Google WWW Talk To Action


The Indian River Incident : What You Can Do

link > The "Stop the ACLU Coalition" Shaming Project
How you can help stop "Stop The ACLU" just by sending a few emails



 'Left Behind' video game imageThe Shaming Project

does the violence of "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" bother you ? If so, what can you do ? Well, to begin with you can email Jonathan Hutson's stories to people you know. That will help to bring more public scrutiny of the game. Public shaming really works ! Just click on the "email" icon and link at the top or bottom of the story and you'll be taken to a form that will allow you email the first story, The Purpose Driven Life Takers or the latest installment without leaving this site. Thanks. 'Left Behind' video game image




Investors Give No Quarter to Convert-or-Die Video Game
By jhutson Thu Mar 22, 2007 at 05:22:03 AM EST printable version print story

When Left Behind Games launched its convert-or-die videogame Left Behind: Eternal Forces on November 7, 2006, its stock traded at a peak price of $7.44 per share. Breathless boosters at RedChip issued a "strong buy" recommendation and predicted that within 18 months, the stock would soar to as much as $18.70 per share. Really?

In fact, Left Behind Games' stock chart looks like a ski slope. Not a gentle bunny hill, but a World Cup grand slalom course, groomed for a world-beating downhill run. Today, you could buy a share of Left Behind Games for a quarter -- with change left over. On March 21, 2007, the stock closed at 18 cents a share.

topic: Commercialized Christianity
Left Behind Games has sunk more than $27 million and four years into the development and marketing of a game that has been critically panned by gamer blogs, who sneer at its bugginess and built-in spyware, and was boycotted by members of its target audience.

Although game sales have brought in some revenue, the stock has yet to earn a dime of profit, according to the latest quarterly report of Left Behind Games, filed on February 20, 2007. And, according to the quarterly report, "As of December 31, 2006... we had $698,763... of deferred salaries due to our officers." Moreover, in December 2006 and January 2007, a corporate officer made two interest-free loans, totaling $23,000, to help the enterprise with "working capital."

And the road ahead looks even bumpier. For example, the firm is obligated to pay Bible publisher Tyndale House, by March 31, 2007, a hefty $750,000 royalty payment for licensing the game, which is based on the best-selling and profoundly bigoted Left Behind novels co-authored by Southern Baptist minister Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.

These concerns are summarized, in wonky accounting language, in the firm's Going Concern statement, found on page 21 of its quarterly report:

As of the three months ended December 31, 2006, we have started to generate revenue, and through December 31, 2006 have incurred net losses of $31,157,019 and had negative cash flows from operations of $6,383,394 since our inception through December 31, 2006. Our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon out ability to generate profitable operations in the future and/or to obtain the necessary financing to meet our obligations and repay our liabilities arising from normal business operations when they come due. We plan to continue to provide for our capital requirements by issuing additional equity. No assurance can be given that additional capital will be available when required or on terms acceptable to us. We also cannot give assurance that we will achieve significant revenues in the future. The outcome of these matters cannot be predicted at this time and there are no assurances that if achieved, we will have sufficient funds to execute our business plan or to generate positive operating results.

Our independent registered public accounting firm has previously indicated in its report included with the Form 10-KSB filed in June 2006 that these matters, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

How have the mighty fallen?

One thing's for sure, spouts Left Behind Games CEO Troy Lyndon: It wasn't the fault of Talk to Action for breaking the story of the convert-or-die theology behind this videogame.

Mr. Lyndon has publicly proclaimed that the controversy has spurred sales of the game. The controversy, Mr. Lyndon boasted to the Los Angeles Times, "has been great for the product."

So, if Mr. Lyndon is to be believed, if it hadn't been for the consumer boycott first called for by Talk to Action, and organized by CrossWalk America, the Beatitudes Society, Christian Alliance for Progress, The Center for Progressive Christianity, and Campaign to Defend the Constitution (DefCon), then the company would have sold far fewer copies of its sole product.

Yet Mr. Lyndon has not expressed gratitude (not a crumb) to these bloggers and faith communities, to whom he claims to owe so much.

While Talk to Action was the first to call for a consumer boycott of the product -- not because of the level of violence, but because it makes a children's game of hate literature -- no one has called for the game to be censored. Rather, this blog and others, joined by both progressive and conservative faith communities, have asked consumers to reflect on whether they really want to buy a buggy, spyware-laden videogame that teaches mass killing in the name of Christ, and that also lets children switch sides and command the armies of the AntiChrist, unleashing demons that feast on the bones of conservative Christians. (Wait: before you say, That sounds like fun!, just know that the game is programmed so that the AntiChrist can never win.)

If Left Behind Games fails, it won't be because the stock price got blogged down. It will be because they made a crappy, hate-filled product that managed to offend its two target audiences: Rapture-ready Moms and hardcore gamers. As SapphireGrl wrote on RaptureReady.com, ""Where in the Word does it say to 'kill the infidels'? Where are we told to kill anyone that won't convert? Jesus said to shake the dust from your feet, not to mow them down with automatic weapons!" And as Gameinatrix Cori wrote in a smash-mouth review by a gamer who had really wanted to like the game but found that it stank out loud: "Let's just leave this behind us and never speak of it again."




Display:
Left Behind Games CEO Troy Lyndon told the Los Angeles Times that he credits the controversy with spurring sales of his product. The controversy, he claims, "has been great for the product."

And if Mr. Lyndon is to be believed, if it weren't for bloggers, game reviewers, and faith communities drawing attention to the game, then Left Behind Games would have sold far fewer copies of its sole product.

Yet Mr. Lyndon has yet to express his gratitude.

Nevertheless, in the spirit of brotherhood, Mr. Lyndon, you're welcome.

by jhutson on Thu Mar 22, 2007 at 06:23:16 AM EST


It might soon be possible to pull off a hostile takeover for the cost of a large Starbucks latte.

by Bruce Wilson on Thu Mar 22, 2007 at 08:41:16 AM EST

from Focus on the Family, Promise Keepers, Concerned Women and Jay Sekulow must have really backfired.

by Frederick Clarkson on Thu Mar 22, 2007 at 02:32:58 PM EST

No wonder that it has been falling, this game seems to be terrible so I'm surprised anyone at all would like to buy it...
Carrie, Web Designer currently working on the buy generic cialis project.
by Carrie on Wed Feb 27, 2008 at 03:27:01 AM EST



Donate to or support
Talk to Action




Franklin Graham to Obama: Are You A Muslim? (And How Obama Courted Hagee Publisher Strang)
On June 10, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama convened a meeting in a law office in downtown Chicago with a wide array......
By Max Blumenthal (0 comments)
Short Takes
Street Prophets:  Pastordan is skeptical of efforts to squeeze progressive Christians "into the square holes of Dobsonite Evangelicaldom."  He also flags the perrenial problem......
By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
David Barton: Bobby Jindal is "One of the Really Cool Guys"
Quite a few articles were written last week about speculative McCain VP pick, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, many focusing on Jindal's signing into law......
By Chris Rodda (0 comments)
Religious Right Leaders Back McCain -- New Set of Problem Pastors?
Ohio Religious Right leader Phil Burress recently said of McCain, "We don't like him, and he doesn't like us." But Burress has gotten himself......
By Frederick Clarkson (1 comment)
Walid Shoebat: The Simon Altaf Connection
Following on from my examination of Walid Shoebat's snake-oil Biblical scholarship a couple of days ago, I decided to check out his former collaborator,......
By Richard Bartholomew (0 comments)
Pulpit Politicking: Why It's Not A Free-Speech Issue
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has recently received calls from a couple of Minnesota pastors who are convinced they have a......
By Rob Boston (9 comments)
CUFI Speaker: "666" is "In the Name of Allah"
When Joe Lieberman gives credibility to the upcoming Christians United for Israel with his attendance, he won't just be lending his reputation to conspiracy-monger......
By Richard Bartholomew (2 comments)
Peter Marshall, Christian Nationalist
Previously I discussed the Reverend Peter Marshall's work here.  Rev. Marshall is a fairly big figure in "Christian America" circles.  From what I know......
By Jonathan Rowe (2 comments)
Short Takes
Time: Amy Sullivan thinks Dobson's attack on Obama may be backfiring. Americans United for Separation of Church & State to Louisiana:  "We are watching."......
By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Charismatic Dominionists Endorse Bentley
A few days ago I wrote a piece on Todd Bentley's faith-healing revival in Florida, noting support for Bentley from Steven Strang, the influential......
By Richard Bartholomew (0 comments)
Financial Fiddling at Fidelis?
The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-one A little more than a year ago Fidelis, an umbrella advocacy group consisting of various not-for-profit entities, sought to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (4 comments)
RAMBO Returns: Some Notes on Tradition, Family and Property
Tradition, Family and Property's attack on same-sex marriage in California has brought the traditionalist Catholic organisation back into the spotlight. Bill Berkowitz has an......
By Richard Bartholomew (0 comments)
On the Failings of Evangelicalism
Christine Wicker's new book, The Fall of the Evangelical Nation, tells two stories very well.  First, it explains how Americans have been duped into......
By Mainstream Baptist (0 comments)
All in the Family -- A Review of Jeff Sharlet's New Book
Jeff Sharlet's book The Family has been getting some high profile media attention, most recently with an interview on The Diane Rehm show, on......
By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
The Discovery Institute, the LA Family Forum, and the "LA Science Education Act" UPDATED
Louisiana has become the latest target of the Discovery Institute, the Seattle think tank whose "Wedge Strategy" for getting intelligent design (ID) creationism into......
By Barbara Forrest (1 comment)

Hope Never Dies for Extremists
The extreme political Religious Right hasn't given up hope of getting something out of this election. Their latest ploy involves petitioning the parties for a "True Christian" in the vice-presidential slot. The Christian Anti-Defamation......
By John McKay (0 comments)
Catholic religious right wing: Legion of Christ
Frank L. Cocozzelli's weekly series of posts on "The Catholic Right" (listed here) includes quite a few posts about Opus Dei. There's another, similarly ultra-orthodox Catholic religious order he might want to examine in......
By Diane Vera (3 comments)
Prosyletization in Iraq: A threat to national security
As amazing as it sounds, dominionists may in fact be fomenting terrorism--not just the domestic terrorism like bombings of women's clinics we normally associate, but the very "Islamist terror bombings" that the GOP loves......
By dogemperor (0 comments)
Proselytization in Iraq: A minor history
The recent incident where a Marine was recently found distributing "Bible coins" promoted by a fundamentalist "Bible church" is, sad to say, far from the first incident of overt prosyletisation in Iraq. The truth......
By dogemperor (1 comment)
Source of "Bible coins" distributed by USMC in Iraq discovered
In what is--sadly--yet another case of the extent of which blatant prosyletisation is tolerated in the modern US military, a recent incident where members of the US Marine Corps were handing out coins to......
By dogemperor (0 comments)
What Does the Religious Right Fear the Most?
A poll that one of the giants on the right, Coral Ridge Ministries, sent to their members gives a revealing insight into their world view. ......
By John McKay (3 comments)
UK Abortion Limit Stays at 24 Weeks Despite Washington Think Tank's Tactics
IN GOD'S NAME is a revealing documentary about how the Alliance Defense Fund is using its tactics to try to restrict abortion in Europe as well as in America.  Watch this trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeTfW8-dCNE ......
By TMurray (2 comments)
'Christians United For Israel' Joyfully Sing of Israel's Invasion and Destruction
An open letter, from Ray McGovern, a 27-year intelligence analyst with the CIA, to Admiral William J. Fallon, warns of an impending US attack on Iran. If such an event occurred, the resulting war......
By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
The Petrification of John McCain
We are very pleased to welcome Frederick Lane as a guest front pager. He is the author of several books,most recently, The Court and the Cross: The Religious Right's Crusade to Reshape the Supreme......
By Frederick_Lane (3 comments)
More Biblical Precedent for Allowing Abortion
This is a follow up to my most recent diary entry. ......
By TMurray (1 comment)
John Hagee Says God Made AIDS and Bird Flu But Lord will Protect Him Personally
John Hagee claims 1) that he knows with absolute certainty the will of God (as he told a BBC interviewer in 2003), is 2) sure that he, John Hagee, has a place in heaven......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Biblical support for abortion, who knew?
It turns out that our present legal understanding of when a life is entitled to legal protection is consistent with the Old Testament Biblical understanding of when a fetus becomes a 'life' warranting legal......
By TMurray (2 comments)
2001 John Hagee Film Shows Gangsterish Rabbi, Foppish Catholic Priest In League With anti-Christ
The following somewhat satirical video is built around a brief excerpt from Texas megachurch pastor John Hagee's 2001 55-minute film "Vanished", which followed the prophetic, premillennial plot line of Tim LaHaye's and Jerry Jenkin's......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
PBS "Carrier": A Mixed Blessing
Watching the PBS miniseries "Carrier" was a revelation, but not always a pleasant one... ......
By bughouse square (0 comments)
Will We Ever Learn?
Ever looked at something or did something which at the time seemed good and beneficial only to learn that it was not what you thought?  If we could all have the opportunity to live......
By truthngrace (0 comments)
McCain-Endorser's Church Casts Out "Demon of Anal Fissures", Teaches Vomiting Evil Spirits
[NOTE: for a related story, see Mai Tai Dogs: Pics Show Bush Administration, McCain-Endorser Hagee Schmoozing at Chinese Restaurant] I have to admit, on one level it sounds more entertaining than a church full......
By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
Bush 41 salutes Sun Myung Moon's effort to subdue the planet.
Sun Myung Moon's end time political front, the Universal Peace Federation had a summit from April 28 to May 2 in Washington DC. The participants took a tour of the Moon owned Washington Times......
By Lou (2 comments)
Advancing The Kingdom
Over the past four years, I've researched the darkest regions of the Christian right for the non-fiction film Silhouette City. The film tracks the movement of apocalyptic Christian nationalism from the margins of American......
By MichaelWWilson (2 comments)
Newspaper Profiles Army of God Spokeman
We have written a great deal about the anti-abortion terror organization, Army of God. One recent post prompted God Tube to take down videos posted by the proprietor of the Army of God web......
By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Judicial Council Chief James Holsinger and $20 million of UMC Money
Dr. James Holsinger, a leader in the IRD-linked Methodist renewal movement has, until now, been best known for his crack-pot anti-gay views. - FC Dr. James Holsinger, the Bush nominee for Surgeon General  and......
By AJWEAVER (0 comments)
No Constitution Party home for Keyes
Well, that didn't take long.  All the speculation about Alan Keyes finding a home with the rabidly right-wing Constitution Party has quickly come to naught as the CP convention picks radio talk show host,......
By tacitus (0 comments)
Florida Christian License Plate
Well, Florida is at it again. They're considering a "Christian" license plate.  It's supposed to have a cross and a stained glass window on it with the words "I Believe!" More below the break!......
By ArchaeoBob (3 comments)
The Alleged 'Atheist Delusion'
John Gray's ample Saturday Review column in the March 15th edition of London's  Guardian newpaper diagnosed the current climate surrounding religion as one of `moral panic'.  This is true only of the irrational fear......
By TMurray (0 comments)
A Real GI Bill of Rights
As much as I admire Jim Webb and Chuck Hagel for their efforts to reform the military, I respectfully submit that their proposed bill doesn't go far enough... ......
By bughouse square (2 comments)
Mikey's War
There comes a time when ordinary citizens need to step up and openly challenge the perverse Christianization of our national instutions, particularly the military. What follows is an introduction to someone who is doing......
By bughouse square (1 comment)
For McCain, Silence on Religion is Golden
Just one day before lambasting Barack Obama over his recent comments about religion, John McCain was a no-show at Sunday's CNN Compassion Forum on faith.  That's because when it comes to discussing his own......
By Jon Perr (0 comments)
Christian Right Flees Randall Balmer's Challenge On Torture
At the Daily Kos website, I have written what so far is a four part series [1, 2, 3, 4] on the Bush Administration and torture. My series covers the structure of the National......
By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
Just *what* is "The Family" so desperate to hide?
Over the past few days, I've done some writing expressing concern regarding some revelations that Jeff Sharlet will be discussing extensively in his new book "The Family"--including information regarding apparently widespread and systemic use......
By dogemperor (7 comments)
The *other* members of Hillary's "Family" cell
On Friday, news reports started coming out to the effect that Hillary Clinton may be a member of a cell-church group run by the secretive "Family" nee "Fellowship" org; as the import of this......
By dogemperor (1 comment)
Hagee donating 6 Million dollars to Irael
Today it was reported in the local paper that John Hagee has donated 6 million dollars to Israel.  http://www.theledger.com/article/20080406/API/804062669 It appears to be a big publicity stunt.  The article says that "Hagee... brought hundreds......
By ArchaeoBob (0 comments)

More Diaries...


Donate to or support
Talk to Action


Left Behind: Eternal Forces: Installments of Jonathan Hutson's Talk To Action expose series on the "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game have been viewed by up to 1/2 million people. See our site section featuring Over 35 original articles covering the controversial "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game that has provoked a boycott by a coalition of religious groups and a letter writing campaign urging Walmart to stop selling the game. Media inquiries click here
(image: detail from Francoise Dubois' rendition of the Bartholomew's Day Massacre reveals the actual nature of religious warfare)