An evangelical entertainment group boasting actor Stephen Baldwin among its ranks is sending U.S. soldiers in Iraq copies of Left Behind Games' Left Behind: Eternal Forces video game. The group calls itself Operation Straight Up, or OSU, and sends the game to troops in "Freedom Packets," which also include a pocket-sized Bible, a copy of evangelist Josh McDowell's "More Than a Carpenter," and assorted snacks.

Max Blumenthal wrote about the group's actions in a blog post for The Nation. Some may find it contentious that Operation Straight Up is an official member of the Defense Department's America Supports You program. Others may find it confusing that the group chooses to send Left Behind: Eternal Forces, one of the few non-secular video games available, given its critical reception.

The game was based on the Christian fiction series of Left Behind books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. As Blumenthal notes, Eternal Forces was universally hated by groups of all political persuasions and religious backgrounds, Christians included.

But Freedom Packets are just the start for the self-described group of "celebrities, NASCAR, professional sports figures, musical artists, and Hollywood actors," who plan to embark on "the only religious crusade of its size in the dangerous land of Iraq" in the near future.