Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Random thoughts of a Tennessee fan on life, sports and more TV shows than any one person should be allowed to watch.
About me
Name: Michael
Location: Nashville, TN
E-mail me!

View My Complete Profile
100 Things About Me
My Facebook Profile
My Wish List
Syndicate Big Orange Michael


Also For Your Reading Pleasure For Your Listening Pleasure (Podcasts)
Slice of SciFi
PodCulture
Two Insane Fans: The Statler and Waldorf of Doctor Who commentaries

Archives
04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004
05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004
06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004
07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004
08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004
09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004
10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004
11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004
12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005
01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005
02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005
03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005
04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005
05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005
06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005
07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005
08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005
09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005
10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005
11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005
12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006
01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006
02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006
03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006
04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006
05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006
06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006
07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006
08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006
09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006
10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006
11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006
12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007
01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007
02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007
03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007
04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007
05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007
06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007
07/01/2007 - 08/01/2007
08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007
09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007
10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007
11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007
12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008
01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008
02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008
03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008
04/01/2008 - 05/01/2008
05/01/2008 - 06/01/2008
06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008
07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008
08/01/2008 - 09/01/2008
09/01/2008 - 10/01/2008
10/01/2008 - 11/01/2008
11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008
12/01/2008 - 01/01/2009
01/01/2009 - 02/01/2009
02/01/2009 - 03/01/2009
03/01/2009 - 04/01/2009
04/01/2009 - 05/01/2009
05/01/2009 - 06/01/2009
06/01/2009 - 07/01/2009
07/01/2009 - 08/01/2009
08/01/2009 - 09/01/2009
09/01/2009 - 10/01/2009
10/01/2009 - 11/01/2009
11/01/2009 - 12/01/2009
12/01/2009 - 01/01/2010
01/01/2010 - 02/01/2010
02/01/2010 - 03/01/2010
03/01/2010 - 04/01/2010
04/01/2010 - 05/01/2010
05/01/2010 - 06/01/2010
06/01/2010 - 07/01/2010
07/01/2010 - 08/01/2010
08/01/2010 - 09/01/2010
09/01/2010 - 10/01/2010
10/01/2010 - 11/01/2010
11/01/2010 - 12/01/2010
12/01/2010 - 01/01/2011
01/01/2011 - 02/01/2011
02/01/2011 - 03/01/2011
03/01/2011 - 04/01/2011
04/01/2011 - 05/01/2011
05/01/2011 - 06/01/2011
06/01/2011 - 07/01/2011
07/01/2011 - 08/01/2011
08/01/2011 - 09/01/2011
09/01/2011 - 10/01/2011
10/01/2011 - 11/01/2011
11/01/2011 - 12/01/2011
12/01/2011 - 01/01/2012
01/01/2012 - 02/01/2012
02/01/2012 - 03/01/2012
03/01/2012 - 04/01/2012
04/01/2012 - 05/01/2012
05/01/2012 - 06/01/2012
06/01/2012 - 07/01/2012
07/01/2012 - 08/01/2012
08/01/2012 - 09/01/2012
09/01/2012 - 10/01/2012
08/01/2013 - 09/01/2013
10/01/2017 - 11/01/2017
11/01/2017 - 12/01/2017
09/01/2022 - 10/01/2022
10/01/2022 - 11/01/2022
11/01/2022 - 12/01/2022


Thursday, June 01, 2006
When did the apocolypse become a cool videogame?
Barry over at Inn of the Last Home has a long post about the forthcoming Left Behind: The Video-Game.

Here's a product description of the game from the Left Behind web site:

Wage a war of apocalyptic proportions in LEFT BEHIND: Eternal Forces - a real-time strategy game based upon the best-selling LEFT BEHIND book series created by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Join the ultimate fight of Good against Evil, commanding Tribulation Forces or the Global Community Peacekeepers, and uncover the truth about the worldwide disappearances!

· Lead the Tribulation Force from the book series , including Rayford, Chloe, Buck and Bruce against Nicolae Carpathia – the AntiChrist.
· 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!
· Enjoy a robust single player experience across dozens of New York City maps in Story Mode – fighting in China Town , SoHo , Uptown and more!
· Play multiplayer games as Tribulation Force or the AntiChrist's Global Community Peacekeepers with up to eight players via LAN or over the internet!

So, they're turning the end of the world into a video-game? At long last, my desire to exterminate all the heathens Duke Nukem 3-D style can finally be fulfilled! (That last part was sarcasm!)

Now I won't deny there's not a niche for Christian-based video games out there just waiting to be tapped. I'm just not quite sure games like this are the answer we're looking for. (And is it just me or does anyone else have visions of Tod and Rod Flanders playing this game?)

If we ask ourselves the question of "What would Jesus play?" I'm not quite sure this game would pass the test. Cause I've read my Bible and I've seen the Jesus in there and I really can't see him advocating a video-game where you extreminate all the "heathens." Kind of of goes against that whole love your neighbor thing he's so famous for...

