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(from Crooks and Liars)

Quote:
This is just plain sick. Many Christian activists complain that the violence contained in these games have a direct impact on American Society. I guess killing people who are for a “separation of Church and state” is fair game. Will these be handed out at the next “Justice Sunday” event?

Jonathan Hutson:

“Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission – both a religious mission and a military mission — to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state – especially moderate, mainstream Christians.

Your mission is “to conduct physical and spiritual warfare”; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. You have never felt so powerful, so driven by a purpose: you are 13 years old. You are playing a real-time strategy video game whose creators are linked to the empire of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life

< snippy >

This game immerses children in present-day New York City — 500 square blocks, stretching from Wall Street to Chinatown, Greenwich Village, the United Nations headquarters, and Harlem. The game rewards children for how effectively they role play the killing of those who resist becoming a born again Christian. The game also offers players the opportunity to switch sides and fight for the army of the AntiChrist, releasing cloven-hoofed demons who feast on conservative Christians and their panicked proselytes (who taste a lot like Christian).

Is this paramilitary mission simulator for children anything other than prejudice and bigotry using religion as an organizing tool to get people in a violent frame of mind? The dialogue includes people saying, “Praise the Lord,” as they blow infidels away.

The designers intend this game to become the first dominionist warrior game to break through in the popular culture due to its violent scenarios and realistic graphics, lighting, and sound effects. Its creators expect it to earn a rating of T for Teen. How violent is that? That’s the rating shared by Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell – Chaos Theory, a top selling game in which high-tech gadgets and high-powered weapons – frag grenades, shotguns, assault rifles, and submachine guns — are used to terminate enemies with extreme prejudice.

< snip >

The developers obtained the license from Tyndale House, the Christian publisher of Left Behind.

Tyndale also publishes Bringing Up Boys and The Complete Marriage and Family Home Reference Guide by Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, PhD. Mr. Dobson has advised parents to monitor the amount of time children spend playing video games and “avoid the violent ones altogether.” But he has not yet stated his views on whether there should be an exception for video games that role play gunplay in the name of Christ, or of the AntiChrist.

< snip >

As part of its marketing pitch, Left Behind Games hypes the realism with which it portrays the neighborhoods of New York City. There is, for the most part, a remarkable verisimilitude except for one detail – all of the ambulances have 911 painted on their roofs. In the reality-based world, most ambulances have a red cross on top. Yet the game designers make prominent use of these 911 ambulances to evoke the tragic events of September 11, 2001. The historical context of 911 is invoked as if to say, We are living in the End Times, and Muslims are among the kinds of infidels whom you should fear, whom you should be prepared to kill for your cause.

< snip> (and it just keeps getting scarier)

Time has dubbed Mr. Warren “America’s minister.” But Mr. Warren says that his agenda stretches far beyond America, and far beyond traditional ministry. He sees himself as the CEO of a global marketing enterprise, and as the Commander in Chief of a stealth army of one billion Christian foot soldiers.

A key aspect of dominionist thought is a conviction that the Scripture gives the church a mandate to take dominion over this world socially and culturally before the return of Jesus Christ. Mr. Warren’s global plan is a strategy to realize a dominionist vision of churches, states, and corporations forming partnerships to bring about a new world order to make way for Christ’s return by establishing a literal, physical kingdom of God on earth. In order to build this earthly kingdom, Mr. Warren plans marketplace ministries – business ventures with a veneer of missionary compassion that slip into a country in order to transform it systematically through the governmental, corporate, and social sectors. And that is why Mr. Warren calls himself a “stealth evangelist” – because he wishes to cloak his dominionist agenda, which is the establishment of an earthly kingdom that reflects his skewed vision of Christianity.

According to Mr. Warren, the establishment of this earthly kingdom requires “foot soldiers.” As part of his plan, Mr. Warren said he would encourage laypeople to “adopt” needy villages overseas in order to plant churches, expand business opportunities, educate children, influence governments, and overthrow corrupt political leaders, whom he described as “little Saddams.” Mr. Warren said his purpose is to enlist “one billion foot soldiers for the Kingdom of God” in the developing world. And the stadium crowd roared its approval.

