Holy Crap! Left Behind Game... Convert or Kill The Infidels!

[walldude]

Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is "to conduct physical and spiritual warfare"; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. You have never felt so powerful, so driven by a purpose: you are 13 years old. You are playing a real-time strategy video game whose creators are linked to the empire of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life.

So I guess violence in video games is ok as long as you are killing non-Christians. These people are mental.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/29/195855/959

edit to fix link... Sorry bout that.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

1. Eh, as an infidel, I'd rather play Grand Theft Auto.

[walldude]

3. Can't do that, it'll make you go out

pay a hooker, then run her over and take back your money. Happens alot these days :eyes:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

4. Hmm...guess I'm not playing enough.

I'll have to work on that.

[Selatius]

2. It's a game that promotes hate and intolerance

It is no different than Neo-Nazis making games where Jews, Blacks, and other minorities are targeted because of color or religion.

[tocqueville]

5. since when are Catholics "non-Christians" ?

just wondering....

[SPKrazy]

7. The Fundies Have Always Said That

They've always looked down and with suspicion at Catholics

[lapislzi]

51. Since the big fundy push in the 70s and 80s

Simple. Catholics don't qualify as Christians because:

1. Worship of and prayer to saints. There are supposed to be no intermediaries between yourself and your "personal relationship" with Jesus.
2. Ditto cult of Virgin Mary--and a woman to boot! Too reminiscent of the goddess. Mary makes them really uncomfortable.
3. Priestly intermediaries are also frowned upon.
4. Infant baptism. You're supposed to make the "choice" to be "saved" as an adult or young adult.

There are probably many other theological and dogmatic reasons, but these four came to mind off the top of my head.

[SPKrazy]

6. Your Link Must Be Wrong

because I don't see anything about a left behind game

[Arkansas Granny]

8. I followed that link too and found nothing, so I Googled it.

Holy crap is right. Check this out.

http://www.leftbehindgames.com/pages/the_games.htm

I honestly thought it was a joke, but apparently not.

[SPKrazy]

55. Yes, It Is Truly Bizarre

and I find it hard to believe that the Warren guy is affiliated with it as he, while more of a fundie than I care to read or listen to, didn't strike me as bat shit crazy!

To me this game is just that, bat shit crazy!

Why not just have a game where you can either be the Nazis, or the Antichrist?

It's pretty hard to see who the "good guy" is in this game.

the one who kills Jews, Catholics, mainstream protestants, gays, Muslims, etc.

or the one who kills the ones who kill all of those.

Seems like the anti-defamation league would be all over this one. The Catholic Church should be too.

What about everyone else who is the "killed" in this game?

Sounds like it is just bat shit crazy!

[walldude]

12. Fixed the link... sorry bout that...

that was still in my clipboard from the Ted Nugent the child molester post I made.

[Initech]

9. Left Behind: For Kids

I swear that I am not making this shit up:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/39573/102-4473621-5223344

[Island Blue]

10. I wish The Rapture would hurry the fuck up

so these crazy people would vacate the planet already. :crazy:

[life_long_dem]

27. Tell the crazies that the rapture happened in the 1st century,

so, they have already been left-behind. LOL

[TechBear_Seattle]

33. Yup, Revelations is a news report, not a prophesy

The Apocalypse occured as predicted, on time and under budget. Ever since, the world has been Hell.

[bklyncowgirl]

44. Yeah and we get all their stuff, cool!

Wouldn't it be a riot if all the fundies got raptured and instead of going straight to heaven they ended up in the other place.

I've read the Bible and if I understand it correctly Jesus loved sinners and absolutely despised hypocrites.

[Imagine My Surprise]

11. This is truly frightening...they have crossed the line...

and I think it will be this kind of fundamentalist envelope-pushing horseshit, that helps reveal JUST how crazy and UNCHRISTIAN they really are. It takes a lot to surprise me, but even I, was a tad surprised that they would blatantly condone -- albeit in "game" form -- the murders of those who disagree with them.

