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Mega-church minister linked to paramilitary video game

Daily Kos
May 29, 2006

Originally posted on Talk to Action as "The Purpose Driven Life Takers."


www.leftbehindgames.com

Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is "to conduct physical and spiritual warfare"; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. You have never felt so powerful, so driven by a purpose: you are 13 years old. You are playing a real-time strategy video game whose creators are linked to the empire of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life.

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.

Time magazine has described Mr. Warren as one of the nation's most influential Evangelical Christian leaders. He describes himself as a "stealth evangelist" and describes his training programs as "a stealth movement, that's flying beneath the radar, that's changing literally hundreds, even thousands of churches around the world." He claims that he has sold tens of millions of copies of The Purpose Driven Life by developing a worldwide network of pastors.

The international director of Mr. Warren's Purpose Driven Church, Mark Carver, is a former investment banker who serves on the Advisory Board of the corporation created in October 2001 to develop and market this game. The creators plan to market their game using the same network marketing techniques that Mr. Warren used to turn The Purpose Driven Life into a commercial success. For example, they plan to distribute their merchandise through pastoral networks, especially mega-churches.

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. 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).

Is this paramilitary mission simulator for children anything other than prejudice and bigotry using religion as an organizing tool to get people in a violent frame of mind? The dialogue includes people saying, "Praise the Lord," as they blow infidels away.

The designers intend this game to become the first dominionist warrior game to break through in the popular culture due to its violent scenarios and realistic graphics, lighting, and sound effects. Its creators expect it to earn a rating of T for Teen. How violent is that? That's the rating shared by Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory, a top selling game in which high-tech gadgets and high-powered weapons - frag grenades, shotguns, assault rifles, and submachine guns -- are used to terminate enemies with extreme prejudice.

Could such a violent, dominionist Christian video game really break through to the popular culture? Well, it is based on a series of books that have already set sales records - the blockbuster Left Behind series of 14 novels by writer Jerry B. Jenkins and his visionary collaborator, retired Southern Baptist minister Tim LaHaye. "We hope teenagers like the game," Mr. LaHaye told the Los Angeles Times. "Our real goal is to have no one left behind."



The game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces, is based on scenes from the first four novels in the series. The game was developed by a publicly-traded company called Left Behind Games, according to SEC records. The developers obtained the license from Tyndale House, the Christian publisher of Left Behind.
www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/13055/000107878206000247/bonanzadef14a
032106.htm

Tyndale's licensing of the project infuriated one of its authors, Jack Thompson, a conservative Christian attorney and outspoken critic of video game violence, who told the Los Angeles Times that he severed ties with his publisher in a dispute over "Left Behind: Eternal Forces."

"It's absurd," said the video critic. "You can be the Christians blowing away the infidels, and if that doesn't hit your hot button, you can be the Antichrist blowing away all the Christians."

click for the rest of the story:

www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/29/203330/248

See also:

"Five days until the Rapture: The Rapture—Coming 06.06.06"
-Left Behind - The Movie
Revelation: Apocalypse II
Megiddo - The Omega Code 2
www.leftbehind.com
www.imdb.com/title/tt0190524/
http://shop2.gospelcom.net/epages/GospelDirect.storefront/en/Product/D
VD1449


Michael York: Gay Caberet to Austin Powers to Satan

Doing Cabaret meant York struck up a strong friendship with the source material’s gay author, Christopher Isherwood. In fact, York was staying at Isherwood’s London home as they received the rave reviews of the film the day it opened. “I loved Chris. It was amazing-we forget that that was a big push forward, having that character bisexual.”

York has had his own bizarre career chapters. There was the cult ’70s sci-fi oddity Logan’s Run, for one, but more recently, he appeared in a series of films backed by the Christian right. In The Omega Code (’99), York played a media mogul called Stone Alexander, who is actually Satan. The film cost a mere $7.2-million (U.S.), but became a massive success with Christians who felt (and feel) that callous atheist film-biz types chronically ignore or disdain their religious beliefs. York reprised the role two years later for Megiddo.

“Playing the devil was great. He tends to hog the spotlight. My beliefs never really became an issue. They never asked for any credentials. These films are obviously designed to appeal to a core Christian audience, something I didn’t realize was quite so huge.

“You know, people love to put you in a niche. Before I was the guy in Cabaret. Then it was Austin Powers’ boss. Now I’m the guy who does those Christian movies.”

www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2002/072502/film1.html


www.amazon.com

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Originally posted by citizen:

blah blah blather winge.

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Originally posted by piratenews:
they picked a real-life homo to play Satan, in Michael York. Are they trying to say Satan is a homo,

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Originally posted by JonnyAnimal:
Ooh! Can I refuse Jesus and the Mark of the Beast? I wanna kill both Dominionist Christians and Anti-Christ! I'd buy it then.

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Originally posted by PirateJew:
British-Australian-Christian-Commie-Nazi-Capitallist-Alien-Jews make me wet the bed!

But I still enjoy it!

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Originally posted by citizen:
River:
Actually I respond to him because it's funny, and he doesn't just voice his opinions, he actively seeks to prevent others from doing so, and insults everyone and anyone who thinks differently. My responses to him are far more measured than his accusation are to me, hmm what did I say to him, oh yes pretty much parroted his world view, that British-Commie-Nazi-Christian-Jews are behind it all.

He in turn called me a baby killer. So I feel perfectly fine responding to him in the way I do, thank you very much.

I'm not quite sure what your personal hard-on for me is, neither do I care, but it's long past being boring now. As is your ego based derision of our ego based derision, hypocrisy is not a good look for you, neither is arrogance which you are showing in spades at the moment.

For someone who has shown your recent behaviour you have no right, NO RIGHT to be condemning most of the rest of this board for theirs.

I suggest you pack up your simplistic amateur psycho-analysing which is two a penny in any woman’s mag you care to buy, and go back to starting threads to get yourself attention.

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Originally posted by citizen:
You mentioned me by name, and have done a number of times and it's getting old.

TheRightStuff episode was a joke, it gained exactly what it was supposed to, i.e. bring people together using an enemy whose feelings could never be hurt because they didn't exist.

Yes I was in on the joke, no I wasn't TRS, yes I know who it was, no I'm not telling.

Something may not be right, sometimes it's understandable, if someone hits me it doesn't automatically mean I'm a bully if I hit them back.

And frankly if you are guilty of something you don't get to judge or be condescending to other people for doing it.

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Originally posted by Tristan:
Seeing as the thread has already been hijacked...

Citizen, would you thank the person behind TRS for me? It was brilliant, and it worked wonderfully. I had inklings towards the end, but only after someone else brought up their own doubts. I am thoroughly enjoying the end results.



Holding until you get back, Captain.

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Originally posted by Tristan:
Wasn't talking to you, River, and I did not accuse you of hijacking the thread. If I was going to accuse you, I would have typed it out. The thread was veering off before you even jumped in here.

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