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tigtog now posts at the new and improved Hoyden About Town. She also blogs at Larvatus Prodeo and Finally A Feminism 101 Blog. If the new Hoydenspace is down you should find updates below.

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Hoyden About Town

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2006-05-31

Goose: Gander

In a timely fashion considering Kim's response to Tim Blair's baiting about whether progressives would condemn abstinence-only sex-education at a Muslim school in Australia in the same way as when it's advocated by Christians (yes, of course we would), Zuzu at Feministe posted this:

"Where is the outrage? I can guarantee the tone of Newsweek's piece would be far different if this were an Al Qaeda-funded videogame being distributed in the Arab world and advocating the murder of Christians as infidels. Just imagine the outrage at a game just like this one, but with a Muslim rather than Christian focus"

Zuzu's talking about a new videogame based on Timothy LaHaye's bestselling Left Behind novels, set in a post-Rapture USA:





These pictures above and below are from Talk to Action, who give a graphic description of the game:
"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." [...]

"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." [...]

"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."




As Zuzu says:

"This would not pass the media's smell test if the dialogue included people saying "Praise Allah." But because it involves Christian themes, it's being marketed to teenagers, with high hopes that it will be a mainstream hit and a big Christmas-season seller."

So, I'm curious. Is it OKIYAC (OKayIfYouAreChristian) or are games with such bigoted violence at their core to be equally condemned no matter what religion the holy genocidal warriors may be? And what about the links between the gamemakers and a megachurch?

Crossposted at Larvatus Prodeo. Thanks, Mark, for inviting me to join the posters at LP.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations :)

You're going to be busy!

tigtog said...

Thanks. The nice thing about LP is that there's a large group of contributors, so there doesn't appear to be much pressure, really. Lots of things I post here won't be LP fodder, and those that are I'll crosspost as and when seems appropriate.

Mentis Fugit said...

Confirmed: US Representatives shown parody videogame as evidence of terrorist activities.

tigtog said...

Thanks, MF - I should have linked to stories about that for comparison in the post. I knew about the parody game hysteria - what a cock-up by the Dept of Defense, and what an excellent example of how such games from a Muslim perspective were automatically considered recruiting tools, but the Left Behind game gets a pass.

Anonymous said...

i think this is the whole wrong idea of the game. have the so called critics ever even played the game? th piont is not to kill unbelievers, but to convert them, you have to keep the sprit points up or some thing like that, it has nothing to do with a join or die motto, as the post suggests

tigtog said...

erin, my understanding was that there was both convert and kill options, with different points for each.

I know plenty of people who play games where they could get more points by killing fewer targets, but they enjoy shooting the targets, so that's the part of the game they spend most time on.

Since the game has tanked and the company is now facing bankruptcy, the virtues and vices of this particular game are all moot now, but I think the point of hypocrisy about first-person-shooter games with a Christian message versus first-person-shooter games with a Muslim perspective still stands.