Christian video game"Eternal Forces" involves mass killing of New Yorkers

[Oilwellian]

Talk To Action's Jonathan Hutson details, in his 5th installment of his running series on the videogame scandal that has already led to the resignation of a top aide to "A Purpose Driven Life" author and megachurch pastor Rick Warren. Now an infuriated Christian conservative attourney and activist, Jack Thompson, has moved aggressively to challenge the moral complicity of major Christian right leaders and organizations trying to ignore the stench of the game: Tyndale House, which licenses "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" also publishes a book, by Thompson, against videogame violence ! Is it any wonder Thompson is furious ?

"My words cannot fully describe what a betrayal this has been by Tyndale," Mr. Thompson wrote in a letter dated June 9, 2006, that he faxed to Mr. Dobson, "not just to me but to all of the Christian families out there who are trying to protect our kids from the corrosive, violent effects of violent media. A Christian organization has now become one of the mental molesters of minors for money." ( emphasis mine )


Now, many people get distracted by the issue of video games and violence. No, says Jonathan Hutson : that's not the important point here. The central issue is indoctrination:

( Hutson ) Comparisons to Grand Theft Auto and other such video game titles are irrelevant to this discussion. It is not the level of violence that is at issue, but the Christian supremacy. This game immerses children in an environment that copies present-day New York, and indoctrinates and rehearses children in the mass killing of New Yorkers. This is religious indoctrination that forms children's identities and teaches that they must be prepared to do a deadly deed to defend their creed. That message is unAmerican and unChristian; patriots and Christians alike should oppose this game.


"Left Behind: Eternal Forces" habituates those who play it to a violent religious supremacist ideology that demonizes an entire societal group, the "unfaithful", as targeted for destruction. That's the sort of demonization, of one or more societal groups, which in history has often preceded acts of mass political violence.


http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/6/12/85750/2410

[Canuckistanian]

1. Scientists are targeted, too

You can see one there in the picture, wounded, in his lab coat.

Sick, twisted bastards.

[gatorboy]

2. Are they keeping the "Anti-Christ" option?

Apparently you can switch sides and wreck havoc in the name of Beelzebub...

[EOTE]

9. I'm guessing so.

If it's a real RTS game, then you've got to be able to play as both sides. I can't wait to download this game and play as the Global Peacekeeping Community (AKA, the forces of Satan).

[TomInTib]

3. What if there was a game where NYers killed Fundies?

Can you imagine the self-righteous furor that would erupt?

[JHB]

4. Full disclosure alert: the game screen was photoshopped.

Read the Kos diary: the guy added the "blood"

The "game" can be condemmed roundly without any exaggerations. There's no need to give them a smokescreen of victimization when letting them show their TRUE views is damning enough.

[porphyrian]

5. So what? It's a video game.

I'd much rather they shoot New Yorkers virtually than for real.

[LiberalPartisan]

6. We need more help for the mentally ill in this country

And surely, extreme religiosity and fundamentalism of every stripe qualify as a mental illness.

[CabalPowered]

10. I love the image in your sig line

That's a riot! :rofl:

[liberalmuse]

7. 'Thou Shalt Not Kill'

Jesus took the 10 commandments further and stated that if you even think of breaking them, then you have sinned. I wish more Christians would read their goddammned Bibles...

[Sinti]

8. I wish I could say I was shocked

But those Left Behind books really do celebrate how we heathens are going to suffer unspeakable tortures when Jesus comes back to punish us. Jesus comes back with a sword, as a warrior, according to the writ psycho-fundie. I hate to say it, but I think these people need some sort of cure. They're obviously really brainwashed and emotionally injured. This type of religion is not Christian, it's a blood-drinking death cult. Hopefully they'll get it before they try to make these sick fantasies real.

[Beelzebud]

11. Hey cool you can be the evil Godless New Yorkers and kill the fundies.

I'll play it if it's a good game. :D

lol

[Vogon_Glory]

12. If The Game Extolled Mass Killings of Lubbock and Memphis Folks

Of course, if the game extolled the mass killings of folks from Lubbock or Memphis, it wouldn't sell in the Bible belt and the rest of the country doesn't really care what would happen to those cities' inhabitants.

