I was surfing the web for material for a research paper i’m doing on if and how people/teens are attracted to D&D, plus other related material (if anyone finds anything that may be helpful, please let me know) when I ran across this article. I think that’s he’s overreacting, but that’s just me… What do you think.
I just had a thought, and in response I’m going to keep Orakio in my thoughts.
Originally typed by Mr. Straight Talk In fact, the Dungeon Master’s Guide gives the celebrated Adolph Hitler as an example of a real historical person that exhibited D&D charisma!
And hence, D&D is evil. How eminently logical!
Religion-values and belief systems (see below) are restructured from traditional Judeo-Christian ethics (which most people in Western culture adhere to) to belief in multiple gods and deities. Players align themselves with specific deities they select; patron deities are strongly urged. These are not fantasy deities, but are drawn from genuine ancient religions and beliefs!
Of course, any of those gods could be valid, as some are older than Judeochristian beliefs by a very long shot. If I’m not mistaken, Obad-Hai is based on the Green Man of Celtic lore.
Only occult gods are included.
Well, that’s everyone but Jehova, right? I mean, including Him wouldn’t add much spice to the world of D&D, now would it?
As for the 11 cases of D&D “causing” evil, I refer you all to a post you can’t look at, where I said:
“Outside influences don’t cause evil. Evil comes from people.”
They say that D&D contributed to certain deaths, but so what? I find automobiles a bigger problem, as they are the more widely used method of killing children.
Excuse me, Frame and I have an appointment to sacrifice a bugbear to Ehlonna.
LMFAO. I don’t know how many stories I read like that over the 20 years I’ve been playing D&D.
It’s really amazing how the 2% of D&D players who fuck up and pull shit like they describe can ruin it for the rest of the people.
Most of the people who have written those Anti-D&D stories or articles have never tried the game or been around players who are normal people. They hear a story that someone has killed themself because they got too into their character and their character died, and they automatically think the whole game is evil.
There are approx 10 million players world wide that play one form of D&D or another, and about 2% of that are the idiots that ruin it for the rest and get the bible Thumpers after us. These hardcore religious people have been trying to get people to stop playing D&D since it came out in the early 70’s.
I read this and a couple other articles and he is one of the biggest assholes Ive ever seen
read some of his comments about other religions
plus any such article is made only from the extremes because they are based on sources that have been written simply about the extremes because nobody would read about average people who play it
and who the hell actually tries the rituals which happen to not be described in any depth in the books
The one thing people overlook about DnD is that it is a role playing game. As Dragon Ninja stated, it is just the minute fraction of players who can ruin it for the rest of us. I’ve heard the many stories of kids who played DnD and ran off and started killing people and torturing their parents and what-not because of the game. But seriously, those people must have had mental disorientation far before endeavoring into the game. People choose to look only at the evil aspects of the game. When really, most DnD players are carrying out the will of good-aligned characters and fighting evil.
Something that annoys me, though, is the misconceptions of magic. People relate the type of DnD magic (hurling fireballs, summoning animals, calling on lightning, etc.) to ancient dark magic. But really, old witchcraft (at least what I have heard of/seen) is nothing like manipulating elements or summoning. That type of magic was used to curse and hex people in totally different ways.
Now, I’m a huge fan of Lord of the Rings, so don’t get me wrong here. But there is so much controversy about DnD and all of it’s so called ‘evil.’ But when Lord of the Rings came out on movie, perhaps even when they were still in the book form, I didn’t see anyone complaining about that. LOTR is set in a middle-ages fantasy realm, complete with wizards and orcs and magic. So what, really is the difference?
I am a Christian myself, and I do not find any of these arguments that have been made against DnD to be well thought out, well researched, sometimes even relevant. I will admit, when I first started playing, my parents were skeptical (yes, I am only 15 and probably not experienced as half of the people here, as I have only been playing for about ten months) but now, not even they see anything wrong with the game. They even ask me how my sessions were and listen as I rant about my ideas and such.
It is not like this is some enchanting thing that converts anyone who plays into worshiping Satan. It is just the eccentric people who think that this game is the root of all evil. People need to lighten up and realise that it is just a game, and all is in good fun.
Originally posted by Izlude I’ve heard the many stories of kids who played DnD and ran off and started killing people and torturing their parents and what-not because of the game. But seriously, those people must have had mental disorientation far before endeavoring into the game. People choose to look only at the evil aspects of the game. When really, most DnD players are carrying out the will of good-aligned characters and fighting evil.
