Prepare for sweet everlasting holy war.

August 8, 2007 10:41 AM

The military has used video games for sometime to help with training and recruitment. Recently the Pentagon put it's stamp of approval on a new game that will be distributed to the troops for recreational purposes. It is called Left Behind: Eternal Forces, in which the goal is to "kill people for their lack of faith in Jesus".
posted by Mr_Zero (98 comments total)

Well, at least they've made their goals clear. The game would be better if it also involved stealing oil though.
posted by Artw at 10:43 AM on August 8, 2007

Wow - troutfishing - I wondered where he'd gone...
posted by longbaugh at 10:43 AM on August 8, 2007

Yup, troutfishing all right.

Jesus always said, "Kill 'em all, let Dad sort 'em out!"
posted by nofundy at 10:45 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Recommended.
posted by DU at 10:45 AM on August 8, 2007

Perhaps a link to The Nation blog article for more context?
posted by dontoine at 10:47 AM on August 8, 2007

Ummmm.... I don't understand the troutfishing comments? Please explain, anyone?
posted by Mr_Zero at 10:47 AM on August 8, 2007

Lookit the dailykos link's author.
posted by IronLizard at 10:49 AM on August 8, 2007

You could read his posting history - it was very much relating to Dominionism and it is he who is writing about it on DailyKos. It's been a while since I've seen him. He got a bit squirrely at the end of his time here but was a decent enough chap.
posted by longbaugh at 10:50 AM on August 8, 2007

This game was not made by the Pentagon, or anyone affiliated with it. It is not what we would call a first rate example of an RTS, but like the Left Behind books I am sure a number of soldiers would be interested in it as it is fundamentalist crap. I think people are reading too much into this, I am sure the left behind books, or other books with blatantly religious themes are available in base libraries and book stores, but for whatever reason Milton's Paradise Lost doesnt evoke this kind of response from Metafilter.
posted by BobbyDigital at 10:51 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Because the pentagon isn't handing Paradise Lost out to the troops?
posted by IronLizard at 10:53 AM on August 8, 2007

Lookit the dailykos link's author. Oh, is he nutty?
posted by Mr_Zero at 10:53 AM on August 8, 2007

Morbid curiosity led me to download the Left Behind demo a while back. The results were horror-larious.
posted by verb at 10:53 AM on August 8, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

I think I heard somewhere that Frank Sinatra was a pimp.
posted by Artw at 10:53 AM on August 8, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

This game was not made by the Pentagon, or anyone affiliated with it.

Why on earth is that relevant? If the Pentagon were distributing white supremacist literature, should blacks feel A-OK because the Pentagon wasn't the one writing it?
posted by DU at 10:54 AM on August 8, 2007 [3 favorites has favorites]

(wrong thread, obviously)
posted by Artw at 10:54 AM on August 8, 2007

but for whatever reason Milton's Paradise Lost doesnt evoke this kind of response from Metafilter.

Possibly because Paradise Lost doesn't give you points for beating the shit out of wedding DJs.
posted by verb at 10:55 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Shooting? I don't remember the Left Behind books being that exciting. The ones I managed to get through were slow paced drags that were mostly about people desperately trying to make cell phone calls and only succeeding at the last second. A bit like Megatokyo for people who masturbate to the apocalypse instead of maps of Japan.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 10:56 AM on August 8, 2007

So are you going to tell Jack Thompson about this, or shall I?

Seriously, though, fight fire with fire here. Some dominionist assholes want to send our troops a crappy RTS, so all we've got to do is ask Blizzard to send over a few thousand copies of Starcraft II. The soldiers will forget all about Left Behind in a matter of hours.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:59 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Hmm. What does it mean that OSU is an "official arm" of the Defense Department's America Supports You program?

What we can see here is bad enough -- endorsement of an organization that's sending this filth to troops on a .mil website. But is OSU receiving any money for this from the government?

Part of me perversely hopes so. I would hope that the resulting legal battle would be decisive over very quickly. Then again, after Hein, I just don't know.
posted by gurple at 11:02 AM on August 8, 2007

God damn it, can we just have the fucking Rapture already? Get these preachy assholes out of here, and let the rest of us get on with our sinful lives.

