I'm typing this with one hand, while with the other I'm picking up the remaining pieces of my recently exploded head. "Why would Mark's head explode?", I hear you ask. Because he saw this! It's about a new video game called Left Behind: Eternal Forces. Here's a taster:
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 really have to read the whole thing for the full effect. One usually hears from evangelical groups that a lack of Christian morals and the influence of violent television, movies, music and video games are to blame for atrocities such as school shootings. It may be a little harder to make that point now. More seriously, I would be interested to see the reaction of mainstream Christians and other religious groups to this. I'd also like to see what Republicans (who rely on this constituency more than ever) and even Democrats like my junior Senator - Hillary Clinton - who have spoken out about the supposed detrimental effects of violent media, have to say about it. One would hope that a chorus of condemnation would follow, but I'm not exactly holding my breath. One can't help but think of the following. Suppose that a fundamentalist Muslim game designer came out with an analogous game in which the goal was to systematically exterminate Christians and Jews until they were wiped from the face of the Earth. I expect we'd see outrage on a national level. If you've ever thought about getting me a present but didn't know what to get - a believable explanation of why this is a hoax would be just lovely, thanks! (via Pharyngula)
