Moms who banned DnD
- Thread starter night_lord
- Start date
mythago
Hero
Stormfalcon said:
Nah, I think most of us assume the majority of Christians are as embarassed by these bozos as the rest of us.
After all, isn't one of the Dragonlance authors very much a Christian?As a mom, my biggest worry about D&D is keeping my OTHER gaming books--like Delta Green away from the kidlets. "No, this is NOT like the Monster Manual, you can't read it."
My parents never got into the satanic thing, they actually bought me first set for christmas they worried about the obsessive time I put into though. The only thing I got banned form the 80's was Kiss, was not allowed to play what I had or but anymore after Kiss AliveII; the weird part was I was allowed to listen Black Sabbath. Never understood that one.
She had more problems when I came out of the broom closet as a wiccan though that is cleared up also. She is so cool!
they worried about the obsessive time I put into though. The only thing I got banned form the 80's was Kiss, was not allowed to play what I had or but anymore after Kiss AliveII; the weird part was I was allowed to listen Black Sabbath. Never understood that one.She had more problems when I came out of the broom closet as a wiccan though that is cleared up also. She is so cool!
Last edited:
Gaius Agricola
First Post
shadow said:
Hey, Shadow, I'm aslo from Southern Illinois, and your mother sounds an awful lot like my mother, and my Uncle (dad's brother) was/is also into D&D in the late 70s-early 80s. You from anywhere near Salem, Il?
On Topic: Any problems I encountered tended to come from either my Aunt(dad's older sister) or from other students at school. There was one group at school all from the same church/organization, who were sure that D&D, along with those who wore black or listened to rock music, were Evil.
Andrew_980
First Post
Yeah, I read the Jack Chick thing and as a Reverend I am appalled. If he thinks D+D leads people away from chistianity, he aparently dosn't realize he is scaring people away from it far faster. trust me, if the devil wanted a tool to get kids away from churches, he would pick intolerance,not a game
Gaius Agricola said:
Isn't Salem, IL the town where they have a parade in celebration of a TV soap opera? "Days of Our Lives Days" or something. BTW, I've been to the Dairy Queen in Salem. Small world, huh?
I didn't have much trouble from my own family about D&D. My dad's best friend from high school ran a hobby shop in western Kentucky. He gave me a copy of the first Basic Set (the one with the dragon, wizard and fighter on the cover and module B1 inside). He also gave me a copy of the original traveller (this would be about 1979-1980).
I introduced both games to my circle of friends and we all got hooked on roleplaying, eventually buying the Hero system and Top Secret too.
I lost one friend because his Mom (who was religious) bought the D&D is evil routine (she saw a Pat Robertson diatribe on the 700 club). He was banned from playing and from hanging out with me. This caused a problem because that year she had been a Den Mother in our local cub scout group. The next year we got Pack Dad's so it didn't become an ongoing issue.
Even worse, our middle school had a "co-curricular" program which lasted for a week. Students got to take all sorts of alternative classes and workshops put on by teachers and parents. D&D was one of them. After a group of born-again-christian parents apparently protested D&D in school, I and another 6th grader were called into the school office to be interviewed by the Principal and Vice Principal.
They asked us all about the game and borrowed our players' handbook and monster manuals for a day to study them.
Now, I was raised to trust adults in authority and believe that they always had my best interests at heart--to respect teachers and principals. They returned our books, shut down the D&D program and banned it from the school. I later learned that they'd succumbed from pressure put on the school board and didn't want to argue the issue.
While I was never seriously persecuted by my family, the ignorance surrounding the "D&D is evil" controversey did affect my life. It opened my eyes to the fact that grownups can be wrong; it made me want to stand up for myself more; and according to Gary Gygax, it made the sales of D&D skyrocket and made TSR a multi-million dollar company.
I guess it wasn't all bad.
talien
Community Supporter
I'll add my two cents here because it bugs me when folks think "the stigma is over":
I was not just allowed to play, I was ENCOURAGED to play D&D. I was part of a gifted education program and it was on the list of games to play. My mom bought me the D&D Basic boxed set after my aunt bought me some of the AD&D hardcovers (we had no idea one wasn't compatible with the other). I played it, started a group, played it for a long time in elementary school, got another group in high school and frankly didn't have a problem until...
My junior year in high school. The art teacher was rather devoutly religious and actually spent a lot of time arguing with me over D&D. He didn't like the fantasy artwork that I drew and felt I was somehow being manipulated against my will. I didn't mind this really, and by this time I had learned to argue for myself (or alternately, my ego had expanded to the point where I argued with teachers openly). But I didn't realize what was going on around me -- the other kids literally did no working waiting for this man to stop lecturing me about the evils of D&D.
In class. In a public school.
You know, the schools American tax dollars pay for.
This went on and on, round and round. He was utterly intractable. He found fault with everything -- he had a problem with a "desirable attribute rolling being 6, 6, 6." He had a problem with the magic circles listed in the Dungeon Master's Guide. He certainly had a problem with demon/devils even mentioned in the book. It was all mind control in his opinion, and he tossed every piece of antagonistc propaganda at me.
