Apocalypse, Now a Lawsuit (Part 5)
The game immerses children in a post-Apocalyptic New York City setting evocative of 9/11. It simulates armed conflict between conservative Evangelical Christians and all New Yorkers who refuse to convert to their brand of Christianity. All "neutral" New Yorkers must ultimately convert or be killed. "They cannot remain neutral," states the game's creator, Left Behind Games. Bodies of slain New Yorkers litter the streets as the game builds to a final battle between the forces of absolute good and absolute evil. Christian militia fighters include a member of the Elite Forces, who is depicted lighting the fuse on a bundle of dynamite. The game's Christian supremacist theme and eliminationist rhetoric (militia members wielding modern military weapons shout "Praise the Lord!" as they blow infidels away) have elicited sharp criticism from many Christians, such as Paul Procter of the Christian Worldview Network; other people of faith; and people who believe in the separation of church and state. Greg Bauman played the game and reviewed it for WarCry Network. Bauman concluded: "The only way to accomplish anything positive in the game is to 'convert' nonbelievers into faithful believers, and the only alternative to this is outright killing them." Talk to Action has called not for censorship or prior restraint, but for protests and boycotts. Mr. Thompson is the first and only critic to threaten legal action. "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." "What is more," Mr. Thompson continued, "we as a nation are involved in a war on terror, and this game gives radical Islamists two arguments: that we indeed do export pop culture sewage to the rest of the world, and we Christians entertain ourselves with the notion of killing infidels, now in a `Christian game'." Mr. Thompson wrote Out of Harm's Way, a Tyndale House title detailing his efforts to curb the marketing of violent video games to minors. Tyndale House also publishes Mr. Dobson's Bringing Up Boys and The Complete Marriage and Home Family Reference Guide. Mr. Thompson asked that Mr. Dobson sever all ties to Tyndale House. He directed Mr. Dobson to the URL of "Purpose Driven Life Takers," the first essay in Talk to Action's series on Left Behind: Eternal Forces. Talk to Action has repudiated Tyndale House and the game's creators, Left Behind Games, for indoctrinating children in Christian supremacy, and has called for a boycott of any mega-churches or chain stores that plan to distribute the game. Left Behind Games has announced its plan to distribute 1 million sample discs to mega-churches nationwide. Mr. Thompson has stated that he is investigating a possible lawsuit against Tyndale House, although he did not specify on what ground: You can read all about this incredible knuckleheaded move by Tyndale House, your publisher and mine, at http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/29/195855/959. What you will read there will break your heart.On June 9 -- the same day that he faxed the letter to Mr. Dobson -- Mr. Thompson e-mailed a copy of it to Talk to Action. That same afternoon, Talk to Action forwarded to Mr. Thompson a Washington Times article dated June 7, 2006, in which Southern Baptist Convention leaders and Focus on the Family declined to issue any statement on Left Behind: Eternal Forces because that they were not familiar with it. Mr. Thompson dashed off this reply: "Not familiar? How about they get familiar. Ridiculous." One need not agree with Mr. Thompson's legal strategy in this case, whatever it may turn out to be, to agree that he raises valid points about hypocrisy and lack of leadership from the mega-church marketers and Bible-publishing backers of this Christian supremacist game. It is no good for conservative Christian leaders to preach against video game violence on a Sunday, and invest in it on Monday - and then distribute 1 million sample discs through the pews of mega-churches. Nor does it serve Christian leaders well to stay conspicuously silent about a video game that indoctrinates and rehearses children in the mass killing of New Yorkers. Mr. Thompson should be given credit for his moral consistency in severing ties with his publisher, Tyndale House, and for calling them to account for their hypocrisy in publishing Mr. Thompson's book against video game violence while at the same time licensing Left Behind: Eternal Forces, which is not only violent, but Christian supremacist. As Jesus taught, the Lord's house is not a marketplace. Here's Jesus, literally whipping up some public protest over money men who used the Lord's house to set up business: When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" (Gospel According to John, 2:13-16)That passage is from the Living Bible, published by Tyndale House. Maybe they should read less of their best selling fiction series - the Left Behind novels - and read more from their own Bible.
The Purpose Driven Life Takers (Part 1) Violent Video Marketed Through Mega-Churches (Part 2) Revelation and Resignation (Part 3) Christian Cadre's Layman: 'A Whopper of Being Wrong' (Part 4) Apocalypse, Now a Lawsuit (Part 5) Who's Watching the Boys? (Part 6) Conservative Christian Culture Warriors Cut and Run (Part 7)
Apocalypse, Now a Lawsuit (Part 5) | 24 comments (24 topical, 0 hidden)
Apocalypse, Now a Lawsuit (Part 5) | 24 comments (24 topical, 0 hidden)
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