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RNU.com
– (Raiders News
Update) – Recently I
set down with the associate producer of a
soon-to-be-released Christian-themed game based on
the Left Behind books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry
Jenkins. Left Behind: Eternal Forces, which
is made for PCs and includes options such as
choosing which side to fight on, has received some
criticism due to its approach to depicting the
apocalyptic battle between good and evil. The
producer walked me through the game, but because
some of my questions included ethics he suggested
that I also talk with the Public Relations manager
for LBG. When I bumped into her as she was
escorting Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins to an
appointment, she happily agreed to be interviewed
and even contacted me after the show to expedite
the Q&A.
Then something happened. Once
receiving my questions, she referred me back to
LBG for a spokesperson.
Several weeks passed. I wasn't
feeling the love anymore. I'm still waiting.
Maybe I'm just a jerk, or maybe
I'm asking the wrong questions or using the wrong
diplomacy. Though the questions seemed reasonable
to me as I submitted them, maybe I'm such an old
fuddy-duddy that I don't understand the way things
work anymore. On the other hand, maybe my
questions can't be answered for reasons unknown...
or unspoken. I'm
still hoping I'll get a response. We'll see.
Meanwhile, the
questions are below. Except for the courtesy I've
taken in removing proper names, these are just as
LBG and their PR representative received them.
Feel free to let me know if you think I'm out of
line.
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TOM HORN:
[Name], thank you for taking time to talk with me
about this new game - Left Behind: Eternal Forces.
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
I’m curious about how you became involved with
Left Behind Games?
RESPONSE :
No response
TOM HORN:
Because I’m doing this interview primarily to
answer some of the controversy surrounding the
game, most of my questions are going to be hard.
So here is your chance at the outset to say
something positive about this game.
RESPONSE :
No response
TOM HORN:
I’ve heard that Mark Carver, who works with Rick
Waren’s Saddleback Church, was on the advisory
board for Left Behind Games at one time before
abruptly resigning. Can you tell me if this is
true and what the real story behind this is?
RESPONSE :
No response
TOM HORN:
Does Left Behind Games intend to use pastoral
networks to advertise or distribute their product
in a way similar to what the Purpose Driven Church
has?
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
As promised, questions get harder from here. I’m
sure by now you are aware of the critics who say
the Left Behind game is a bad idea for Christians
and that it encourages violent behavior among
kids. A Newsweek article recently called the level
of violence in this game reminiscent of Grand
Theft Auto, which depicts shocking levels of
brutality.
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
The American Psychological Association, the
American Academy of Pediatrics and the American
Medical Association have all concluded that there
is a relationship between television violence and
aggression among children. Some researchers argue
that these studies are reasonably inferred to
video game violence as well. Craig Anderson, the
professor and chairman of psychology at Iowa State
University, co-authored a study directly linking
violent video game play with violent behavior.
Were any studies on antisocial behavior considered
during the Left Behind Game production, and does
such represent any problems for Left Behind:
Eternal Forces in your opinion, as you try to
market this game to people of faith as well as to
soccer moms?
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
I pastored for nearly 25 years and was also
involved with the Moral Majority at one time.
I’m curious as to why I’m not reading anything
from well-known Christian family advocates about
this game? Have you been contacted by Focus on the
Family "types" or heard concerns about
antisocial elements of the game from church
leaders?
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
A Republican attorney and former Tyndale House
author has been trying to get well-known
conservative Christian leaders to speak out
against this game. As far as I can tell, he’s
not been very successful so far. He says this
silence among mega-church leaders is
dollar-driven, hypocritical collusion and that the
culture critics within religious institutions who
built careers advocating against violence in films
and video should be ashamed. Do you 1) expect to
receive bad press inside the church as a result of
this effort and; 2) what would your response to an
outcry from religious leaders be?
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
The conservative news network I own reaches ten
million people per month. We’ve received a ton
of email about this game, all of it negative so
far and most of it as a result of a few critical
reports. Does Left Behind Games worry about
alienating their core audience?
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
In one article I read recently, the reader is
asked to name "one other wholesome
‘Christian’ video game for children in which
Christian commandos shoot nurses in the head and
leave their bodies to rot on the streets of New
York City." They then provide a screen shot
of that scene. Why were options like this included
in the game?
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
Critics also say this game reflects a
black-and-white polarization of good and evil.
Anybody who is not Christian – whether they be
Jew, Muslim, Hindu, whatever - is faced with a
single choice: Convert to Christianity or be
killed by Christians.
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
What about complaints by some that this game will
hurt the war on terror by giving terrorist
recruiters "talking points" about
Christians who are depicted as killing anyone that
doesn’t convert to Christianity?
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
A related criticism of the game is that it
exploits what happened on 9/11 by setting the game
in New York City and using imagery such as
"911" on ambulance roofs. Have
developers of Left Behind: Eternal Forces misused
the tragedy of 9-11 for financial gain in
selecting New York as a virtual reality into which
players can be immersed?
