Mike D Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 I wonder if Jesus gets in on the act and helps gamers slaughter the non-believers? 'Convert or die' game divides Christians Some ask Wal-Mart to drop Left Behind Ilene Lelchuk, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, December 12, 2006 Liberal and progressive Christian groups say a new computer game in which players must either convert or kill non-Christians is the wrong gift to give this holiday season and that Wal-Mart, a major video game retailer, should yank it off its shelves. The Campaign to Defend the Constitution and the Christian Alliance for Progress, two online political groups, plan to demand today that Wal-Mart dump Left Behind: Eternal Forces, a PC game inspired by a series of Christian novels that are hugely popular, especially with teens. The series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins is based on their interpretation of the Bible's Book of Revelation and takes place after the Rapture, when Jesus has taken his people to heaven and left nonbelievers behind to face the Antichrist. Left Behind Games' president, Jeffrey Frichner, 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," Frichner, whose previous company produced Bible software, said of combatting the Antichrist. "You are a sort of a freedom fighter." A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said the retailer has no plans to pull Left Behind: Eternal Forces from any of the 200 of Wal-Mart's 3,800 stores that offer the game, including just seven in California. The nearest are in Chico and Redding. "We look at the community to see where it will sell," said Tara Raddohl. "We have customers who are buying it and really haven't received a lot of complaints about it from our customers at this time." Clark Stevens, co-director of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution, said the game is not peaceful or diplomatic. "It's an incredibly violent video game," said Stevens. "Sure, there is no blood. (The dead just fade off the screen.) But you are mowing down your enemy with a gun. It pushes a message of religious intolerance. You can either play for the 'good side' by trying to convert nonbelievers to your side or join the Antichrist." The Rev. Tim Simpson, a Jacksonville, Fla., Presbyterian minister and president of the Christian Alliance for Progress, added: "So, under the Christmas tree this year for little Johnny is this allegedly Christian video game teaching Johnny to hate and kill?" Both groups formed in 2005 to protest what their 130,000 or so members feel is the growing political influence and hypocrisy of the religious right. In Left Behind, set in perfectly apocalyptic New York City, the Antichrist is personified by fictional Romanian Nicolae Carpathia, secretary-general of the United Nations and a People magazine "Sexiest Man Alive." Players can choose to join the Antichrist's team, but of course they can never win on Carpathia's side. The enemy team includes fictional rock stars and folks with Muslim-sounding names, while the righteous include gospel singers, missionaries, healers and medics. Every character comes with a life story. When asked about the Arab and Muslim-sounding names, Frichner said the game does not endorse prejudice. But "Muslims are not believers in Jesus Christ" -- and thus can't be on Christ's side in the game. "That is so obvious," he said. Left Behind is a real-time strategy and adventure game. Players don't role-play like in Grand Theft Auto -- it's more like the board game Risk than Clue. Frichner said more than 10,000 retailers -- including Sam's Club, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, GameStop, EB Games and various Christian stores -- offer the game. He said sales are terrific, though he wouldn't reveal figures. Protesters are targeting Wal-Mart, where the game retails for $39.96, because it is one of the biggest video game sellers in the United States. More than 60 million copies of books in the series have sold since the first volume came out in 1996. Jeff Gerstmann, senior editor at Gamespot.com, an online publication, said the game sn't popular. The game itself, which Gamespot rated 3.4 out of a possible 10, has lots of glitches. "And it's kind of crazy," Gerstmann said. "One of the evil characters is a rock musician. ... If you get too close to him your spirit is lowered." But Plugged In, a publication of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, gave the game a "thumbs-up." The reviewer called it "the kind of game that Mom and Dad can actually play with Junior -- and use to raise some interesting questions along the way." Frichner said that is precisely his company's ultimate goal in offering the game: to bring parents and kids together to talk about the Bible. He said most teens are playing video games, so it was natural to turn the books into one. His business partner, Troy Lyndon, created Madden Football, one of the top-selling sports video games. Left Behind Games Inc. is based in Murrieta (Riverside County). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jella Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Well maybe little Johnny and Suzy will be more inclined to join the Military. What a great recruitment tool. For Christ sakes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sage Nabooru Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 I can tell you right now that if they sell this game at my Wal-Mart, I will refuse to sell it to anybody. I can also assure you that Wal-Mart does go out of its way to please and placate the fundamentalist customer base. 90% of our books are written by Protestant Fundamentalists and come with evangelistic messages. Oh, and while we offer a wide range of Bibles (at least a dozen different ones where I work), none of them are Catholic. You can't find a Catholic item here, sorry, because Catholics are devil-worshipping papists. We edit all our CDs, keep the LB movies in stock all the time (I know they're always in the $5.50 bin), and regularly pull movies featuring gay characters off the shelves with one single complaint to the company. Now we're being forced to say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays". And they're selling pins in the training room for us to wear that say "Jesus is the reason for the season". I am SO glad I'm going to school soon. I can't stand this choking fundy bullshit much longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jella Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 I am SO glad I'm going to school soon. I can't stand this choking fundy bullshit much longer. Good luck to you, both now getting through the crap, and in your further studies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentLoner Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 According to the game reviews, its a crappy game aside from the xtian propaganda. Lousy camera angles and whatnot, so it shouldnt sell that well even among the intended crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_raven23 Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Left Behind Games' president, Jeffrey Frichner, 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. Oh....so as long as I pray and ask forgiveness....gunning unsaved heathens down in the street is perfectly okay. The sad and scary part, is that someone possibly coached him to say that publicly and no one saw that teensy little "flaw" in the justification before he opened his ignorant mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Left Behind