Younger Christians might be marching to a different tune these days with the advent of video gaming. Their new battle hymn might well be “Onward Christian Gamers Marching off to “Culture Wars.'”
The new game causing such hooplah is called “Left Behind: Eternal Forces” and is based on the popular “Left Behind” series of books and movies from Timothy LaHaye. It is a teen rated strategy game that critics accuse of fostering a message of violence, hatred and religious intolerance, while those in favor of it are sporting that it promotes a prayerful lifestyle.
An advocacy group “Campaign to Defend the Constitution,” which monitors right-wing religious activities, says the game is violently pro-Christian and has petitioned retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to pull it from its shelves, according to Reuters. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said the company will be selling the game in its stores because demand for it within the Christian community has been very high and hard to keep on the shelves. With millions of professing Evangelical Christians in America alone, this should come as no surprise to retailers. So, step right up and make a buck on Jeeeeeesus!
The premise of the game charges players to persuade, recruit and convert as many people as possible to a certain segment of Christian theological belief in order to build up an army that can engage in warfare of the physical and spiritual variety against the antichrist and his legion of evil human followers.
All of this reportedly takes place after millions of “Christians” have been miraculously transported to heaven in the twinkling of an eye in an event commonly called “The Rapture” by adherents to that belief.
The critics of the game describe it as “a violent video game in which ‘born-again Christians’ aim to convert or kill those who don’t adhere to their extreme ideology.”
“After you kill somebody you need to recharge your soul points and to do that you need to bend down in prayer. I think the message is extremely clear,” said Clark Stevens, co-director of Campaign to Defend the Constitution.
To no one’s surprise the game designer’s have called the critics into question.
“The reality is that our game perpetuates prayer and worship and that there is no killing in the name of God. There is killing of course, it is a video game. But the basis of the game is spiritual welfare,” said Troy Lyndon, CEO of Left Behind Games Inc.
“The antichrist is the main bad guy and so you are dealing with his henchmen. Both sides are trying to win the hearts and the minds of people who are not on either side,” Lyndon told Reuters.
Not all who profess to believe in Jesus agree with the pundits pushing the game. Many mainstream Christians are accusing some of the more conservative elements within the Evangelical movement of using these types of games and other forms of entertainment to play to human nature’s natural inclination toward intolerance toward the faith and belief of others outside their own clan or narrow view of the world. They believe this is especially important since the target audience for this type of material are young impressionable minds.
The Rev. Timothy F. Simpson, a minister and member of the Christian Alliance for Progress countered the Evangelical applause to this kind of game with a call to tolerance, saying – “We are trying to tell families that this game is faith-based violence and is not suitable for families.”
I personally don’t understand all the concern. Video games can be violent, whether they are secular in nature or spring from a religious faith-based foundation. I think it is a blast of fresh air that this particular game is finally owning up to the basic intolerant and violent nature of not only a large continency within the Christian religion, but organized religion as a whole. What bothers me, however, is the desire to cover up that fact with statements about it being all about prayer, as given above. Don’t be fooled by the religious spin, this one is about killing those not like you or your group. It is a little hard to actually go out and kill the infidel when one is in the vulnerable prostate position of humble prayer.
James Wright says
This “news post” really doesn’t need the last paragraph. That’s incredibly biased and to call out a video game because its makers lie or exagerate to get it sold is like telling us the sky is blue. That’s exactly what the game makers are doing…the same thing that EVERY game maker with a controversial game has ever done…mislead the media to sell more games.
“this one is about killing those not like you or your group”
which is what every video game is about…killing the “bad guy”. It’s just that in this game the “bad guy” is something slightly closer to reality than alot of people feel comfortable with.
Sam says
Ahhhhhh….look at the very top….this is not under the heading of NEWS, but an Editorial, and if I remember my journalism correctly, the Editor can editorialize to his or her heart’s content on the subject at hand. The whole point of an Editorial is that it will be a focal point of discussion from opposing points of view…..thus the Comment section for those, as yourself, who wish to vent on the Editor’s POV.
Jeremy from Seattle says
And how is this game closer to reality? I’m sorry but GTA is way more based on reality than this hooey.
I think the problem a lot of people have with the game is the hypocracy of many evangelical churches speaking out on the violence in games, and then saying its ok when you kill then pray for forgiveness (hence the loss of soul points when you kill and praying to get them back).
I’d personally rather have my child go around fragging opponents (that respawn) online than killing rock stars and goth kids that don’t want to be converted to christianity, then praying for forgiveness.
Zach says
What strikes me as noteworthy is that the people who are criticizing the game call themselves the “Campaign to Defend the Constitution”. One would think that includes the First Amendment? All kidding aside, I disagree that there’s an intolerant and violent component of most organized religions. Rather than judging religions, perhaps we should be judging practicioners. I consider myself a Christian, but I don’t see any place in my theology that teaches me that it’s all right to go forth and bash those who are different. You may see it differently, but I think you’re incorrect on that particular point. Then again, maybe that’s the way that Christianity is portrayed in the Left Behind books and what I understand is a poor excuse for a game – I wouldn’t know. If that’s the case, it’s unfortunate at best.
At any rate, everyone realizes that the only politically correct people to shoot in a video game are aliens, zombies, and Nazis, and the most politically correct person to shoot would be Nazi Zombies that were controlled by aliens.
Sam says
Nazi Zombies controlled by aliens….Priceless! 🙂
SJR says
This statement is posted from an employee of Left Behind Games on behalf of Troy Lyndon, our Chief Executive Officer.
There has been in incredible amount of MISINFORMATION published in the media and in online blogs here and elsewhere.
Pacifist Christians and other groups are taking the game material out of context to support their own causes. There is NO “killing in the name of God†and NO “convert or dieâ€Â. There are NO “negative portrayals of Muslims†and there are NO “points for killingâ€Â.
Please play the game demo for yourself (to at least level 5 of 40) to get an accurate perspective, or listen to what CREDIBLE unbiased experts are saying after reviewing the game at http://www.leftbehindgames.com/pages/controversy.htm
Then, we’d love to hear your feedback as an informed player.
The reality is that we’re receiving reports everyday of how this game is positively affecting lives by all who play it.
Thank you for taking the time to be a responsible blogger.