Who Wants to Write a #4 talk? (page 5)

silentWatcher

Here's an actual Napoleon Dynamite quote that might be relavent conclusion:

BEGIN: "And when it comes to selecting entertainment,"

QUOTE: "Just follow your heart. That's what I do."

Also, work in a quote with the UN as a source....
-silent

silentWatcher

But not all thrills are upbuilding or pleasing to Jehovah.

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I suggest you pause here for dramatic effect. Let the dirty litle minds race. "What is THE THEME of this talk?" LOL.

-silent

bonnzo

iwas going to give that talk, but i got to work out of town(snicker) ask your overseer before the meeting if he knows anybody wanting to but some used violent video games immediately.

cruzanheart

[Say it like Napoleon Dynamite] "Are you guys having a killer time?"

The word "kill" is a part of our everyday vocabulary, isn't it? That's a line from a very nonviolent movie, in case you haven't seen "Napoleon Dynamite." But how much of our lives is affected by violence? Can we blame [gasp] VIDEO GAMES??? How many of you here tonight would admit to playing "Grand Theft Auto"? How about "Doom"? [Read that scripture in Psalms.] Now, that scripture was written by someone who also killed people, but the Bible says it was okay because God told him to do it. Well, I can think of several serial killers who said God told them to kill people. Why was David right and John Gacy wrong? How do we KNOW God didn't talk to Gacy? I mean, really . . .

Then giggle maniacally, moon the audience (that should count as a gesture, if you're working on that point), and dance out of the room.

Nina

stillajwexelder

Just working on it Richie - will post in the next 20 minutes - sorry I do not have a good illustration

jgnat

Psalm 11:5-6 NWT

5 Jehovah himself examines the righteous one as well as the wicked one,
And anyone loving violence His soul certainly hates.

6 He will rain down upon the wicked ones traps, fire and sulphur
And a scorching wind, as the portion of their cup.

blondie

Richie, I posted quite a bit.

Basic outline

Introduction: He who is faithful in what is least will be faithful in what is much (Luke 16:10)

Where do young people learn what is right, from adults, specifically their parents. What example do adults set for children in the congregation?

With the Super Bowl fresh in the news and our minds, what about the violence in football. What do children seen adults doing...

How much time is spent watching football?

How much violence is seen in this game?

Do we see people wearing the colors of their team, daily following the news with eager anticipation, saying rude things about other teams, even buying a big TV for better viewing, decorating a special room with posters and team colors, having special gatherings to watch (but never to read the Bible together).

What about lasertag or paintball?

***

g80 12/22 p. 22 New Year’s Day—How New? ***

Today in Pasadena, California, a great parade precedes the annual New Year’s Rose Bowl football game. Is the game a modern version of that ancient ritual battle? The Encyclopædia Britannica puts it this way: "Football games in the U.S. have all the external trappings of religious festivals . . . one side representing evil and the other good, depending upon the viewpoint of the members of the audience. Leading the congregation are the priestesses (cheerleaders) . . . Operating on the principle of sympathetic magic, the priestesses attempt to transfer the enthusiasm of the crowd to the appropriate combatants."—Macropædia, 1976, Vol. 7, p. 202.

***

g82 5/22 pp. 4-8 Why the Violence in Sports? ***

Sports—Why the Increasing Violence?

BELOW are just a few of the headlines that have appeared on sports and editorial pages of different nations in recent years. Sports have become identified with violence, both on and off the field of play. But why?

Has

Violence Increased?

Stanley Cheren, associate professor of psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine, recently wrote: "As the population becomes more experienced with violence, the need for more extreme violence to satisfy the wish for violent stimulation grows. . . . People will pay fortunes to see other people get hurt. . . . It escalates as people become jaded. In the 1930’s, people were shocked to see, on the screen, James Cagney slap a woman. Now that is nothing; far more serious acts of violence are demanded for excitement. . . . So, in spite of the fact that fighters have been getting killed in the ring, the fans wanted more action. . . . In our jadedness, we have pushed to the point that we allow our athletes to risk death."

