Judgment and Rudeness About D&D Alive and Well

joshinminn

Explorer

• Jul 7, 2015

• #1

Wife had minor surgery this morning. While in recovery, nurse saw I had the PHB with me and said, "Gosh, that led to suicides some years ago. Very sad." Her judgy pants were pulled in tight.

I said that was religious propaganda, and widely debunked. She then told me about a boy who hung himself, and mused about vulnerable people being pushed to this by games like this.

I was so tempted to say that far more people have done bad things in the name of religion than were inspired by D&D.

Best part: she then told us about the Wizard of Oz game she is addicted to on her phone. I hope it doesn't drive her to commit evil acts! Lol.

 

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Warmaster Horus

Explorer

• Jul 7, 2015

• #2

"Well, I'm sure D&D has killed way fewer people in 40 years than nurses who have forgotten to wash their hands do in a month."

 

gamerprinter

Mapper/Publisher

• Jul 7, 2015

• #3

I think that sentiment is mostly dead, obviously there are still people who mistakenly believe that. Contrarily, I know 2 players (locally) and one of the authors of my Kaidan setting for PF, are Christian ministers. So it must just be isolated instances.

 

G

Greenfield

Adventurer

• Jul 7, 2015

• #4

When I was dating the lady I eventually married, her room mate was shocked, SHOCKED I say, to learn that I played D&D.

"I thought those books were banned!", she said. I explained that you can't actually ban books in the US. 1st Amendment and all that. She was sure that you could, and that they did, because Satan and, well, reasons.

1st Amendment protects not only free speech and free press, but also the freedom to follow a non-Christian religion, I explained. I followed up with an explanation that D&D was not satanic, that the books never even pretended to tell you how to cast any of the spells, and that devils and such were listed in the Monster Manual as enemies to be fought.

She was a college student who kept failing US Government courses. I wonder why?

But, as Ben Franklin once said, "Arguing with someone who has abandoned reason is like giving medicine to the dead."

 

joshinminn

Explorer

• Jul 7, 2015

• #5

That Franklin quote is great!

 

Crothian

First Post

• Jul 7, 2015

• #6

I think that was actually Thomas Paine and while the meaning is correct I think the actual quote is different.

 

diaglo

Adventurer

• Jul 7, 2015

• #7

people at work jokingly always make comments about me and gaming. 40 years is a long time to grow a thick skin and let water run off this duck's back.

jokingly for them. but it is still rude.

 

KojiroJames

First Post

• Jul 9, 2015

• #8

I once ran into an old chap on the bus years ago that said "those books will turn you into Satan."

He admitted he was joking, though.

I've never ran into anyone who was actually serious about such absurd notions, though. It must be a surreal experience for those who have.

 

arscott

First Post

• Jul 9, 2015

• #9

There's a big difference between "D&D leads to suicide" and "D&D is the tool of Satan"--and there's no need to turn every mention of a D&D related urban legend into another battle in the culture war. After all, I'm pretty concerned about things that lead to suicide. If I were misinformed about the mental health risks of role-playing, I'd probably be upset about it, and I don't even believe in the existence of Satan.

Look at it as an opportunity to educate. Now I'm not saying it's a responsibility--no D&D player should ever be required to justify their hobbies--but it is an opportunity for those of us who want to grab for it. Tell your story, tell your friend's stories. Tell mine. D&D has been a blessing for my mental health--it's an inherently social activity that draws me back into the world when my depression tells me to crawl into a corner and shut the world out.

For that matter, learn and tell the stories of James Dallas Egbert and Irving Pulling. Their stories don't have happy endings, but they are real people who had real lives and real problems, and they deserve better that to be turned into the punchline of a bad urban legend.

 

Rune

Once A Fool

• Jul 9, 2015

• #10

gamerprinter said:

I think that sentiment is mostly dead, obviously there are still people who mistakenly believe that. Contrarily, I know 2 players (locally) and one of the authors of my Kaidan setting for PF, are Christian ministers. So it must just be isolated instances.

Click to expand...

The argument that convinced my mother when I was playing D&D in high school (in the latter half of the 90s) was that even pretending to be a character who casts spells or portraying fictional demons gave real power to and drew attention from The Devil. It's hard to counter that kind of reasoning in any meaningful way when someone fundamentally believes that that is possible.

And, though the specific argument was unique, the sentiment most certainly was not in that part of the country.