[Lars39]

24. I can't wait to run this by my missionary Southern Baptist BIL.

He,his bubble-headed wife and my MIL believe that the Left Behind series accurately portray what life will be like after the Rapture.

They are in India as missionaries and there's been quite a bit of 'stealth' involved getting them established...the 'ends justifies the means' kind of thing. Absolutely despicable.

[walldude]

13. How bout some votes? This kind of hypocrisy deserves to be

seen by all... ;)

[Imagine My Surprise]

14. I hope the finally waking mainstream churches ROAR...

their disapproval when this thing hits the market. Through hyperbole and ridicule and any other means. This could, oddly enough, be a blessing in disguise FOR US.

[Ikonoklast]

15. What about those that are doing the shooting?

Haven't they, too, been left behind with the rest of us?

I guess that if one is a psychopathic murderer he won't get to ride the Rapture to Jeebus bus.

[Old and In the Way]

16. So how does "Thou shalt not kill" square with this?

kind of Counter-Intuitive Christianity here...

[guinivere]

34. Well, I guess there must be some fine print

after "Thou shalt not kill" that lists who shall and shalt not be killed.

[eppur_se_muova]

35. Must've been in the Signing Statement. nt

[Dudley_DUright]

17. More from everyone's favorite Biology Prof, PZ Myers

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/05/gta_meet_lbef.php#more

On edit: Link fixed

[LongTomH]

20. Here's a better link to the Pharyngula post:

GTA,Meet LB:EF

[Dudley_DUright]

22. Thanks, I accidentally copied the link twice

It is fixed now.

[Roland99]

18. Praise Jesus and Pass the Ammo!!

Gonna kill me some heathens!!

YEE HAW!!!

[Swamp Rat]

19. How about a game where someone can down 'pastor' Rick Warren and

convert him into__________? :D

[hootinholler]

25. I was thinking of a whorehouse mod once the game hits the streets.

I bet someone does it, and please let there be cheat codes.

-Hoot

[aasleka]

21. Video games???!!!

Real time you say??? Could, could it be an online game? PVP?????

This does truly sound like some fun!

Where is Fansy when he is truly needed?

http://www.notaddicted.com/fansythefamous.php

[Poll_Blind]

23. Too bad the name "Unreal" was already taken. n/t

PB

[LongTomH]

26. Don't laugh these people off!

This reminds me of reading: "Hitler's Willing Executioners," a few years ago. I borrowed a copy from a psychologist who had counseled refugees from Bosnia. The stories these people told him sounded like something from Nazi Germany; being awakened in the middle of the night and given 15 minutes to gather their belongings before being shipped to camps, in railroad cattle cars.

The premise of the book, for those who haven't read it, is that more of the German people that we were led to believe, took part in the holocaust. There were blood-chilling passages about men returning to their families, splattered with blood and brains. Imagine people taking part in hunting and killing Jews, then returning to normal life with their families.

What made it possible, according to the author, was years of systematic dehumanization of the Jews by the Nazis, as well as an underlying anti-semitism permeating European culture for centuries.

We saw that same sort of "systematic dehumanization" taking place in Rawanda, with hate radio dehumanizing the Tutsis as "cockroaches," then egging the Hutus on to mass murder.

This sounds like the same mechanism in process. Don't look at this game as an isolated phenomenon. It's part of a systematic dehumanization of liberals, "secular humanists," gays, and others by the right.

This is why I don't think it's unfair to use Nazi comparisons with the extreme right. The Nazis were a warning to history of just what evils human beings are capable of. We need to heed those warnings, even if the right in this country hasn't racked up much of a body count yet.

[AX10]

31. I agree.

[Initech]

28. Rick Warren is a scary, scary, scary individual.

The fact that he supports killing people that dont agree with him... frightens the shit out of me. :scared:

He makes Falwell and Robertson seem normal.