Let us illustrate this with a popular sport in North America, football (not to be confused with soccer). American football has always been recognized as a physical contact sport, after the style of British rugby, but even more so. However, in recent times more violent play has become the norm. The protective equipment often becomes offensive armor. For example, players use the rock-hard plastic safety helmets to convert their heads into punishing missiles.

The violence of the game is epitomized by the following comments of professional footballer Jack Tatum (Oakland Raiders) in his recent book They Call Me Assassin.

"Professional football is vicious and brutal; there’s not much time for sentiment."

"I never make a tackle just to bring someone down. I want to punish the man I’m going after and I want him to know that it’s going to hurt every time he comes my way."

"I’ve used the word ‘kill,’ and when I’m hitting someone I really am trying to kill, but not like forever. I mean I’m trying to kill the play or the pass, but not the man . . . the structure of football is based on punishing your opponent."

"I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault, but at the same time everything I do is by the rule book."

Tatum’s last comment is significant. It was "by the rule book" that one tackle of his permanently paralyzed a man. What would be felonious assault anywhere else is legitimate on the playing field. Little wonder that one sports writer said: "With the uniform comes protection from the laws."

Tatum’s remarks do not reflect the attitude of just one particular player. Commented George Perles, assistant head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers (U.S. Football): "[Football] is a very, very violent life, mean, tough, brutal, masculine." Writer William B. Furlong stated in an article for the New York Times Magazine: "Life in the Pit, as the center of the [scrimmage] line is called, has always been violent, as violent at times as a knife fight in a dark room . . . [it] often includes punching, cursing, gouging, kicking."

Jerry Kramer, offensive lineman for the Green Bay Packers football team, wrote in his book Instant Replay: "I started off the day determined to get mean and serious for the game. It’s something that can’t be done just on Saturday and Sunday [before the game]. It has to be done starting Monday or Tuesday [a week before the game] . . . You work up an anger, then a hatred, and the feeling gets stronger and stronger until, on Sunday, you’ve got your emotions so high you’re ready to explode. . . . When I want to hate an individual, I make it a point not to look at the other team before the game . . . I feel if I don’t see him, I can hate him a little more."

This same violent spirit is being manifested more and more in soccer. Heitor Amorim, former goalkeeper for the São Paulo Corinthians soccer team, Brazil, comments: "I left soccer in 1970 and at that time it was in a phase of transition. It was changing from a game of skill to one of force. Art and skill began to give way to violence. I believe that if Pelé [perhaps the greatest soccer player ever] were playing today he would not be able to pull off 50% of the marvellous plays he did in the 60’s. Violence would thwart him. And the fans would go along with it. They seem to love violence."

Even in those sports that were once considered the essence of fair play and gentlemanly conduct, such as tennis and cricket, violence has crept in—both verbal and physical. Tennis was once the game of well-mannered people who had learned to practice sportsmanship. During the last decade that philosophy has evaporated in a series of tirades, tantrums and obscenities from some of the leading professionals.

Are

Schools Affected?

With such violence at the professional level of sport, is it any wonder that similar attitudes have crept down to college and high school levels? Marvin Vickers, a stocky 24-year-old from New Jersey, played football for his high school in North Brunswick and received offers to play at university level. What does he say about violence in school sports? "The coaches taught us to play dirty. For example, if we knew that an opponent had hurt his ribs then the order was ‘Pound his injured ribs!’ In fact, if we didn’t pull out injured two or three of their guys, it wasn’t really a game."

Even at high school level hatred and violence are instilled in the youngsters. Wrote university and high school instructor Fred F. Paulenich: "Youngsters are taught to hurt, to cheat, to victimize for the god Victory. Coaches show high school and college teams violent films to psyche them for opponents."

Dave Schultz, Canadian ice-hockey player, famous for his brawling style of play, recently said: "I do apologize to the young players who saw my style or play and used it as a model. . . . I played that way because everyone—coaches, fans, media—seemed to expect it from me."

That last comment leads us logically to the next question.

Why

Has Violence Increased?