I'd call it a win for both sides.
posted by quin at 11:02 AM on August 8, 2007 [9 favorites has favorites]

for whatever reason Milton's Paradise Lost doesn't evoke this kind of response from Metafilter.
Perhaps because a) it was written by a heretic, and b) is in fact, good.
posted by Abiezer at 11:06 AM on August 8, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

quin, the Rapture happened years ago. You may have noticed that absolutely nobody disappeared.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:06 AM on August 8, 2007 [11 favorites has favorites]

a "post apocalyptic" New York that looks almost exactly like New York City after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks

and almost exactly like new york city after the steam pipe explosion, and almost exactly like new york city after the sunrise yesterday morning and almost exactly like new york city will look next tuesday. i dunno about you, but i am fucking outraged.
posted by quonsar at 11:07 AM on August 8, 2007

The Apocalypse of St. John was one of many apocalypses meant to provide solace to the oppressed that depicted a final vindication of the righteous and judgment of the wicked.

What is has become is the masturbatory revenge fantasy of fundamentalists where they can channel their rage, their sense of alienation at the post-Enlightenment world and their fear and hatred of those different from them and who refuse to yield and submit to their worldview.

The description of Jesus' enemies being killed in the last battle to the point that blood fills a valley up to the horse's heads is not something to be appalled at to these folks. It is something to glory in and look forward to. The death of their enemies is something to long for and glory in.

The fact that our President and apparently the Pentagon endorse this reading of history and hold to this eschatology is very frightening indeed.
posted by MasonDixon at 11:07 AM on August 8, 2007 [7 favorites has favorites]

DU writes "Why on earth is that relevant? If the Pentagon were distributing white supremacist literature, should blacks feel A-OK because the Pentagon wasn't the one writing it?"

Exactly. Left Behind is the Christian supremacist version of The Turner Diaries.
posted by brundlefly at 11:08 AM on August 8, 2007

I wish someone would come up with a game where you run around in the civil rights-era deep south slaughtering klansmen. I don't know if that would ever get old.

Game request #2: dominionists have taken over the military and deposed the president (not Bush, because what would be the point?) in a coup d'etat. You must vanquish them and restore sanity to the republic.

The foley work for either of these games would be hilarious.
posted by mullingitover at 11:10 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Left Behind is a lot of hooey.
posted by quonsar at 11:12 AM on August 8, 2007

Judging by these stats, I don't think it's everlasting.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 11:13 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I'd like to see evidence of the Pentagon endorsement. This report smells a little bad to me. I buy that the OSU is sending the packages and visiting, and I'll even buy (maybe, but evidence would be nice) that the Pentagon is not blocking the effort, but endorsement?

Evidence please.
posted by Bovine Love at 11:13 AM on August 8, 2007

I disappeared, but I came back, the music sucked and there was nothing to do but stand around all day scratching your ass waiting for them to hand out the flaming swords.
posted by edgeways at 11:13 AM on August 8, 2007

Warning: In case of Rapture, this username will be unmanned!
posted by Pollomacho at 11:15 AM on August 8, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

What we can see here is bad enough -- endorsement of an organization that's sending this filth to troops on a .mil website. But is OSU receiving any money for this from the government?

From the OSU website:

We receive no funds what-so-ever from the government and they have made it clear to us that they cannot support us financially.

There are something like 300 registered charities like OSU in this America Supports You program, so I don't think it's accurate to make it out like the DoD is handing the Left Behind people a few million dollars and shipping crazy fundie video games out to Iraq - I don't actually see anything from the DoD endorsing the video game, just something about OSU's stupid tour.
posted by cmonkey at 11:17 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

After playing the demo of Eternal Forces for quite a while when it came out last year, I'm concerned that the game will demoralize the troops with its confusing gameplay mechanics, buggy interface and low quality graphics. Shouldn't they be playing Overlord instead?
posted by demiurge at 11:17 AM on August 8, 2007

So uh when you guys get raptured can I have all your stuff?
posted by PostIronyIsNotaMyth at 11:19 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I wish someone would come up with a game where you run around in the civil rights-era deep south slaughtering klansmen. I don't know if that would ever get old.

