“What is real?” That is the question that many have to ask themselves in today’s world. Imagine this, you and your friends are rolling down to the skate park, when your friend stops and says, “Ya see that lady over there?” Then he proceeds to pull a gun out of his hoodie saying, “I bet she has a couple hundred bucks on her!” You watch helplessly as he walks over and proceeds to rob her. When she doesn’t  give him her purse, he curses at her and shoots her in the chest. As you run over to help her, your “friend” laughing in the background, you hear “Simulation Terminated.” That’s how most children and teens enjoy themselves in today’s world, virtual reality. This form of reality is taking the world by storm in everything from training courses to video games.However, despite the obvious benefits of learning in a safe environment and socializing in a rule free, consequence free environment, in this world where you can do anything you want without consequence you could begin to lose grasp what “reality” actually is. You might find yourself so entangled in your own fantasy world that you begin to base “reality” and what affects you solely on your fantasy world, and not regular day to day life.
 
   Now suppose that you’re a pilot in training. Would you rather be in the actual plane when you fail, or when there a systems error, or would you prefer to be in a simulator? This manner of learning is becoming increasingly popular today in “high risk” jobs. Virtual reality is being used as a means of safely practicing for job functions that require practice, but are too hazardous to practice live. An example of this would be learning to defuse a bomb. However, when you can fail and have no consequences for it you may find yourself getting more lax in your desire to do the job right the first time. You could find yourself no longer seeming to care since in the back of your mind you know that you can always “start over”. What would happen if your pilot forgot that he was actually flying, and thought the rules of the virtual world still applied? Perhaps even if a man who is slightly “off” mentally were to be driving his car and not care if he runs red lights, speeds, hits people, or even runs off a cliff, because he didn’t know the difference between the virtual world and the real world. Would you want these types of people to be around you or your family?
 
     Another popular trend that virtual reality has brought on is just that, a fake reality. Many people seem to find it relaxing to live a life that is not their own. In these “realities” you can actually be anyone that you might want to be, or do anything that you might want to do. It’s a way of escape for many. For example say you’re a really shy person, but online in one of these virtual worlds you can be as outgoing and flirtatious as you want. As you could imagine this can cause some problems for people socially. Many who find their social haven in these virtual worlds tend to become reclusive to the real world. They seem to forget what real life social rules are and no longer function as an active part of society. On the other hand some people become their “virtual selves” out in the real world after being engrossed in their fantasies. These are the types of people that you really have to be careful of when you’re dealing with them. They are perhaps one of the greatest threats to society, because they have completely lost all sense of reality. This might not seem frightening to you, but what if their “reality” was the simulation of the teenage boy given above? What is they seem to think that it’s OK just to shoot people, or destroy property, because of some game they’ve gotten entangled in? We’ve seen several examples of this in our generation. Remember the Columbine High School massacre?  Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12 students and one teacher. They also injured 21 other students directly, and three people were injured while attempting to escape, simply because their “virtual reality” was so assiduous in their lives.
 
    You must now consider the ethical standpoint of “virtual” reality. Is a virtual world a place that God would want His children to be living in? Could a world made entirely by an extremely broken creature, man, be a place that’s pleasing to God? If you truly thought about it you’d find that it’s almost insulting to Him for us to be wrapped up in a fake reality. God made you. He made this place for you. He sent His Son to THIS world to die for you. He has done nothing of the sort for your virtual avatar, which by the way wouldn’t even exist if there was no power. Even though you might find that virtual reality is a place without pains and sorrows, you’ll also find that it is a place where you can’t grow spiritually. Those trials and tribulations in our lives are exactly the things that cause us to draw closer to God. Even taking God out of the picture, if that were possible, from an ethical standpoint living a life that is not your own is unacceptable. It’s the same as living a lie, or perhaps even murdering yourself. This abomination goes much farther that mere hypocrisy. When you begin to live a totally new life, one that you created, you start to take the place of God. Does any man have the right to orchestrate his own life? Can you, a fallible human, do a better job than the Almighty God, who created the heavens and the Earth?
 
   The virtual world seems like a tempting place of retreat at times. However, what you have to understand is because of the lack of anything that can bring about repentance, you can quickly and easily get trapped. Both of these worlds still contain the same God. You can’t hide from Him in virtual worlds. In truth He treats the “real” you and the “fake” you as the same being. So you must be aware of the danger of living in a world that doesn’t make you aware of, deal with, or “man up to” your choices. For in a world like this you cannot hope to ever achieve truth, nor will you ever be able to express yourself in such a way that doesn’t leave you dead inside.