A comparison of Rev. Wright and video games

Tonight after dinner, on our way to the library (the big one downtown that I reserve for special occasions - I was way excited.), Jim and I were talking about the release of a new video game and some reactions to it. Jim was trying to explain to me why he was mad at these reactions because they were based on hearsay of the game; instead of the actual play of the game; the actual graphics etc...

Then it hit me; why Jim has been interested and understood this debate on Rev. Wright so well - better than I could have ever expected. Jim is a geek; a video game geek in one specific way of geekiness. He has lived through all the soundbites of video games - the one liners that people here about them. "Only kids play them." "All people who play video games want to shoot people." "Video games do this or that."

Now, while I am writing this it seems silly to equate the two. But really they are similar. Jim reads a lot of news and often reads about the boycotts of video games and knows that the boycotts are not for good reason because he has actually played the game when the boycotters have not. He knows the industry of technology well enough to know and research if critiques are in order of the new and edgy software.

It was one of those moments of learning to know perspective of a person that made me understand my husband so much better that may or may not be coming across in this blog entry - but it was one of those moments that made my love meter in my head reach another high for Jim.

Anyways, so in comparing this soundbite attitude that we have in our example video game boycotts and Rev. Wright - we know that soundbite "theology" is not helpful. We know that context is important in whatever does not just Rev. Wright, not just reviewers of video games and even if what I might be quoted in saying at work.

I read a blog entitled "Overheard in Chicago" which posts quotes overheard in Chicago. These are funny partially because they are taken out of context - but when judgment and criticism is taken based on quotes like these then that critique and judgment itself is just out of context.