I'd buy it. Then again, killing Nazis is enough to guarantee that I'll buy a game so that might not be high praise.
posted by Skorgu at 11:20 AM on August 8, 2007

I can't help but think sometimes that the LB:Eternal Forces game ended up the way it is because a group of developers working for the company that bought the license to make the game thought this was be an over-the-top parody of the entire LB ethos. Unfortunately, the target market takes it seriously.
posted by deanc at 11:20 AM on August 8, 2007

in which the goal is to "kill people for their lack of faith in Jesus"

The wikipedia link makes it pretty clear that not only do you NOT kill anybody for lack of faith in Jesus, but doing so will decrease your chances of winning:

"Killing units and being exposed to the GC's various forms of influence (rock music, secularist propaganda etc.) will lower a unit's Spirit Level"

So the report that the quote came from is horseshit, to put it mildly. And unless this game has ultralisks, the same adjective applies to it as well.
posted by Pastabagel at 11:21 AM on August 8, 2007

It appears this is all Stephen Baldwin's doing.
posted by Mr_Zero at 11:21 AM on August 8, 2007

Then again, killing Nazis is enough to guarantee that I'll buy a game so that might not be high praise.

I take it you are a big fan of the Wolfenstein and Battlefield game series?
posted by Pollomacho at 11:23 AM on August 8, 2007

FWIW, I just checked Bloomberg, and they show absolutely no news indicating that anything of any importance has happened to LFBG.

This is just a crappy game, made by a failed company, being given to soldiers, probably at some sort of absurd "please, please somebody buy the game" discount.

Hopefully somebody will have fun playing it.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 11:24 AM on August 8, 2007

The wikipedia link makes it pretty clear that not only do you NOT kill anybody for lack of faith in Jesus

Does it? From the Wikipedia link:

Players can recruit neutral units to be on their side, but no matter the training, the unit can't kill neutral units (attempting fire on them gives a message that it is not possible).

So far so good. But:

There is a unit type called a "Secularist" on the evil side who specializes in deception.

Hmm. Well, there you go. Looks like you can kill folks for being secular.
posted by gurple at 11:27 AM on August 8, 2007

"Knowing that these soldiers are being preconditioned for a "kill or convert" mentality through video gaming, that concern just became a bona fide state of alarm."
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:27 AM on August 8, 2007

I've played this game. Don't worry, it's so crap that nobody will play it no matter how much they want to believe its message.

self-link review

Some interesting game choices:

Killing a friendly citizen damages a friendly unit's spirit, but not nearly as much as listening to rock music. Prayer takes care of all of that.

Men citizens can become soldiers, missionaries, construction workers, healers, etc. Women citizens can become nurses. I think that's it.

Every unit has its own name and little biography, which is actually really cool feature I wish other RTS games used.
posted by Durhey at 11:27 AM on August 8, 2007

Related: Jesus vs. Jeezus.
posted by unixrat at 11:28 AM on August 8, 2007

in which the goal is to "kill people for their lack of faith in Jesus"

The wikipedia link makes it pretty clear that not only do you NOT kill anybody for lack of faith in Jesus, but doing so will decrease your chances of winning:

"Killing units and being exposed to the GC's various forms of influence (rock music, secularist propaganda etc.) will lower a unit's Spirit Level"

So the report that the quote came from is horseshit, to put it mildly. And unless this game has ultralisks, the same adjective applies to it as well.

kill people for their lack of faith in Jesus, is from the same Wikipedia article.
posted by Mr_Zero at 11:28 AM on August 8, 2007

Contrary to misinformation on the web, this game does not include references to any other religion. Also, there is NO killing in the name of God, and NO convert or die missions. All content has been reviewed and approved by Tyndale House Publishers prior to publication.

Can anyone who's actually played the game comment on this?
posted by 23skidoo at 11:29 AM on August 8, 2007

Unfortunately, the target market takes it seriously.

wishful thinking.
posted by quonsar at 11:29 AM on August 8, 2007

The United States Pentagon has endorsed sending a Christian supremacist religious warfare video game to United States troops in Iraq, a predominantly Muslim nation.

