Left Behind...The Game ?

Yep, your eyes are not deceving you. The makers of the best selling, Christian horror fiction series Left Behind, have now created a video game.

"The people behind the kooky Christian "Left-Behind" science fiction novels (about the futuristic battles on earth after the Rapture takes all the good Bible-bashers to heaven) have produced a violent, bigoted video-game version of their stories. Ironicially, the game is drawing fire from Jack Thompson, himself a nutcase Christian Conservative who hates video-games more than he hates sinning liberals."

"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. "

Too scary.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6178055.stm

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/05/31/left_behind_christia.html

For the Bible Tells me so

A new documentary is being screened at Sundance this year, called For the Bible Tells Me So (www.forthebibletellsmeso.org). I look forward to seeing it b/c it describes where so many people like myself are at spiritually. We have grown up either fundamentalist or evangelical, and have either given up on Christianity and religion altogether, or we are seeking alternatives to our native faith.



Here is a description of the film from the website:
"For Hundreds Of Years...

The Hebrew and Christian Bibles have been used to sanction discrimination, repression, and injustice around the world. They have justified slavery, empowered segregation, and excused the subjugation of women -- and the tradition continues.

Today, a handful of religious passages are commonly exploited to justify condemnation of and violence against homosexuals.

FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO (working title) is a new feature-length documentary film that will look at this phenomenon and will directly confront the use of scripture by the religious right to deny gay and lesbian people basic human rights.

We will tell the story of V. Gene Robinson, a man from New Hampshire, whose consecration as the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican Communion (indeed in Christendom) has sent shock waves throughout the world. We will also feature Chrissy Gephardt, the lesbian daughter of Congressman Dick Gephardt, as she and her family struggle to deal with her very public coming out. (In addition, an undecided third story of theological transformation on this issue will be featured.)

Throughout the unfolding of three very human journeys, clergy and major Biblical scholars will also weigh-in on what those oft-quoted scriptural verses, so often cited by religious conservatives, really mean. Among those voicing affirming interpretations of scripture are Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard's Peter Gomes, openly gay Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech."

Sounds interesting, can't wait till it comes to Dallas.

Militant Faith ?

So I saw an independent film a few months ago called Jesus Camp, which just got released on dvd. It was a documentary about children who grow up in evangelical homes. I saw it with two friends, one is who evangelical and the other who is agnostic. Of course we all 3 had different opinions !

I have been trying to convince as many people as possible to see this movie, but had a hard time trying to describe it. Finally, Danielle, the pastor at Journey (www.journeydallas.com) said something that put into words excatly how I felt about it. She said (on a totally unrelated subject) that while watching the news one day, she finally understood how it must feel to be a Muslim in our country. And it finally hit me: my frustration is that when people today think of Christians, they think of the people in this movie.




This is very troubling for people like myself, who are very spiritual people, and who try to follow Christ to the best of our ability. Modern evangelicals do not represent what it means to be a follower of Jesus today, yet that is what most people think of. I am also not saying that all evangelicals are horrible people who are all wrong. I am just trying to sum up the stereotyping and misconceptions that I feel.

God says . . . ?

Pat Robertson is in the news again. This time, claiming that God spoke to him of an upcoming disaster to hit America this year, possibly killing a million people. How many times is this guy going to do this ? What really worries me is that there are actually some sincere people in our country who will really believe that God spoke to him. What happens when they want to turn this into reality? Scary !

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/07/MNGA7NEDPU1.DTL&feed=rss.news

I guess that I haven't realized how much I have changed over the past several years. Anyone who claims to be so certain and absolute about anything, especially faith and religion, frightens me.