The Associated Press reports that "Grand Theft Auto IV" sold more than 6 million units in its first week. With sales like that, it’s certainly the big ticket. If you have kids and if you allow them to play video games, chances are good that this is one they may try to persuade you to let them spend the $60 that’s burning a hole in their pocket on. Should you acquiesce? No way.
If the name "Grand Theft Auto IV" doesn't give away the violent and explicit content of the latest teenage video game craze, then the multiple warnings on the packaging do. It carries a "Mature" rating for "blood," "intense violence," "partial nudity," "strong language," "strong sexual content" and the "use of drugs and alcohol."
The video gamer, steals cars, kills cops and gang members, runs over pedestrians on the sidewalk, gets drunk (then drives), visits strip clubs and has sex with prostitutes. The "f‑word" is common place.
Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said that the game "is a signal of where the culture is headed… "There is a moral minefield at every turn and no sector of the entertainment industry is safe -- and certainly not the world of video games."
"The cinematic scenes in the game feature some of the most graphic depictions of blood, with executions presented much as you would see in a TV show such as The Sopranos." Chris Baker of Slate.com put it another way. "The violence is no longer cartoonish," he wrote. "Shoot an innocent bystander, and you see his face contort in agony. He'll clutch at the wound and begin to stagger away, desperately seeking safety… GTA is known as the game in which you can pick up a prostitute, have sex with her, then kill her and get your money back."
Mohler said players "are filling their minds" with explicit images and "feeling the competitive exhilaration of engaging in immoral acts."
"This is dangerous stuff for the soul," he wrote. "... Parents have to make hard calls on entertainment options and they have to make their decisions stick. Christian young adults are negotiating a world of seemingly infinite choices -- and every choice is laden with moral significance. The release of Grand Theft Auto IV presents parents with a great teaching opportunity and young adults with a moral choice."
Excerpts from May 1, 2008 article by Michael Foust.
Full article: www.baptistpress.com/bpnews.asp?id=27962