One Moment of WtF; One Moment of Beauty in the Dark
Here's a little something to piss you off: A Moment of WtF
I dare anyone to tell me that this game is okay in any universe.
A shoot-em-up computer game in which true, blue "Christians" run around a post-rapture New York City.
The mission? To convert — or failing that, to kill — Catholics; Jews; Muslims; Buddhists; moderate, mainline Protestant Christians; gays; and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state. Anyone who resists you as you conduct "physical and spiritual warfare" needs to be "taken out" with "extreme prejudice."
o_0
Yeah, well. Fuck you, too.
I know, not exactly a witty retort, but Jesus...
Although I admit that it's kind of awesome that at long last The Left Behind crowd has come clean about what they really, really want.
Look, I don't fricken care about violence in video games. It's up to you as a parent to decide whether junior can play Grand Theft Auto, but I'm not about to campaign to rip it off the shelves because you can't say no to your kid and end up buying a game that's clearly marked for adults.
However, I have a big, fucking, problem when a "good Christian group" decides to pull the dripping hate The Left Behind book series has for anyone that doesn't adhere to some narrow version of "Christianity" and puts it in an interactive videogame in all its ugly glory.
I take it really fucking seriously when that same game is marketed to 13-year-old "Christian" knuckleheads in an effort to train them to be "serial killers for Christ" when they grow up.
And don't tell me not to take it really fucking personally when the computer avatars targeted for conversion or killing represent real-life me.
Here's the summation of this crack-addled game coming out in October:
"But is there no one innocent in this game?" I hear you asking.
Yes, indeedy. They're called "collateral damage" if you kill them. But don't worry. You can be forgiven for the cold-blooded murder of innocents by following these stimple steps:
I have no words. Really. None.
There is, however, at least one good thing in this game:
I have a sneaking suspicion there might be a small group of people buying this piece of trash for that reason alone.
To read the ugly, Talk2Action has the gory details.
For an antidote to The Left Behind poison, check out Fred Clark at The Slacktivist as he tears apart the series based on his own liberal, evangelical Christian beliefs. His commentary is funny as all hell, yo.
ETA: Additional links to the game via
christianleft: Worthplaying has screenshots; Warcry gives the technical aspects of the game itself a good review, but notes some things that are disturbing about the game's storyline
Time to Clense Your Mind with a Moment of Beautiful Writing
Me love Kung Fu Monkey. Me now worship Kung Fu Monkey for this Memorial Day blogpost called Lions Led By Donkeys:
You must read the whole thing...
I dare anyone to tell me that this game is okay in any universe.
A shoot-em-up computer game in which true, blue "Christians" run around a post-rapture New York City.
The mission? To convert — or failing that, to kill — Catholics; Jews; Muslims; Buddhists; moderate, mainline Protestant Christians; gays; and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state. Anyone who resists you as you conduct "physical and spiritual warfare" needs to be "taken out" with "extreme prejudice."
o_0
Yeah, well. Fuck you, too.
I know, not exactly a witty retort, but Jesus...
Although I admit that it's kind of awesome that at long last The Left Behind crowd has come clean about what they really, really want.
Look, I don't fricken care about violence in video games. It's up to you as a parent to decide whether junior can play Grand Theft Auto, but I'm not about to campaign to rip it off the shelves because you can't say no to your kid and end up buying a game that's clearly marked for adults.
However, I have a big, fucking, problem when a "good Christian group" decides to pull the dripping hate The Left Behind book series has for anyone that doesn't adhere to some narrow version of "Christianity" and puts it in an interactive videogame in all its ugly glory.
I take it really fucking seriously when that same game is marketed to 13-year-old "Christian" knuckleheads in an effort to train them to be "serial killers for Christ" when they grow up.
And don't tell me not to take it really fucking personally when the computer avatars targeted for conversion or killing represent real-life me.
