M.A.R. Barker, author of Tekumel, also author of Neo-Nazi book?

[Hussar]

No, it is not, because it takes the stand that 1) Freedom of speech is not inalienable.

2) That people as a group are too dumb to see the weakness of that ideology.

3) that your own ideology is so fragile that it cannot prevail in the face of competition.

Umm freedom of speech is not inalienable and never has been.

 

[darjr]

Looks like someone from the Tekumel foundation posted that they are working on a response.

 

[Professor Murder]

I'm warry of people who feel the need to defend scoundrels. You can tell someone's moral vision by whom they give the benefit of the doubt.
Parallels to Lovecraft are obvious and are worth exploring. I am not going to claim to know much of anything about Barker or Tekumel, and for me as a non-fan, not engaging with his work or legacy isn't really a sacrifice. It falls to fans, both current ones and the possible future ones who discover this work later to decide how to square the acts of Barker with his work as a creator and artist. I am curious to hear from someone keenly familiar with Tekumel, to learn if there are elements of the setting which might set off red flags when viewed though the lens of it's creator being an anti-Semite. I know that as a fan of Lovecraft, I have had to reevaluate his work as I grew up and learned more and more of his racist predilections. It is easier when they are dead and Barker is dead. But you need not defend his actions to defend his art, if you so choose to. You need to be willing to be objective. But. If you find yourself thinking that writing an entire novel with Nazi themes and protagonists and active participation in Holocaust denial apparently for decades as aberrations, you need to step back, because you are defending evil.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I'm warry of people who feel the need to defend scoundrels. You can tell someone's moral vision by whom they give the benefit of the doubt.
Parallels to Lovecraft are obvious and are worth exploring. I am not going to claim to know much of anything about Barker or Tekumel, and for me as a non-fan, not engaging with his work or legacy isn't really a sacrifice. It falls to fans, both current ones and the possible future ones who discover this work later to decide how to square the acts of Barker with his work as a creator and artist. I am curious to hear from someone keenly familiar with Tekumel, to learn if there are elements of the setting which might set off red flags when viewed though the lens of it's creator being an anti-Semite. I know that as a fan of Lovecraft, I have had to reevaluate his work as I grew up and learned more and more of his racist predilections. It is easier when they are dead and Barker is dead. But you need not defend his actions to defend his art, if you so choose to. You need to be willing to be objective. But. If you find yourself thinking that writing an entire novel with Nazi themes and protagonists and active participation in Holocaust denial apparently for decades as aberrations, you need to step back, because you are defending evil.

Agreed.

If you have 999 people wholly defending 1 Nazi sympathizer, you have 1000 Nazi sympathizers. There are no "ifs", "ands," or "buts." Defending someone that denied the Holocaust for decades and wrote a neo-Nazi book makes you a Nazi sympathizer.

There are no "both sides," there is no "but CaNcEl CuLtUrE," and there is absolutely no reason to defend or support him. If he was a Nazi or sympathizer of them, and you're supporting him after learning this, you're a Nazi sympathizer.

 

[Professor Murder]

Agreed.

If you have 999 people wholly defending 1 Nazi sympathizer, you have 1000 Nazi sympathizers. There are no "ifs", "ands," or "buts." Defending someone that denied the Holocaust for decades and wrote a neo-Nazi book makes you a Nazi sympathizer.

There are no "both sides," there is no "but CaNcEl CuLtUrE," there is no reason to defend or support him. If he was a Nazi or sympathizer of them, and you're supporting him after learning this, you're a Nazi sympathizer.

I agree, if perhaps slightly different in tone. Respectfully.
To put it simply:
It is not acceptable to be a Nazi. It is not acceptable to admire the Nazis and model your views after them, even in part.
And in addition:
It is not acceptable to be OK with some people being Nazis or admiring Nazis and modeling their views after them, even in part.
Is it the same sin? The same severity?
No. But it is a sin none the less. Because Fascist ideologies always are rooted in violence and cruelty and their end goal will always be these things and if you condone these beliefs, you condone these actions.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Umm freedom of speech is not inalienable and never has been.

Yep. Every right has boundaries defined by duties to others.

 

[aramis erak]

This is an exaggeration to be sure. And yes, oftentimes you can separate an artist from their art, and EotPT seems to be one of those cases.

That does not mean, in any way, that we should not criticize the man for what he apparently was as a person. Because very often, fandom goes beyond appreciating a particular piece of work and enters into idolizing its creator. That is clearly not appropriate for Barker at this juncture.

And I'm not saying that you're doing that, but some people do. And you're not the only one reading.

It's not much of one. EPT was the first licensed game. TSR licensed him to use adapted D&D OE mechanics. It was also pretty much the first game with prose about the setting. The first several national conventions where D&D was significant, EPT was there, as an advanced/alternate form of D&D, and with Gygax's blessings.
There are some implications that Barker may have been more influential than E. Gary Gygax Sr made out; the "Beyond Here Be Dragons" manuscript in his effects appears to be a late stage draft of OE D&D.

Tekumel/EPT are every bit as important as Metamorphosis Alpha, Tunnels and Trolls, RuneQuest, and Traveller. They were all commercial successes which proved that there was room in the RPG realm for games other than D&D, and for playstyles other than the "push your luck dungeoneering" (which is the style of play presented in the OE D&D rules, even if it wasn't what Gygax did at his tables)... Further, there were novels that brought people to EPT, at least later, and Phil's worldbuilding is comparable in scope to Tolkien, albeit with not as wide a fanbase. Phil's being an educator with a public wargaming hobby also brought a certain level of tolerance during the heyday of the Satanic Panic.

Phil not having done EPT wouldn't have killed the hobby, but it would have had some important effects. And I say this as someone who's never played Tekumel based games. Phil is a historical figure of note within FRPG-ing, and a spreader of the hobby. An influencer. His D&D spinoff, as well, expanded the audience for TTRPGs, because it did things slightly differently; RuneQuest, Traveller, MetA, T&T, and En Garde all did things differently, too. We don't, and can't, know where the tipping point was, but we can see that these games all did jointly push RPGs into more homes, hearts, and minds. 50 years on, and people are still playing Tekumel. And T&T. And RQ. And Traveller. And En Garde. And D&D.

By comparison, some other early games got no real traction... few have heard of Kaball, fewer still have read it, and fewer even have played/run it. Starships & Spacemen never got a big following; if FGU could have afforded the Trek License, it would likely be in that above list... but they couldn't, and it's a historical footnote. (Albeit one I have enjoyed off and on for decades.) There are a dozen other pre 1980 games that could have been important, but weren't, for various reasons.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Death pretty much does. Barker certainly doesn't care what anyone thinks now. Odds are very good he didn't care back when he was alive.

Whether or not he is capable of caring, his legacy- including his personal flaws- is certainly fair game for critique, regardless of how long he has been dead.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

As a person of color, I find that political correctness just builds a more subtle bigot. Myself, I miss the days when you knew up front where people stood.

As a person of color, I agree it can make some bigots more subtle, but most respond in a reactionary fashion- pushing back- not by modifying their behavior.

 

[overgeeked]

Tekumel Foundation to release a statement. Didn’t see it on the site, but a spokesman hit the Tekumel discord.