Religious Group to Send ‘Left Behind’ Video Game to Troops in Iraq

In every family, there is always one rotten apple that makes the most fuss and calls your Auntie in the middle of the night to bail him out of jail for selling whippets to teenagers in the mall parking lot. Well, at least in my family there is – but one weirdo in the family is not enough for the Baldwins. It seems like every week there is something going on with those guys. Alec cursing his daughter, Daniel going to rehab again, Billy not being able to get a job since that craptacular Cindy Crawford movie, and the favorite – Stephen. You may remember him from such films as ‘Threesome’, and ‘The Flintstones: Viva Las Vegas’. His resume could give Troy McClure a run for his money, fish fetish and all.

This time though, Stephen Baldwin is really making a name for himself. After the events of 9/11, Baldwin became a right-wing, born-again Christian and is now the star of Operation Straight Up (OSU), an evangelical entertainment troupe that calls on active-duty members of the US military. Part of the Defense Department’s “America Supports You” program, OSU plans to send copies of the apocalyptic video game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces to soldiers serving in Iraq.

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“We feel the forces of heaven have encouraged us to perform multiple crusades that will sweep through this war torn region,” OSU declares on its website about its planned trip to Iraq. “We’ll hold the only religious crusade of its size in the dangerous land of Iraq.”

I provide a link to the main article at the end of my post – you have to read it yourself to get a feel for what is going on. Whether you are for or against the war does not matter, and if you are religious that does not matter either. This post will not go into semantics or get into a no-win argument over what is right or wrong about the Iraq situation, so I would appreciate it if any comments where to stay on the subject instead of going off on war related tangents. This being said, I must voice my opinion on what the OSU is planning.

I am incensed about any religious group trying to manipulate our troops during such a dangerous time in their lives. It does not matter if the OSU is an organization that promotes an apocalyptic brand of evangelical Christianity or if they promote fluffy pink bunny rabbits that just want to love and cuddle you. It is wrong of any religious group to give out any literature, movie, video game or anything thing else to the troops that would undermine what they are there to do. They are in a living hell over there, and they do not need to be reminded that the bible says that if you kill someone you are doomed to eternal torture with Hitler and John Wayne. They should not be allowed to distribute a video game inspired by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins’ laughable best sellers where the Battle of Armageddon pits born-again Christians against those who do not adhere to their particular theology. In the ‘Left Behind’ series, non-believers are condemned to “everlasting punishment” while the evangelicals are “raptured” up to heaven. The OSU is essentially trying to brainwash our troops, if they will allow them to “spread their gospel”, why not allow the Buddhists, Hare Krishnas, or better yet the Scientologists to go over there to irritate them too? The troops need support in all directions, yes – but they do not need to receive ideological “gifts” that promote a “convert or die” mentality.

The Left Behind video game is an RTS game where the player commands an evangelical army in a post-apocalyptic city reminiscent of New York after the 9/11 attacks. With tanks, helicopters and automatic weapons at the player’s disposal, the gamer wages a war against peacekeepers that are eerily similar to the ones deployed by the United Nations. The UN, according to LaHaye’s interpretation of Revelation, represents the armies of the Antichrist. When a Left Behind player kills a UN soldier, their character will scream “Praise the Lord” in pure Jerry Falwell fashion. To win the game, players must kill or convert all the non-believers left behind after the rapture.

As much as I find fault with the premise of this game from a moral standpoint, I am not against any sort of free expression in video games – be it religious or pure unadulterated violence. What I am against is sending a game to our troops that has an agenda behind it. They need as much escapism as they can get in their off-hours, and a game like this is not meant to be enjoyed or considered “fun”. It is blatant propaganda that has no place in a war-zone, especially since it promotes a form of extremism – which is what our military men and women are fighting against every waking hour. The Defense Department needs to step in and stop any political or religious groups from trying to influence our military while they are striving day in and day out to stay alive. If they want to convert the troops with their video game, make them wait until they are home safe and sound and able to make a clear and decisive decision on the message the game is preaching. In the meantime, Hollyweird is in no position to tell us what is morally right or wrong. They need to stay out of politics and religion, and if they must have some sort of contact with any video game, it should be to collect a check for voice acting – and that is it. Actors need to mind their own business… especially if their last name is Baldwin.

Who Got Me All Worked Up?: The Nation