The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has joined a growing chorus of groups that have asked WalMart to stop stocking Left Behind: Eternal Forces, a video game based on Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series of novels, that promotes religious warfare to children. The recent press conference held by DefCon, (Committee to Defend the Constitution,) Talk to Action and Christian Alliance for Progress to announce the effort to get WalMart to stop stocking the game made news around the world.
[image: detail from a painting depicting the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in which French Catholics slaughtered thousands of French Protestants.
Here is the CAIR press release in its entirety.
CAIR Asks Wal-Mart to Drop Game Glorifying Religious Violence
WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 PRNewswire-USNewswire -- The Council on American-
Islamic Relations (CAIR) today asked Wal-Mart to stop selling a video game that glorifies religious violence and may harm interfaith relations. CAIR says it has received complaints about the game "Left Behind: Eternal Forces," produced by Left Behind Games Inc. The game reportedly rewards players for either converting or killing people of other faiths. In a letter to Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott Jr., CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad wrote in part: "We believe the message this game is promoting is one of religious intolerance. The game's enemy team includes people with Muslim-sounding names. When asked about the Arab and Muslim-sounding names, Left Behind Games' President Jeffrey Frichner said, 'Muslims are not believers in Jesus Christ' - - and therefore cannot be on the side of Jesus in the game. (San Francisco Chronicle, 12/12/06) As you may know, Muslims do in fact revere Jesus as one of God's prophets. "In the post 9-11 climate, when improving interfaith relations should be a priority for all, this type of product only serves to dehumanize others and increase interfaith hostility and mistrust. "Each year, CAIR issues an annual report on the status of American Muslim civil rights, outlining hundreds of incidents involving anti-Muslim discrimination, harassment and hate crimes. It is our experience that many of these incidents result from Islamophobic rhetoric and negative images of Muslims in popular culture. . ."We have no desire to stifle creativity or inhibit freedom of speech. However, it is our duty as America's leading Islamic civil rights group to promote mutual understanding and ensure the safety of Americans of all faiths. "We also believe that as a company that prides itself in hiring and offering services to a diverse group of people, it is Wal-Mart's corporate social responsibility to take into account the potential social impact of its decision to sell this harmful game. We, therefore, respectfully request the removal of the video game 'Left Behind: Eternal Forces' from your shelves." CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 32 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
It is good that American Islamic groups are joining American Christian groups suchas the Beatitudes Society, CrossWalk and the Christian Alliance for Progress in condemning the game. (James Dobson's Focus on the Family, however has endorsed the game.) The game is set in post 911 New York City. How can you tell? The virtual city is current, and "911" is painted on the top of ambulances. (Those numbers do not appear on ambulance roofs in real life.)
In the game, players are to convert or kill New Yorkers. The game is an adaptation of the end of the world novels of Tim LaHaye. Indeed, the first book in the series is sometimes included in the package with the game. Thus it is in the context of the books and Tim LaHaye's theology that underlies the game, which in turn, is supposed to help to popularize and extend the brand.
The Christian Science Monitor has just posted an article that provides a good summary of the controversy. Here is an excerpt:
In one cataclysmic moment, millions around the world disappear." Not a bad intro for a dramatic video game. It turns out those millions have been "raptured" into heaven by Jesus. The player's job is to battle to save the ones left behind on earth from the global forces of evil, which are controlled by the Antichrist.
The hitch, though, in this new game aimed at teens, is who constitutes those "forces of evil": activists, secularists, non-Christian rock musicians, and others who resist "recruitment" into the "forces of good" - the believers in a particular kind of Christianity...
it has created a stir among Christian, Jewish, and activist groups who disagree with the fundamentalist theology the game presents. They say it will teach children religious intolerance and an "us vs. them" view of the world that is both dangerous for the country and contrary to basic Christian teachings. The game's producers disagree.
The real-time strategy (RTS) game takes place in New York City. "You are sent on a spiritual and military mission to convert people, and nobody is allowed to remain neutral," says Eric Elnes, copresident of Crosswalk America, a progressive Christian group, who says he's explored the game extensively. "You lose spirit points if you kill somebody, but you can hit the prayer button to restore the points."
Mr. Elnes's organization has joined with other Christian groups to petition the game's producers to withdraw it from the market. At the same time, two groups that seek to counter the religious right - the Campaign to Defend the Constitution and Christian Alliance for Progress - have written to Wal-Mart requesting that the PC-based game be taken off the shelves.
"The premillennial theology says there will be religious warfare in our lifetime, and people will be targeting fellow Americans," says Frederick Clarkson, of Talk2Action.org. He worries gamers could come to accept that script for the future.
Yup. I view the game as less an entertainment product as an instructional video for children about the nature of the theology of their parents and their church and a possible script for their lives. People who are not on their religious side, are by definition witting or unwitting agents of the antichrist. There is no neutrality.
Welcome to Tim LaHaye's vision for America.