D&D satanic; here we go again.

[WayneLigon]

The other day, my wife had a phone conversation with her sister about my being a gamer, specifically a D&D player. My sister-in-law, a devout Christian, tossed out the old “D&D is satanic” line and she is worried about my soul.

I'm sure you're read Mike Stackpole's Puling Report, so you might want to look at it again and sumarize some points from that if you want.

Ask her where she's actually seen anything about D&D being 'satanic' that was not related to her by word of mouth. Unsubstanciated rumor - which is the only thing any of this suppossed 'Satanic D&D' silliness is - circulated for the purpose of harm or defamation, is basically gossip. Depending on her exact beleifs, you might want to play up that angle. If she has any degree of intelligence whatsoever, she knows how a slow news day makes the media concentrate on playing up the most trivial crud into 'newsworthy' material. Make that point as well.

Don't dismiss her, either. Show her how she's - and the people she's probably talked to, including her pastor/minister/whatever - have been misled by rumor and outright lies.

 

[Thotas]

Assuming she's open to discussion at all, simply start with the premise that since she's the one to make a claim, it's up to her to back it up, not up to you to refute it. All the "proof" is bound to be "I heard this" and "I read that" and to each point it's easy for you to reply "I know first hand that's not true." Top it off with "People do magic in D&D the way people get rich in real estate in Monopoly." If that's not enough, it's a lost cause.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Try to get other people becides your wife to switch over to your side that D&D is not satanic.

Point out that magic is not real and if it were it could be used for good or for evil just like anyother tool.
Point out that at no point in your D&D experience have you ever had to or heard of somebody worshipping or praising the Devil.
Point out that d&d just like anything else is not inheritly evil. I'm guessing she's conservative so she probably supports people being allowed to buy fire arms with little restriction. Point out that guns in one day cause more deaths and other such evil (and thus satanic acts) than d&d ever has in it's history.

Depending on how hard set you are to win you might want to make her question the validity of he faith (I know I'm going to get hammered for this).

 

[Mark Chance]

You could always do what I do: not give a rat's ass what other people except my wife and children think.

 

[Naathez]

I'd just like to say a few things.

a) I am sincerely tolerant of everything that doesn't hurt anyone. But I find it terribly harsh to be tolerant of intolerant people. I won't say what i THINK of religion here (because 1) it's forbidden, 2) some could find it impolite, 3) nobody asked) but I WILL say that intolerance without basis is NEVER a sign of intelligence.

b) I have a Christian Catholic friend (well, several, I'm Italian) but anyway, this one girl has ALWAYS played RPG's with us. One day we were having a discussion about religion and faith, and BLIND faith. And I asked her "What if tomorrow the Pope, and a Conclave of Bishops, declared officially that D&D is satanic, evil, and a good Christian must NEVER play it? You would know it is NOT true, yet that would be a clear order from your Church. What would you do? " She said "I'd stop playing, and pray to God that he made me understand that the Pope said so because D&D is actually satanic, and it's ME who's wrong and never realized."
Point is, when someone decides that faith and not reasoning is the basis for their actions and decisions (which is a view I can agree or disagree with, bus is in itself their own right to do), no amount of debating or logic can make them change their mind. It is mostly taken as offensive to try to do so. And I don't think it can be in any way good to do anything that can be offensive with family... it's a lose-lose thingie.

c) I just read a thread where a man whose kid son has DIED is asking for help in coping with the pain. I believe in the face of THAT kind of REAL tragedy, your sister in law's wanting to affirm or debate over whether playing "make believe" is satanic stops being ridiculous, stops even being pathetic. It becomes plain offensive.

I am sorry if I've been over the line. This truly struck a nerve. I'll understand if the post has to be deleted. No offense was sincerely meant to anyone. If I have offended, please let me know at my email.
It's fabioghirelli@virgilio.it .

 

[DonaldRumsfeldsTofu]

I've played D&D with Satan a few times. He's such a power-gamer.

I prefer Jesus. He plays bards.

 

[iblis]

Just to chime in with some more of that 'well, round here...' kinda reaction. Probably nothing helpful though, I'm sorry.

I know one guy who's been a Christian minister for years, one of whose sons has played D&D, with the full knowledge and consent of both parents. All the family are wonderful people and (I find) a joy to converse with on a wide variety of topics, even given that I'm not Christian myself. If only more religious people could be so truly open-minded as well as truly strong in their faith. I personally see no inherent conflict, no contradiction there.

Then there's a girl I know who is Christian, and into all kinds of fantasy stuff - books, movies, roleplaying... Again, no inner conflict on that score.

And after all, a good many fantasy and sci-fi writers / directors / actors / game designers etc. are Christian, and many other Christians (understatement alert) read, watch and play these genres of media / game etc., the vast majority of which have nothing (directly, at least) to do with each individual's faith.

Off the top of my head, I also know four people whose spelling, maths, problem-solving skills and vocabularies have all improved out of sight thanks largely to RPGs.

But argh, what does one say in the face of uninformed, carelessly adopted intolerance? :\

Best o' luck.

my 2 Red Ink, FWIW.

 

[Mercule]

You could always pull out some other "satanic" rumor, like "Proctor and Gamble gives huge donations to the Church of Satan". Show her that's false (if you fail here, give it up) and then ask her how her sources are any better.