Friday, September 21, 2007

Second Life (Very old Post saved for a future time, which is now)

12/08/07
I had been thinking about writing something God has brought up to my attention concerning Sin and why people love it so much. But this morning as I skimmed the pages of the magazine Estilos, I found an article on a new software called "Second Life", something about the article called my attention. They wrote the following: "Why do people use this? Basically, to escape a reality that does not FILL them. A lesser job, a better physique, curiosity for other ways to face life..." vanity of vanities my brother Solomon once said. Let me tell you what this "software" is all about:
-First of all their Catch-Phrase is: "Your World. Your Imagination"

"Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its Residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 8,795,365 Residents from around the globe.

* From the moment you enter the World you'll discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Once you've explored a bit, perhaps you'll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house or business.

* You'll also be surrounded by the Creations of your fellow Residents. Because Residents retain the rights to their digital creations, they can buy, sell and trade with other Residents.

* The Marketplace currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is handled with the in-world unit-of-trade, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to US dollars at several thriving online Linden Dollar exchanges.

Welcome to Second Life. We look forward to seeing you in-world. "[1] (emphasis mine)


So basically its a world within the world. Only its virtual and you can reinvent they way you look, you can have your own country and your own presidents, your own laws, your own definition of what is Sin, heck I bet you can probably have your own god. Oh wait since its YOUR world, and YOUR creation you are probably YOUR OWN god.
And because it is a game its open to ALL public. Lets raise our kids with this "new" line of thinking (a way of thinking over 6 thousand years old).

Which brings me back to my original reason for this post. Why people LOVE sin.

Througout this entire semester I have been mocked, laughed at, humiliated, called foolish, hypocrite, among other things, and all because I refuse to do what I know is not right, all for being Christian. Now this doesn't bother me, what bothered me was not knowing exactly why they did this. And I have found out why, I've already discussed this in the last blog but i will say it again, facing up to God comes with a responsability, guilt and repentance which they refuse to accept. And that is why people turn to images, software, music, people, statues, strange fires, among other things before they admit to God that they need repentance and a Savior.

People wake up! There is one World, the one we are living in. One Creator, the Lord our God. And One way, One Truth and One Life and that is Jesus Christ.

God Bless you all
Rita M.

Note: This was a very old Post.

[1]: http://secondlife.com/whatis/

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rita,

I think you're on the right track in determining the attraction of Second Life to some people. It is very important, however, to keep in mind that Second Life is like a lot of other things in that it has been used in vastly different ways by different people and organizations.

Web services, such as Flickr, are used for such a wide variety of purposes that it would be unwise to criticize the company. There are photos in Flickr that are marked "unsafe," but there are also Bible study groups (I belong to one) and numerous photostreams that promote a Christian message.

Similarly, you can find things in Second Life that support the thoughts in your post. But Second Life also has churches and Bible study groups. Medical schools collaborate and train within it. It has opened possibilities to people with disabilities that did not exist before. (I saw a CBS video recently that documented the story of someone who had been a professional event planner. She had to give up her career because of multiple sclerosis. She now has a successful event-planning business within Second Life.)

Yes, you can be creative in Second Life. Isn't that a good thing? God made us to be creative. Some use their innate abilities to create things that glorify God, and others create things that do not. That's true in music, visual arts, using Photoshop, using Second Life, and dozens of other ways.

Creators should be able to retain rights to their work. Writers own copyrights to books and music, I retain the rights to my photos I post in Flickr, and people using Second Life retain the rights to the items they create.

Regarding concerns about age: Second Life is not open to everyone in the public. Members are required to be at least 18. Of course, some people younger than 18 have violated the regulations, but I am comforted that the company behind Second Life has tried harder than most other web-based services to restrict its usage to adults. There is a separate service for teens, and it is restricted to people under 18. I wish other web services would do as much to segregate their adult and teen members.

Thank you for posting your wonderful thoughts about how we can live lives that please God. We should be aware of pitfalls that services such as Second Life pose, while at the same time be aware of the opportunities.

Moon said...

You are quite right, I had not seen it that way, thanks so much for your input!! :D
God bless!!