Backing a liar into the corner (Lib journalist lies about computer game for the troops)

conservativeunderground.com ^ | August 15, 2007 | jinxmchue

[lowbridge]

In response to this ridiculous article:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/quicktakes/506963,CST-NWS-qt12.article

Quote: "The entertainment includes the distribution of packets with religious tracts printed in both English and Arabic, along with a rapture video game, "Left Behind: Eternal Forces," in which the player is assigned to convert or kill the unbelievers left behind after the rapture.

The game's virtual character shouts "Praise the Lord!" every time a nonbeliever is killed.

The Bush administration knows what our soldiers in Iraq need -- additional holy wars."

I emailed the author:

Quote: On Sunday, August 12th, you wrote about the "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" computer game being distributed to U.S. troops via Operation Straight Up. It seems to me that you've unquestioningly swallowed what Max Blumenthal wrote on his blog on the Nation website. In fact, the false description of the game in your article is almost exactly word-for-word what he wrote about the game on August 7th. Both of you are completely wrong. There is no "kill or convert" in the game at all. Violence is explicitly denounced in the game's manual, on the game's website, and even in the game itself. In fact, not only is violence penalized in the game, but it can even lead to immediately losing the game.

I do hope you will do some more research beyond reading someone's blog entry or biased review and issue an appropriate correction.

Zay's response (in full):

Quote: I played the demo.

My response:

Quote: I've played the full game. Perhaps you'd care to point out exactly where in the demo "convert or kill" violence is encouraged? There's only the tutorial sections and four missions, so it should be easy to do so.

Zay's response:

Quote: *crickets chirp*

My prodding:

Quote: Zay, are you unable to point out exactly where "convert or kill" violence is encouraged in the "Eternal Forces" demo?

Zay's response (finally):

Quote: You may not concur with the characterization, but I stand by it. If you enjoy the game, and I can't see how you could, please enjoy it. The point of my item was that if there is one more trouble our troops don't need, it is being evangelized. (Check out the rest of the contents of that kit, by the way, some of which I mentioned.)

My response:

Quote: If you are standing by your characterization, then you should have no problem pointing out exactly where in the demo the "convert or kill" violence is. Why are you dodging the question with unrelated nonsense? Can you point out the "convert of kill" violence in the game? It's a simple question with only two possible answers:

1) "Yes, I can." (Followed by actually doing so.) 2) "No, I can't."

So is it 1 or 2, Zay?

I expect more dodging. Perhaps I should find out who Zay's boss is and ask them about all this.

[lowbridge]

More on this thread:

http://www.conservativeunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1965372

[lowbridge]

bump

[narby]

If I had been given a game about the rapture when I was in the Air Force, I would think it was a bit over the top. A Gideon New Testament, OK, I already had one they gave me in grade school. But a religious game with the assumption I would play it with the guys in the barracks? No.

The guy is obviously lying about the details, but he's got a point that some of this evangelizing is a bit over the top.

[samm1148]

“Quote: If you are standing by your characterization, then you should have no problem pointing out exactly where in the demo the “convert or kill” violence is.”

You’ll see that a lot from mainstream liberals and on here from the poseurs. It’s a good sign of a liberal lurker. When confronted with facts they will:

Launch into an obtuse diatribe that has nothing to do with what was asked of them.

Issue a personal insult about your; character, family, inclination towards things when they don’t know you personally.

Assign you a tag: Rascist, homophobe, redneck, etc.

It’s just typical.

[SeafoodGumbo]

It would seem that the makers of the game could sue this dirtbag “journalist” for something.

[tcostell]

Write to the editor, and to the editors of their competitors in the local market. there is nothing they would prefer than to make their competition look like fools and liars.

[Iam1ru1-2]

"It would seem that the makers of the game could sue this dirtbag “journalist” for something."

I just went to their website and gave them a heads-up on what the Sun-Times columnist wrote in his column, including his name. I am very sure they will call for a retraction of his claim that the game directs the player to kill those who don't convert to Christianity.

Here's what the description of the game really is from their website:

Product Description

LEFT BEHIND: Eternal Forces is a real-time strategy game based on the best-selling LEFT BEHIND book series, created by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Join the ultimate fight of Good versus Evil, commanding Tribulation Forces or the Global Community Peacekeepers!

Lead the Tribulation Force, including Rayford, Chloe, Buck and Bruce against Nicolae Carpathia – the AntiChrist

This game does not include references to any religions There is NO killing in the name of God, and NO convert or die missions.

