Kill 'Em All, Let God -- Well, You Know

[filkertom]

Lovely.

Crooks and Liars alerts us of an upcoming video game based on the Left Behind series (here's the official page for it) wherein you can either be a Christian killing infidels or the Antichrist killing Christians.

Because, after all, they say this cat Jesus was a bad mutha-

When? When do people start saying These sick fucks are not a part of any Christianity I've ever heard about?

Comments

[popefelix.livejournal.com]

oo! I wanna be the Antichrist!

[ericthemage.livejournal.com]

Sorry, the position has already been filled. >:)

[brianh]

Some of us have been saying it for years, really.

I'm the...

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

"Goddam Jesus-Nut Muthafucka!"

*sigh* I doubt people will wise up until it's almost too late. But I can hope that the more these idiots come out of the woodwork the more the regular guys and gals will see how far it's gone.

I talk to people, I rant, I show them what these nutballs are doing, and still they don't believe.

Maybe I'm just explaining things wrong but I figure even if I am then it at least brings doubt to their view of these people. And in this case that's a precious thing because it's the one thing these people (the nutballs) don't have and it's the one thing they want to prevent in the people that they try and swing their way.

[Yoda]
Doubt leads to questions,
Questions lead to thinking,
Thinking leads to understanding!

I hope for much understanding in you...
[/Yoda]

[vulpine137.livejournal.com]

Life just gets weirder and weirder. I can see the Christians vs everyone else part (it depresses me, but I can see it), but I wonder who on the design team thought that having an Antichrist option would be a good idea. I guess they were going for the fundie & antifundie dollar at the same time. Weird.

Now if it had a Cultist of Cthulhu option I might go for it...

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

Alas, I am not a good enough artist to draw Christhulhu.

Fortunately.

[que-sara-sara.livejournal.com]

But it IS part of the Christianity I've heard about! The first crusade into Jeruselum they killed ALL of its residents, not caring if they were Muslum, Jew or Christian. Male or female.

This has nothing to do with Jesu Christ or his message, but it does have everything to do with what Christianity has become today with only very rare exceptions.

If Jesus does come back I hope he manages to tell every single one of these people how badly they've twisted his teachings before sending them to be reincarnated in their own personal version of hell over and over again until they learn their lessons.

Jesus was an enlightened Jew. None of that resembles Christianity today. Unless either the Gnostics or Essenes are still hiding somewhere in force.

[zibblsnrt.livejournal.com]

As with all other institutions, it evolves over time. Christianity as it is now and Christianity nine hundred years ago aren't the same creature, nor should they be treated as such. Collective guilt ain't cool.

Besides, if you're willing to carry on guilt from that far back, you won't find a single culture on this planet deserving of respect, much less any kind of admiration.

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

That is just repulsive.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Well, I have been for years, but I'm Jewish. I don't count.

[allandaros.livejournal.com]

This is a ridiculous idea for a game. I predict its arc will be something like that of the 50 Cent game which was released a little while ago:

1) Game is released
2) People of varying types go "OH NO THIS IS EVIL WE MUST BAN!"
3) Gamers play it, go "OH NO, THIS GAME IS AWFUL! KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT!"
4) Game dies an obscure and forgotten death.

I also find it quite weird that a game being released by a fundamentalist Christian group includes a "play-as-the-Antichrist" option. Somehow, I have a sneaking feeling that that might prove to be more popular than the regular mode among those who play this. I mean...demons! RRARRGGH!

[allandaros.livejournal.com]

Also, it seems like they're using icons from Warcraft III (http://www.leftbehindgames.com/pages/images/screenshots/ss1.jpg). Look at that potion bottle in the lower right hand corner!

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

I wonder, if you play the antichrist, do you get bonus points for killing Robertson and other liars, er, I mean televangelists? Can the antichrist mode go into the white house and kill the bush staff, er, I mean God's Warriors? And if you play the christian side, do you get bonus points for unleashing tidal waves on the west coast, assassinating south american politicians, and ripping the sermon on the mount out of the bible? I'm sure they want to do that, I mean, it gets in the way of all that wholesome christian slaughter.

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

No, in Antichrist mode, Robertson, LaHaye and the Bushies are all on your side. You use them to pretend to be on the side of Jesus, the better to trick the most righteous, innocent souls (worth the most points) into following you down the path to corruption, damnation and eternal fire and guh-nashing of teeth.

"Yes, my son...it is the will of the Christ that, if you see a sinful homosexual defiling the church by his presence, you must SLAY him right there at the altar. God will love you for that."

Wish this was a joke...

[farnex.livejournal.com]

If today was April first then this would be a great joke, but it is not April and I still want to believe this is a joke, because I don't want to believe this is real. You wanna talk about signs of the end times THIS game is a sign.

I know some of you aren't Christians, and I admit I struggle everyday with my faith, but I can't imagine any Christians playing this game or even conceiving this game. On behalf of good and kind Christian Men and Women who arent' perfect but do their best to serve the Lord, I want to apologize for our brothers and sisters who have supported this awlful endevor.