< snip >

Yet through an unexpected turn of events in Georgia, the spotlight was turned on Mr. Warren’s stealthy strategy in March 2005, when Ashley Smith read a passage from The Purpose Driven Life to the Atlanta courthouse killing suspect, Brian Nichols. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Nichols freed his hostage and surrendered to police. The entire world suddenly wanted to hear from Mr. Warren, who was busy planting the seeds of a Christian theocracy with his “foot soldiers” in Rwanda.

< snip >

On March 22, 2005, CNN’s Larry King interviewed Mr. Warren about the Atlanta courthouse shooting and hostage taking. A caller asked, “Can you explain the sudden thirst or craving that people seem to have for religion?

“[T]here are really two stories going on in our culture right now. There is the story of things are getting more worse [sic] in some ways. We’re seeing the increase in violence. We’re seeing terrorism. We’ve seen these recent shootings. We’re seeing the coarsening of our society, that has disgusted a lot of people. And there is people [sic] — some people are more materialistic than ever.

But at the same time, there’s another story going on in America, that I think is a spiritual awakening that is brewing. And that is a desire and hunger to know God. I don’t always think it’s always a desire and hunger for church. But there is a desire and hunger to know God.

So according to Mr. Warren, the worst of American culture is reflected in examples of violence, terrorism, shootings, and the coarsening of our society, that turn people away in disgust. And in addition, “some people are more materialistic than ever.”
If violence, coarseness, and materialism are serious social problems, then what purpose is served by exploiting a global pastoral network to mass market a game about mass killing, whether in the name of Christ or the AntiChrist?

