Cage Match: GTA vs. Song of Solomon
"Former first lady aligns with hardline right-wingers to slam Grand Theft Auto. New York senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton has launched an attack on violent videogames, singling out Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto titles as a "major threat" to morality."
The term "morality" can be used either
- descriptively to refer to a code of conduct put forward by a society or,
- some other group, such as a religion, or
- accepted by an individual for her own behavior or
- normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons.
I am not breaking the law. My religion does not forbid me from doing this. My behavior does not offend my friends or family. What morality am I threatening?
Movies, games, music, books and art are easy targets for censorship. Everyone who would censor an idea or group starts by claiming its art is immoral. People will buy a product they feel is immoral. Therefore, in order to censor an idea call it's art immoral.
A game cannot threaten morality any more then a book or song. An action can be right or wrong. Any person who has played GTA knows that actions portrayed in the game are wrong. You could say the same thing about most movies, books, music and renaissance paintings or plays. The bible includes descriptions of most of the actions in GTA and some action you could not put in a video game.
Stop talking about morality as if it was something that needs protection. What you really want say is "I want you to think my way." Although, to say that would be immoral.