Here's the summation of this crack-addled game coming out in October:
This game immerses children in present-day New York City — 500 square blocks, stretching from Wall Street to Chinatown, Greenwich Village, the United Nations headquarters, and Harlem. The game rewards children for how effectively they role play the killing of those who resist becoming a born again Christian.
"But is there no one innocent in this game?" I hear you asking.
Yes, indeedy. They're called "collateral damage" if you kill them. But don't worry. You can be forgiven for the cold-blooded murder of innocents by following these stimple steps:
If you happen to blow away a neutral party — and collateral damage is inevitable in the End of Days — then you will lose "Spirit Points". But you can power back up with merely a brief timeout for prayer, or by converting one of New York's terror-stricken citizens.
I have no words. Really. None.
There is, however, at least one good thing in this game:
The game also offers players the opportunity to switch sides and fight for the army of the AntiChrist, releasing cloven-hoofed demons who feast on conservative Christians and their panicked proselytes (who taste a lot like Christian).
I have a sneaking suspicion there might be a small group of people buying this piece of trash for that reason alone.
To read the ugly, Talk2Action has the gory details.
For an antidote to The Left Behind poison, check out Fred Clark at The Slacktivist as he tears apart the series based on his own liberal, evangelical Christian beliefs. His commentary is funny as all hell, yo.
ETA: Additional links to the game via
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Time to Clense Your Mind with a Moment of Beautiful Writing
Me love Kung Fu Monkey. Me now worship Kung Fu Monkey for this Memorial Day blogpost called Lions Led By Donkeys:
The problem is, these yahoos have managed an ugly trick. They have turned criticism of the policies of Bastards in Suits into criticism of The People in Uniform Getting Shot At. This, of course, is completely wrong, as one can easily tell the difference between the Bastards in Suits and The People in Uniform Getting Shot At. One group is in Suits, and Not Getting Shot At, while another is in Uniform, and Getting Shot At. Please, try to grasp this. Not the same.
There is a flip side. Some people confuse supporting the Bastards in Suits for supporting The People in Uniform Getting Shot At. This is, again, ridiculous. If the history of modern warfare has taught us anything, it's that the Bastards in Suits spend an awful lot of time working the kinks out of plans involving The People in Uniform dying unpleasantly. They often screw that up. When they do screw up, it is incumbent upon Bastards in Suits to suffer criticism and fix the situation, as by comparison The People in Uniform are suffering shattered skulls, missing limbs and death. Which is, on my scale, exponentially more traumatic than criticism.
Some people even seem confused on how we are criticizing the Bastards in Suits. The Bastards have a job to do. They are not doing it. Period. Tommy Franks recently trotted out the classic bit of misdirection, attacking critics of Donald Rumsfeld."I don't care about your politics. I don't. Don Rumsfeld is an American patriot."
Yes, well, that's lovely. But we're not criticizing his patriotism. We're criticizing his job performance. One of the great mysteries of the last six years was how and when the Bush Administration turned public policy into Special Olympics. "Oh, I know Donny knocked over all the hurdles, but HE LOVES THE RACE, so you SHUT YOUR FILTHY, CYNICAL MOUTH." Jesus H. Christ.
You must read the whole thing...
Interesting post
(Anonymous) 2006-05-31 03:49 pm (UTC)(link)JimboS
I have no words
I implore everyone to send a link to the game's website to all non-Christian groups of every stripe, and see what they think of it. I'd suggest the newspapers considering how well they've been doing lately (sarcasm? NAH!) in reporting such atrocities -- NOT!
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I thought the whole "rapture" concept was about some mystical Scotsman in the sky beaming up all the true believers and leaving us no good heathens to burn in eternal hellfire. What, did these true blues get left behind 'cause they missed the last transporter beam or something? *is confused*
Sounds like a particularly crappy game. No need to worry overmuch. Quite apart from the moral connotations, if the game play sucks donkey dick, no one is gonna by it *grins*
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Damn typos! *scowlz*
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30,000 will be admitted to heaven, and they all will have 'never known the touch of a woman.'
