RDR2 is a beautiful creation graphically. It is an amazing recreation of the American West that takes the user to a variety of places in life of Arthur Morgan, (the character assigned by the game for the user. Arthur has had a sad life, growing up in a gang of outlaws). He has no real moral code nor, for that matter, does the game itself. Here are the biggest negatives from a traditional Christian position:
- The game is based on immorality: theft, robbery and killing.
- The language is out of popular culture and the type of cursing utilized regularly disparages God.
- Christianity and the church are vilified. The preacher in camp is a thoroughgoing hypocrite, who is regularly drunk and participative in questionable activity. A comment is clearly made when robbing a graveyard at a church that churches have been robbing poor people for a very long time. Arthur makes clear that he has no faith nor interest in the subject.
- ALL Southern culture is vilified. Southerners are seen only as ignorant, dishonest and deserving of being robbed.
After a while, all the horse riding and silly tasks (drench the tobacco field with moonshine) make RDR2 pretty boring.
I would recommend that parents only allow older teenagers to play the game and use the anti-Christian bias as a platform for relevant conversation about the clash of cultures that young people of today are in, whether they are aware of the clash or not.
