Satanic Panic = 60 minutes D&D special ( 1985)

[wingsandsword]

The original Rogue Trader wasn't released until 1987 and Satanic Panic was pretty much at the end when Warhammer 40k was released in 1993. (I would argue that the trial of the West Memphis 3 in 1994 was the last hurrah for Satanic Panic in the US.) By the early 1990s, D&D had established itself as a household name and Warhammer has yet to achieve that level of brand recognition.

Where I grew up, in rural Kentucky, the "Satanic Panic" fear of D&D lasted at least into the late 1990's.

My last encounter with it was in 1998, being kicked out of a small Southern Baptist church because I mentioned in passing to the Pastor that I play D&D (my weekly game was on Saturday night, I was volunteering at the Church on Saturday to help out, and mentioned where I was going when I was leaving). . .and the reaction I got from that Pastor was to be treated as if I had just admitted to being a outright Satanic cultist, and was told I wasn't welcome at that Church anymore unless I publicly burned all my D&D books and repented in front of the Congregation. I left and never returned.

Circa 1992 it was still definitely going strong in society in general, at least in my town. My early attempt to learn D&D and get a D&D group together came to a crashing halt when I apparently started all kinds of alarms by asking my friends if they wanted to play D&D. Some of them apparently went to teachers, and I quickly found myself in the Guidance Counselor's office to see if I was suicidal (because they thought playing D&D made you commit suicide) or if I was trying to recruit for a Satanic cult or something. My father sternly forbade me from playing D&D after this incident.

I even had a classmate try to "prove" to me that D&D was satanic. He was sure that D&D was about worshiping tiny idols of devils. I was sure it wasn't, but he said he'd seen proof and he'd bring it in. The proof? A magazine article from some conservative Christian group about the evils of D&D, and it had pictures of these "idols" of "demons". . .the big one was a Ral Partha metal miniature of a Red Dragon, but they just saw wings and red skin and a pointy tail and assumed it was a devil or demon instead of a dragon and just assumed that the ONLY possible use of such a thing was as a religious idol, not as a miniature for tactical gaming. I tried to explain it to this kid, but he was SURE that his parents and Church wouldn't lie to him in saying D&D was evil, and that instead I was the one who was lying and trying to mislead him.

My parents didn't finally accept that D&D wasn't some satanic plot until circa 2000. Two things changed their mind.
1. That D&D was owned by Hasbro, and that there was no way a publicly traded company that relies on a wholesome, controversy-free image to sell toys to kids, would publish something satanic.

2. That the math skills I learned playing D&D are what helped me pass my math classes in college so I could graduate. I sincerely think that if I never played D&D, I might never have graduated college.

So yeah, the Satanic Panic was DEFINITELY NOT at an end by then. It was going strong in the rural South at least until the late 1990's.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Sadly, were I to credit D&D with my math performance in college, that would be no compliment. Skin of my teeth...

I suspect that in certain areas, the Satanic Panic is still playing out. But if I had to set a proper end date, I might cite the 2011 release of the West Memphis Three (and even then, they had to cut a plea deal).

2. That the math skills I learned playing D&D are what helped me pass my math classes in college so I could graduate. I sincerely think that if I never played D&D, I might never have graduated college.

So yeah, the Satanic Panic was DEFINITELY NOT at an end by then. It was going strong in the rural South at least until the late 1990's.

 

[MGibster]

So yeah, the Satanic Panic was DEFINITELY NOT at an end by then. It was going strong in the rural South at least until the late 1990's.

I didn't say it was at an end just that it was on the decline. Arkansas was one of those states where it lingered a bit longer than it did in other parts of the country. But with Warhammer 40k never being part of the greater public consciousness and the general decline in fears of a Satanic conspiracy it explains why you never really heard concerns about the game the same way you did with D&D.

 

[MGibster]

I suspect that in certain areas, the Satanic Panic is still playing out. But if I had to set a proper end date, I might cite the 2011 release of the West Memphis Three (and even then, they had to cut a plea deal).

Once you're convicted of a crime it's very, very hard to overturn it. I'd cite their 1994 conviction as the last big hurrah for Satanic Panic in the United States. And even in 1994 it wasn't a big concern in all areas of the state.

 

[Deset Gled]

I didn't say it was at an end just that it was on the decline. Arkansas was one of those states where it lingered a bit longer than it did in other parts of the country. But with Warhammer 40k never being part of the greater public consciousness and the general decline in fears of a Satanic conspiracy it explains why you never really heard concerns about the game the same way you did with D&D.

Around the turn of the century (2002 IIRC) I was home from college and joining up with my old gaming group, which had expanded and included some younger people. One player wanted to bring a new person (who had just graduated high school) to the group, but she wasn't allowed to join us because her mother learned that we were playing D+D. The mother was afraid it would be a satanist thing. I think there was an offer to play at her house and show the mother that it would be OK, but at that point in my life I just wasn't interested.

The point is: parts of the satanic panic were still alive in the new century, in a semi-affluent suburb of Chicago. I don't think it ever really went away, I think it just got re-focused on Harry Potter as it's main target rather than D+D.

The ghost hunters were in our theater listening to a guest lecturer who was a former police officer who brought up "all those occult connected crimes from the 1980s." Which piqued my interest because I couldn't help but be surprised that he didn't know there had been no such thing at the time.
...
It seems so ridiculous today but many people were taking it pretty seriously thirty years ago.

I think a surprising number of people still believe it today. The change in belief isn't that satanic cults don't exist. It's just that people don't believe D+D is the gateway to them any more.

 

[MGibster]

The point is: parts of the satanic panic were still alive in the new century, in a semi-affluent suburb of Chicago. I don't think it ever really went away, I think it just got re-focused on Harry Potter as it's main target rather than D+D.

There where always be someone with those beliefs. However, by the mid-1990s Satanic Panic had pretty much run it's course as it wasn't something lawmakers, the media, or most people were concerned about. Outside of a very narrow band of people, nobody was concerned about any negative influence Harry Potter might have on children. If anything parents and educators were thrilled that Potter engendered a love of reading in children.

And I think I've spent enough time clarifying my position on this.

 

[aramis erak]

I lived through the panic. It started earlier than that particular piece...

Pulling wasn't the start, either. She was, however, the most visible proponent of the satanic view. Jack Chick remains well funded and still sells the same lame lies he's always sold.

I experienced it most in summer of '81 to '82... before Pulling...
My mother bought in to it briefly... when she finally heard a session in play, my birthday party in 82... she realized the lies she'd been hearing as being lies. She had sat on the stairs, out of view... but had neither accounted for the window nor the shadows.

Still, until I switched to Traveller, she was deeply concerned. She still doesn't quite approve, but has come to realize it's just a form of storytelling, and that it's kept me from killing people in real life by being my major stress relief. She's also seen me decompensate when I wasn't gaming.