[seanbreen]

Yo all, i was fascinated by this post and decided to add my own little piece to it.

so first a little back ground on myself. For the 18 years of my life i have been a devoted christian. When i was born i was born with a hole in the heart and a growth on my brain requiring two operations in order to solve these issues, keep in mind this was 1900's the doctors told my parents i wouldn't make it, so they prayed and their friends prayed, and their church prayed, a little girl in our church had a picture of me in the operating room with a man in white cloths standing there holding my hand, at the same time my mom had the same picture at home of Jesus standing next to the operating bed standing next to me. Even further, today people are still blessing me with pictures and such, and despite playing a game you declare "Demonic" I have had numerous pictures for a multitude of people, and prayed for healing for hundreds of people of which have been healed by the grace of God, i have been home schooled all my life and it was very unlikely i'd get into college, despite this tiny chance with my three C's and two E's, i prayed, and with all the Odds against me i got into college.

So after playing the so called "Demonic" Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion, I have a few things to add to this post as well as a few arguments to raise here.

"It is a "Role-Playing Game" for the computer, very similar to the well-known Satanic Dungeons & Dragons."
First off, you say it is a role playing game? Does that make it demonic by Generic quality? I say no, The reason being is because Lord of the rings online is a Role playing game, yet it's based on the world of Lord of the rings which was created and written by the very strict christian called J.R.R Tolkien which parallel Christianity a lot, does the fact that there's a role playing game based on his books make it demonic?

y"you can pick various "races" for your character, including several demonic looking characters called "elves". With their pointed ears and eerie non-human appearances."
secondly the idea of Demonic Races such as the mentioned Elves, again the Elves in the game Oblivion are very heavily based on Tolkien's idea of changing the Generic idea of Elves, does this once again make Tolkien a strict christian demonic?

"the game is chock ful of blasphemous magic and witchcraft. The player is able to perform a variety of spells such as hurling fire from one's hands, turning oneself invisible, forcing others' against their will to obey and listen to the character, and conjuring up demons from Hell to fight for the player. In fact, magic and witchcraft are a major part of the game and it's difficult to play the game without resorting to these Satanic means."
As for this, i actually laughed at this as you have clearly done no research, the game is entirely possible to play without resorting to the means of the magic system of the game, and in fact it is a very minor part of the game and plays no major role at all.

"The game makes no mention of God or Jesus Christ, instead it pushes a mythology of "Nine gods". You can go to heretical chapels and actually pray to these gods in this game and they heal you!"
Ah so now we bring the mythology into this discussion, first off let me remind you that this game is an entirely made up thing, there is no link for it to the real world, unlike J.K Rowling's harry potter series, and once again we go back to Tolkien who made up an entire universe where there was a complete made up mythology, same with C.S Lewis's Narnia, does this make both of those books demonic because they don't mention Jesus?

"There is a realm called "Oblivion" which is definitely just Hell with a different name. You are required to go through this Hell environment during the game."
The very definition oh Hell is the place those who don't believe go after death, the realm of Oblivion is not a place dead souls go to in this particular game, on top of that the reason you pass through this realm is in order to close the gates which lead into Oblivion thus saving the world the game is set in, does it not say in the bible "though i walk through the valley of death i shall feel no fear"? This idea is a very reflection of that, the main hero passes through this area to save the world without fear. I.E "the valley of death"

"thieving and stealing are promoted in the game. You are allowed to pickpocket other people and steal possessions. One questline of the game actually REWARDS the player for this sinful behavior!"
Only thing i have to say to this point is to emphasis free will, a role playing game is ultimately about making choices, I.E free will.

"You can do quests for these demons called "Daedra". By doing these quests, these demons reward you. This tells our children that by serving demons they will get rewarded."
I won't deny the truth behind this, but it is wrong to an extent, if you look into the lore and story behind the elder scrolls games, the Daedra are not demons, nor are they evil, they're simply the opposite of the nine, and in fact one of them is incredibly nice to the human population of the game in general, helping them without asking for anything in return.

"alcohol in the form of beer, wine, and brandy is available to the player and can be drunk"
This again is one fact that is true, yet drinking the beer and what not in the game has no real effects on the player on top of that once again i shall emphasis the idea of free will. Role playing games take the free will we have been given in real life and places it into the game world.

"This game promotes astrology. Upon creating a character, you are forced to choose a "birthsign". More occult ideas pushed upon the impressionable player"
Ah yes the birthsigns at the beginning of the game, now the first thing i shall highlight here is that the birthsigns in the game are completely real, they are not the constellations used in real life astrology and astrology is no further used throughout the entire game.

"There are vampires in the game and a few of them are portrayed as "good guys"."
Now for the final point you made, yes it is, and for a long time this made me uneasy, but i'll tell you that in the game you don't have to talk to the single vampire portrayed as a good guy, the rest are either hostile NPC's or vampires you kill for quests to save someone or something.

After reading the comments and replies to this thread I have no doubt i shall be branded a heretic and non christian yet by the blessings of God i am alive, and have had an excellent education bless and heal people through prayer and am blessed and healed through others prayers, yet i have played and still play a game you brand as Demonic. Hope you enjoy this read of mine.