Osama Bin Laden himself could hardly hardly have hatched a better plot to incite widespread war between Christianity and Islam, and the Pentagon's endorsement of "Operation Straight Up" and that ministry's plan to bring the bigoted, hateful religious ideology inherent to Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins' "Left Behind" book series to American troops in the front lines casts into question the basic competence, not to mention the sanity, of every Pentagon official involved in the decision to endorse such mind boggling idiocy.
posted by caddis at 11:34 AM on August 8, 2007

In the Star Wars games you can play as the Empire. Why can't you do the same in this game? I want to play as the Jews.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:34 AM on August 8, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Pentagon Chaplain Thinks "Convert Or Die" Religious War Game Is Way Cool!
posted by ericb at 11:46 AM on August 8, 2007

In the Star Wars games you can play as the Empire. Why can't you do the same in this game? I want to play as the Jews.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:34 PM on August 8 [+] [!]

According to the Nation article you can play as the nameless other side. I doubt they mean Jews though. Most fundies believe that the Jews have a special covenant with God which sort of absolves them from having to accept Christ to achieve salvation.
posted by caddis at 11:49 AM on August 8, 2007

From verb's screenshot of the Left Behind videogame:

"Beware of Evil Musicians! If you get too close, they may play their screaming guitars to influence you to their side."

Right up there with HELP! MOM! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!
posted by ericb at 11:54 AM on August 8, 2007

yes, i think we can all agree that the sanity of the fabricated pentagon officials who made the nonexistent decision to endorse the imaginary mind-boggling idiocy has been duly called into question.
posted by quonsar at 11:55 AM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I wonder how the Pentagon would react to a fundie Muslim group's request to send care packages to the troops which included the Jihad Game in which the object is to convert to Islam or kill all the non-Muslim characters in the game. Allahu Akbar!
posted by caddis at 11:55 AM on August 8, 2007

Heaven forbid fundamentalist/apocalyptic Christian soldiers have a video game to play!

And really, this game wasn't even a flash in the pan when it was released to the main stream. There haven't been massive conversions to fundamental Christianity as a result of this piece of code going gold (as far as I'm aware). The 0.001% of the population that played this game played it because it was an entertainment product targeted to their niche market.

Are those writers in the OP concerned that Left Behind: Eternal Forces is going to become a runaway hit with US Soldiers or do they really favor taking away comforts from soldiers in a warzone based on the fact that their beliefs are wacky?
posted by smackwich at 11:56 AM on August 8, 2007

smackwich writes "Are those writers in the OP concerned that Left Behind: Eternal Forces is going to become a runaway hit with US Soldiers or do they really favor taking away comforts from soldiers in a warzone based on the fact that their beliefs are wacky?"

What are soldiers doing playing video games in a warzone, and how is that a comfort? There are two things that are comforting when you could die at any second: whiskey and whores. Video games do not make the short list.
posted by mullingitover at 12:02 PM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

What are soldiers doing playing video games in a warzone, and how is that a comfort? There are two things that are comforting when you could die at any second: whiskey and whores. Video games do not make the short list.

Based on talking with some friends who are soldiers, that's not at all true. Video games are a way to blow off steam. A lot of the time spent over there is tedious and boring as well as dangerous.

If people want to send the troops video games, there's nothing to prevent them from doing so. My question, and the obvious question of the people writing these articles, is why the US military is endorsing this organization. It's the endorsement that seems to legitimize their message that this war is about Christian supremacy.
posted by gurple at 12:06 PM on August 8, 2007

Send them Zunes!
posted by Artw at 12:08 PM on August 8, 2007

Fucking right.

It is a sad day indeed when we've resorted to plying our soldiers with video games instead of the traditional whiskey and whores that fueled the multitude of battles that make up the illustrious tapestry of American military victories.
posted by smackwich at 12:08 PM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Clearly the lack of a proper draft has taken it's toll there.
posted by Artw at 12:10 PM on August 8, 2007

So uh when you guys get raptured can I have all your stuff?

Plenty of pets will be available.