Games' president, Jeffrey Frichner, 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. Oh....so as long as I pray and ask forgiveness....gunning unsaved heathens down in the street is perfectly okay. The sad and scary part, is that someone possibly coached him to say that publicly and no one saw that teensy little "flaw" in the justification before he opened his ignorant mouth. What worries me is that some idiot will actually go out and start killing non-Christians. Yeah, I know, the whole "computer games make people commit crimes" thing is a cliche'. But you never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warrior_of_god Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 eah, I know, the whole "computer games make people commit crimes" thing is a cliche'. But you never know. Religion is not a factor in most computer games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonkey Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Every week, my fear for the future of the human race grows greater. This has just doubled it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongo Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Now we're being forced to say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays". And they're selling pins in the training room for us to wear that say "Jesus is the reason for the season". I am SO glad I'm going to school soon. I can't stand this choking fundy bullshit much longer. Let's see know if I can remember this obscure fact.... um um... oh yes now I know... you guys are not unionized so if you fight back, they'll fire you. I wonder how the Muslim staff feel. Oh, you're not in Canada so you might not have any of them on staff. Now that I've abandoned that fundy shit, I think I would have a problem with those pins and buttons. Mongo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nirrti Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 What kills me is the utter hypocracy. Now what if they sold a game that featured Muslims killing Christians, Jews and other assorted "infidels"? Not only would most of America have a heart attack, an aneurysm, a stroke,......but the creators would probably get the Patriot Act put on there asses and get sent to Gitmo before the first game even saw the flouresant light of a Walmart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astreja Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 I've already stopped shopping at Wally World, but this reinforces my resolve to stay away from the place indefinitely. It's amazing what crap people will buy if you just stick a "Christian" label on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lycorth Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Wal-mart's cashing in by advertising to a particular crowd. No surprise here. Money is what matters, not the garbage they put on the shelves. On one hand, I'd like to see just how hard it is to play as an "evil" character. But on the other hand, I have better games to waste time with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yaoi Huntress Earth Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Not to mention from the reviews I've read, there's some pretty racist\sexist stuff. The converted all become Ned Flanders-type Ultra-WASPs. Of course women are limited to only two jobs and can't open buildings to support the cult and there are no recruitable minorities. If anyone is interested, here's a list of the reviews for the game: http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/928956.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverclear5 Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 hmmm, sounds like fun. Just leave out the praying and improve the graphics and almost every other aspect and It'd be great! Personally I kinda like the idea. In england we don't have many fundies and its mostly all wishy washy bollocks, watered down, but ultimately still damaging. It's good to remind people of the actual realities of christianity rather than let them idle about in the comfy world of nativity school plays and christingle oranges with sweets on them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKR Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 I can tell you right now that if they sell this game at my Wal-Mart, I will refuse to sell it to anybody. I can also assure you that Wal-Mart does go out of its way to please and placate the fundamentalist customer base. 90% of our books are written by Protestant Fundamentalists and come with evangelistic messages. Oh, and while we offer a wide range of Bibles (at least a dozen different ones where I work), none of them are Catholic. You can't find a Catholic item here, sorry, because Catholics are devil-worshipping papists. We edit all our CDs, keep the LB movies in stock all the time (I know they're always in the $5.50 bin), and regularly pull movies featuring gay characters off the shelves with one single complaint to the company. Now we're being forced to say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays". And they're selling pins in the training room for us to wear that say "Jesus is the reason for the season". I am SO glad I'm going to school soon. I can't stand this choking fundy bullshit much longer. holy bullshit, batman! refuse to say merry christmas, and refuse to wear those stupid "jesus is the reason" pins. seriously, absolutey refuse to wear these, and if they fire you, you can sue that piece of shit, scum company for big bucks. go out of your way to make sure they know you won't be doing those things. i normally wouldn't advocate trying to get money out of a company, but if i believed in the devil, he would be running walmart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light_of_Reason Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 "You are fighting a defensive battle in the game," Frichner, whose previous company produced Bible software, said of combatting the Antichrist. "You are a sort of a freedom fighter." Interesting choice of words considering that most groups we call terrorists refer to themselves as freedom fighters and use similar rationality and hatred as that in this game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulQ Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Now we're being forced to say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays". And they're selling pins in the training room for us to wear that say "Jesus is the reason for the season". You are well within your rights to opt for a pin that states "The Solstice is the reason for the season," and say, "Merry Solstice." If they take any kind of disciplinary action, you can slap them with a big ole lawsuit that'll yield you a lot more than the minimum wage they pay. If Wal-Mart workers organized and obtained union representation, this BS wouldn't even be happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike D Posted December 14, 2006 Author Share Posted December 14, 2006 Wal-mart's cashing in by advertising to a particular crowd. No surprise here. Money is what matters, not the garbage they put on the shelves. Totally agree. Same thing for the authors of the "Left Behind" books. I guess the bizillion dollars they made from books sales wasn't enough, now they've sold the rights to use it in a game too. Gee, I bet they're not in it just for the money now are they? It's pretty pathetic how Christians so easily justify their greed, as long as it's in the name of Jesus it's ok.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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