D&D satanic; here we go again.

[Some guy from Ohio]

(I hope this thread does not fall under the 'religion' ban.)

That never even occured to me. I saw that Henry posted and thought I had been shut down. Wheww..
I do not intend any hard feelings from anyone. I'm just looking for good points I may not think of myself.

 

[Some guy from Ohio]

But if you already have family and religion in the mix, I'd seriously encourage you to just avoid the topic. Don't bring it up yourself and if some one else does, just say you greatly appreciate their concern and respect their beliefs and opinion and then try to change the topic.

Many good points are being made, but thus far, the above seems to make the most sense. The entire thing still grates me, though. I guess it will depend on how "charged up" I am, at the time.

 

[Chronosome]

Inspiring (I hope) lines:

"It's like a book club where you're writing the book."
"It's like a video game without the TV."
"Monopoly's a roleplaying game, too. Only instead of CEOs, we're knights."
"Trust me, we're just sitting around a table acting like complete dorks."

Laugh. Smile. Don't get mad. If you treat it like it's "just a game, no big whoop" they'll probably come around to ya. Worked with my 'rents, way back when.

Oh, and good luck.

 

[Aaron2]

Many good points are being made, but thus far, the above seems to make the most sense. The entire thing still grates me, though. I guess it will depend on how "charged up" I am, at the time.

I'd suggest teaching her how to play. The Basic Game (with its colorful toy-like pieces) would work well here. Does your wife play?


Aaron

 

[Mercule]

Well, I've typed out the whole story so many times, I'm tired of it, but I do not believe that I'd be a Christian today if it wasn't for playing D&D. Anything that leads someone to Christ cannot be Satanic in itself.

I've known Catholics, Lutherans, Presberterians (sp?), Baptists, Mormons, Quakers, and "non-denominational" charismatics who play. I've got second-hand information of Catholic priests who play. And one of the major developers (James Wyatt?) was a Methodist (?) minister. IIRC, Gary Gygax is a Jehovah's Witness.

That should cover pretty much every side of the issue. Many of those branches are pretty strict about a fair number of "non-Christian" activities. As an example, as a Lutheran, I can't even join the Shriners (basically, too Universalist, by my understanding), but my church's official stance on D&D is, basically, "check your motives".

Actually, come to think of it, I found that answer on the official website for my Synod. Depending on your sister-in-law's religion, there may be an official site with official answers for her.

 

[Faraer]

An interesting aside, in times long passed, acting WAS considered the devils work. Pretending to be something you were not was what the devil did, and thus when acing you were likening yourself to the devil.

And theatre was very disreputable much more recently. There are people who mistrust imagination (and anything other than thinking and behaving according to a rigid social order defined by a few other human beings), and their attention turns to the most vulnerable, least socially sanctioned media.

Needless to say, almost no one who has ever said 'D&D is satanic' has played. A common thread in misunderstandings of D&D is failing to distinguish the medium (roleplaying) from the subject matter (a subgenre of heroic fantasy). Unless someone is arguing that the particular combination is bad, and I haven't heard any such argument, no one who confuses those two things can pretend to any kind of understanding. And of course, everyone pretends to be people they 'aren't' much of the damn time, fulfilling social and psychological roles demanded from without and from within.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

You could bring up the old story that in the 1980's, there was at least one D&D group on every U.S. nuclear sub! However, I only have Dave Arneson's word to go on that.

My psych teacher used to serve on a nuclear sub. I asked him about this, and he told me that it was, indeed, a huge thing in the submarines.

 

[Scorch]

Okay, after reading about the Tracy Hickman tract I did a quick search and came up with this web page by James Wyatt which has all the links you will really need, including the Tracy Hickman one:

http://www.aquela.com/roleplaying/r&r/

[Edit] The Tracy Hickman link is not working from there. Here it is direct:

http://www.trhickman.com/Intel/Essays/Ethic1.html

[/Edit]

Scorch

 

[The_Warlock]

Everyone has great points and ideas here, in addition, you may want to add the following benefits of roleplaying to any discussion:

1) Teaches basic math skills through a continuing reliance on numbers to express the mechanics of play;

2) Increases reading comprehension, word knowledge, and annunciation due to a need to read and understand rules;

3) Promotes social interaction, and speaking and listening skills as a group tells a improv story together;

4) Provides a vehicle for a group to gather together and explore the human condition, and the eternal struggle between good and evil (and sharing the bag of doritos).

In addition you can point out things like Testament (Green Ronin's Biblical RPG), and the general outlook of most RPGs of heroes discovering and defeating evil in all it forms.

And most importantly, be clear, concise, patient, friendly, and calmly refute claims of satanism with a cool head. Nothing says "I'm a card carrying demon worshipper" more than getting mad and irrational in the face of irrational prejudice. It just doesn't give the other person a chance to listen, understand and keep an open mind.

Good luck in this

 

[Scribble]

Well, you could remind her that at the very least, some 10 MILLION people have played Dungeons and Dragons without any mishap, mental illness, religious crises of faith, or trouble with the law

Wait... Henry... You didn't get the world domination day tomorrow memo???

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