Conservatives have complained for years about violence in [tag]video games[/tag], but apparently their concerns were limited to certain kinds of violence. When the video game is “[tag]Left Behind[/tag]: Eternal Forces,” and the violence is directed towards heathens, apparently the right isn’t as concerned (via C&L).
Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a [tag]Christian [/tag][tag]theocracy[/tag], and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission – both a religious mission and a military mission — to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state – especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is “to conduct physical and spiritual [tag]warfare[/tag]”; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. […]
This game immerses children in present-day New York City — 500 square blocks, stretching from Wall Street to Chinatown, Greenwich Village, the United Nations headquarters, and Harlem. The game rewards children for how effectively they role play the killing of those who resist becoming a born again Christian. […]
Is this paramilitary mission simulator for children anything other than prejudice and bigotry using religion as an organizing tool to get people in a violent frame of mind? The dialogue includes people saying, “[tag]Praise the Lord[/tag],” as they blow [tag]infidels [/tag]away.
A few years ago, The Simpsons had an episode in which Rod and Todd Flanders got to play the one video game Ned would approve of: “Billy Graham’s Bible Blaster.” Rod said, during the game play, “Keep firing! Convert the [tag]heathens[/tag]!” When a heathen got hit a gun that shot bibles, the “victim” was immediately turned into a well-dressed man with a halo. (Those who were merely winged were turned into Unitarians.)
As is often the case lately, parodying the far-right is surprisingly difficult, and in this case, not nearly over-the-top enough.
For what it’s worth, the point of a game like “Left Behind: Eternal Forces” is not subtle.
Games “will be a new tool to get the two-minute generation to think about matters of eternal importance in a way that isn’t religious,” said Troy A. Lyndon, one of the “Left Behind” game’s creators. […]
” ‘Left Behind’ has the Antichrist, the end of the world, the apocalypse,” said co-creator Jeffrey S. Frichner. “It’s got all the Christian stuff, and it’s still got all the cool stuff.”
That’s why industry watchers predict that titles like “Eternal Forces” will find a broader audience in the same way Christian houses of worship like Pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest have attracted followers — in part by not being overly doctrinaire.
“The reason that I think this game has a chance is that it’s not particularly preachy,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities. “I will say some of the dialogue is pretty lame — people saying, ‘Praise the Lord’ after they blow away the bad guys. I think they’re overdoing it a bit. But the message is OK.”
The game is based on the best-selling series of “Left Behind” books, which offer an account of the end times as predicted in the biblical book of Revelation. One of the series’ authors, [tag]Tim LaHaye[/tag], said the game had the potential to communicate ideas such as salvation to people who might not think of themselves as particularly interested.
“We hope teenagers like the game,” LaHaye said. “Our real goal is to have no one left behind.”
We’ve been warned.