All content has been reviewed and approved by Tyndale House Publishers prior to publication

Conduct warfare using PRAYER and WORSHIP – these are more powerful weapons than guns

Recover ancient scriptures

Witness spectacular Angelic and Demonic activity as a direct consequence of your choices

Fight against negative spiritual influences against the Antichrist and his forces

Command your forces through intense battles across a breathtaking, authentic depiction of New York City

Control more than 30 unit types – from Prayer Warrior and Worship Leaders to Spies, Special Forces and Battle Tanks

Enjoy a robust single player experience across dozens of New York City maps in Story Mode – fighting in China Town, SoHo , Uptown and more

Play multiplayer games with the Tribulation Forces or the AntiChrist's Global Community Peacekeepers with up to eight players via LAN or Internet

Minimum System Requirements

Windows® XP SP1

Pentium® IV 2.0GHz processor or faster 512MB RAM Minimum

4GB free hard disk space

8x CD/DVD-ROM drive or faster

32MB DirectX9.0c compatible GeForce 4 MX440 or ATI Radeon 8500 video card or higher

DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card

TCP/IP for LAN or 56 Kbps modem (2 player games) or Cable/DSL modem (3-8 player games) and an Internet service provider account required for Internet multiplayer.

Microsoft compatible keyboard and mouse.

[SunkenCiv]

Partisan shill should be fired and blackballed.

[EricT.]

Maybe the reporter accidentally set his game to “Muslim”.

[RabidBartender]

One of our local hacks wrote an article a few years back on how the Dixie Chicks' 1st Amendment rights were violated. I emailed him, asking him to show where the government abridged their right to expression.

His response:

"Thank you for such an informational and educational letter. Thanks for taking the time to respond intelligenty. You bring up very good and valid points but I don't have time to argue.

Truly,"

"Journalists"...

[Grizzled Bear]

Are you calling liberals out on their lies? You know it makes them go all “Squirmey!”

[BenLurkin]

Check this out (Warning — may raise blood pressure):

http://humaniststudies.org/enews/images/left_behind_screenshot.jpg

http://humaniststudies.org/enews/index.php?id=279&article=2

[boop]

So where are those screen captures from? Is it the game or is it yet another inaccurate portrayal by the left?

[Spruce]

Silly rabbit! Lying is ok when you are trying to get the ‘truth’ out.

[BenLurkin]

I’ve never seen this game but strongly suspect the caption is FALSE.

I was hoping lowbridge could say for sure.

[EDINVA]

if the point of the article was that soldiers don’t need further evangelizing, why didn’t s/he say that to begin with instead of saying what they don’t need is more ‘holy wars?’ There is a difference.

Did this writer give proper attribution to the original Nation article? Or was s/he plagarizing? That’s a no-no even in the moonbat commuunity.

[lowbridge]

I cant. The article is not by me. “jinxmchue” is not my screen name over at conservativeunderground.

[jimboster]

Do the Christian soldiers shoot an unarmed woman in the game? Does a character say, “Praise the Lord” whenever someone is killed?

[BenLurkin]

After searching a little yesterday and reading over the promotional materials at the website’s home page I’ll venture that the answer to both is no.

As near as I can tell the uniformed “units” are all on the side of the Antichrist. And it appears that a main goal of the game is to avoid violence -- if possible.

[BenLurkin]

Here’s a review (and some excerpts):

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/left-behind-eternal-forces/749748p2.html

The reason it resonates at all in the public consciousness is because of the nature of its “controversial” content. Left Behind is based on the series of best-selling fiction books about the seven years before Armageddon as described in the Bible’s Book of Revelation. Yep, it’s a game about evangelical Christians battling the forces of Satan, which is one of the few interesting things about this otherwise poor excuse for a real-time strategy game.

The irony of the game’s content is that it really isn’t terribly controversial. The game’s storyline is about the formation of the Tribulation Force, an underground Christian resistance movement that spread the truth about a recent event in which 1/3 of the world’s population vanished without explanation. The game’s single-player campaign follows the foundation and growth of a Tribulation Force congregation in New York City and its eventual battle with the Global Community Peacekeepers, a renamed United Nations under the control of the Antichrist. As storylines go, it’s interesting enough for non-believing gamers; it’s hardly the most bizarre premise we’ve seen for a game. In fact, the major weakness of the storyline is that it sometimes seems watered down so as not to offend non-believers. Left Behind is based on biblical passages involving Death on a pale horse, oceans of blood and seven-headed demons rising from the earth, but none of that cool stuff can be found in Left Behind.

The other “controversial” aspect of the game is its explicit connection to evangelical Christian philosophy. Here too, the hysteria is seriously overblown. Within the game itself, the amount of proselytizing is kept to a minimum. Units bow their heads to pray in order to replenish their “spirit” resource and giving a unit orders may elicit a response like “For the Lord!” or “In His name!” Prayer scrolls with Biblical verses are also available as power-ups that can call down angels for bonuses, but anyone looking for explicit “Kill the unbelievers!”-style content to justify their fear of the game won’t find it here.

Without the game’s “controversial” content, then, is there any reason at all to pick up this game? Not remotely. As a pure real-time strategy game, Left Behind leaves a lot to be desired. The game’s basic design is fine. It’s a Jesus-themed update of the classic game Syndicate. Every unit in the game has a spirit level between zero and 100. A unit with a rating above 60 joins the good guys while one below 40 goes to the other side. Those between 40 and 60 are considered neutral and are fair game for evangelists from both sides. Once a unit has joined one side or the other, that unit can then be trained in purchased buildings as soldiers, medical technicians, builders or spiritual influencers. The goal of the game is not to kill the opposing army, but to convert them.