I found a site with more biast opinions about how DnD is Satanic

[BiggusGeekus]

I found a site with more biast opinions about how DnD is Satanic

Implying that there is an un-baised site about how D&D is Satanic.....

 

[Chainsaw Mage]

What angers me is those people who use religion to justify their desires to bend other people to their own limitations. When you say that something is "satanic", it's in fact as if you call on God's name justify your ideas. Such people are only telling you: "you are not authorized to contradict me, because it's a higher authority (God) who speaks through my mouth, not me." What a lame excuse, and what a blasphemy if you think caefully about it. In any case this isn't an opinion, but the expression of their mental illness, and a sign they need psychotherapy (if their exist one that could help them...).

Not to be devil's advocate or anything, but how on earth can you call someone "mentally ill" just because they have different beliefs than you do?
:\

 

[was]

I'm just amazed that so many of these 'experts' called up by these right wing groups are 'reformed' high priests of satanic cults. Notice how they're all ex-high priests and none of them are just ex-members? Talk about infiltration.

 

[was]

sorry 'bout the double post there....

 

[Chainsaw Mage]

I was ostracized from my church by these kind of people. So YES, they ARE harming someone.

???
You're blaming anti-DnD people because the people at your church ostracized you? What did the anti-DnD people do, use group hypnosis? Mind control?

Dude, the only people to blame are the people at your church. And frankly, if they ostracize you, it's their right and choice to do so. It's hard to say that this is "harm" that has been done to you.

Don't get me wrong--the anti-DnD forces irritate me as much as the next gamer, but let's have some perspective here. If they start blowing up gaming stores, *then* I'll talk about how they are "doing harm."

 

[was]

???
You're blaming anti-DnD people because the people at your church ostracized you? What did the anti-DnD people do, use group hypnosis? Mind control?

Dude, the only people to blame are the people at your church. And frankly, if they ostracize you, it's their right and choice to do so. It's hard to say that this is "harm" that has been done to you.

Don't get me wrong--the anti-DnD forces irritate me as much as the next gamer, but let's have some perspective here. If they start blowing up gaming stores, *then* I'll talk about how they are "doing harm."

You're obviously not from a small town. I understand where he's coming from. In my hometown there are no game shops and NO one who plays DnD. It's simply not acceptable. There's no other church to join or other crowds to hang out with. Once you get outcast and labeled, that's it. You'll be a pariah for as long as you're there and no one will associate with you, even if you leave and return years later. You could go to your 30 year high school reunion and no one would associate you. It's very sad, but true. I'm just thankful I learned how to play in college. Otherwise, I probably would never have known how much fun I was missing.

 

[Chainsaw Mage]

You're obviously not from a small town. I understand where he's coming from. In my hometown there are no game shops and NO one who plays DnD. It's simply not acceptable. There's no other church to join or other crowds to hang out with. Once you get outcast and labeled, that's it. You'll be a pariah for as long as you're there and no one will associate with you, even if you leave and return years later.

[shrug] That's the dynamic of small towns (and small groups of people in general). So move to a bigger city. My point is that it's silly to say "Those people are harming me because they don't like me." Even sillier to say "Those people are harming me because they made other people stop liking me."

Let bigots be bigots, let small towns be small towns, let religious fanatics be religious fanatics, and get on with your own life.

 

[was]

-"So move to a bigger city" that's hard to do when you're a kid.
-'Even sillier to say "Those people are harming me because they made other -people stop liking me."' I don't think the psychological effects of growing up as a social outcast, isolated from society are insignificant.
-"Let bigots be bigots, let small towns be small towns, let religious fanatics be religious fanatics, and get on with your own life." hard to do when you have no choices in the matter and those bigots (parents/teachers/employers/etc...) control your life. It's one thing if you're an adult and choose to live there. Being stuck there as a kid is another matter entirely.

 

[Chainsaw Mage]

-"So move to a bigger city" that's hard to do when you're a kid.
-'Even sillier to say "Those people are harming me because they made other -people stop liking me."' I don't think the psychological effects of growing up as a social outcast, isolated from society are insignificant.
-"Let bigots be bigots, let small towns be small towns, let religious fanatics be religious fanatics, and get on with your own life." hard to do when you have no choices in the matter and those bigots (parents/teachers/employers/etc...) control your life. It's one thing if you're an adult and choose to live there. Being stuck there as a kid is another matter entirely.

Hmmm...good point(s). Just for the record, although I didn't grow up in a small town, I *did* grow up in a fairly conservative small city (pop. 60,000 or so) and I was a kid gamer during the early 80's hysteria. To be fair to the religious fanatics (did I just type that? ) it was the *secular media* who were pouncing all over D&D...not just the religious right.

At any rate, I've put it behind me. I've learned to forgive (or at least I'm *learning* to forgive). It's easy to dwell in bitterness and gripe endlessly about "those damn close-minded bigots". As a child, you're right--it's distressing because you have no choice in the matter. As an adult, as I think we all are here, we *do* have a choice. We can forgive, and acknowledge that maybe we too can be just as intolerant and aggressive as religious fanatics, given certain circumstances.

 

[Kemrain]

[shrug] That's the dynamic of small towns (and small groups of people in general). So move to a bigger city. My point is that it's silly to say "Those people are harming me because they don't like me." Even sillier to say "Those people are harming me because they made other people stop liking me."

Let bigots be bigots, let small towns be small towns, let religious fanatics be religious fanatics, and get on with your own life.

I'm suprised to find anyone who's comfortable claiming that someone who's been ostracized hasn't been harmed. It's a terrible thing to do to somebody, and, having been in similar situations, I can say that, generally, doing something that hurts someone else's feelings, intentionally, is doing harm.

Aaron L said he was "ostracized from my church by these kind of people." You questioned whether his blame was in the right place, which struck me as odd, as he specifically said 'these kind of people'. It was obvious, to me, that he was speaking about people who demonstrate these behaviors, and not persons like Jack Chick specifically. I empathised with his post, and felt regret that people would be so intolerant. When I read your post, challenging his, I felt I was seeing similar behavior.

Getting off that, I feel I must admit that I fear Organized Religions, their leaders, and their most finatical followers. Religions have been used as an excuse to make many people's lives miserable, and I fear such things happening to me. I must also admit, to myself, that Religion is used as a mask, in these instances, for intolerance and bigotry, the things I should truely be afraid of.
I'm pleased for those people who've found meaning in their lives through religion and spirituality. I'm even more pleased whenever I see a person who describes themself as "conservative" who openly condones behaviors and activities that other people who might be described as conservative try to vilify. It's a step in the right direction, where people think for themselves and accept the differences in others. I'm glad to see so many free thinking people on these boards.

- Kemrain the Hopefully Inoffensive.