Pets and the Rapture.

Jesus Pets -- "If Jesus returns tonight, who will feed your pets tomorrow?"

posted by ericb at 12:10 PM on August 8, 2007

There are two things that are comforting when you could die at any second: whiskey and whores.

Also, whiskey and whores are two things that are pretty much not allowed for soldiers in Iraq. I had a friend who was over there, and another friend of ours sent him some airplane bottles of booze. He got lucky in that they weren't discovered by the folks going through his mail -- he could have been in a world of trouble. And as for whores... well, I won't advocate one way or another about that, but a lot of female soldiers are telling a lot of horrifying stories about their treatment by their fellow soldiers.

So, no booze, no whores. Video games.
posted by gurple at 12:11 PM on August 8, 2007

As a few others have mentioned, this game is terrible - All the reviews for it were in the toilet - it's poorly put together and was seemingly released without much play testing. Terrifying as the hateful subject matter is, we can take heart in the fact that the game is not fun and that it won't draw soldiers away from their Halo and SOCOM and so on for long.

Selling this game in bulk to the government is likely the only way to move many copies of it. Gamers have known it for dog shit since it's release.
posted by EatTheWeak at 12:13 PM on August 8, 2007

with just a little modding, this could be a cool game. imagine you're a captain of the forces of satan, armed with a shotgun and a guitar. you go back and forth between the two for maximum effect, mowing down legions of fundies. awesome!
posted by bruce at 12:15 PM on August 8, 2007

So what we need are some videogames about boozing and whoring! Get to it!
posted by NationalKato at 12:27 PM on August 8, 2007

Ok so I downloaded the demo. It is slow at the beginning so I haven't been able to slaughter anyone yet. However the "bad guys" are called the "Global Community Peacekeepers".

WTF
posted by Mr_Zero at 12:28 PM on August 8, 2007

"Knowing that these soldiers are being preconditioned for a "kill or convert" mentality through video gaming, that concern just became a bona fide state of alarm."

Jesus Christ, Fred Thompson as left-wing instead of right-wing. That link is just a bunch of scare-mongering bullshit.

The kos/troutfishing link is shit, too, especially as many people in this thread are confused about the nature of the relationship between OSU and the DoD. The Pentagon is not buying it, nor endorsing it in particular, they've just generally approved the charity sending them. Shit, the companies just probably trying to unload them as a tax-write off, considering no one bought it.

The scare-mongering livejournalism of ericbs "way cool" link is pathetic, and the fearful cries that this will somehow turn soliders into Konservative Khristian Kill-bots comical.
posted by Snyder at 12:31 PM on August 8, 2007 [3 favorites has favorites]

It is called Left Behind: Eternal Forces, in which the goal is to "kill people for their lack of faith in Jesus".

To be fair, this isn't how the fundies would describe it. They would argue that in the Tribulation, the forces of the Anti-Christ will be vigorously hunting down and murdering Christians, who will then have no choice but to defend themselves.

This isn't exactly the same as saying "ZOMG KILL TEH UNBELIVERZ" -- but considering how American Christians already have an enormous persecution complex and the need to "defend themselves" from the smallest perceived slight, it may be a distinction without a difference.

Also, the game seems to lump "rock musicians", "gang leaders", "cult leaders", "secularists" and Anti-Christ Troopers or whatever into the same camp -- their unifying characteristic is that they were all "trained in College". This, plus the division of labor along gender lines delves more deeply into American-fundie psychology than I would care to venture.
posted by Avenger at 12:33 PM on August 8, 2007 [3 favorites has favorites]

There are only 144,000 places available during the rapture apparently*. The Left Behind series have sold millions upon millions. There are going to be some extremely angry people should the (entirely invented and not related at all to the bible except in the loosest possible sense since it first appeared around the early 19th Century) rapture take place.


