Left Behind: Eternal Forces - A Dominionist Agenda? |
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It may seem like old news, but some time ago, we brought you a story about a new breed of "Christian" MMORPGs. As far as we can tell, no other faith practiced in the real world has its own MMORPG, although some aspects of Buddhism are included in 9 Dragons, while Dark Age of Camelot seems to have some elements of Wicca and Asatru (the old Norse religion, still practiced in Iceland).
From this writer's understanding, Christianity grew out of the teachings of a Jewish sect known as the Essenes, and a rabbi from Nazareth named Yeshua ben-Yossef, or Jesus as he came to be known in Greek. It was an unusual philosophy for any time in that its highest values were those of love, universal siblinghood, charity, compassion, peace and tolerance. (Incidentally, the prophet Mohammed also preached these same values about six centuries later - just thought you'd all like to know that.)
The upcoming "Christian" MMORPG, Left Behind: Eternal Forces, seems a bit at odds with those Christian values. In this game, one plays a footsoldier in a paramilitary group, armed with state-of-the-art weaponry. Your mission: turn the United States of America into a theocratic "Kingdom of God" (can you say Taliban?). The ultimate objective is to establish the "dominon of Christ" over all aspects of every individual's life. Those who disagree or resist conversion are to be elimated with "extreme prejudice": Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans, Unitarians, and especially Christians who are seen to be "tolerant" or liberal. And oh yes - gays, fornicators, and non-believers.
The creators of this game, Left Behind Games, Inc. have been connected with a "mega-church" pastor named Rick Warren. Warren and others like him subscribe to an ideology known as "Dominionism". In short, they would like to see the U.S. Constitution replaced with Biblical Law (hmmm - does that mean money lenders would no longer be allowed to charge interest on loans, and everyone's debts would be cancelled every 49th year?), with the world population tightly controlled by Church authority - basically, a return to the European Middle Ages.
In a free society, Left Behind Games is certainly entitled to publish and market such a game. People are entitled to purchase and play this game when it's released in October. Those who do, however, should remember that the "separation clause" in the U.S. Constitution is there for the protection of both Church and State, and it protects all churches and faiths. It would also be good to keep in mind that while Rabbi Yeshua (Jesus) himself said absolutely nothing about sex, he went on at great length about loving one's neighbor and one's self, avoiding judgement of others, forgiveness of those who cause injury, protecting the weak, caring for the sick and compassion for the less fortunate. Although not unique to Christianity, those are true Christian values.
That said, the writer suggests that any of you who consider yourself a Christian check this game out and decide for yourself: does Left Behind: Eternal Forces really reflect your values?
Via Talk To Action
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Comments
"Those who disagree or resist conversion are to be elimated with "extreme prejudice": Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans, Unitarians, and especially Christians who are seen to be "tolerant" or liberal. And oh yes - gays, fornicators, and non-believers."
That is bull*****. I want a lawyer to get up in their ass', and *****ing take them down for promoting racism, "religionism", and what ever you call hating homosexuals. These creators, and this company better be sued!
I think this is gonna be a great game , you can play the "evil" side so it should be fun for everyone.
so is this anti christian?
You say "That is bull*****. I want a lawyer to get up in their ass', and *****ing take them down..." While I understand your reaction and may share your feelings on the subject, the fact remains that - at least for now - the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution remains in full force, meaning these people - like you and me - have a right to practice their faith according to the dictates of their beliefs and to speak and publish their views freely without censorship. The only thing worse than their views would be to censor them.
People need to be held acountable for their free speech, as well. If this MMO influences some unstable person to actually commit physical violence against "unbelievers," then by all means, legal action should be taken against the publishers.
Anyway...wouldn't you rather know what these folks are up to?
Is your blog "influencing some unstable person to actually commit physical violence?"
How can you review a game that hasn't been released yet? You seem to "have" an awful lot of info. that seems to be pure rumor and already people are ready to fight.
Hi Janet,
Thank you for the information. Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, and Purpose Driven Ministries have no connection to the development of the "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game. We have not endorsed it and do not plan to promote it in our networks.
One of our staff members, Mark Carver, sat on the advisory board for Left Behind Games, and a blogger took that information and jumped to a conclusion that Pastor Rick was involved with marketing the game. That simply isn't true, a fact the blogger could have verified had he contacted Pastor Rick, Mark Carver, or Left Behind Games. In order to avoid any confusion about the fact that Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, and Purpose Driven Ministries have no involvement with Left Behind Games, Mark Carver resigned from the board of advisors on June 5, 2006 and asked that the reference to him be removed from Left Behind Games website.