Unfortunately, the game makes a convenient scapegoat. This is not wholly surprising, as many conservative American churches and Christian communities have sought scapegoats beforehand, who have included ethnic minorities and homosexuals. Furthermore, so long as members of those communities continue to be influenced most heavily by their spiritual leaders, their biases against Dungeons and Dragons shall only be further entrenched.
Originally posted by Izlude Something that annoys me, though, is the misconceptions of magic. People relate the type of DnD magic (hurling fireballs, summoning animals, calling on lightning, etc.) to ancient dark magic. But really, old witchcraft (at least what I have heard of/seen) is nothing like manipulating elements or summoning. That type of magic was used to curse and hex people in totally different ways.
That is, however, the conception which those fanatics have of ‘magic’, a relic from the days of witch trials. The only good magic they conceive are miracles and sacraments. So deeply is it entrenched in their beliefs, that it will not easily be uprooted.
Originally posted by Izlude But when Lord of the Rings came out on movie, perhaps even when they were still in the book form, I didn’t see anyone complaining about that.
Many conservative Christian communities have ways of admonishing their members about current movies and trends and in doing so providing a moral commentary. I should not be surprised if a good number of such communities condemned the Lord of the Rings movies as unsuitable, either morally or spiritually or both. The feelings may just have not been voiced publicly very much.
Your reference to homosexuals being “scapegoats” is not entirely correct.
Rather, the interpretation of the “Thou shalt not commit adultery” being extended to include all sorts of other sexual activities considered “outside the natural law.”
Hence, homosexuals are not “scapegoats” they are “sinners.”
Thank you…
Now, let’s get back on topic, shall we?
Whenever I refer to “radical fundamentalists” it is this kind of anti-D&D type I am referring to.
I myself, being Catholic, am not subject to such insanities. Closest thing I got to it was in the Harry Potter aspect, but that was a select few who didn’t think it was suitable for children at their particular ages (i.e., pre-teen).
Originally posted by Chris StarShade Your reference to homosexuals being “scapegoats” is not entirely correct.
They are sometimes scapegoats because in those communities they are portrayed as sinners. How on earth did it occur to you that those two terms were mutually exclusive? They are not.
Sadly, in my community, many people share the opinon that Dungeons and Dragons is the modern day equivalent to butchering a sheep (or person) to the blood-covered statue of Cthulhu.
Originally posted by Sir Percival Many conservative Christian communities have ways of admonishing their members about current movies and trends and in doing so providing a moral commentary. I should not be surprised if a good number of such communities condemned the Lord of the Rings movies as unsuitable, either morally or spiritually or both. The feelings may just have not been voiced publicly very much.
Probably not as many as you’d think; Tolkien’s work, for all it’s Norse influences, has many Judeo-Christian themes. One of the more subtle of these is the idea of the Valar (lit. Beings of Power, I think) creating the world by speaking a word (“ea!” or “let it be!”). All the stuff that Cristianity in particular thrives on are there, in sort-of incidental morality tales; greed, temptation, redemption, righteousness, loyalty, martyrdom, et cetera. So on the whole it’s pretty appealing stuff, even to “conservative Christians.” Right Wing Christians will of course hate pretty much everything that comes out of a movie theater though, so I generally discount their opinions.
I don’t even waste precious joules trying to talk about it, I just say: “Don’t like me being an occultist, then try tiing me to a pole and burning me.”
Originally posted by Phoenix Valkyrie The point is, almost all religions are based on the same central themes.
nobody realizes that though…
everybody is so convinced that they are right that they dont think about the possibility of there being more than 1 group that has it right, there are only a couple major religions that acknowledge that other religions also came from God, but most of them make it selective and not open to interpretation as it should be, such as many Christians saying that even though Jewish teachings also came from God they will burn in hell anyway
anyway people will be idiots forever, so let them be idiots until it interferes with you
Situational Ethics-any act can be justified in the mind of the player, therefore there are no absolutes of right or wrong; no morality other than “point” morality needed to ensure survival and advancement. There are no win-win situations and good forces seldom triumph over evil forces.
Remind me again what humanity in general has done for countless years, and infact, are doing this very second? Thats right! Very good. They are justifing in their minds the morals of their current acts and what they need to do to ensure survival and advancement!
You are right about one thing though, mr crazy artical writer, There is no win-win situations and good foces seldom triumph over evil forces!
I can’t really say for sure why this is, but I can make a guess. I say people like this (chick) and their do-it-youself brain washing, must have something to do with it.
Religion is all based around one theme: How to control more people. With the fear of going to hell (or you know, that ‘baaaaad’ place).
Next thing you know, they’ll be telling us icecream is in leage with satan, and that only evil people would dare enjoy this demonic treat!