragons in Online Games

It's not hard to see how many of today's youth are addicted to online fantasy role-playing games. The games gobble up a lot of these young people as they spend hours in internet cafes or private rooms, engrossed in their "game."

It's a time-eating monster! Nobody knows how many students are flunking in their subjects or out of school because they don't go to class or do their assignments. Many of these youth seem more committed to playing their game than keeping their commitments in school or family.

In the Christian school where my kids go, school officials have been monitoring and forbidding students from going to internet cafes nearby during class hours. They also took the initiative to petition the building administrations around to observe the policy they're enforcing. I'm glad my kids are in a relatively "safe" school.

The most popular online games, I also observe, often raise the level of possibility of contact with the satanic realm. Images that I see embedded in these games are often in the form of dungeons, dragons, monsters, and other black creatures. When teenagers or kids play magic, demonic, or occultic practices of power presented in a friendly way online, they are accepting the very things that God condemns. Our youth is in danger. They are made to buy a lie.

The resource megasite, Christian Answers, asks the following helpful questions when reviewing today's online games in the market. Their RATINGS range between 5 (good) to 1 (very bad) for... a.) Christian/Moral Perspective (Is the game anti-Christian and immoral in any way?) b.) Violence (Is it violent? Does it encourage violent behavior? Etc.) c.) Adult Content (Sexual encounters, nudity, or suggestive or sexually immoral material?) d.) Game play (Is the game fun to play? High quality? and other game play issues). Learn more about it here.

If the Bible is our guide, we must guard against types of electronic games that fantasize about evil things that God has forbidden. " ... so that we may walk worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects" (Colossians 1:10).