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Jun. 2nd, 2006 11:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badstarPart of me wants to know how this is different from any other video game. Part of me is...disturbed. There's no registration to read the article.
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/29/195855/959
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.
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/29/195855/959
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.
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Date: 2006-06-02 03:51 pm (UTC)"He claims that he has sold tens of millions of copies of The Purpose Driven Life by developing a worldwide network of pastors."
That sounds really cynical to me. "Hmm, let's use the influence these guys have to sell our product."
Worrying about the effect of this game is like worrying that Grand Theft Auto is going to turn our kids into crack ho murdering thieves.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-02 04:18 pm (UTC)Grand Theft Auto is marketed as a very obvious piece of entertainment.
The people who are marketing this game may not be advocating literal scenes like what's in the game (Though they have an interesting way of showing the "consequences of moral choices":
"While the game itself has no blood, it doesn't shy away from showing
corpses, and lots of them. In fact, one of the things people might find
surprising is that bodies in this game don't disappear, making for some
gruesome landscapes as corpses pile up in the streets of New York.
"Violence has consequences -- even justified violence," Lyndon said. "You
can behave morally and still cause harm. Most people tend to do evil
unconsciously because they're shying away from the consequences of their
actions. Making moral choices -- good or bad -- have costs associated
with them. We want to make sure we show that.")
I'm not afraid that kids are going to go out and kill those that won't convert as a result of this game. and maybe it's just that hypocritical parents that won't let their kids play grand theft auto will think this is just swell and those kids can get in on the violent video game action too.
I see a bit of a difference between obvious fantasy and somethign that comes out of someone's very real beliefs and outlook of the world.
Sure there's going to be the occasional idiot that believs he can reenact GFA or somehting like that but they're probably either mentally ill or extremely stupid.
when do things like this in the name of religion stop being so easily dismissed?
no subject
Date: 2006-06-02 06:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-02 11:21 pm (UTC)If a person plays the game, they are unlikely to go out and murder people, but the inherent worth of people with differring opinions is lowered in their eyes. They may be more apt to attempt forced conversions or to treat non-believers like shit, or to turn a blind eye to such behavior.
Violence in the name of religion is a much different animal than violence in the name of money or drugs.
This game is the equivalent to me of making a game about a genocidal regime from history as if they were the good guys. Because Dominionists are/were the biggest committers of genocide in history, both physical and cultural, starting from that fucker Columbus.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-02 06:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-03 07:10 am (UTC)