Pentagon promotes militant Christianity to US troops in Iraq

What could possibly go wrong with a scheme to introduce tens of thousands of young, stressed out soldiers fighting a guerrilla war in a Muslim country to a particularly bloody-minded brand of aggressively evangelical apocalyptic Christianity? As Max Blumenthal reports in The Nation, the Pentagon is on a quest — one might say a crusade — to find out.

As an official arm of the Defense Department’s America Supports You program, [Operation Straight Up] plans to mail copies of the controversial apocalyptic video game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces to soldiers serving in Iraq. OSU is also scheduled to embark on a “Military Crusade in Iraq” in the near future. “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.”

Well, it’s just a harmless video game and a traveling ministry, right? A bit of entertainment and spiritual solace?

Not exactly.

The Left Behind videogame is a real-time strategy game that makes players commanders of a virtual evangelical army in a post-apocalyptic landscape that looks strikingly like New York City after 9/11. With tanks, helicopters and a fearsome arsenal of automatic weapons at their disposal, Left Behind players wage a violent war against United Nations-like peacekeepers who, according to LaHaye’s interpretation of Revelation, represent the armies of the Antichrist. Each time a Left Behind player kills a UN soldier, their virtual character exclaims, “Praise the Lord!” To win the game, players must kill or convert all the non-believers left behind after the rapture. They also have the option of reversing roles and commanding the forces of the Antichrist. (Video preview here).

Blumenthal also notes that the Operation Straight Up care packages for troops “include a copy of evangelical pastor Jonathan McDowell’s More Than A Carpenter — a book advertised as “one of the most powerful evangelism tools worldwide” — that is double-published in Arabic.” So along with introducing troops to “kill or convert” theology, the Pentagon, via OSU, is encouraging troops to embrace imperial evangelism among Iraqis: gunpoint conversions, just like in the video game. Hey, it worked for the Conquistadors …

This is so obviously insane that words fail me. Thanks for flagging Blumenthal’s story go to David Neiwert, who offers some additional and no less depressing context here.

UPDATE: Talk to Action has more on Operation Straight Up, including some dandy T-shirts featuring some good, old-fashioned Christian ass-kicking. What Would Jesus Do? Throw a roundhouse kick and break your God-damned jaw, heathen. Oohrah.

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7 Responses to “Pentagon promotes militant Christianity to US troops in Iraq”

1. 1
   Montfort Says:
   

   Sounds too much like a precursor to Ender’s Game.

   It also sounds like faith-based spending taken to its logical conclusion. This is, after all, what we can rationally expect as the ultimate result of government funding of religion, especially one model of one brand of religion in particular.

   I wonder what kind of video game Taoists would produce.

   August 8th, 2007 at 9:40 am
2. 2
   Montfort Says:
   

   Another thought, derived from The Trap: The game could end up backfiring on these faux Christians. That documentary showed how game theory – the one devised by John Nash and used in his game “So Long Sucker – Fuck Your Buddy”, where to win you had to betray your partner – was shown to reliably predict the behavior only of economists and psychopaths.

   Understandable enough when you consider that Nash was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia when he originated game theory. He later acknowledged that his hallucinations that everyone was out to get him were the basis for the theory, a fact that casts more than a little doubt on its validity.

   Thus the pseudo-Christians may not get as many crusaders as they hope for. On the other hand, the ones they do get could turn out to be prolific mass murderers.

   Jesus would be so proud of them.

   These people are chilling beyond belief.

   August 8th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
3. 3
   Weldon Berger Says:
   

   I guess it’s part and parcel of the administration’s attempt to unite Iraqis. If any remain who don’t already hate us, heavily armed Bible-thumping Apocalypse fans should peel off at least a few of them.

   August 8th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
4. 4
   An Army of God? « The CommonMan Commentaries Says:
   

   [...] Army of God? Posted August 9, 2007 I just ran across a very disturbing bit of news via BTC News. According to Max Blumenthal at TheNation.com, the Pentagon, through its America Supports You [...]

   August 9th, 2007 at 4:51 am
5. 5
   Keifus Says:
   

   Will they turn Unitarian if you just wing them?

   Y’know, the usual parcel of videogames, from demons to elves to the streets of San Andreas, must drive the fundies bananas as it is. It’s never been clear to me exactly how killin’ and mayhem have snuck into that world-view though.

