Gaming the Faith

Posted on December 19, 2006 in Consuming Morals & Ethics

One might extend the old rule “never discuss politics and religion” to “never base a video game on them either”. This wisdom evades the makers of two new electronic adventures that hit the market, Left Behind: Eternal Forces and Quest for Bush.

Though the designers of the first deny that it has anything to do with the Christian religion, its apocalyptic viewpoint and heavy use of Bible quotations betrays it as yet another product of evangelical maneuverings. Observe, for example, this doubletalk:

“The game itself is just a great game. People of other faiths could play it and not know it’s Christian,” [Jeffrey S Frichner] says.

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.

The game does downplay the use of violence (you become more susceptible to conversion to evil when you engage in it) though it does not entirely overrule carnage. Critics call it a reinvention of the Crusades and the Inquisition, saying that it defines as the enemy those who do not accept the Fundamentalist version of Jesus Christ into their lives — Catholics, Jews, Muslims, the wrong kind of Protestants, miscellaneous sinners including, atheists and agnostics.

The message seems to be muddled. (See The Purpose-Driven Life Takers for links to Saddleback Church and Rick Warren). People die, but you get points if you get the angels to do it?

The second game originates out of Islamic extremism. The object is simply to kill the pResident. (A more reasonable alternative would be to impeach him in the style of earlier games such as Balance of Power and Hidden Agenda where you manipulate public opinion and players.) Observers do not think that this is a terrorist recruitment ploy, though the propaganda value is evident. And is it any worse than the millenialist propaganda with which Left Behind is laced?

Quest targets one man: Left Behind sacrifices whole neighborhoods.

The end is not near and we will see these kinds of games coming out on all sides in the years to come. We cannot prevent their publication, but we can exercise a little fiscal and moral power by pressuring game dealers (such as Walmart) to leave these titles off their lists. You will find Left Behind at Walmart but not Quest for Bush. This tells: our marketplace only wants extremism branded with familiar symbols.

Here’s a Huffington Post commentary.