(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
UKAS ELECTIONS
[play] You're strolling around a street corner in Manhattan. The dust of gunpowder smells in the nose. Suddenly you spot the back of an UN uniform opponent. You lay down, aim; PANG! You killed one of Satan's warriors, a UN soldier, and your game character shouts: "Praise the lord!"The PC game Left Behind: Eternal Forces takes place in a New York where the apocalypse has just begun. Millions of people have disappeared from the earth's surface; the faithful are brought up to heaven. The doubters are "left behind" on earth and must fight the ugly self, Old-Erik, the antichrist.
The apocalypse is moving ever closer, not just in computer games. The climate crisis is roaring in the direction of ragnakok. But references to doomsday are far more common in the United States and the Middle East than in the Norwegian public, including as part of the backdrop for the debate on Jerusalem.
In October, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated that it may be appropriate to hand over some neighborhoods in Jerusalem to the Palestinian authorities. The protests were loud.
In John's revelation it says that the new Jerusalem will "descend from heaven, from God, made and adorned as a bride for his bridegroom". But can this happen if not all of Jerusalem is controlled by Israel? If someone asks why you spend time playing Left Behind: Eternal Forces, "to understand big politics" might be a good answer.
The game is based on the boxing series Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. The series is the world's best-selling Christian literature after the Bible, with 65 million books sold, and is a fictional tale of doom based on John's revelation. This last book of the Bible gives great room for creative interpretations. It may sound strange that LaHaye and Jenkins define UN soldiers as Satan's weaponists, but it is not uncommon for Christian fundamentalists to associate supranational authorities with antichrist, check out satansrapture.com.
November 7 is one year since the game was launched in the United States, and the debate has raged. In the past, religious and political computer games have often been excessively missionary and obscure. Left Behind: Eternal Forces, on the other hand, is referred to as the first real big bet, which does not hold back for other, purely commercial games. The graphics and strategy challenges have received very good reviews. The message has been more debated.
"This is a mixture of the Inquisition and the Crusades, a first step on the road to genocide," Frederick Clarkson told The Boston Globe. He is the spokesman for an action group that is trying to get the Wal-Mart store chain to stop selling the game.
The producer, Left Behind Games, defends itself by saying that there is less graphic violence, and less bloodshed, than in worst games like Grand Teft Auto and that unnecessary killing leads to minus points. The slogan for Left Behind Games is "Changing Lives One At A Time Through Modern Media". On their website, they can tell of overwhelming support from pastors who recommend the game to the congregation.
[book] Speaking of profiting from the misfortune of others, that's exactly the theme of the new book The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. Is it as good as the generation-defining No logo from 2000, or has Klein become small-conspiratorial lately, as some reviewers have suggested? Naomi Klein will not come anyway, but there will be a debate about the book on November 8, at the House of Literature in Oslo [concert] So to tentatively conclude: "If you want somethin 'do not ask for nothin, if you want nothin' do not ask for somethin", as the Canadian indie band Arcade Fire says in the song Neighborhood. On Sunday 4 November, they will play in Oslo Spektrum. Hurray!