Our story begins with the ground-breaking expose by Jonathan Hutson at Talk to Action in 2006 which resulted in one of the most successful efforts ever undertaken at exposing and countering the Christian Right.  The posts by Hutson and  other Talk to Action writers ended up creating wide ranging and sustained international news and controversies for months that stretched into years.

And no wonder.

The video required characters in the game to convert to evangelical Christianity or be killed by a Christian militia on the streets of New York City.  

Left Behind: Eternal Forces had been released in time for the 2006 Christmas shopping season. The idea was that good evangelical Christian parents would buy games, wrap them up in pretty Christmas wrapping paper and place the gifts under the tree on Christmas morning. The kids could then go off and play -- while learning the ideology of religious warfare in the End Times. T  

Ppeople and organizations across a wide spectrum of religious and non-religious communities (including Christian, Muslim, and Jewish groups and leaders) and a wide political spectrum recognized the problem of a kid vid for indoctrination into an ideology of religious warfare. It was, as was said in those days, a teachable moment, and a lot of fine groups and individuals rose to the occasion. It was a rare moment of unity in a divided world.

"The game and the belief system behind it are dangerous, because they teach that Judaism and other non-Christian faiths are not valid," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Jews, Muslims and other non-Christians are seen as incomplete unless they convert, a concept that is contrary to the American ideal of respect for all religions."

Independent scholar Chip Berlet (then with Political Research Associates) authored a series about Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, authors of the Left Behind series of novels, which became the basis for the video game. Berlet marveled at how the books themselves were vulgar exercises in bigotry.   He wrote:  

The real scandal involving the violent video game Left Behind: Eternal Forces is that the demonization of enemies, bloodthirsty dualism, and murderous rampages on the computer screen are accurate reflections of the apocalyptic theology espoused by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins in their Left Behind series of novels which have sold more than 70 million copies.

Few in the mainstream media have dared confront the fact that the best-selling Left Behind series is a primer valorizing bigotry, paranoia, and guerrilla warfare against those who promote tolerance, pluralism, and global cooperation. Almost four years ago, however, author Gershom Gorenberg [writing in The American Prospect], blasted the Left Behind series for its open "contempt for Judaism," making a "fanatic killer" a hero, and general rejection of tolerance and democratic civil society.

Over the years, there were efforts to revise the game and its history. Company execs even tried to claim that the bad publicity and calls for boycotts had helped sales. Nothing worked to salvage the disaster. There were even unsuccessful efforts to dump unsold copies of the game on U.S. troops serving in Iraq.

I guess it should come as no surprise that this bizarre effort to capitalize on End Times hysteria crashed and burned and came to this. And perhaps it would have happened anyway. But in my view, it was one of the blogosphere's finest hours.