Al Mohler examined Grand Theft Auto IV in a very helpful article yesterday. He addresses the question of whether violent video games produce violent children. Here is his answer:

“In some sense, we are what we play. This is not to say that every young male playing ‘Grand Theft Auto’ is now or will become a violent sexual predator who steals cars. That is clearly not the case. But it is to say that these players are filling their minds with these images and narratives and they are feeling the competitive exhilaration of engaging in immoral acts as players in a game that engages multiple senses and sensations. This is dangerous stuff for the soul.”

I think this is right on, and I think it also gets at a deeper issue. Whether or not an addictive consumption of Grand Theft Auto IV will produce an army of thugs is secondary. The primary concern is what kind of a heart games like these cultivate. Do they nurture a heart that finds pleasure in violence or theft or sexual immorality, even if it’s all virtual? According to Jesus, that is what defiles a person.

“…what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.” (Matthew 15:18-20)

I’d be interested in any further thoughts you might have.