Recently I was asked to be the guest editor for The Wily Writers -- an online journal that publishes new stories based on different themes every month. The theme I have selected is Warriors. Now...before you conjure up the usual images of swords and crossbows, breastplates and helmets -- let me add that I wanted to broaden the concept to include all kinds of warriors -- including Spiritual Warriors who look for peace when there is war. So I was fascinated to read "No Kill Gaming," in the WSJ about a gamer "West Side Luigi" who specifically engages in violent video games but as a pacifist. His character "Felix the Peaceful Monk" has been known to succeed in the games not by hacking his opponents to death, but by more subtle techniques that involve calming, diffusing, and healing. Clearly, we live in a world that needs both kinds of warriors and we should celebrate them both.
Best part too may be that the concept of the Peaceful Warrior is catching on: "Videogames have long been assailed for their violent themes and gruesome imagery. But a small slice of players has embraced a new strategy: not killing. They are imparting real-world morals on their virtual-world characters and completing entire games on a "pacifist run"—the term for beating a blood-and-guts adventure without drawing any blood."
Amazing...to win the games by subduing violence with peace.
