Halo and church

In a story that could have been lifted from The Onion, but in fact appeared in The New York Times, hundreds of Protestant churches are using the ultraviolent videogame Halo to lure teenage boys into church. No, really, I'm not making this up. Excerpt:

Far from being defensive, church leaders who support Halo — despite its “thou shalt kill” credo — celebrate it as a modern and sometimes singularly effective tool. It is crucial, they say, to reach the elusive audience of boys and young men.

Witness the basement on a recent Sunday at the Colorado Community Church in the Englewood area of Denver, where Tim Foster, 12, and Chris Graham, 14, sat in front of three TVs, locked in violent virtual combat as they navigated on-screen characters through lethal gun bursts. Tim explained the game’s allure: “It’s just fun blowing people up.”

Once they come for the games, Gregg Barbour, the youth minister of the church said, they will stay for his Christian message. “We want to make it hard for teenagers to go to hell,” Mr. Barbour wrote in a letter to parents at the church.

But the question arises: What price to appear relevant? Some parents, religious ethicists and pastors say that Halo may succeed at attracting youths, but that it could have a corroding influence. In providing Halo, churches are permitting access to adult-themed material that young people cannot buy on their own.

“If you want to connect with young teenage boys and drag them into church, free alcohol and pornographic movies would do it,” said James Tonkowich, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a nonprofit group that assesses denominational policies. “My own take is you can do better than that.”

Great quote from Tonkowich. This story reveals the idiocy and moral bankruptcy of the idea that you measure success by how many people you get inside the church door. The church should be standing against the worst excesses of popular culture, not participating in them. Show me a church that uses Halo as a recruiting tool, and I'll show you a church that almost certainly has nothing useful to say about the road to salvation.

UPDATE: Here's a story about how some churches were using Halo 2, the predecessor to the game that's out now, as a recruiting tool. Excerpts (emphases mine):

Another ministry, Dare 2 Share is educating the youth populace through its national website, with an article titled, "How to Witness Using Halo 2."

The article discloses that Dare 2 Share is not trying to promote the game. Halo 2 is "an extremely violent game with plenty of cussing, so PLEASE understand that as a ministry we are not saying 'everyone run out and start playing this game as soon as possible!' "

"The point is that almost everyone already has run out and played it, so we think this is an awesome opportunity to take something hugely popular in our culture and turn it into a way to share the most important message," states Palmer.

"What we need are people who approach their Christianity with the same passion and concentration as they do with video games. Will you plug in and take action today?"
[snip]

"So the next tim you are hanging out with friends who know Halo but don’t know God, try bringing up a conversation about the storyline behind planet earth."

Another great way to witness is to bring up the subject of death. Although violently graphic games, such as Halo 2 tend to mute and dull the senses of this generation, called "Millennials," born between 1980s and 2000 - Youth Evangelism Explosion describes this generation as desensitized - the many deaths in the game will allow a Christian youth to ask questions about the after-death, states Palmer, and opens up a conversation about Christian beliefs.

"Then after they share their beliefs, ask them if you can share yours. Be sure and mention that of all people on earth, Christians don’t need to be afraid of death because our ultimate destination is in heaven," he states in his article.

Vom.