On the one hand, this video game is anti-American, because it endorses roving death squads engaged in faith-based violence without any regard for Constitutional law. On the other hand, the video game is anti-Christian, because it argues that the Kingdom of God can be advanced by using the methods and tools of the kingdoms of this world, namely guns and bombs.

~~~

Read the link for more details.

So, what was that about religion not being indoctrination and brainwashing again? What was that about xians being full of love for their fellow man? What was that about xians being patriotic Americans?

And, exactly how are the good xian parents who will buy this for their kids come this xmas justify the behavior contained within after they’ve spent years decrying the decline of society – namely violence in media?

Can’t wait to see the backpeddaling for this one.

“Oh, video game violence is okay if it’s for Jesus!”

Because (all together now) It Can’t Be Christian If It Doesn’t Involve A Fucking WAR.

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From a book review in the conservative Weekly Standard:

ACCORDING TO CONVENTIONAL WISDOM, the continuing battles over the teaching of evolution in the public schools are episodes in the larger culture war between the secularist left and the religious right.

Larry Arnhart has news for both sides. He argues that “conservatives need Charles Darwin” to make their case that there is such a thing as “human nature” as against the left’s need to believe that “human nature” is only a social construction. Conservatism is suspicious of grand schemes of social transformation, since it recognizes that human nature cannot be radically altered. The left, on the other hand, needs to believe that human beings are infinitely malleable and thus ultimately perfectible to justify its quest for absolute equality.

As Arnhart puts it, “conservatives have a realist vision of human nature” while “those on the left have a utopian vision of human nature.” He argues, convincingly, that Darwinian science supports the realist vision rather than utopian hopes. Arnhart points out, for example, that the Darwinian narrative explains why it is human nature to “feel more attachment to those close to us . . . than we do to strangers who are far away.”

Darwin, properly understood, provides support for the conservative “realist vision” rather than for the leftist “utopian vision.” But neither Darwin’s putative allies nor his adversaries have been willing to limit the debate to anything as straightforward as the implications of evolutionary theory for an understanding of human nature.

More

This could be true! After all, it is the great conservative (I call it cynical) argument that violence is human nature. Well, we may be related most closely to the chimp, which can be a nasty bugger at times, but how many genes do we share with the bonobo, who fuck each other to resolve just about every social dispute?

Then there was this daring essay from my favorite contrarian, Howard Zinn. He basically takes on the premise of “violence in human nature,” turning it on its head. A bold argument, considering how much play the phrase “we are naturally violent” gets without much critical thought.

His words:

In “Violence and Human Nature,” I argue against the idea that violence and aggression are inborn, and insist they are determined by culture and indoctrination. I claim that it is possible for people to overcome that indoctrination and act with compassion toward fellow human beings. I now see that claim corroborated in the behavior of some of the families of those who died on September 11, 2001, in the fiery destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City. They reject the idea of retribution, believing we should not react to the terrorism of fanatical groups with the terrorism of war.

Well, I must be one of those utopian lefties, because I believe that whatever innate violence we may share with the chimp, we have already shown many examples of rising above our nature and choosing non-violent solutions to deeply contentious and emotional problems. One thing we as a species seem to do well is adapt, and if we create a social structure in which peaceful solutions are rewarded more than violent ones, we will, I believe, change to fit that new model, out of sheer self-interest.

One way to keep this experiment from even beginning would be to continue to violently punish people for non-violent crimes, which throws the whole experiment out of whack. But it is also not working at an executive level, because those in power are still acting as hammers, seeking nails to pound. The military industrial complex, the mono-culture of religion, etc. conspire to keep these waterheads convinced they are on some kind of divine mission… When in fact they may just be acting too much like chimps and not enough like bonobos. They wage war, it is disaster, they spin it and continue to wage war. People need to stand up and demand a different set of experiments.

I mean, look at George and Laura. Can you imagine sexual oral favors ever being exchanged between those two? They should visit the bonobos soon and take notes.

There you go. I’m one of those lefty utiopians after all. But because of evolution, not in spite of it.

Salon’s description:

This video, shot at a gala celebration for Shimon Peres’ 80th birthday and starring Liel, a 16-year-old Israeli singer, leaves us with one serious, overriding question: What sort of non-inhaling boomer doesn’t know the lyrics to “Imagine”? Still, you have to love the chutzpah required to stand in front of thousands and warble out a song you barely know.

What I want to know is, when are the theist Clinton haters gonna jump all over this one?

“Imagine there’s no heaven?”

“No hell below us??”

“Imagine no religion???”

Who wrote this evil, godless song?? Is it something new spawned from the depths of Hell, indicating the onset of the Apocalypse??

Ah, democracy.

The good:
Abortion ban repeal drive gets 37,846 signatures

A taste:

“The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families announced Tuesday that it had secured more than twice the number of signatures it needed to refer the abortion ban passed by the 2006 Legislature to a vote of the people this fall.

At a press conference at the Downtown Holiday Inn, officials with the campaign said they had 37,846 signatures – more than double the 16,728 they needed to get.