*It is implied that these are the 12 tribes of Israel of whom 12,000 each will go to heaven. Rapture-twats probably believe these are just Jesus' little helpers who will no doubt act as flight attendants before they are flown to planet Teegeak to be incinerated by nuclear weapons. Oh, sorry. Wrong lunatics.
posted by longbaugh at 12:41 PM on August 8, 2007

Mr_Zero, do you really think the truly 'bad' guys are going to give themselves evil sounding names?
posted by NationalKato at 12:43 PM on August 8, 2007

Good. I'd rather having the government buying shitty games off the clearance rack than paying full price for good ones. I'm pretty sure I could've had a copy of this at my local Target a few months ago for like, under 5 bucks.

...wait. They paid full price?
posted by graventy at 12:47 PM on August 8, 2007

Mr_Zero, do you really think the truly 'bad' guys are going to give themselves evil sounding names?

Well.... the game is basically pitting you against the Antichrist and the Global Community Peacekeepers. It seems crazy to me for someone to associate the Antichrist with people who want peace.
posted by Mr_Zero at 12:52 PM on August 8, 2007

Mr_Zero, do you really think the truly 'bad' guys are going to give themselves evil sounding names?
posted by NationalKato at 3:43 PM on August 8

Sure they would. In world war 2, the Germans went so far as to called themselves Nazis!
posted by Pastabagel at 12:53 PM on August 8, 2007 [6 favorites has favorites]

It seems crazy to me for someone to associate the Antichrist with people who want peace.


Global Community Peacekeepers = The U. N. , a favorite bugaboo of the kind of people who also enjoy the Left Behind series.

In world war 2, the Germans went so far as to called themselves Nazis!

"Are we the baddies?"
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:56 PM on August 8, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

kill people for their lack of faith in Jesus, is from the same Wikipedia article.

Yes, as a quote from Jack Thompson. Please do not cite Jack Thompson as a source for anything, ever again. Thank you.
posted by designbot at 12:58 PM on August 8, 2007

But is OSU receiving any money for this from the government?

My bet would be Yes.

I would hope that the resulting legal battle would be decisive over very quickly.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. You're kidding, right?
posted by Artw at 1:01 PM on August 8, 2007

but considering how American Christians already have an enormous persecution complex and the need to "defend themselves" from the smallest perceived slight

you need to get out more.
posted by quonsar at 1:03 PM on August 8, 2007

but considering how American Christians already have an enormous persecution complex and the need to "defend themselves" from the smallest perceived slight

Seems like a perfectly reasonable assessment. Their SOP is totally to shout "help! help! we're being oppressed" while laying waste to all around them.
posted by Artw at 1:08 PM on August 8, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

holy crap (pun intended)
posted by TechnoLustLuddite at 1:10 PM on August 8, 2007

As pointed out by cmonkey, the OSU does not receive money from the government. Visit their begging page and scroll down a bit.

Some level of fact in this discussion would be nice, despite the lack of it in the original linked material.

Sheesh, you sound like a bunch of republican pundits on Fox panicking over gay marriage.
posted by Bovine Love at 1:12 PM on August 8, 2007

Hnag on - theres a hardline christian charity up to no good that the Bush regime DOESN'T throw money at? How did this happen?
posted by Artw at 1:22 PM on August 8, 2007

So, no booze, no whores. Video games.

I have a few friends over there, and they've reported that there used to be brothels in the green zone, but some fundie-soldiers got all upset and busted them.

Now there are still brothels in Baghdad, but they're in places that only the Iraqis can safely go.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 1:39 PM on August 8, 2007

Related: action Jesus! Featuring Kung-Fu Grip Moses!
posted by rusty at 1:53 PM on August 8, 2007

The OSU may not receive money directly from the Pentagon, but there are in game ads for BoostUp.org which is sponsored by the Ad Council and the Army. and regarding the in-game violence, here's a review that goes into what it entails:

The violence in this game is pervasive, and emphatically denied by the creators. In fact, on the webpage for Eternal Forces, there is a disclaimer that states “Because our game is a ‘strategy' game, never does a player click a key or press a button to actuate a first-person violent act.” The emphasis is mine, added to illustrate the transparency of their attempt at smoke-and-mirrors. Just because the violence is top-down isometric and free of visible blood does not mean that there is no violence at all! You not only can and do proactively kill, the only consequences to this behaviour occur when you don’t pray after every murder. I experimented with this myself, taking seven of my newly re-born Christians out on the street to go kill one of those wretched musicians. Not only did I “press a button” to make my mob of faithful thugs go beat the guitar-player to death in broad daylight, the only penalty to this was the loss of just two spirit points, regained by tapping the ‘pray’ command once. Word to the spin-doctors at Left Behind Games: just because there’s no visible blood doesn’t mean your game isn’t violent. This is a low-grade example as well; it doesn’t factor in later missions involving guns and heavier military munitions used against those who don’t “tow the line”.

