Monday, September 17, 2007

Nothing like a video game crusade...

I followed links to this article in the Nation which reports that a pentagon-approved group is giving soldiers care packages which include the Left Behind video game. Daily Kos and Gameology explain some of the reasons that this is objectionable.

I think as responsible peace-loving Christians, it is important to speak out about how troubling this is. Even fictional stories that portray a violent Christian Crusade against those of other faiths are offensive and dangerous. Giving those materials to American soldiers in a nation populated by muslims invites comparison to other religiously motivated slaughters across history, and it is not flattering for the US or for Christians. I believe all elements of the Left Behind universe are damaging to the civil-religious psyche because of the disturbing masculinist, rambo'd up version of Christianity that they portray. What ever happened to "blessed are the meek?"

(for a more carefully thought out viewpoint about the potential cultural impact of Left Behind, see my friend Kristy Maddux's dissertation.)

4 comments:

Morgan said...

Wow, yeah that is ridiculous. I thought it was disgusting enough that there was a Left Behind video game, and now it's just disgraceful that those are being shipped to soldiers. The point of that video game, from what I've gathered, is that you try to recruit people (mainly Muslims) to Christ, and if they don't come over, kill them basically.

That's the last thing in the world we need to plant into the minds of our soldiers. Hopefully they'll all just reject it.

Rachel said...

that is so scary.

The Ton Face said...

Though I am not a fan of the Left Behind series it is important to remember that Revelation IS going to happen. God IS going to punish the earth, and it is going to be bloody, violent, and EXTREMELY uncomfortable. All the more reason to point people to the redeeming act of Christ on the Cross.

bethany said...

well, I think the actual predictive quality of Revelation is up for debate. But more importantly, it doesn't call upon Christians to BECOME violent - that's the problem I'm calling out here. Maybe we should use our actions to point people to the redeeming love of Christ.