The Fisher article continues, “The product has been selling in those [Wal-Mart] stores,” according to spokeswoman Tara Raddohl. “The decision on what merchandise we offer in our stores is based on what we think our customers want the opportunity to buy.”
“Nearly 25,000 members of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution, one of the groups critical of the video game, have submitted letters to Wal-Mart, asking the store to stop selling religious violence for Christmas.
“Aimed at conservative Christians, the game’s story line begins in a time after the “rapture,” when fundamentalist dogma contends that Christians will go to heaven. The remaining population on earth must then choose between surrendering to or resisting “the Antichrist,” which the game describes as the “Global Community Peacekeepers,” whose objective is the imposition of “one-world government.”
“Part of the object is to kill or convert the opposing forces,” Simpson said. This is “antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” he said, adding that he was dismayed by the concept in “Eternal Forces” of using prayer to restore a player’s “spirit points” after killing the enemy.” In the game, combatants on one side pause for prayer, intoning, “Praise the Lord.” A player can lose points for “unnecessary killing” but regain them through prayer.
“But Simpson counters, “The idea that you could pray, and the deleterious effects of one’s foul deeds would simply be wiped away, is a horrible thing to be teaching Christian young people here at Christmas time.”
“Troy Lyndon, CEO of Left Behind Games Inc., which is promoting the new video, has defended the game as “inspirational entertainment” and said its critics were exaggerating. The game is based on the popular “Left Behind” novels, a Bible-based end-of-the-world-saga that has sold more than 63 million copies.
“Lyndon told the New York Times the game has received a T (for teen) rating, meaning it offers more violence than an E-rated children’s game, but less graphically than games rated M (for mature). M games have often been criticized by conservative Christian groups.
“The “Left Behind” game is based on the popular series of novels series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins and is based on their interpretation of the Bible’s Book of Revelation.
“Left Behind Games says the game actually is pacifist because players lose “spirit points” every time they gun down nonbelievers rather than convert them. They can earn spirit points again by having their character pray.
“You are fighting a defensive battle in the game. You are a sort of a freedom fighter.”
“Our game includes violence, but excludes blood, decapitation, killing of police officers,” the company says on its Web site.
Simpson, whose group was formed last year to counter the influence of the religious right, told IPS that he and a number of his colleagues would be initiating a conference call to the game’s promoter tomorrow (Thursday), to try to persuade the company to withdraw the game from the market.
“Another participant in the critics’ news conference, author Frederick Clarkson, argued that “Eternal Forces” was less violent than many other video games, but was more troubling in some ways.
“It becomes a tool of religious instruction,” he said. “The message is. …
there will be religious warfare, and you will target your fellow Americans,
people from other faiths, people who you consider to be sinners.”
Clarkson criticized the Rev. James Dobson’s powerful Colorado-based Christian ministry, Focus on the Family (FOF), for publishing a positive review of “Eternal Forces” on one of its Web sites. Dobson’s group is close to the White House and is considered highly influential in shaping the Bush Administration’s conservative agenda.
“Eternal Forces is the kind of game that Mom and Dad can actually play with Junior and use to raise some interesting questions along the way,” wrote the FOF reviewer, Bob Hoose.
Simpson’s group has joined with other progressive Christian organizations to protest the video game. These include the CrossWalk America, the Beatitudes Society, The Center for Progressive Christianity, and the Campaign to Defend the Constitution (DefCon).
This is more funny than anything. Frankly, however the bizarre subset of humanity known as American Christian fundamentalists want to entertain themselves in their own homes is fine with me.
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What’s interesting is Wal-Mart’s stated rationale for carrying the game — “The decision on what merchandise we offer in our stores is based on what we think our customers want the opportunity to buy.”
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Interesting — I don’t remember that being a factor when Wal-Mart pressured the Black Crowes to alter their Amorica album cover because of the presence of a few scary pubic hairs.
…did reject a video game, pitched by Trent Lott and Robert Byrd, with that rationale.
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The game was called “God of Pork” where you try to get all sorts of local construction projects approved – Bridges To Nowhere, Gazebos, et al – while getting other people to pay for it.
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WalMart said the game sounded like a big yawn and that “no regular people” would pay much attention.
I prefer SimPork myself — more gazebo variations available.
What we really do not want to see are attempts by extremists like this to gradually legitimate eliminationist rhetoric — and then eliminationist action. What is also scary about this is that it has not led to James Dobson’s being thoroughly discredited so that the media would no more interview him than the Grand Wizard. The fact that the MSM response is “oh well” is just plain sinister.
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Liberals just hate playing hardball, but Dobson must be discredited.
If the game was Jihad: Eternal Forces? Where would Dobson be if the object was to either convert the infidels or kill them? You could regain your spirit points by chanting ‘All?hu Akbar’ and win the game by using jets as missiles to kill as many as possible.
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Now theres a game mom and dad could really get into.
…have ANY of you read ANY of the books by Tim LeHaye, which have sold about twenty bazillion copies world-wide?
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I read the first one, found it interesting, but wasn’t interested enough to read all 12 of them. But this isn’t some trivial mini-seller like Hillary’s autobiography – it’s a genuine worldwide phenomenon, with millions buying the books. In fact, it’s outsold Harry Potter.
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Have you READ what you are mocking, or do you just rely on reviews?
What do the books have to do with it?
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The issue here is whether it is appropriate for a game billing itself as Christian family entertainment to involve action in which you murder non-believers.
No, I have not read any of the books, and yes I am confident enough to think that any theology that has the Rapture as a main component is ridiculous and deserving of mockery. I don’t need to read the books to know that much.
BTW, from what I have read, more than a few of the “12 bazillion” copies of the books were sold in bulk at heavily discounted prices to the mega-churches for distribution for free to their adherents. I.e., few of them were actually sold at anything close to full retail price.
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It should be obvious that the theme of the “left behind” series is that the conservative evangelical rapturists are god’s “chosen people.” Kinda rings a bell about another group, no?
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Regardless, the reviews of the video games that I have read indicate that they advocate murdering non-believers. That wouldn’t sound particularly christian to me, but, then again, I steadfastly avoid christianism.
This statement is posted from an employee of Left Behind Games on behalf of Troy Lyndon, our Chief Executive Officer.
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There has been in incredible amount of MISINFORMATION published in the media and in online blogs here and elsewhere.
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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 die”. There are NO “negative portrayals of Muslims” and there are NO “points for killing”.
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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
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Then, we’d love to hear your feedback as an informed player.
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The reality is that we’re receiving reports everyday of how this game is positively affecting lives by all who play it.
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Thank you for taking the time to be a responsible blogger.