"If you can't convert them, kill them," seems to be the motto in the new "Christian" video game "Left Behind:Eternal Forces".
I confess that I have not played this video game. I have only read reviews of it, and what I've read is disturbing.
The video game is based on the extremely successful "Left Behind" series of books by Tim LeHaye and Jerry Jenkins.
The premise for the game is that the player becomes one of those "left behind" in New York after the "rapture". He or she is fighting the evil forces of the Antichrist (Satan), which interestingly enough is called the "Global Community Peacekeepers" in the game.
For those of you who are not familiar with the rapture, it is based on the Greek term of 1Thessalonians 4:17- "harpagesometha" which means to be "caught up". Some Christians believe that when Jesus Christ returns for the second time, he will snatch up the believers and rescue them from this earth before the end of the world. This concept comes from the apostle Paul and not Jesus Christ.
From what I have read about this video, it is violent; there is bloodshed and killing; and the general idea is that those who are not with us (don't believe as we do) are against us and therefore should be destroyed.
Is this the kind of attitude that we want to encourage in our children? The developers of this game have called it "inspirational". Since when is killing those who disagree with your religious beliefs inspirational?
The message communicated by this game is divisive, prejudiced and will only serve to further create a sense of religious superiority which has already exists in the religious right.
As I already mentioned, the Antichrist in the game is called the "Global Community Peacekeepers". If you think this sounds like a thinly disguised name for the United Nations, you are right. Why would the creators of this video game want to portray the United Nations as the evil Antichrist? That is another story.
For now, let me just say that this is not a video game that I, as a Christian minister, would want to see in the hands of any child. If you are looking for a Christmas gift for a child or even a teenager, I encourage you to look elsewhere.
Jesus was known as the "Prince of Peace". He taught us to love our enemies and turn the other cheek. He did not teach us to kill those who disagree with us or who are not of our religion.
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