We applaud efforts to develop wholesome video games that engage young people, and we deplore games that mesmerize young players with gratuitous violence and sexuality. We understand that this is a "real-time strategy game," not a "first-person shooter game" as it has been characterized by critics. We have not, however, seen the game. We encourage people with questions about it to contact the developer.
Blessings,
Barbara
Purpose Driven Life Customer Care
Yeah right Barbara,
You Fundie Xtian scum are probably loving the idea of this game and have secret ties to it. I've seen how your cult opperates. Your all nuts! You Xtians believe that the "End of Days" is coming and since your so bent on getting a front row seat, you and the politicos you back, ie Dubya Shrub, continue to destroy the planet, with wars, SUVs and other polution. On top of this suicidal view of the world, anyone who doesn't believe as you do becomes maginalized by society or worse "Converted".
Here is what my source said:
"The game, slated for release by October 2006 in advance of the Christmas shopping rush, has been previewed at video game exhibitions, and reviewed by major newspapers and magazines. But until now, no fan or critic has pointed out the controversial game's connection to Mr. Warren or his dominionist agenda."
In this article, I did not say that Rick Warren was involved in the development of this game, only that there was a connection - which indeed, was Mark Carver, who has since resigned from the Left Behind Games Advisory Board. You may view the source article here:
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/29/195855/959
I reccomend that anyone wanting to know more about "Dominionism" start by reading this article, and draw their own conclusions.
I am willing to acknowlege the possibility of a bit of "alarmist" thinking surrounding this issue.
However, there has been infiltration of our secular U.S. government by a number of self-proclaimed Dominionists. In light of the increasing amount of legislation aimed at replacing the science curriculum with creationism, institutionalizing discrimination against gays and lesbians and the unending attacks on reproductive rights, I think those of us who believe in science and the philosophy of "an it harm none, do what ye will" have reason to be concerned.
"Gogogo" said, "I think this is gonna be a great game , you can play the 'evil' side so it should be fun for everyone."
The "evil" side IS, according to this game, that of the allegedly "Christian" paramilitary group.
I have another name for this particular brand of "Christianity" that I would like to bring up...Naziism, KKK, Skinheads, etcetera. From all of the news that I have been able to garner on the Internet regarding this "game", there is absolutey NO difference whatsoever in what this game is promoting as "Christian" and flat-out hate cults like those of the neo-Nazi movement, the Ku Klux Klan and so forth and so on.
Consider this...an 18 year old was attending a party with some friends. Three people suddenly attacked this 18 year old and his female friend, beat them nearly unconscious, kidnapped them, then beat them continuously throughout the night.
Two of the perpetrators have been arrested. The police know who the third is but have yet to make the arrest as the third is at large. Two were teenagers, the third is 21 years of age.
This happened just this past weekend.
Why did they do this?
Because the 18 year old is gay. No other reason at all, just because he's gay.
That is what this game is promoting. In essence, they are saying that what occurred to Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming not too long ago is okay to do, according to the Scriptures.
You remember Matthew Shepard, don't you? Beaten to the point of death, then tied to a barbed wire fence and left to die, just because he was gay?
This "game" would make Fred Phelps proud...and it is nothing that I would advocate to ANY person for ANY reason. Frankly, I hope that this "game" flops so hard that the whole "Left Behind Ministry" goes belly up in a big financial heap.
Which goes back to what I indicated in my original article... this kind of "Christianity" (which talk show host Mike Malloy refers to as "Christianism") bears little resemblance to Rabbi Yeshua's original teachings. I reccomend "The Prophet's Way" by Thom Hartmann for people wanting to understand this issue.
This modern "Christianist" militant cult really goes back to Paul of Tarsus and what happened when the Roman Empire made Christianity its "official" religion. That said, I wonder why these people put so much more stock in what Paul of Tarsus - an intolerant arch-conservative in his day - had to say than the actual teachings of Jesus. Paul never met the Rabbi, and his "conversion" was based on what was very likely a psychotic episode or an epileptic fit.
As for "Biblical" authority, it should be noted that the collection of books that came to make up what we call the "Bible" were selected four hundred years after the fact by a group of ordinary men (no women) with an agenda. A lot of books that could have been included were not, because they didn't fit this "agenda."
Anyway, check out "The Prophet's Way," then google "Dead Sea Scrolls." You may be surprised.