RESPONSE : No
response
 TOM
HORN: For me, the
theological and cultural premise in this game
represents the toughest questions of all. Unlike
other role-playing or "fantasy" games,
Left Behind: Eternal Forces is based on
Pre-tribulation Rapture beliefs held by many
evangelicals to be true. These are deep
convictions for millions, which go beyond
"illusion". The problem with this is
that we are only now beginning to understand how
our brains separate "belief" from
"fantasy". Given that technology used by
gamers for recreation is also used by the
military, for instance, to teach soldiers how to
kill in real-life combat scenarios, I’m worried
that this blending of deeply held religious ideas
- which, by the way, have been historically
illustrated in more than one "holy war"
to be something some humans are actually willing
to kill and die for… I’m worried that this
blending of deep religious beliefs with
contemporary virtual reality, which includes among
other things imagery identified with the war on
terror and the future Apocalypse - might have
unintended effects on impressionable minds and in
ways deeper than fantasy games have done before.
Do you see any value in my concern?
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
There are imps and goat-footed, horned demons in
this game. The ones I saw were extremely powerful
and did easily cause Christians to burst into
flames, dying a horrible and terrifying death. A
startling theological attribute of this game,
which continues to be problematic to me, is that
it is harder to win the game if you play as a
Christian. If you choose to command the Devil’s
team, you cannot be converted to Christianity.
[Producer's name removed] explained that these
aspects of the game were added so that kids could
learn how hard it will be for Christians during
the Great Tribulation. Yet, when I conveyed this
logic to my gamer son, he immediately replied,
"No… what this says to me is that if you
want to... get some really cool, demonic powers
along the way, you will join the forces of
Satan." He was being honest, although
facetious, and I couldn’t help but wonder if his
gut response will be reflected in millions of
other young people. Is this really something LBG,
Tyndale House, LaHaye and Jenkins are willing to
gamble on with regard to some young people
deciding it’s better to join Satan? Do they
understand the psychological process that occurs
in the mind of a child when they make this
decision? Theologians as well as psychologists
verify the law of diminishing returns and the ease
with which criminal or immoral behavior becomes
easier once a person walks over certain virtuous
mental barriers and says, "Yes, I will go
there." This is an unprecedented, astonishing
prospect for a Christian game in my opinion, and I
suspect it will be to other parents and spiritual
leaders as well.
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[Critics
of the Left Behind game have raised questions
similar to ours. Below is a screenshot with
commentary from Talk
to Action]
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RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
Another hard question, which is already on some
peoples mind, is why did Left Behind Games believe
it necessary to give Christian Kids this
"option" anyway, to join the antichrist
and to kill Christians? Why not just make this a
survivor game against difficult odds?
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
Here’s a multi-layered tuffy for you, which is
certain to be on the lips of ministers,
theologians, and reporters like me. When I asked
[Producer's name removed] the same question above
– "why did Left Behind Games believe it
necessary to give Christian Kids the ‘option’
to join the antichrist and to kill
Christians?" - he said it was so kids could
"dialogue both sides of the issue."
Using that rationale, I can imagine people saying,
"Okay then, why not develop a game
encouraging Christian kids to roll-play sex from
different sides of the issue, including group,
porn, animal, rape, prostitution and other
possibilities? Girls could try on virtual
‘hooker’ apparel while boys learn to be pimps.
Making love is more in line with Christian values
than killing another human, isn’t it? Or what
about Christian’s role-playing baby-trafficking,
drug use, presidential assassination and other
antisocial behavior? All of the above is sure to
worsen during the Great Tribulation, correct? Why
not dialogue both sides of those issues?"
Defenders might argue at this point that there is
a difference between killing in defensive battle
for the soul, and dialoguing about sex. But this
is the kind of hairsplitting with regard to a
rationale that could fail to convince ethicists
and come back to malign LBG, LaHaye, Jenkins,
Tyndale, the Christian Booksellers Association and
the collective testimony of those parties.
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
Two final questions. I had dinner with [name
removed] recently, a close family friend of Tim
LaHaye’s. I told him what I saw first hand in
the Left Behind Game. He felt certain that Tim
would never agree to such a game, but I’ve been
told by [the producer] that both LaHaye and
Jenkins are on board with the game’s premise and
that they have been since the beginning. Can you
tell me if that’s true, and if so, what role, if
any, did LaHaye and Jenkins play with regard to
this game?
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
Lastly, a major criticism of the Left Behind:
Eternal Forces game and frankly one that I think
could be even more problematic with some parents,
is the Double Fusion in-game spyware. I believe
the version I saw even inserted advertising in the
game based on data collected about the player
without their knowledge. What is Left Behind Games
hoping to achieve with this Double Fusion software
agreement?
RESPONSE : No
response
TOM HORN:
Thank you, [name]. I know these are difficult
questions and I appreciate you taking time to
answer them.
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Tom
Horn with Jerry Jenkins
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