Yes, this has been broken into small, small parts. As for the reasons, I have none (hehe).

Considering that video games are played by a lot of people (the majority obviously being people my age, but certainly not limited to that), they certainly have a wide audience to influence. To be specific, I'm talking about the (possible) bad influences video games. Okay, to be even more exact, I'm thinking whether video games can be actually called "bad".

To most people, the epitome for what everything bad about video games is, none other, than the Grand Theft Auto series. I've of course played it, and have *been* a great fan. Thus, I can testify that it is certainly far from promoting healthy, wholesome values.

We also have slightly more ambiguous games (Final Fantasy, Warcraft et. al.) where elements in the game can be considered "wrong" (the magic, for example). This ties in quite closely with the Harry Potter debate, of which I am on neither side. The magic portrayed can be considered wrong, yes, but it is not a reason to stay away from it per se. What is important is the morality portrayed. I haven't of course, played all these kind of games out there, so I can't speak for all of them.

Well, this is basically the intro for what is to come. I'll probably lay down some criteria in selecting games. I admit that I may be wrong in some areas- thus, do take with some discernment the reasons I give!

Yay! I'm finally getting the blog posts out- I've had to get past "blogger's block" (as someone tactfully pointed out) and lack of time to post. Thankfully my college course is about to end, and hence my homework burden has been lessened slightly.

Speaking of college,

Being run by devout Christian folks whom I know quite well (who also homeschool their children), they have been rather unnerved by the character, attitude or perhaps behaviour of a recent intake of students (the majority of them homeschoolers).

Main cause of upset is their rather, well, "profane mouth" (though hardly child talk in comparison with other people I've met, but nevertheless, still distasteful) as well as them being rather talkative (bearable, yes, but not by their lecturers).

So a rather emphatic speech was given today by the administration to them (including me, actually, being in the same class with them). What was their imperative to them? Well, basically, to make a choice not to act worldly. I think some good points were made and special emphasis went to the fact that we are all Christians- hence we must act like one.

I must say that used to swear often a long time ago, back when I was still in the public school It, of course immediately stopped when I homeschooled- you can't exactly use four lettered words in front of your parents. What is revealing is that the very same people who lack control over their mouths in college seem to have excellent self control in their homes.

Reasons for the use of profanity by most people (inclusive of Christians) can be pinned down to two main reasons- the need to express (using unnecessary words) oneself and the need to spice up your sentences. The former is understandable; the latter is not excusable.

Although what may be called profanity may be used to describe, if justified, some people, I have intentionally kept away from it (Side Note: I replace it, most of the time, with sarcasm and blunt statements).

And the memory verse (for all Christians, at least): Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalms 19:14).

God is watching, hehe...

Suffice to say, women have certainly come a long way, since, well, a long way back. I think this is great, and many will obviously agree. However, other than in areas such as in jobs, rights and similar things, women still live in the dark ages when it comes to issues such as sexuality.

For example, a woman pregnant out of wedlock will obviously be the one persecuted and ostracized. The males however, tend to walk away without dealing with the consequences. This problem certainly should be apparent to always everyone. But nothing much seems to be done about it by society.

This brings us to another issue, that of the treatment of women as objects especially in areas like pornography. This is again, old stuff. But nobody seems to be doing anything about it. What is ironic is that the most amount of pornography seems to come out from countries where women supposedly have the most freedom and equality.

And nothing need be said about how bad the prostitution industry is.

So while we celebrate the amount of liberty women have today, we also have to look, without jubilation, at how far back women still are.

But what is the solution? I do not know for sure. And I don’t think this problem can be solved anytime soon, if ever. I would like to think that it starts with men themselves. Respect for women is talked about a lot, but I’ve seen a lot of disrespect nonetheless (even though they were subtle). Women, I think, (especially in the area of sex) should respect themselves more. Granted, there are some situations where they do not have much of a choice. But if they had, then certainly we should agree that the choice should not be to degrade oneself.

My two or maybe three cents on this matter.