Who would Jesus kill?

Those wacky evangelicals are at it again. It seems a new Christian video game, "Left Behind: Eternal Forces," is creating quite a stir. The game is based on the widely popular "Left Behind" Christian book series created by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.

It is being marketed as a "family" game, but critics describe it as:

"a violent video game in which born-again Christians aim to convert or kill those who don't adhere to their extreme ideology."

"After you kill somebody you need to recharge your soul points and to do that you need to bend down in prayer. ... I think the message is extremely clear," said Clark Stevens, co-director of Campaign to Defend the Constitution.

The game is flying off the shelves at retailers like Wal-Mart.

As might be expected the games maker dismisses the criticism, but his comments suggest quite the opposite.

"The reality is that our game perpetuates prayer and worship and that there is no killing in the name of God.

"There is killing of course, it is a video game. But the basis of the game is spiritual welfare," said Troy Lyndon, CEO of Left Behind Games Inc.

All of this begs the question: "Who would Jesus kill?"

Holiday meme

This comes from LauraH in NJ:

1. Eggnog or hot chocolate? Eggnog never tastes as good as I imagine it will, so I’ll go with hot chocolate.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? He wraps the ones under the tree, but then he stuffs unwrapped things in our stockings.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Kat LOVES Christmas, so she starts decorating on Thanksgiving night, and not a moment before.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? When I was a meat-eater, it was my mother’s turkey and stuffing. Now I’d have to say it’s Kat’s green bean casserole.
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Wow, just one? I still remember so many Christmases, sleeping near the tree and watching the lights as I fell asleep. I loved that.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I’m with Laura—what do you mean, “truth”? Did he get lipo?
9. Do you open gifts Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Usually late on Christmas eve—near midnight—or whenever we discover that Santa has already visited while we were napping.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With ornaments we’ve had in our families since we were young, and each year we all make new home-made ornaments.
11. Snow - Love it or dread it? I like it unless I have to dig the car out.
12. Can you ice skate? Not really—and the one time I went, I was too scared of falling (and breaking something) to enjoy it, so I ended up using this "walker" thing and skating behind it. But it was nerve-wracking. I couldn't just relax and enjoy it for fear I would fall and hurt my butt.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? (as a child) Oh yes—my godmother gave me this “Coke Machine” that was a smaller plastic version of the old-fashioned Coke dispensers in drugstores, diners, etc.—and you would take a one-liter glass bottle of Coke, fit it under the big plastic box cover, put the top of the bottle into a rubber gasket-thingie, and then when you pressed the tap, Coke would come out!
14. What's the most exciting thing about the holidays for you? Being off work for a week!
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? My mother’s desserts—refrigerator cookies (like sugar cookies with pecans in them—soooo tasty), homemade pumpkin and pecan pies—with lots of whipped cream!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Every year, we would convince my parents to let us start opening gifts on Christmas Eve—every year, it would get earlier and earlier. And my sister Raquel would put on a fake mustache and beard (sometimes made of paper, sometimes cotton batting—whatever) and she would play “Santa the Clause” and distribute gifts. That was awesome.
17. What tops your tree? Kat has this quilted angel that goes on top of our tree.
18. Which do you prefer- giving or receiving? They’re both great—I guess I love the “exchanging.”
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? "O Holy Night"
20. Candy canes? Not that big a fan, but I’ll eat a piece or two. We have a wooden snowman who holds a long stick between his outstretched hands, and you hook candy canes onto it.

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