MennoNet.com

I may be taking a Risk in bringing up this subject, but I’d like to hear some opinions. Choose an option or two above and discuss in the thread. While the poll is in reference to board games (classic examples include Battleship, Chess, Axis & Allies, Stratego, arguably even Checkers), we could also consider more active contests such as laser tag and paintball.

I’m interested in hearing first from those who believe and (at least intend to) practice nonviolence, particularly “classic” nonresistance as contrasted to activist pacifism. The rest of y’all can enter the fray after a bit.

I don't really align with activism pacifists, so I think I'm allowed to respond??

Traditional Southern Baptists, Nazarenes, and the Holiness groups in my area preach(ed) against even the most simple of card games, citing that they are the beginning step to gambling and the like, so the idea that games can impact ones spiritual condition/ choices is not hardly limited to military-themes.
So, if games with a loose militant theme to them are to be banned, why not all other games? ANY game could negatively impact ones spiritual state... pride, anger, etc. can slide in easily when one becomes overwrought with competitiveness.
I'll say that, for safety, I'd err on the side of caution and not let young, immature minds be molded by such games.

A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?

Our family plays chess, checkers, parcheesi, Scrabble, dominoes and backgammon. We also do crosswords and sudoku. We see it as a good venue for not only teaching strategy and logic but also good sportsmanship and patience. Rather than emphasize competitiveness, we view it as an opportunity to teach the right attitudes when one of the children loses or wins. Another positive is it keeps the brain active in those of us (ahem) who are older.

I'm extremely uncomfortable with games in which the violent/military theme is explicit and foregrounded, as in Risk. I have little to no problem with games such as chess in which the conflict is highly abstracted.

Having said that, I do play a war game of sorts in my 9th and 10th grade history class. We do a World War I simulation which I appreciate for its emotional realism. Students experience the greed for prestige and resources; the fear of rivals; the scheming for advantage; the temptations and indignations of betrayal; the surges of "home by Christmas" overconfidence; and the terror of imminent disaster that actually drove the actions of world leaders before and during the Great War. I end the exercise with a slideshow of World War I battlefield photos and a reading of British soldier and war casualty Wilfred Owen's "Parable of the Old Man and the Young." I think (or at least hope) that students have a pretty dim view of nationalistic conflict by the time it's all done.

I'm really not familiar with Risk... I'm familiar with Stratego, which comes in a variety of themes, some may be militant.
We usually play word games or "thinking" games.. When we have large groups we play some totally for-luck games, so maybe I shouldn't have had an opinion.
I'd say most war-themed games are rather lame...

Seems to me reading the scriptures is full of warring and in the OT lots of violence yet we encourage reading it. In the NT it continues but not in a physical sense but spoken of relating spiritual weapons to physical ones. Spiritual warfare cannot be avoided by those believing in a non-nonviolent physical way of life or they will be spiritually run over. And even 'winning' is referred to by Paul in running the race to win but here again I believe it is in a spiritual sense.

Although I engage in sports and some board games and find watching poker on TV quite interesting, there can be some dangers in attitudes about beating others and the pride that often comes from winning. Competing with others means someone will be the loser and who likes losing. Is causing another to feel disappointment in losing healthy ? Is feeling good about our winning, healthy regarding our ego ? Things I ponder.

I grew up with games like monopoly, checkers and clue. Monopoly quite centered on money and clue on who killed who with what and where ? Checkers, that seems to have less linkage with areas that have stronger links with sinning. I doubt the very graphic violent games today are a healthy mind activity. But myself, I have various other more worldly areas that I know war against my mind and don't guard my mind enough as I should.

So, I would think we need to be careful to obey the scriptures to 'guard our minds'. If my treasure is in 'winning' some earthly event, then it can become an idol. I prefer individual games where I am trying to reach a goal rather than competing with others that may cause them to feel disappointment if they should lose. I still am active in team sports and constantly must deal with any attitude that comes from winning and losing. The exercise of the physical is good but playing games that produces winners and losers is always a test on the ego. At least it is, for me.

In my college days, I played a lot of Axis and Allies. And a lot of Euchre, Hearts, and Spades. One friend actually had to quit playing Hearts because he couldn't handle it....I do think playing Axis and Allies would be inconsistent with nonresistance. And as I look back on those days, I don't really think I have a lot to show for those hours of gaming. It's true that games can be a forum for social interaction, but I think it's at a surface level.

Monopoly is not a war game, but it is based on applying principles of economic greed to the 'family time'. My Grandpa burned a really old set back when I was in my early teens (like with the houses & motels made of wood, etc). He got convicted about it, but I'm not sure it was to do with the economic cut-throat practices so much as the simple reason that it used dice - the connection to gambling. (We were not allowed to play any type of cards at home, not even Old Maid, Dutch Blitz, or that other one the "worldly" Mennonites played - I can't think of the name of it right now.)

Neto wrote:Monopoly is not a war game, but it is based on applying principles of economic greed to the 'family time'. My Grandpa burned a really old set back when I was in my early teens (like with the houses & motels made of wood, etc). He got convicted about it, but I'm not sure it was to do with the economic cut-throat practices so much as the simple reason that it used dice - the connection to gambling. (We were not allowed to play any type of cards at home, not even Old Maid, Dutch Blitz, or that other one the "worldly" Mennonites played - I can't think of the name of it right now.)

We too couldn't play games by rolling dice. Instead we had a little spinner that landed on a number for how many moves could be made. And no card games but then later on the church got 'worldly' and instead of playing euchre we played a game called 'Rook' which we renamed 'Pentecostal Euchre'. At parties the games were charades, throwing darts, bobbing for apples, and attempting various flexible things (one of these was what we called going through the broom) and other broom tricks. As far as playing with toy guns shooting at each other was not allowed. We made wooden guns that shot elastics and of course, bean shooters and sling shots. BB guns were OK if you shot at targets (bottles or paper) or at certain animals like certain species of unprotected birds and rats. And shooting marbles was also a big game. Amazing how much fun there was without TV, cell phones and the Internet.