:evilgrin:

[mirandapriestly]

13. What can I even say?

what is going on in this world? Makes you wonder...

[arcane1]

14. Dobson won't care unless 2 men are kissing in the game

that seems to be his ONLY concern in life

[central scrutinizer]

15. conundrum

So, suppose you are playing on the side of the Lord God Almighty and things are not going so well. Then you find some cheat codes by googling. Would you burn in the fiery pits of hell for using cheat codes (breaking the commandment to not bear false witness) to fight Satan? Or would you burn in hell because you didn't defeat Satan when you could have? Is this the modern equivalent of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Or can God make a rock so big that he can't lift it?

[dsc]

16. This can't be serious

Someone had to get taken in by the Onion. No one could have been this collusally stupid.

[huskerlaw]

20. It is serious

I made my fundie mom check it out. She got an email response from Mr. Left Behind...it's real.

[Rex]

17. Goons in the streets killing civilians.

Grand Theft - Holy Rollers edt.

[mom cat]

18. And they think this makes Jesus proud?

[file83]

19. Let's make a game where New Yorkers kill Christians. That would be FUN!!

:sarcasm:

In all truth, it's the only way we'll be able to show them how fucked up their game is.

[NashVegas]

21. I Wonder If There's a Hack Yet

Where the tables get turned, and a player can choose to be one of the unwashed, and be armed.

[rockymountaindem]

22. Here's a preview from my favorite gaming site: Gamespot

"There's no getting around this: Left Behind: Eternal Forces is a game that most people will have an opinion about, even if they never play it. That's because this real-time strategy game is based on the best-selling Left Behind series of novels about those who are "left behind" after the rapture takes Christians away to heaven. Obviously, with a premise like that, Left Behind represents the latest in the Christian-themed video game movement, or as developer/publisher Left Behind Games puts it, the "inspirational games" market. We got our first look at Eternal Forces recently to see what the game is like."

In the Left Behind story, those left behind after the rapture splinter into different factions. There's the Tribulation Forces, who are the "good guys" that have seen the light, and then there's the Global Community Peacekeepers, who are led by the antichrist. The Tribulation Forces seek clues from those who were taken, and that's the focus of the game. Eternal Forces is set in New York City, as the Tribulation Forces must battle the Global Community Peacekeepers to uncover certain clues. Though Left Behind authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins aren't involved in the story, key characters from the novels will appear as hero characters in the game's approximately 40 missions.

Since it is set in the modern-day world, Eternal Forces resembles other, modern-day real-time strategy games. You'll control infantry, armor, and other military vehicles as they battle it out, only this time the action takes place on the streets of the Big Apple and not some distant battlefield. However, Eternal Forces is also clearly designed to reach out with its message. The game will feature biblical facts between levels, accompanied by tracks from Christian rock groups. For example, we saw one screen that compared many Hebrew names in the Bible to their modern day meaning. Troy Lyndon, the CEO of Left Behind Games, told us that you can quickly skip over this by hitting the continue button, but they're also putting in a button to learn more if you're intrigued. There are other obvious religious themes in the game. For example, you may come across scrolls that bear a scripture from the Bible, but they also act as power-ups. If you're low on food, using a scroll to summon the angel of harvest will boost your food levels, and so on.

As you'd expect, you'll be encouraged to do good while playing the game, but you may also do evil, as well. Like many real-time strategy games, Eternal Forces features a variety of resources that you need to accumulate to build units. One of these resources is your spiritual rating, which measures how good or evil you are. If your troops kill civilians and innocents, your spiritual rating drops, and if it drops too much, you may see your units defect (each unit has his or her own spiritual rating), and if drops too far, demons will show up. While demons are incredibly powerful units, they're uncontrollable and capable of turning on you as well as the enemy. On the other hand, if you do good (by building churches), your spirit rating will rise, and angels may appear to help you out. This idea of consequences, as well as rewards and punishments, reinforce the game's sense of morality.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/leftbehindeternalforces/news.html?sid=6147323