But then again, I shouldn't be too shocked that type of narrow-minded zealotry comes from the Left Behind empire. As you can tell, I'm not a huge fan of the Left Behind novels. I've read two and a half of them and all I can say is--they're complete, utter purile garbage. Putting aside the theological arguments (If you want to read just a great critique of the books, check out Slactivist), the books themselves could serve as examples to every freshman literature class of how not to write. The novels are poorly written, have stitled dialogue and all have one-dimensional characters whose only function is to either be saved or damned based on which side they choose in the tribulation battle that is unfolding. And while some of the saved do have flaws or foibles, the books make it seem as if "getting saved" magically makes them an all around better person and life is a bed of roses. And don't even get me started on the close-mindedness that ensues on some characters once they get saved and their zealotry to save everyone in the exact same way they were....

What gets me most about these books is the whole us vs them mentality they have. It seems to miss the fundamental point that we're all sinners and it's only through God's grace that we can come into a relationship with Him. And that that Grace is extended to everyone, but it's something we have to choose. It fails to take into account the great commandment of love the Lord with all your heart, soul and might and love your neighbor as yourself. Or let say that it adds the disclaimer of love your neighbor as yourself, so long as they agree with you and go to the same church.

A friend once told me of the merit of the Left Behind series becuase she had loaned the first book to a (then) non-Christian friend. Apparently the story scared the this person enough to accept Christ as her savior. Sure, we've won a new disciple for Christ, but I have to wonder if scaring people to death with visions of hell and the tribulation is really the way to do it. I mean, if your motivation for having a relationship with Christ is to avoid the potential of being left behind or sent to hell, then what's to say the next person or movement promising you freedom from hell isn't gong to convince you to follow it? It's great that the story awoke something inside this person and she felt a deep yearning..but what I worry about is the next stages--the ones where the church as community has to help this person grow in their relationship with God so that it's not just--well, I'm not going to hell, so that's all good and into something more. Again, going back to Jesus, a seed planted in rocky soil will sprout, but when the sun comes out and beats down on it, it will soon wither and die. What we need to do is get that seed to fertile soil and make sure that the seed continues to be fed so it can grow and bloom.

But is the teaching of there is only one way to think and view the world really going to do that?

I read an article recently about someone who'd gone into a Christian bookstore and was alarmed by the overwhelming amount of radical, right-wing books that promoted an agneda of intolerance. The stores had a good representation of such pundits as Sean Hannity but where were the books from liberal Christian thinkers, Brent Bourgeois asked. The article included a list of some of the titles the Bourgeois found just browsing. If they weren't so scarily narrow-minded, they'd almost be funny.

And yet it's these same bookstore where these books will sit right alongside the Left Behind novels. And I'm assuming the Left Behind game will also be carried there as well, whenver it comes out.

It's from all of these things that I can see why those outside the church can get the impression that Christians are hypocrites or that we're close-minded zealots. Certainly, the whole overreaction to the DaVinci Code doesn't help, but then again, there's always something in the pop culture and media that some sect is overreacting to..

The issue I have with all of these things is, as I've said, they miss the fundamental point of what Christianity is really all about. I take seriously Jesus's charge to go out and make disciples of all nations and certainly it's something I don't always do as well as I should or would like to do. But what I do know is that it's a charge to convert others by love, peace and example rather than through violence, fear or hatred.

And in that point, I think these books and this game are entirely missing the boat of what it really means, deep down to fundamentally be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

posted by Michael Hickerson at 6/01/2006 12:21:00 PM | |
Comments: Post a Comment


Follow me on Twitter!




    Follow me on Twitter!


    Recent Comments
    Awards


    Web Sites I Visit
    CrossWalk.com
    Daily News Journal
    Doctor Who News
    Go Vols
    Go Titans
    The Tennessean
    The Tennessean's Titans Coverage
    Trek Today
    TV Guide On-Line
    Washington Post Redskins Coverage
    USA Today


    Favorite Authors on the Web
    Orson Scott Card
    Peter David's Blog
    Keith R.A. DeCandido's Blog
    Neil Gaiman
    Elizabeth George
    Philip Gulley
    Stephen King
    Donald Miller
    Lisa Samson's Blog
    Robert Whitlow

    Musical Links
    Carolyn Arends
    Sherrie Austin
    Cherryholmes
    Lee Domann
    Fleming & John
    Sara Groves
    Jennifer Knapp
    Jars of Clay
    Carolyn Dawn Johnson
    Cindy Morgan
    The Monkees
    Nickel Creek
    Nothin' Fancy
    Rebecca St. JamesRay Stevens
    Steep Canyon Rangers
    Williams and Clark Expedition
    Rhonda Vincent and the Rage
    Jaci Velasquez

    Blogging Links

    Powered by Blogger Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com Listed on Blogwise
    << ? Blogaholics Anonymous # >>

    My Blog Chalk

    Michael/Male/31-35. Lives in United States/Tennessee/Smyrna, speaks English. Eye color is brown. I am in shape. I am also creative. My interests are Reading/Swimming laps.
    This is my blogchalk:
    United States, Tennessee, Smyrna, English, Michael, Male, 31-35, Reading, Swimming laps.



    You Are Visitor

    Free Web Counter


    Looking For Something Specific?
    Search this site or the web powered by FreeFind

    Site search Web search


    Blogskins
    Powered by Blogger