My friend Atheist Under Ur Bed just picked up this story today, which I found rather interesting but also disturbing at the same time:

New Video Game’s Objective: Stop The Spread Of Religion By Going Back And Killing The Founders (Lindsey Ward/NBC Affiliate WSLS-TV; June 2)

A video image released by the computer game’s creator showing an injured man may not appear to be graphic, but you may change your mind once you know who it is. It’s the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

The new game, not yet released, is giving a voice to the atheist community, that’s according to the game’s creator, a University of Virginia graduate student. He wouldn’t release his name, for fear of his safety.

“Atheists have never really had anything to speak for them like this. It’s the general atheist premise that the world might be a better place without some of those religions,” explained the creator of the game.

The object of the game is to stop the spread of Christianity and Islam by murdering Abraham and the authors of the Bible, before beheading Muhammad.

“This really just mirrors, you know, a lot of violence that we see,” explained the creator.

Barkley Thompson is a Reverend at Saint John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Roanoke. After hearing about the game and seeing its images he says it’s a sign of the times.

“I think that the images speak of a culture that has become obsessed with violence, I think that it is true in all demographics, but it seems to me particularly true of younger age groups,” said Thompson.

However, the game’s creator argues the game is not just violent and it has a message to young players, helping them imagine a time when the world’s two largest religions were new and less organized.

“It’s the idea of being able to go back in time and sort of nipping the problem in the bud,” said the game’s creator.

Anyone think that the message of this video game is a good one?

Would you, if you could, go back into time and kill the founders of the major Western religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam?

The creator says that “Atheists have never really had anything to speak for them like this.” Would you want this game to speak for you?