Re: Wish this was a joke...

[sylverwolfe.livejournal.com]

hey, i've known some very nice and reasonable, upstanding people who happen to be Christians, and their religion probably had at least something to do with that. i looked around my Catholic church at around age nine and saw how it worked for some people, and others were just going thru the motions. the faith didn't resonate with me, and i felt that Deity of any variety deserved better than mere lip service, and started seeking my own path. but i've always kept in mind that other people probably feel the same way about my faith - it's interesting, but not their way - and made the decision to live and let live. you and people like you remind me that it was a sound and good decision. :-) so don't worry, i for one don't blame you for the wingnuts and weirdos who happen to also be Christians. i know i've got plenty of them on my side of the church doors myself.

[sylverwolfe.livejournal.com]

that's....fricken' creepy. moreso because i had a fitful several hours' sleep during which the only dream i recall having involved me being regarded as the antichrist and having a terrible time trying to stay alive long enough to prove i'm not.
the left behind books have always struck me as a weird subgroup of novels, and they're alluded to in one of 2003's humana festival plays, called "faculty room." worth a read if you can find the script, including one of the best narnia references i've seen in theatre in a while.

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

When? When it starts impinging on people in a direct and personal way. If hypocrisy was all it took, Dumbass would've been impeached in 2003, preceded by Darth Cheney. Fortunately, I see signs of spring. Moderate and Progressive Christians are starting to come forward more loudly now. People who were suckered in by The Idiot's repeated claims of moral superiority are turning on him. The times, as Bob Dylan put it, are a-changin'.

Typically, of course, the media is slow to react and thinks they should still be in a 'slam the left, push the right' mode.

[kengr]

"When do people start saying These sick fucks are not a part of any Christianity I've ever heard about?"

About the same time they get the idea that the "problem" Muslims aren't following the Koran worth a damn?

[morpheus0013.livejournal.com]

This is semi-off topic, but...I went to Amazon to look at the Left Behind series (what I knew about it was Kirk Cameron's in a movie based on it, woo-hoo) and found someone's list of "My Favorite Chistian Fantasy/Sci-Fi."

4 books I never heard of. Okay.
The ENTIRE Left Behind series. Okay.
Chronicles of Narnai. Okay.
The Hobbit. Oka--wait, what?
The Fellowship of the Ring/The Two Towers/The Return of the King.

Bwah?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Remember that it doesn't have to be a direct referential tie. Tolkien is the man who converted C. S. Lewis.

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

This holiday season...

Jackie Chan

IS

JESUS OF NAZARETH.

[zibblsnrt.livejournal.com]

[skaramine.livejournal.com]

Didn't John, in Revelations say "anyone seeking to change or reinterpret these prophecies is damned?" or words to that effect.

If John wasn't a total nutrod, then those two are on the express train to hell.

If John was a nutrod, then the book of Revelations (which goes completely contrary to the rest of the New Testament) is apocryphal, and this, Lehayne and that other dork are spinning unwarranted idiot fiction.

Either way... no skin off my nose.

[hunterkirk.livejournal.com]

Have you ever watched the Left Behind series? I am reminded of one of there series in which a main character wants to use violence against the anti-christs forces. The majority of the resistance forces oppose the idea but he insists. It comes to a head when he is about to free two of his fellow resistance people held captive and in line for execution and he is discovered by a guard. He couldn't get the jail cell door open fast enough to escape and the guard insists to know which unite he was with or the guard will shoot. Instead of pulling the gun and shooting the sighs deeply and leans against the jail cell. At that moment the guard that had him dead to rights is called away and the jail cell door opens.

What's my point? My point is that the combat in the game may not be what you or the article is makeing out to be. I watched all the series and rare if ever is violence against the anti christ or his follower encouraged and if it does happen it is never successful.

[ororo.livejournal.com]

I've read some of the books and found them wanting in writing quality and character development.

At issue isn't the books, it's the game. When the game site says things like "wield modern military weaponry throughout the game world" that says violence to me.

[armb.livejournal.com]

The good/real Christians have been raptured away, and sick fucks who call themselves Christians but aren't have been "left behind"?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

This triggered a scary, scary thought, one which demonstrates the depths of either their cynicism or mine: What if, on some level, the people who came up with this are thinking [a] there will be a Rapture, [b] they and most of their own team won't be good enough, and since [c] everybody "knows" video games make kinds more violent [d] they should start inculcating a "kill the infidel" mindset in their youth for the post-Rapture?

Alternatively, what if they're just planning a religious coup?

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

Every Christian I've asked about it personally says that _Left Behind_ isn't part of any Christianity they've ever heard of. It's a set of thriller novels. It's got about as much to do with real Christianity as Steven King stories have to do with real Maine.

[dandelion-diva.livejournal.com]

It's got about as much to do with real Christianity as Steven King stories have to do with real Maine.