[Buns_of_Fire]

46. Mr. Warren has big plans, he does

(from the article)

On the 25th Anniversary of his Saddleback Church on April 17, 2005, Mr. Warren filled the Angels baseball stadium in Anaheim, California, with tens of thousands of his flock...

<snip>

The Director of the Peace Corps, Gaddi Vasquez, read a message of support from President George W. Bush... He <Warren> pledged participants to achieve a purpose-driven ministry overseas. His dominionist theology is apparent in this ministry. A key aspect of dominionist thought is a conviction that the Scripture gives the church a mandate to take dominion over this world socially and culturally before the return of Jesus Christ. Mr. Warren's global plan is a strategy to realize a dominionist vision of churches, states, and corporations forming partnerships to bring about a new world order to make way for Christ's return by establishing a literal, physical kingdom of God on earth. In order to build this earthly kingdom, Mr. Warren plans marketplace ministries - business ventures with a veneer of missionary compassion that slip into a country in order to transform it systematically through the governmental, corporate, and social sectors. And that is why Mr. Warren calls himself a "stealth evangelist" - because he wishes to cloak his dominionist agenda, which is the establishment of an earthly kingdom that reflects his skewed vision of Christianity.

<snip>

Celebrants included Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda, a tiny east African country that lost hundreds of thousands of people when it suffered genocide in 1994. Catholic and Protestant clergy have been convicted in connection with that genocide. Yet Mr. Kagame announced that he would allow Mr. Warren to turn his country into the first purpose driven nation. The following month, 16 Rwandan religious leaders arrived in Orange County to begin religious training at Saddleback Church. Mr. Warren has said that his global initiative was developed "underground" and in "stealth". Presumably, this was done with the assistance of Mr. Carver, who directs the Purpose Driven Church in all its activities outside North America. (bold mine)

I wonder if Mr. Kagame has ever heard of a place called Jonestown?

[YOY]

53. Gaddi Vasquez is a #$%@#$%

Bushclucking ashwipe needlenose NEVER SERVED! NOT ONE OF US! AGGGHHH GET THIS NEOCON FUCK THE HELL OUT OF THE PEACE CORPS!

[BlackVelvet04]

29. I am absolutely

disgusted to think that anyone claiming to be a Christian would condone this game, much less develop it, market it and claim it as good.

This is SICK.

[AX10]

30. The "War on Terror" is a two front war:

One front is against Islamic Fundamentalism and the other is against "Christian" Fundmentalism.

All non-right wingers better start buying guns for defense!

[Cha]

32. I ain't converting

to their psuedo christian nazism.

[deFaultLine]

36. Yikes!

I actually have read a bit of the Left Behind series and they are as poorly written as anything I have ever seen. They are as unreadable as The Satanic verses by Rushdie and anything L.Ron Hubbard ever wrote.

The scary thing is that more church-goers have read this series than have actually have read the Bible. It is supposedly based on the Book of Revelation; but in reality is much more of a fabrication by American Evangelicals. It has only the remotest connection with the actual Second Coming of Christ.

The influence of this simplistic and inaccurate interpretation of the Bible is being felt right now in our foriegn policy...no kidding folks!

Please don't confuse Christianity with these spurious ideas. Christianity is much more about about helping people out.

[tomreedtoon]

37. And what established churches will complain? None.

I've seen the way a modestly conservative church in my home town - who have a weekly TV show and whose church resembles a high-tech Las Vegas showroom - handles controversy.

It's a left hand/right hand business. Their "main" pastor is a glad-handing, glowing, cheery guy who is very accepting and open. Sometimes he goes on vacation or to preach at a church out of town. Then one of his assistant pastors takes over. This one is the "left hand" - he preaches hard-line right wing values. He pleases the fundies, and the more moderate parishoners just wait until the "right hand" guy comes back.

It's the old business of "plausible deniability." If Left Hand causes too much trouble, Right Hand can say "he was just expressing a personal opinion." If the trouble continues, they "cut off" the Left Hand and cast it from them.

[NMMNG]

38. These people are dangerous

Training kids to "convert" people to their way of thinking or brutally slaughter them.