Shouldn't it shake your faith that your savior is somehow responsible for such a shitty game? Everyone knows that all the good games are affiliated with satan.
posted by Challahtronix at 2:02 PM on August 8, 2007

Shouldn't it shake your faith that your savior is somehow responsible for such a shitty game?

Why, because some kooks have crazy ideas about him? It shakes my faith in them.
posted by caddis at 2:28 PM on August 8, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

I'd like to see the snake eat its own tail: Can someone hack the resource files for the game? Maybe change the evil musicians into game producers with stupid ideas? You know, someone worthy of a good beat-down?

Oh, and we need to add the blood back in -- there won't be anything but ritualistic blood-letting after the aliens harrow the believers and stoop upon their remains like crows Rapture.
posted by Kikkoman at 2:33 PM on August 8, 2007

Kikkoman - oh yes indeedy, it'll be quite a suprise for them *when the stars are right*.
posted by Artw at 2:36 PM on August 8, 2007

I've played those games.
There's always more Nazis.. or Muslims.. Or Buggers.
Whichever.
posted by Balisong at 7:36 PM on August 8, 2007

appalling.

more at Orcinus: Soldiers of the apocalypse
posted by amberglow at 8:27 PM on August 8, 2007

from the Orcinus link: ...
The Defense Department's Chaplain's Office, which oversees OSU's activities, has not responded to calls seeking comment.

Think about this:

By making this proselytization part of official DOD "outreach," we begin the process of making the Christian conversion of American soldiers official military policy. ...
posted by amberglow at 8:29 PM on August 8, 2007

from americasupportsyou.mil-- OSU Tour is one of the newest members of the Defense Department’s America Supports You program, which connects citizens and corporations with members of the military and their families at home and abroad..
posted by amberglow at 8:31 PM on August 8, 2007

Hey verb, did you intend for your photostream of LB to be immediatly followed by a lass playing Guitar Hero? It makes me thing she's re-evilling your system.
posted by Jilder at 9:09 PM on August 8, 2007

Jilder, that was totally amusingly unintentional -- just a shot of my wife kicking my sorry ass at Guitar Hero. She was playing a Black Sabbath song, though, so I figure it counts...
posted by verb at 9:37 PM on August 8, 2007

amberglow, did you actually read the thread, or is there a different reason why your spouting the same crap, and the even the same links that people upthread have already discussed?
posted by Snyder at 10:20 PM on August 8, 2007

You just winged him, and made him a Unitarian.
posted by mach at 10:37 PM on August 8, 2007

The description of Jesus' enemies being killed in the last battle to the point that blood fills a valley up to the horse's heads is not something to be appalled at to these folks. It is something to glory in and look forward to. The death of their enemies is something to long for and glory in.

The final battle will have horsies in it? Yaaay!
posted by Deathalicious at 5:13 AM on August 9, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Right up there with HELP! MOM! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!

Riffing on current events, maybe a good title for a book would be "Help Mum! Young Republicans Are Trying To Suck Me Off While I Sleep!"?
posted by xpermanentx at 7:03 AM on August 9, 2007

while I understand this game is not officially endorsed by the pentagon, I still find it hard to see how people don't find it obviously comparable to the very al quaida mindset we're supposedly fighting against. This isn't just something which the government should avoid putting its stamp of approval on - this is something it should not distribute at all.

People can send individual care packages to their friends with this kind of thing, and the gov't shouldn't stop their free speech there, but this is comparable to a game where you fly planes into buildings or kill black people. It's pretty twisted that it's part of a mainstream okey-dokey set of stuff that is handed out.
posted by mdn at 4:11 PM on August 9, 2007