Wow. You know, im not sure wats more funny, the ppl that made this game or the ppl defending it. ::shrugs:: this game is too much. I agree with shadowcat and the meaning of dominionism. You might as well call it racism or extreme ethnic prejudice. i mean, come on, taking all non-white non-christian people? nice. very nice. while they're at it, they can go play hide n go F*#K yourselves.
PS: I know i shud do my hw on this stuff, but this kinda hit a nerve. anyone else agree? i think so.
Ok for those of you who haven't studied the rise of Xtianity, here's a brief rundown of how it all happened.
1) Joshua ben Joseph, Yeshua ben-Yossef (Jesus, Greek name) is born to noble parents, no godlike intervention, and wow there were actually 2 of them, twins. Thomas (Greek for twin) was his younger brother by a few minutes.
2) Ok so they leave Israel for Egypt because Herod gets wind that male babies are born that have the blood of David in them by two descending lines. These boys have been anointed and can claim the throne. Around their 12th year they move back to Israel.
3) Time goes by, Jesus is married to Mary Magdalen in or around his 15th or 16th year which was common back then. They have their first child, who will later be called Barrabas or bar Rabbi, "son of the Rabbi".
4) Learning about Eastern religious thought from Buddhist missionaries, Jesus travels to India and studies throughout that land. Tibetian Buddhists have records of him in their "Book of the Dead".
(Note: Betcha always wondered why there was 20 years missing in his life? The Roman Church didn't think these years fit in with the myth they created.)
5) Jesus comes back to Israel some years later and starts up his cult. His brother and son are already fighting a guerilla war against the Romans and the corrupt Jewish priesthood, in an attempt to take back the throne from Herod.
6) Ok, trial and execution time. Jesus may or may not have died on the cross at this point. What is known is that Joseph of Arimathea owned the land that the Cruci-fiction happened on. If he didn't die then he did flee back to India, as Indian legends tells.
7) Mary Magdalen and Thomas fight Peter for control of the movement. Peter wins out and Mary flees with her daughter Sara to southern France with Joseph of Arimathea .
8) Under Peter's control the movement starts to die until a former enemy, Saul of Tarsus, converts, becoming Paul, and the two take their road show to Rome. During this time the tales of Jesus take on more mystical aspects instead of plain revolutionary ideology.
9) Over the next 300+ years the battle over what really happened continued. Gnostics and Traditionalists fight over the message of Jesus and his divinity. Finally in a bid to consolidate his power over the remnants of the Roman Empire, Constantine (a Pagan) makes Christianity the official religion of the state. The hunt and war against Gnostics begins.
10) 1700+ years of lies, conquests, and burnings later and still it continues. Jesus was a good man, he was a teacher, a Rabbi, but he was as divine as any of us are. His brother and son were the revolutionaries, trying to win back the land of Israel from Rome and the corrupt Jewish priesthood, along with the Maccabean dynasty of Herod, who supported Rome.
Got it?
Wow, you all are very humorous...you say all these prejudice things against the christians yet the christians who have commented have said nothing rude to you xD
Firstly the game hasn't been launched yet, so how can you flame it yet. Secondly, there is free speach and just as you are allowed to state your opinion against christianity, I as a christian have a right to state my beliefs as a christian and to infringe upon my rights to do so is not only ignorant, but inturn effecting you, if you want us to stop spewing our faith then inturn you infringe upon your own right to speak against it. SO, by saying "Your all nuts!" " I want a lawyer to get up in their ass', and *****ing take them down.." are very ignorant opinions. If a lawyer sued a company for simply stating their own views then he'd have to sue every single company on the planet. Just because it's a religious game does not mean that it should be censored by any means, infact you should support it.
By supporting a religious game to be put out you secure more rights for yourself. If this religious game can be put out then any type of game can exist and if a lawyer comes along to sue you for it, then you can simply point to the fact that this religious game has the right to state it's opinion, and you would win hands down. If you really wish to combat this religious view then simply go make your own game centered on your views (ie: gay, buddist, kkk, naziism, whatever).
Lets take every single mmorpg out there and find a form of religion that it centers on...hmm all of them have a form of occult and paganism. Both are minority religions with far less people in them then christianity, but for some scewed form of reason you are basically saying it is ok for a minority's viewpoint to be flaunted and destributed, but a majority should be dragged down for their beliefs because you can sleep better at night knowing that you cast down the giant for the minorities sake. Or you are not too bright and haven't studied the other religions to realize the religious meanings inside games. Either way though you have presented a very ignorant view that infact harms you more then harms me.