   August 10th, 2007 at 8:29 am
6. 6
   Jason Says:
   

   Blumenthal is either lying or repeating lies about the game. There is absolutely no “convert or kill” in the game. That falsehood is completely contradicted by the game itself, the game manual, the game’s website and the game creators, as well as people who’ve actually played it. The game promotes peaceful solutions for winning the game over violent warfare. The controversy surrounding the game is completely fabricated.

   August 10th, 2007 at 10:50 am
7. 7
   Montfort Says:
   

   Jason, your response is beyond disingenuous. Here are some statements from the FAQs page of Left Behind Games:

   Does anyone get killed in the game?
   People do perish in our game just like some do in the book series. This is a real strategy game, so the gamer controls his forces just like you do in chess game.

   Have you made any efforts to tone down the violence in the game?
   We expect our game to be rated “T” and be widely accepted by the mainstream and Christian marketplaces, just as they have accepted Star Wars games which are “T” for teen rated. Think of the “T” rating in games like the “PG-13” rating in movies.

   Why does this game have to contain violence at all? Why is it necessary for a fun and successful game?
   Violence is not required to make a fun game. However, it is required to make a game about the end of the world in the Left Behind book series. We have taken great care to make certain that there are real consequences for poor gamer behavior, unlike most games in the market. For instance, unnecessary killing will result in lower Spirit points which are essential to winning.

   Are you concerned that the Christian community won’t want a game in their home where lives are taken and people get killed?
   Absolutely not. How often do you hear about the Christian community up in arms about PG-13 movies? I suppose there might be a very small number that do, but we do not expect this represents the majority of the mainstream and Christian marketplace.

   Interesting. The people who made and designed this game, packed with violence and killing, are confident that Christians won’t be turned off at all. They’ve studied their market, done the focus groups, they know this market like the backs of their hands. They have faith in their market.

   What is the level of violence in the game?
   Our game includes violence, but excludes blood, decapitation, killing of police officers, etc. … We have taken great care to make certain that consequences for poor gamer behavior will adequately reflect the gamers actions. Accordingly, unnecessary killing will result in lower Spirit points…Our game includes no intestines, no blood spatter, no severed limbs, no vulgar language, no sexual conduct, no morally reprehensible conduct – such as cop-killing, prostitute-bashing, or other criminal behavior, no Bible-bashing believers, no Bible thumpers, no radical extremists killing in the name of God, no abortion clinic stalkers…

   Wow! That’s quite a list of bloody gore and mayhem they left out. But what they left in…Jason, Jason, Jason. C’mon. No convert-or-die missions? Are you playing semantics here? The whole war – Armageddon, after all – is about convert or die.

   No killing in the name of God? In whose name, then, are all those who don’t choose God being killed? Read it yourself in the FAQs:
   

   Are guns used by Christians against non-Christians? Why or why not?
   The storyline in the game begins just after the Rapture has occurred – when all adult Christians, all infants, and many children were instantly swept home to Heaven and off the Earth by God. The remaining population – those who were left behind – are then poised to make a decision at some point. They cannot remain neutral. Their choice is to either join the AntiChrist, which is an imposturous one world government seeking peace for all of mankind, or they may join the Tribulation Force, which seeks to expose the truth and defend themselves against the forces of the AntiChrist.

   You have to choose either the Anti-Christ (the one seeking peace for all mankind) or the Christ (the one seeking…what? converts?). If that isn’t convert or die I don’t know what is, because we all know from Revelation what happens to the Anti-Christ.

   Does the violence depicted in the game run contrary to Jesus’ message on “love your enemy”?
   Absolutely not. Christians are quite clearly taught to turn the other cheek and to love their enemies. It is equally true that no one should forfeit their lives to an aggressor who is bent on inflicting death. Forgiveness does not require absolute defenselessness. Apparent contradictions on behalf of Christians are often the result of them placing greater importance on the message, than in caring for others.

   The forces of good are fighting – trying to kill – the AntiChrist’s Global Community Peacekeepers. They’re trying to kill U.N. peacekeepers, Jason!There are battle tanks and “modern military weaponry.” OK, see any contradictions here? What are the tanks for? Make the Forces of Satan pee themselves?

   Another contradiction: “This game does not include references to any religions.” Well, there’s an anti-Christ, which presumes a Christ, and the whole thing is dreamed up by Christians.

   As far as “promotes peaceful solutions for winning the game over violent warfare” (your words), if Jesus Christ is so interested in peace, and the Antichrist is leading Global Community Peacekeepers…I mean, what are they fighting about? Who’s got better peace?

   August 10th, 2007 at 3:05 pm

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