I was severely troubled by this man's intensity. My parents were certainly in favor of it. So I took it to the best authority I knew -- I asked my local priest.
He took me aside and asked me one simple question, "Do you FEEL it's evil?"
I told him absolutely not and explained the virtues of the game. "Then there's nothing wrong with it."
I took this back to my art teacher, who then cast aspersions on 1) my parents, and 2) the priest in question.
Had I been an adult, I would have thrown the first punch after that. But I was a kid and despite all my supposed maturity, didn't realize just how much of a gross violation this teacher was committing. I'm a bit mellower now, so I probably would have just sued him. But the mere thought of being hounded by such an individual, at the expense of 20+ other students' education for an HOUR EVERY DAY burns me.
There were implications. The Strategy & Tactics club used to allow D&D. It was no longer allowed. Not that it stopped us. We all gamed, my best friends are from the original high school group.
I can honestly say that D&D helped get me a job, helped teach me how to code, helped me meet my wife, taught me mathematical and language skills, and now actually makes me MONEY. It's been one of the single most influential forces in my life, after my religion and my parents.
But is it over? Not by a long shot. I don't talk about my published stuff at my regular, corporate job. I had one employee mention how "all that Lord of the Rings stuff sounds like all that evil D&D stuff." And one of my friends (from said D&D group) is a teacher now and he can't have D&D in his wargaming club because the school's worried about it.
The reality is, ignorance is everywhere and it's worse in groups. Did D&D lose its horrible stigma? Somewhat. But is that kind of narrowminded prejudice still out there? Oh yes -- in everything and everyone. We've had visitors to our apartment (which is replete with dragons, swords, knights, and volumes upon volumes of books) look around in disgust.
The difference? Now, I'm okay with it. To each their own -- I don't foist my beliefs on anyone else and I expect the same courtesy.
I was not just allowed to play, I was ENCOURAGED to play D&D. I was part of a gifted education program and it was on the list of games to play. My mom bought me the D&D Basic boxed set after my aunt bought me some of the AD&D hardcovers (we had no idea one wasn't compatible with the other). I played it, started a group, played it for a long time in elementary school, got another group in high school and frankly didn't have a problem until...
My junior year in high school. The art teacher was rather devoutly religious and actually spent a lot of time arguing with me over D&D. He didn't like the fantasy artwork that I drew and felt I was somehow being manipulated against my will. I didn't mind this really, and by this time I had learned to argue for myself (or alternately, my ego had expanded to the point where I argued with teachers openly). But I didn't realize what was going on around me -- the other kids literally did no working waiting for this man to stop lecturing me about the evils of D&D.
In class. In a public school.
You know, the schools American tax dollars pay for.
This went on and on, round and round. He was utterly intractable. He found fault with everything -- he had a problem with a "desirable attribute rolling being 6, 6, 6." He had a problem with the magic circles listed in the Dungeon Master's Guide. He certainly had a problem with demon/devils even mentioned in the book. It was all mind control in his opinion, and he tossed every piece of antagonistc propaganda at me.
I was severely troubled by this man's intensity. My parents were certainly in favor of it. So I took it to the best authority I knew -- I asked my local priest.
He took me aside and asked me one simple question, "Do you FEEL it's evil?"
I told him absolutely not and explained the virtues of the game. "Then there's nothing wrong with it."
I took this back to my art teacher, who then cast aspersions on 1) my parents, and 2) the priest in question.
Had I been an adult, I would have thrown the first punch after that. But I was a kid and despite all my supposed maturity, didn't realize just how much of a gross violation this teacher was committing. I'm a bit mellower now, so I probably would have just sued him. But the mere thought of being hounded by such an individual, at the expense of 20+ other students' education for an HOUR EVERY DAY burns me.
There were implications. The Strategy & Tactics club used to allow D&D. It was no longer allowed. Not that it stopped us. We all gamed, my best friends are from the original high school group.
I can honestly say that D&D helped get me a job, helped teach me how to code, helped me meet my wife, taught me mathematical and language skills, and now actually makes me MONEY. It's been one of the single most influential forces in my life, after my religion and my parents.
But is it over? Not by a long shot. I don't talk about my published stuff at my regular, corporate job. I had one employee mention how "all that Lord of the Rings stuff sounds like all that evil D&D stuff." And one of my friends (from said D&D group) is a teacher now and he can't have D&D in his wargaming club because the school's worried about it.
The reality is, ignorance is everywhere and it's worse in groups. Did D&D lose its horrible stigma? Somewhat. But is that kind of narrowminded prejudice still out there? Oh yes -- in everything and everyone. We've had visitors to our apartment (which is replete with dragons, swords, knights, and volumes upon volumes of books) look around in disgust.
The difference? Now, I'm okay with it. To each their own -- I don't foist my beliefs on anyone else and I expect the same courtesy.
Andrew_980
First Post
Then again the Catholic church has praised Rpgs as teaching tools and creative outlets. Hating D+D always was more of a baptisty thing (not to single out anyone, but the numbers don't lie) I started playing D+D about the time I started church and only heard comment of what "other churches" felt about it, mine wouldn't take a side
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