What made D&D 'evil'?

[mzsylver]

Where I grew up D&D became evil the moment I introduced it to the son (my best friend) of an official church minister who had no church. He and his wife fervently tried to keep their son away from me once they discovered I got their son to play.

They feared me, and they judged me evil...for playing a game.

They grounded their son, forced him to burn his books...for playing a game.

They would come over to my home, practically lay siege to it, if they thought their son was inside...playing a game.

Yes, it still angers me a little for what happened almost a eight years ago.

all i have to say is, i know how you feel. when i was about 12 i discovered D&D through comics & video games. seemed neat enough. it was like an improv board game.

the area i lived in during the summer was a cottage area where the same families came every summer. the area was originally formed around religion... so many of the people there were very devout christians.

shortly after we started playing, about half the people were banned because D&D was "evil" and "satanic." for many years i had parents coming over telling me exactly how i was corrupting their children & that i should stop.

i can still picture the parents yelling at me. it was like nothing i had ever experienced.

i find it ironic that most of these parents' children also turned out to be drug-addicts and well... not very nice people - compared to the group that played D&D, that usual did sports & more friendly things.

 

[Kichwas]

[BIf the dominant religion in the U.S. were buddhist, you'd have small-minded buddhists and anti-buddhism gamer sentiment [/B]

Actually you wouldn't.

There are some very specific things Shakyamuni said that would prevent this. And in fact has prevented this sort of issue in the parts of the world that are Buddhist.

You would get other problems. To find them look at the problems ones finds in Buddhist societies. But this specific problem would not be one of them.

 

[Eternalknight]

Oooooo boy, I am away for 24 hours and look what's happened...

A request to the mods: if the thread continues on about Christianity, please close it, as it wasn't the original topic.

I understand that many Christians would find D&D evil, but my question was this: What were the incidents that made D&D evil? The one's that gave the general population (not just Christians) that wrong perception?

 

[DMaple]

What were the incidents that made D&D evil? The one's that gave the general population (not just Christians) that wrong perception?

Well your question is in that case flawed. Since I've not seen much evidence that the general population believes D&D to be evil.

I didn't see any of the general population protesting out-side my cinema when it showed Dungeons and Dragons the movie (although perhaps there were some roleplayers *grin*), in fact I the film wasn't banned either.

I've not see any protests outside my gaming shop, or the comic shop that sells the books, in fact one of our local bookshops has just started an RPG section.

Now perhaps it is different in America but in Europe the general population does not consider D&D evil, but then can you give me examples of how the general population thinks D&D is evil in the US?

Was Bush elected on a burn D&D ticket? Do you have a D&D Tsar to co-oridinate the war on D&D?

 

[Eternalknight]

Your quote is flawed, as i am NOT an American. Look, let me try this one more time: There were incidents in the 80s. They made D&D look bad. What were they?

 

[Kichwas]

Those incidents involved certain figures using religion to target the game as well as claims mostly by people with a religious theme that the games were causing suicides.

All disproven.

But the game in again... religious circles, has been linked with 'satan'.

So no matter how you try to spin it; it does come back to an issue of a certain sect of christianity versus roleplaying.

Unfortunately this is the same sect that targets anything having to do with free thought and imgination in America. And is a sect which gets a lot of air time on TV, radio, and with politicians. An amount dispoportionate with their actual numbers.

 

[Dinkeldog]

In the interest of peace, how about if we settle on this statement:

Most Christians do not think D&D is evil; most people who think D&D is evil are Christians. I would go further and say conservative fundamentalist evangelical Christians.

As such, your experience on whether you know people that think it is evil depends on the denominations in your area. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, it is a known scientific fact (as demonstrated in the Bible) that D&D is Evil. In Seattle, it isn't.

 

[DMaple]

Your quote is flawed, as i am NOT an American. Look, let me try this one more time: There were incidents in the 80s. They made D&D look bad. What were they?

My statement is still valid if not more so. Why do you think the general population think D&D is evil?

But that really isn't really your question. Perhaps if you had phrased your question better we wouldn't be in this mess.

I don't know why your interested in the stuff from the 80's when it's still going on today.

"The Columbia University doctoral student accused of torturing a woman he met online helped create a computer role-playing game in which characters gain points by maiming opponents.
Oliver Jovanovic developed a point system for "RuneQuest: Adventures in Glorantha," a copyrighted fantasy game like "Dungeons and Dragons," in which players assume roles ranging from mighty gladiators to elderly farmers and create adventures in a magical kingdom." (1996)

Then there have been a number of assaults "linked" to Vampire LARP's.

Or http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/local/html98/alex_100798.html

It makes a story more interesting if you can link it to what most people call "unusal behaviour".

For some reason they never mention the murder was an avid chess-player or played in the five-a-side football team.

 

[Eternalknight]

My statement is still valid if not more so. Why do you think the general population think D&D is evil?

But that really isn't really your question. Perhaps if you had phrased your question better we wouldn't be in this mess.

I don't know why your interested in the stuff from the 80's when it's still going on today.

Point well taken about the phrasing the question better.

The reason I am interested is that I started playing D&D in 1990. Back then, various relatives tried to tell me that D&D was evil and would lead me to do bad things. One even said that within 2 years I'd be doing all kinds of drugs, and would be living on the streets stealing off people to survive. None of them are anywhere close to being religious. They sited various incindents that happened in the States as their "proof". That's why I'm interested.

Here in Australia, role-playing is not such a big hit (in my experience, although popularity is on the rise);infact, as of late, D&D isn't even really considered to be geeky. A news bulletin about 6 months ago even did a thing on Warhammer and D&D, and a Buffy marathon on pay TV was even sponsered by Magic. Therefore, we don't here much about the evils of role-playing. Religion isn't a big thing in this country, as it is in the States.

That is why I'm interested. I didn't know there had been any incidents lately; I would like to know what they were though. Same as the 80s stuff.

 

[Draco Argentum]

Sorry to burst your bubble but D&D is considered extremely geeky in Australia.