Religious Right Releases Violent Video Game, Just in Time For Christmas
Our friends over at Talk2Action.org have been tracking the newest member of Tim LaHaye’s “Left Behind” family; the video game version of the story a.k.a. “Left Behind: Eternal Forces.”
For those who are unfamiliar with the Left Behind stories entirely, check out DefCon’s feature on LaHaye and end-times theology. As for the game, here’s a snippet from Michelle Goldberg’s article on the game for New York Magazine:
There are hundreds of ordinary New Yorkers in the game, and you can click on any of them to read a short bio detailing their life and faith. In the course of play, they all have to take sides. As the game’s Website says, “their choice is to either join the AntiChrist—which is an imposturous one world government seeking peace for all of mankind, or they may join the Tribulation Force—which seeks to expose the truth and defend themselves against the forces of the AntiChrist.” Gamers can themselves join the forces of darkness. When I played the evil side while visiting Left Behind Games’ bland, office-park headquarters outside of San Diego recently, I started with two soldiers in my Satanic army, one of them a Muslim named Amir Mohammed Salem.If you really want to understand the ins and outs, see this collection of posts on Talk2Action regarding the game.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&domains=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.talk2action.org%2F&q=%22Eternal+Forces%22&sitesearch=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.talk2action.org%2FIn usual hypocritical fashion, the religious right leadership — many of whom have been vocal opponents of violent video games in the past — have been silent when it comes to the violent “Eternal Forces.” Apparently simulated slaughter is ok if it promotes your ideology.
More:
http://defconblog.org/2006/11/religious-right-releases-violent-video-game-just-in-time-for-christmas/