"Coaches, fans, media." These have become major factors in sports violence. Between them they make the law of supply and demand function. The fans want action and excitement. That is the demand. The coaches are often employed by business tycoons who want their franchises to flourish financially. That means keep the fans happy. So the coaches are driven to satisfy the public demand. On the sidelines, the media, especially television, join in, alternately exalting and condemning the violence.

Some years ago Vince Lombardi, professional coach for the Green Bay Packers U.S. football team, expressed his sports philosophy in the following now-hackneyed phrase: "Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing." He certainly did not originate the idea. He just synthesized in a few words the prevailing mentality in professional sports.

But why is winning so important? The above-quoted news report supplies the answer: "Universities [in the U.S.A.] make multi-million dollar investments in their Division I athletic programs (much of it for scholarshipped athletes) for many reasons, not the least of which is the potential for huge profits from successful football and basketball teams."

Big business and profits are the key. Sports generate money as never before. The fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearn in September, 1981, "was the richest single sporting event in history with an expected total gross of $37 million." Recently, eight U.S. baseball players signed contracts "that average from $500,000 a year to $926,000 a year." Fernando Valenzuela, the famous Mexican pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is reported to have earned from $300,000 to $500,000 in one season just from endorsements of products. According to the Argentine daily La Nacion, the Boca Juniors soccer club deposited the equivalent of $1 million as "payment of the first quota for the definite purchase of Diego Armando Maradona," one of Argentina’s star soccer players. From Australia it is reported: "Now the sky’s the limit and football is big business, with each of the 12 Victorian Football League clubs having an annual turnover of about $1 million [Australian dollars]."

What is the end result of big business involvement in sports? Increased violence. Why? Because sports now require vast incomes from its spectators and television channels. That means the consumer has to be converted into a sports addict in order to guarantee a constant vast inflow of cash. How is that accomplished? By supplying what the customer demands—excitement. And excitement usually means violence. Thus the self-sustaining cycle is established. The coaches have to teach and demand violence because the fans (abbreviation for "fanatics") want it. And the business moguls want their profits. And the media, to boost their own sales, alternate between adulation and accusation. Caught in the middle of this vicious circle are the players who have to come up with the goods—action, excitement and violence.

Why Spectator Violence?

Today’s exorbitant sports wages and prizes have spawned a secondary motivator of violence. How so? The spectator pays a high price to watch highly paid professionals. As a result he demands perfection all the time. No allowance is made for failure or for an off day. This process is aptly explained by Professor John Cheffers of Boston University: "There is an essential diminution [lessening] of respect for players who are considered by the sports fans to be overpaid, sometimes cantankerous, certainly spoiled. Consequently, the setting up of professional sports people as performing seals, expected to be perfect at each attempt, dehumanizes them and renders them as merchandise in the eyes of management and spectator."

What is the logical consequence of this process? Spectator violence. But why should that be? Well, what do you do if you buy a defective product in a supermarket? You complain to the manager or the manufacturer and expect redress. And how do you complain in a sports stadium if the performance is not up to par? Since there is no official channel for redress, the disappointed fan irrupts in spontaneous violence. Over the last two decades spectator violence has been boosted by two more factors—drugs and drink. Many fans arrive at sports stadiums already drunk or drugged, or are well on the way, and are equipped with further supplies of beer and marijuana to sustain them through the game. As the match progresses crowds become mobs, inhibitions disappear, and "Mindless Violence" is the next day’s headline.

Spectator violence has reached such levels in Europe that many countries do not want certain fans at their matches. "Fans of England, don’t come back!" was the message from Basel, Switzerland, after England supporters went on the rampage in that sedate Swiss city. People in downtown Barcelona, Spain, shudder when they think of the Scottish Celtic fans that sowed panic in their streets a few years ago. The fact that the situation is worsening is attested to by one embarrassed England supporter who said: "I’ve been travelling to our games abroad for 13 years and watched it getting worse and worse. Now yobs [hooligans] from areas like Chelsea, West Ham and Manchester are coming just for the aggro [aggression, aggravation]. They don’t even watch the matches."

Is There a Solution?

