Note: I have been writing about video games in one form or another for most of my life. This piece was written for my junior high-school English class. The teacher of that class was excellent and had an extremely strong influence on my ability to write arguments clearly. I first learned the five paragraph essay (and the principles that form inculcates when well taught) from him. The three topics touched on in this piece–video games, ancient Rome, and morality–have continued to be important to me throughout my adult life. However as I have lost confidence in the Bible, finding the grounds from which to articulate a clear and authoritative moral vision in the absence of an authoritative holy book has been an ongoing challenge. (DL, Sept. 19, 2021)

2,000 years ago, two Roman galdiators are engaged in mortal combat.  With a quick feint, one of them darts forward and disembowels the other.  The watching thousands leap to their feet, cheering wildly.  Today, in the local arcade, two young men are engaged in “Mortal Kombat II”.  They are playing a video game that involves a fight to the death.  At the battle’s end, one of the characters reaches forward and rips the arms off the other.  Blood gushes, and bystanders erupt in laughter.  The striking similarities between the deadly forms of entertainment enjoyed by pagan Rome, and those forms of entertainment enjoyed today, illustrate how much the United States parallels the Roman Empire, and may be heading for the same end.