Awwwww mannnn! *stops planning to move to Maine and become the next Slayer* (I know, I'm mixing my fandoms. I'll survive. ;)

Gessi

[warinbear.livejournal.com]

When do people start saying These sick fucks are not a part of any Christianity I've ever heard about?

If you'll allow the phrase "Get off my team!" as a substitute, oh . . . about twenty years, give or take.

I'm a Christian, which means I follow the teachings of Christ. Not Paul, not John, not The Church(tm), not Pope Whicheverheisrightnow VII -- Christ. I have no words for the embarrassment and disgust I feel at having to share the label with people like <spit> Fred Phelps, but I have about as much chance of forcing them to behave according to my idea of what Christianity is about as they have of forcing me to behave according to their idea.

[hunterkirk.livejournal.com]

As I read these responces I find it amazing how little knowledge of the christian faith is being demostrated here. So I will take a moment to explain the beliefs behind the left behind series, and Christianity.

1st Christianity as defined my most Christian churches agree to two to three basic beliefs:
a) God is three in one. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The nature of this union is considered a mystery.
b) Jesus is this "Son" part of God and came to earth to die for all mankinds sins so that they may enter heaven with the only requirement of beleaving in him and his sacrifice.
c) The Bible is the inspired word of God. This one is the most debated as many in the Christian faith like to cut and paste from the Bible. But is't uncommon in any faith.

Now as for the source of the Left Behind Series. They are called Milleniumist, and they that litterally the text of revolations. From this they get the rapture, and the period when the Anti-Christ will rule the world. It isnt a commonly held belief in the Christian faith. In it those who are "left behind" to are those Christian that by design (to lead others) or didn't fully accept Christ as God are given a second chance before the end day when God comes for final judgement. The left behind series which clearly no one here has seen in movie form was never about taking over the world by military action. In fact the victory of the Anti-Christ is always the case. The series is more about the Christians being pursecuted, killed, or under pressure of the AntiChrist.

Now this video game may or may not be in line with those facts but I think what is confusing the writer of the article, who I think is spreading misinformation, are terms like Spiritual Soldiers and Warfare. Those terms are not refering to armed conflict but to test of will and faith. Or in short hand to gaining of converts.

I don't agree with the theology of the Milleniumist, but since they do agree with the three standards of the Christian faith I will call them Christian. But the level of bile against Christian's in this thread is down right amazing. It is even more amazing when you look at the person who wrote the misinformed article in the first place, a fellow who claims to be a Christian.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Look, you want to be an apologist for this, fine. I believe you're wrong on a number of levels, and I could go on for just pages here. But I think I will simply refer you, again, to the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_Behind_%28series%29) page, which has summaries of some of the criticisms and links to many references.

One thing, however, I cannot let go, and since it's the frickin' point of my posting all this here, I hope you'll indulge me.

You mentioned, "... I think what is confusing the writer of the article, who I think is spreading misinformation, are terms like Spiritual Soldiers and Warfare. Those terms are not refering to armed conflict but to test of will and faith. Or in short hand to gaining of converts."

Uh huh.

From the official game page:

• Conduct physical & spiritual warfare: using the power of prayer to strengthen your troops in combat and wield modern military weaponry throughout the game world.
• Recover ancient scriptures and witness spectacular Angelic and Demonic activity as a direct consequence of your choices.
• Command your forces through intense battles across a breathtaking, authentic depiction of New York City.
• Control more than 30 units types - from Prayer Warrior and Hellraiser to Spies, Special Forces and Battle Tanks!

(emphasis mine)

Care to explain any particular way we can interpret such phrases as "modern military weaponry," "intense battles", "Special Forces", and "Battle Tanks" as anything besides a shoot-em-up? Or how that makes the news article writer "spreading misinformation"?

ahem...

[stdharma.livejournal.com]

*points to his journal for his own thoughts on the matter.

To go further, I believe that much hay will be made, and it would be good.

Saint Dharma

Left Behind -

[arakasi1.livejournal.com]

I know that this is getting away from the game to discuss the books, but Fred Clark at Slacktivist has a series where he does a chapter by chapter review of the first book (still a work in progress)at
http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/left_behind/index.html - scroll down to the bottom and work your way up

Fred is a journalist and a evangelical Christian and has the background to discuss both the terrible writing and the horrendously bad theology that permeate the books.

The one comment that I remember that sums up the series for me, especially the final book when Jesus appears, was something along the line of: "If you can substitute the name 'Cthulhu' for the name 'Jesus', and the story still makes sense, there is something seriously wrong with the book"

As for the game, if it plays well, about 3/4 of the people playing it will be playing the Anti-Christ ('cause hey, there aren't many modern day games that let you send demons against your enemies). If it sucks, it will get snatched up by a bunch of mouth breathers who are firmly convinced that it will one day be up to them to save the church against the ravening hordes of atheists and Unitarians.

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Where's Jack Thompson when you REALLY need him?

Or Hillary, for that matter?