Violence in sports, both on and off the field, is now a world plague. All kinds of patchwork solutions are being suggested and tried. In many stadiums around the world the fans are now fenced in behind a moat, like wild animals at a zoo. In some stadiums fans of opposing teams are restricted to different spectator areas. Police and riot squads are reinforced. Some authorities have suggested severe laws and penalties for violent players and onlookers. Sportsmen have even advocated banning certain violent actions in some sports, such as ice hockey. "But the team owners, fearful of what impact this might have on ticket sales, never acted upon it."

Obviously, sportsmanship and fair play cannot be legislated into people’s hearts and minds. They have to be taught as an integral part of a balanced approach to life. But is that possible? If so, how could it benefit you and your children? What can be done to make sports a healthy fun activity rather than a do-or-die ordeal?

[Picture on page 4]

"Sports and the Curse of Violence

The New York Times, Oct. 18, 1981"

"Looking back on an orgy of violence

The Guardian, Nov. 7, 1981"

"Games violence: footballer dies

The Australian, Sep. 15, 1980"

"Violence by Fans

The New York Times, Jul. 27, 1980"

"Fans are getting violent

Daily News, Oct. 16, 1981"

"Golden Gloves boxer dies

The Express, Mar. 2, 1981"

[Pictures on page 5]

THIS resulted in THIS

stillajwexelder

Why Violent Video Games are not for Christians.

Today professing Christians will generally praise the teachings of Jesus as sublime, but they feel that they are impractical in this evil world. As Oliver Wendell Holmes so well expressed it: “Most people are willing to take the Sermon on the Mount as a flag to sail under but few will use it as a rudder by which to steer.” Pharisee-like, people of Christendom often “say but do not perform.”

“Since 1914 the world has had a new character . . . it closed a long era of general peace and began a new age of violence,” according to H. R. Trevor-Roper, don at

How do we feel brothers?

Well the bible is our standard. Let’s see what the scriptures say. Please turn to (Isaiah 2:4)

4 And he will certainly render judgment among the nations and set matters straight respecting many peoples. And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore.

And also a parallel scripture at (Micah 4:3-4)

3 And he will certainly render judgment among many peoples, and set matters straight respecting mighty nations far away. And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. They will not lift up sword, nation against nation, neither will they learn war anymore. 4 And they will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making [them] tremble; for the very mouth of Jehovah of armies has spoken [it].

So true Christians follow the scriptures and do not take sides in the wars of the nations.

Shortly before Jesus’ death, armed men came to arrest him. When Peter lashed out with a sword to defend his Master, Jesus said to him: “Return your sword to its place, for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52) Since then, Jesus’ footstep followers have beaten their swords into plowshares and have refrained from taking up weapons to kill their fellow man and from supporting war efforts in other ways. They “pursue peace with all people.”

So what does this have to do with Computer or Video Games?

“SPINE-RIPPING, flesh-clawing, head-exploding fun”! This was the way one magazine writer enthusiastically described the latest version of a popular computer game. Actually, this is just one of a new generation of computer and video games that allow players to act out thrilling fantasies. Previous releases seem rather tame in comparison with these bloody, often sadistically violent games.

So brothers, a violent video/computer game would hardly be beating our swords into plowshares. In fact we would be learning violence and war which is totally contrary to the scriptures.

There are plenty of wholesome activities for a Christian such as engaging in the , and singing Kingdom Melodies

So brothers let us all pursue wholesome Christian activities and not play Violent Video Games which are not for Christians.

jgnat

GUESS WHAT?? The UNITED NATIONS has a VIDEO GAME out called FOOD FORCE! YAAAA!

http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2005/issue2/0205p78.html

stillajwexelder

There are plenty of wholesome activities for a Christian such as engaging in the Christain Ministry and singing Kingdom Melodies

Yes before you all say it, I nearly gagged on this one myself!!!!!!!!!!

Who Wants to Write a #4 talk?

Why Violent Video Games are not for Christians.

So brothers let us all pursue wholesome Christian activities and not play Violent Video Games which are not for Christians.

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