Do you really think that any of the mmorpg's out there are completely deviod of having religious context's? The answer is no. Take final fantasy 11 online, i played it for 2 years. All the summons in this game are centered around ancient religious gods (ie: roman, irish, greek) there is a strong magical context as well to this game which centers the entire game upon a form of Paganism and Occultist nature. Do you flame them, no. Why? because you are prejudice against the ideals that christianity supports, because they infringe upon the "freedom" you think you will have. However, you don't have the freedom at all if you go against the right for me to express my religion and for the company that is christian based to express it's opinion. You are afraid of the high ideals of the christian religion and it's strong "good-willed" nature to (heaven forbid) care about other people's eternal souls whether they believe in them or not. People get too caught up on "the end of days" in the christian religion and most don't fully understand it. Christians look toward "the end of days" with anticipation, however it's mixed with the fact that if we are right that means that the eternal souls of those who didn't believe as we do will be thrown in dark flames and burn clear into eternity. Christians don't want you to be burned or tortured, we would actually very much like there to be no war at all, we just want people to live in peace and have freedom. Could we be wrong? Maybe, I guess we'll find out someday, but until then I will support "god" because if i don't then I will be stuck in that burning fire for a very long time and that's no good. Oh and there is nowhere in the bible that says it's ok for christians to harrass or make people submit to god's will, the only things christians are called to do is speak the word of god and hope that the seed we planted grow
"that the seed we planted grow"
And that is the point dear hakrev......
Your seed, that of the Xtian faith, is at issue here.
You do not follow your leader's tenents. The church you follow is not that of Jesus, but that of Saul of Taurus (Paul). Your church is no longer of the oppressed, but is the oppressor.
If you call yourself Christian. Then research the history of your faith. Do not be a sheep, blindly following the flock.
For any pagans out there... come check out a new site that is not politically correct like WitchVox.
http://www.goddesswithin.us/
Peace!
Arius
If anyone is interested there is a boycott against Tyndale House for producing this atrocity. Anyone who wants to participate can sign the petition at http://theology.dawncaller.org/
Yeah, believing that your soul will burn for eternity if you don't accept Jesus as your "personal lord and savior" is pretty *****in stupid. And the air of moral superiority that tends to exude from most christians is soooo *****in annoying. If christianity were the "one true path to God", then christian bands wouldn't be so *****in gay. What a buncha crappy *****.
Oh, yeah, the game... It would be way cooler if there was more gore. It would function better as a first person or third person shooter/RPG marketed for gaming consoles instead of strategy made for PCs. SOme of you *****in anti-christian, pagan dooche-bags are even more annoying than christians! Go *****in open the circle and eat a tofurky and lentil sandwhich with your life-partner, gaylord. I'm all about occult rituals and practices (ie Santeria, Satanism, Wicca, Coprophelia, Ass worship), but I wish people would just shut the ***** up about it. All of you *****in retards. Eat my butt...
you can't sue someone for beliefs, you *****wad. Constitution *****... It might be pretty lame to promote prejudice and hatred, but you're doing the same thing by wanting these people sued and shutdown. go eat your own anus, dooshlicker.
Read the history of Europe--beginning with the Nicene Council--murder, torture, genocide in country after country in the name of the alleged prince of peace. How hypocritical is that? Then the same monotheistic lunatics exported their intolerance to the Western Hemisphere and wiped out the indigenous people. Jews, Xtians and Muslims all believe in the same deity and have been killing each other over dogma since the inception of their respective versions of said deity for nearly 2k years. Why do we have a 1st Amendment? Here is a quote from the framer of the Constitution:
Experience witnesseth that eccelsiastical establishments, instead of maintaining the purity and efficacy of Religion, have had a contrary operation. During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution.
-- James Madison, A Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, addressed to the Virginia General Assemby, June 20, 1785
Pauline Xtianity is evil; it is the magpie of 'modern' religions; when it hasn't murdered off competing faiths, it has stolen their holidays and co-opted their holy places. Source texts for Revelations state the 'bogeyman number' is 616, not 666--hey if they can't get three numbers right in a row, do you really want to trust them on larger issues? NOT!!!!
This game is pure propaganda its only meant to get more belivers And make$$$$ ***** EVAS! NAZI *****KAS
its eye 4 an eye they deserve to be shutdown 4 making an abomination its hypocrisy its truly disgracefull to chrisitan ppl
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