LIFE

When I was a kid, we used to play the game called, Life, made by the Milton Bradley Company. For those of you that know the game, you’ll remember that it was simple to learn and the only choice involved was whether or not to place a bet on the wheel.

The betting was a fun part of the game. They provided a small thin board with the numbers of the wheel on it and you could bet on two of the numbers to come up on the next players spin. If one of the two numbers came up when your opponent took his turn, the bank paid off the bet.

None of us kids were so heavily influenced by that silly example of betting as to become addicted to gambling. In fact, it taught us that senseless gambling can be very costly when you lose. It was just a humorous part of the game.

Now, however, they have added a more serious component to the game and in an instant, taken the fun out of it. Instead of choosing any numbers to bet on, kids as young as eight have to choose to be gay or straight. The following is an article from the CBN website.

The Game of Life -- Gay or Straight?

CBNNews.com
March 18, 2009

CBNNews.com - An online version of the popular family board game known as "The Game of Life" now gives children a choice to have either a traditional or same-sex family during the course of the game.

Children can download and play the game through the popular website Shockwave.com.

The game takes players through the different stages of life-- going to college, getting a job, and having kids.

But when it's time to get married in the game, the player is faced with the choice of whether to be gay or straight.

Online Game Targets Children As Young as Eight

With animated graphics, the game targets kids as young as eight years of age.

One concerned gamer posted a review warning parents:

"This game potentially contains adult issues dealing with same-gender marriage," the reviewer wrote. "Be prepared for comments and questions dealing with that if you have kids playing this game."

CBN News tried to contact Hasbro, the makers of the original board game, for a comment but they couldn't be reached.

The betting was optional and parents laughed at us kids doing the math as we learned the hard lesson of gambling.. At least they never heard us deciding to be gay or straight. Their generation would have been devastated if we had to make such a choice to start a board game. More than that, who at Milton Bradley has the right to tell eight year olds, you have to choose, gay or straight to play a simple board game.

Keep it simple! Spin and land on a square that says you will be a doctor; collect 20,000 for payday. Spin and land on a square that tells you to pay taxes. The game was meant for mindless fun; not a political platform to promote a gay lifestyle long before children should have to be aware of such sordid facts.

I’ve used the words from Proverbs 22:6 many times before;

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

It’s bad enough that a game publisher took it upon themselves to encourage betting, but do you want them telling your eight year olds to choose between gay or straight?

Then there is a more serious and obvious issue at hand;

Leviticus 18:22
“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination.”

Perhaps concerned parents should instruct Milton Bradley that it is not their place to instruct children on the facts of life until they get it right themselves.

Perhaps the game should be more realistic and have kids decide on what gang to join or what drug to take. Will they teach our eight year olds about pole dancing and prostitution or maybe they should include abortions in the game. They just took away any possibility to have fun. It’s supposed to be, “Just a game!”

Apparently, they read Proverbs 22:6 and decided how your eight year old should be trained. They hope the kids will not depart from that training. They may lose a bet.

I realize that I may sound like a grumpy old man carrying on about things that shouldn’t matter to me. After all, I have no eight year olds to worry about. Plus, they have the legal right to do as they please. Still, I believe that parents have a moral obligation to protect their children from the monsters that train a child in the way of abomination. Can’t they just let the kids be kids and have fun?

Lo, children [are] an heritage of the Lord: [and] the fruit of the womb [is his] reward.
Psalms 127:3

Straight or gay? Decide now!
(Milton Bradley)