So no girls in heaven. And no heterosexual men, apparently. Just a few hundred thousand angels who really kinda resent us for ursurping their place as most-loved.
No thanks. I can't imagine a less pleasant place to go.
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How about men how have been touched by a woman but don't know about it, then? Lets say they've got amnesia. Would amnesiacs qualify? Or, or hey! Women with no hands! Women with no hand would qualify, right? Ooh! Transsexuals! And drag queens! Transsexuals and drag queens who live in a, um, in a monastery, do they qualify?
Seems to me the Bible needs to be upgraded to the version 2.0. Also revised for inflation. We're reproducing like rabbits down here. 2,000 years ago, 30,000 people was roughly the population of Europe. Now it's a football stadium *grins*
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Well, let's see, men who wear dresses. Check. Men who eschew the company of women. Check. Men who have sex with other men (or slow-running altar boys). Check.
Sounds like the average monastary is already full of drag queens...
I am pleasantly surprised that a Jewish man gets to go to a Rabbi when he's having marital or parental issues, as a Rabbi is expected to be married and raising children, and in fact is required to be doing so if he wants to advance beyond a certain rank. Constrast to a Catholic man, who is expected to bring his marital and / or parenting issues to a cross-dressing virgin who likes to be called 'father.'
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I think they were left behind so they could rub it in.
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Scary when Simpsons stop being parody and start being real life.
I like what Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman said about the Rapture in Good Omens (paraphrased)where an angel points out to a Televangelical audience that God wasn't likely to scoop up some of the people for the sole purpose of looking down on the others, 'if that's your idea of a morally acceptable good time'.
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Too true. Though I suspect that this game is going to be quite a bit more violent than Rod&Todd's conversion game was....
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I like that image because it just perfectly encapsulates the feeling of not being able to do anything right. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words....
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What I can't get over is how nice the graphics look!
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Oh well, I'm sure someone will tell them.
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Video games are good, well, some of them anyway.
Rating systems are important! How the fuck is this rated as acceptable for children?
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Of course, the Christian church should have abandoned *that* idea long ago.
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yeah, we tend to be on the recieving end not so much the meting out death end.
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I am strangely enough, not surprised at all.
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~sighs~ I think I am giving in and converting to Wiccian. I like their basic creeds "do as ye will as long as it harm none" and "all things return threefold."
Can I quit being Christian? Have no desire to have ANYTHING in common with that sort of thinking. No wonder I never had any desire to read the Left Behind series.
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Mind you, I've never supported this particular set of Bastards in Suits. And while I think that many of the troops merit support, and even more are redeemable, I have no such optimism about the Bastards.
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I'm so glad that I stopped playing video games after kicking Tetris cold turkey back in '89!
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Did you look at the discussion topics on the right hand side of the screen? I mention particularly "All women should consider themselves 'pre-pregnant'..."
Wow!!
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I don't even know where to begin to express my outrage at this mindless, negative abuse of Jesus's teachings. Where the hell do people get off warping what they are supposed to be following so completely out of its original form? I'm Methodist and I actually like being Methodist because there is a lot of room for individual thought within the church. Even among congregations. I also think there is more to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost that is in the Bible. I think that God gave us free will and I'm appalled that people who claim to follow him are so bound and determined to take it away from us. I want to know who the hell has the right to tell me how to worship or believe. That is between me and God and unless you subscribe to the Hindu belief of avatars, you are not an incarnation of God. I know I'm not.
My boss once told me how an evangelical friend of her's answered the What Would Jesus Do question. "I might not know what he would do, but he wouldn't be a bigot and he wouldn't be an asshole."
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I burst out laughing when I came to that part. Do you get to shoot Bush with that option? Sick though. What happened to all those innocent games where you just sell crack, shoot cops or run down old ladies *thinks back whistfully to the good old days*