Re:Religion has nothing to do with it (Score 1)

Your logic is flawed, fear of violence and murderers has absolutely nothing to do with video games. Murderers are real, video games are not. Also, this does actually have something to do with religion. Lets look at this further. You are correct is saying that people should fear violence and murderers. Pain hurts. However a video game has no effect on reality. When a murderer kills someone they are dead. You 'kill' someone in a video then press reset, viola, they are 'alive' again. Basing your fears and protecting your children from realistic killers and violence is one thing, but again video games aren't real. Now, how does this relate to religion? A number of ways: First religious people do not base their lives in reality. Religious people can not determine reality from fantasy. This may sound harsh, however i say this because a large number of people in this country believe the bible is real. Logic shows that their religion is no different from the beliefs of ancient cultures like Greece who believed Zeus sat on Mount Olympus. Now I am not just picking on christianity this goes for all religions. Read Dawkins for more on this, far to much to post. Now to speak about the perceived effect of simulated violence. Have you ever thrown darts at a picture? pretended a punching bag was someone you hated? used a voodoo doll? These are all outlets for aggression that have no actual impact on the source of your anger. They have no effect on reality, however they allow you to unleash a bit of that pent up aggression. Video games play the exact same role. The 'level of realism' has no impact on this, they still are not real. Now to talk about how the rating system specifically has to do with religion, we will make comparisons to the movie industry. They are remarkably similar since they both have adopted a multi-tiered ratings system that are almost identical, there are three major exhibitors for each industry (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft for games and Regal, Cinemark, and AMC for movies), and most of those companies listed will not show the most extreme rating for their respective rating system. Now the decision for these companies not to allow products with extreme ratings have been made public. For example Nintendo has stated it will not allow AO games on their console. Hence, the ratings board knows this. If the board does not want a product released it can simply give it an extreme rating. What does all this have to do with religion? Watch 'This Film is Not Yet Rated' for a glimpse at the MPAA ratings system. If a movie is given an NC-17 rating it is given the chance to appeal that decision. Who is present at this appeals meeting? Yup, members of the clergy. As for your psychopath statement, remember this: "when one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion."