I’m not a business person. I’m not savvy about business networking, and I find it hard to get my head around business people joining churches so they can further their business interests.  Church isn’t about customers and consumption to me, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t to others.

Every time I think I’ve seen it all, I haven’t.  Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion has a post up about an insert put into the box of controversial ‘christian’ game Left Behind: Eternal Forces.

I’ve been following the marketing of this game with interest. I find myself wondering if Tyndale Left Behind games developers and their board seriously underestimated the potential backlash to the ideology of the game, and grossly overestimated the potential market. While the book series sales are legendary, I don’t know if this market are big game players.

All kinds of claims are made in selling. Our product is in Wal-Mart! (yes, out of 10 thousand Walmart stores, this game is in 200) We are endorsed by Focus on the Family! Yes. It actually is, right up there with a study on violent video games and children’s brains. Those of us criticising the game are accused of being rock throwers. Again, irony seems to be lost on some.

The real time strategy game is getting poor reviews for game play, critical in what is now a 7 billion dollar market. And the backlash in traditional and Christian media to the story line has been strong.

The latest marketing ploy is an insert in the game box featuring this charity, which is an offshoot of a neo-pentecostal church in Murrieta California, home to Troy Lyndon CEO of Left Behind Games. Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion has more background. Develop and sell a game that blows your supposed enemies to kingdom come (or literally hell) and then guilt gamers into supporting a ideologically and locally friendly to the CEO charity.  Irony is again lost on some.