How long will it be before these radicals take it from the video game to the actual streets? :shrug:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

39. We should e-mail this to Catholics like O'Reilly and Hannity.

Either those idiots come out against the game or advocate their own destruction.

[kittenpants]

48. that's actually a good idea--let their fans know about this craziness

What's scary is that the Left Behind books are (or were) pretty popular. There aren't THAT many rabid fundy freaks out there... right?

[Bassic]

40. This is absurd.

These people are so far from true Christianity they wouldn't know it if it bit them in the ass. Why would Christians want to go around killing scores of people? Would they not have read the Ten Commandments? I guess other people are just not quite human enough to count? :puke:

This must be one of the worst ideas ever.

[Philosoraptor]

41. The Purpose Driven Life? Now it all makes sense. We're doomed.

As if I didn't have enough to be paranoid about.

[bklyncowgirl]

42. Who said "Those who live by the sword will perish by the sword"

Oh yeah, that would be Jesus.

I wonder what the Prince of Peace would think of these clowns?

[maxrandb]

43. This is exactly why I'm a bleeding heart liberal

that supports gun ownership.

[Atlas Mugged]

45. I hope the writers for 'The Simpsons' sue their holy asses off

If this is real, it's a direct rip off of the only video game played by Rod & Tod of 'The Simpsons'.

If I remember correctly:

Bart: Got him!

Rod: Nah, you only winged him. Now he's a Methodist.

[mikeytherat]

47. Actually, when Bart winged him, he only became a Unitarian.

The game was "Billy Graham's Bible Busters."

mikey_the_rat

[Atlas Mugged]

49. Thanks!

I was just guessing.

[mikeytherat]

52. No problem. I'm a real Simpsons geek, so this stuff comes easily for me!

mikey_the_rat

[theHandpuppet]

50. Lessons from a true Christian

Perhaps it's time to revisit a lesson in what true Christianity is supposed to be about.

A Knock at Midnight:
Inspiration from the Great Sermons of
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.


Loving Your Enemies


I am forced to preach under something of a handicap this morning. In fact, I had the doctor before coming to church. And he said that it would be best for me to stay in the bed this morning. And I insisted that I would have to come to preach. So he allowed me to come out with one stipulation, and that is that I would not come in the pulpit until time to preach, and that after, that I would immediately go back home and get in the bed. So I’m going to try to follow his instructions from that point on.

I want to use as a subject from which to preach this morning a very familiar subject, and it is familiar to you because I have preached from this subject twice before to my knowing in this pulpit. I try to make it a, something of a custom or tradition to preach from this passage of Scripture at least once a year, adding new insights that I develop along the way out of new experiences as I give these messages. Although the content is, the basic content is the same, new insights and new experiences naturally make for new illustrations.

So I want to turn your attention to this subject: "Loving Your Enemies." It’s so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation—the whole idea of love, the whole philosophy of love. In the fifth chapter of the gospel as recorded by Saint Matthew, we read these very arresting words flowing from the lips of our Lord and Master: "Ye have heard that it has been said, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven."

Certainly these are great words, words lifted to cosmic proportions. And over the centuries, many persons have argued that this is an extremely difficult command. Many would go so far as to say that it just isn’t possible to move out into the actual practice of this glorious command. They would go on to say that this is just additional proof that Jesus was an impractical idealist who never quite came down to earth. So the arguments abound. But far from being an impractical idealist, Jesus has become the practical realist. The words of this text glitter in our eyes with a new urgency. Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies....

MORE (including the audio) at http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/sermons/571117.002_Loving_Your_Enemies.html

[donco6]

54. God Gameth - God Taketh Away

[Blue_Tires]

56. wow...what a turnaround

were these not the same people trying to get stuff like Doom and GTA removed from the store shelves like yesterday?

of course, it's the 'good' kind of violence, so this 'church' stands to rake in the dough

[Random_Australian]

57. That is nasty alright.