Thursday, 14 December 2006, 20:09 GMT
Christian video game draws anger
By Richard Allen Greene
BBC News, Washington
A new Christian video game has sparked calls for a boycott from
groups who say it is "training for religious warfare".
The game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces, is based on a wildly
successful series of novels about the struggles on earth after true
believers ascend to heaven.
Players can command the army of good - the Tribulation Force -
against the anti-Christ's Global Community.
The game's makers reject criticism, saying their detractors "have a
clear hatred of Biblical Christianity".
An alliance of liberal groups including the Christian Alliance for
Progress, the Campaign to Defend the Constitution, and Talk2Action,
have urged the giant retailer Wal-Mart, among others, to stop
stocking the game, which was released last month.
"It's about religious warfare. The way to win is to convert or
kill. You have both the Inquisition and the Crusades," says
Frederick Clarkson of Talk2Action.
"Anybody who is not a follower of Jesus is the enemy," he
claims.
'Dehumanising the enemy'
Mr Clarkson is particularly concerned that the $39.95 (£20) game -
which is rated for teenagers due to violence - is being marketed
through churches.
Game excerpts
"Pastors and youth leaders recommend the game to their
parishioners," he says, giving its message the stamp of
authority.
And that message is the "dehumanisation of the feared other -
Catholics, Jews, Muslims, the wrong kind of Protestants, people
deemed to be sinners", he says.
That dehumanisation, he warns, is a first step towards
genocide.
Jeffrey S Frichner, a co-founder of Left Behind Games, utterly
rejects that characterisation of his game.
None of the missions in the game has a "convert-or-die" objective,
he insists.
"It's the anti-Christ that desires you to convert or die, and you
are defending yourself against that on the good side," he
says.
"You will absolutely lose each level and never win the game if you
choose physical warfare as a means."
'Evangelising - respectfully'
The word "convert" does not even appear in the game, he adds - and
neither does the word "Christian".
"The game itself is just a great game. People of other faiths could
play it and not know it's Christian," he says.
Left Behind looks like a typical video game in some respects
He freely admits the game aims to evangelise.
"But it is doing it in a way which is very respectful, not
Bible-thumping."
When players successfully complete a level of the real-time
strategy game, "you get a vignette that has some kind of Biblical
truth and a find-out-more button", he says.
That leads players to a website where they can discuss issues, say
a prayer and "become a believer", Mr Frichner says.
He thinks that will appeal to young people.
"People are drawn to things that provide answers. My personal
position is that the Bible provides all those answers."
'Summer blockbuster'
Left Behind: Eternal Forces is not the first Christian video game,
but it is the most ambitious to date, experts say.
"This is the first Christian developer that tried to produce a
triple-A title, the summer blockbuster of video games," says Brian
Crecente, editor of the games blog Kotaku and a video games writer
for the Rocky Mountain News newspaper.
Video games are no longer just about amusing people, but about
trying to send a message
Brian Crecente,
Kotaku editor
Send us your reaction
He is intrigued by the moral complexity of the game, which he saw
played late in development, before its release.
"Your characters can do physical combat, but when they do, they
lose morale and have a greater chance of becoming evil.
"In some sense, that can represent what happens. In the real world,
you can't get involved in a gunfight and walk away and forget
it."
He is critical of the game on other grounds, though, saying that in
trying to deliver entertainment as well as a message, the
developers have fallen short on both.
"It's a muddled message and a kind-of entertaining game," he
says.
Kill the president
It is not the only violent video game with a message raising
concern this holiday season.
Tony Blair and Iraq's prime minister are targets in Quest for
Bush
The Global Islamic Media Front has released a game called Quest for
Bush, in which players aim to kill the US president.
Adam Raisman, an analyst at the Search for International Terrorist
Entities (Site) Institute who has played the game, calls the free
download "propaganda", but stops short of labelling it
recruitment.
"We can't say this is preparation for jihad, but it puts out the
idea that you can walk around with a gun and shoot American
soldiers," he says.
"It is putting the thought in your head that Bush, Blair and
Rumsfeld are the guys you're going after."
Mr Crecente, the games writer, has not seen Quest for Bush (also
known as Night of Bush Hunting, the literal translation of its
Arabic title).
But he says both it and Left Behind: Eternal Forces are part of an
effort in the gaming world to deal with important issues.
"Whenever games take on something important, they are accused of
trivialising the subject," he says.
"This shows that video games have gotten past the birthing pains.
They are no longer just about amusing people, but about trying to
send a message."