< snippy >

State law requires 16,728 signatures of registered voters for the referral to be placed on the ballot for Nov. 7. It can take two to three weeks for the secretary of state’s office to certify an issue once the signatures are filed.

And the downright bile inducing:

You know how all those homophobes try to claim that recognizing gay relationships will lead too all kinds of freakery trying to gain national acceptance? You know how they like to prosecute poor drug users (while protecting their own)? You know how they like to mix all these things together and claim that its all because we’re not xian enough?

Well, as if on cue from the Bush Admin . . . here’s “proof” fresh for the Get Out Pansies party to campaign on :

This is in the much more tolerant, much less religious land of semi-legal drugs.

Pedophiles to launch political party

A small piece so you don’t puke all over the desk:

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals, sparking widespread outrage.

The Charity, Freedom and Diversity (NVD) party said on its Web site it would be officially registered Wednesday, proclaiming: “We are going to shake The Hague awake!”

The party said it wanted to cut the legal age for sexual relations to 12 and eventually scrap the limit altogether.

“A ban just makes children curious,” Ad van den Berg, one of the party’s founders, told the Algemeen Dagblad (AD) newspaper. “We want to make pedophilia the subject of discussion,” he said, adding the subject had been a taboo since the 1996 Marc Dutroux child abuse scandal in neighboring Belgium. “We want to get into parliament so we have a voice. Other politicians only talk about us in a negative sense, as if we were criminals,” Van den Berg told Reuters. (mod note: could it possibly be because YOU ARE CRIMINALS? Douchebag.)

The Netherlands, which already has liberal policies on soft drugs, prostitution and gay marriage, was shocked by the plan.

Notice how they just HAD to mention the rest? Someone remind me again how legal pot makes one a pedophile? How do two adult gay people getting married pave the way for illegal acts?

Anyone want to join in for another round of Spot the Logical Fallacy?

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For those xians who attribute everything to gawd’s will, what kind of cruel joke or “test” is the supreme prankster up to with this?

SHANGHAI, China – Doctors in Shanghai on Tuesday were considering surgery options for a two-month old boy born with an unusually well-formed third arm.

Neither of the boy’s two left arms is fully functional and tests have so far been unable to determine which was more developed, said Dr. Chen Bochang, head of the orthopedics department at Shanghai Children’s Medical Center.

“His case is quite peculiar. We have no record of any child with such a complete third arm,” Chen said in a telephone interview. “It’s quite difficult to decide how to do the operation on him.”

The boy, identified only as “Jie-jie,” also was born with just one kidney and may have problems that could lead to curvature of the spine, according to local media reports.

Jie-jie cried when either of his left arms was touched, but smiled and responded normally to other stimuli, the reports said.

Chen said doctors hoped to work out a plan for surgery, but the boy’s small size made it impossible to perform certain tests that would help them prepare.

Chen’s hospital is one of China’s most experienced in dealing with unusual birth defects, including separating conjoined twins. Like Jie-jie, many of the children are sent to relatively wealthy Shanghai from the poor inland province of Anhui.

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Bush ‘planted fake news stories on American TV’

A taste:

Federal authorities are actively investigating dozens of American television stations for broadcasting items produced by the Bush administration and major corporations, and passing them off as normal news. Some of the fake news segments talked up success in the war in Iraq, or promoted the companies’ products.

Investigators from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are seeking information about stations across the country after a report produced by a campaign group detailed the extraordinary extent of the use of such items.

The report, by the non-profit group Centre for Media and Democracy, found that over a 10-month period at least 77 television stations were making use of the faux news broadcasts, known as Video News Releases (VNRs). Not one told viewers who had produced the items.

“We know we only had partial access to these VNRs and yet we found 77 stations using them,” said Diana Farsetta, one of the group’s researchers. “I would say it’s pretty extraordinary. The picture we found was much worse than we expected going into the investigation in terms of just how widely these get played and how frequently these pre-packaged segments are put on the air.”

Ms Farsetta said the public relations companies commissioned to produce these segments by corporations had become increasingly sophisticated in their techniques in order to get the VNRs broadcast. “They have got very good at mimicking what a real, independently produced television report would look like,” she said.

The FCC has declined to comment on the investigation but investigators from the commission’s enforcement unit recently approached Ms Farsetta for a copy of her group’s report.

The range of VNR is wide. Among items provided by the Bush administration to news stations was one in which an Iraqi-American in Kansas City was seen saying “Thank you Bush. Thank you USA” in response to the 2003 fall of Baghdad. The footage was actually produced by the State Department, one of 20 federal agencies that have produced and distributed such items.

Many of the corporate reports, produced by drugs manufacturers such as Pfizer, focus on health issues and promote the manufacturer’s product. One example cited by the report was a Hallowe’en segment produced by the confectionery giant Mars, which featured Snickers, M&Ms and other company brands. While the original VNR disclosed that it was produced by Mars, such information was removed when it was broadcast by the television channel – in this case a Fox-owned station in St Louis, Missouri.

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