Who is Blackleaf?

[Whodat]

Those of us who have actually played role-playing games know better than to believe that we are engaging in some sort of subversive, immoral behavior. Those of us who have played D&D are neither convinced nor converted by Mr. Chick’s rhetoric. Indeed, we know better.

So I’m curious as to whom he is aiming his message. Is it a scare tactic aimed at the parents of potential gamers? Is it a scare tactic intended to dissuade those who have not yet tried a “game of the imagination”? Is it a scare tactic used to rally supporters to his cause?

I wonder how Mr. Chick would react to a game where you role-play a religious zealot on a crusade to stomp out all forms of creative and imaginative thought, instead of actually “spreading the word”. All the while you must build resentment for those with opposing ideals, and whip your supports into mindless – and pointless – frenzies.

Hmm. *Whodat suddenly has a deliciously wicked idea*

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

You know, Jack Chick is right. From his perspective anyway.

If you truly believe the Christian Fundamentalist doctrine, playing DnD is indeed a sin. And the world was created in 6,000 years ago, everyone who doesn't accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior is going straight to hell etc.

There is no arguing with that for most of us. The only person that could argue with Chick is another fundamentalist who plays DnD. And he'd lose the argumentation because as I said Jack Chick is most likely right in his assessment of DnD as a sinful activity within the frame of Fundamentalist doctrine.

Me, I wouldn't touch this kind of debate with a ten foot wooden pole. I'm an atheist so I don't even believe in the core concepts leading Chick to the belief that DnD is evil. Any exchange of letters between us would be incredibly dry and fruitless.

I think some of the more moderate Christians feel the need to argue with Chick out of a misguided sense that they share the same belief system and that he has reached a wrong conclusion based on the same frame of reference. He hasn't and he does not.

Your own beliefs are almost as alien to Chick's as mine are and any debate with him is just as futile.

Just shrug it off.

EDIT : Oh, and I strongly recommend reading Chicks's other pamphlets. They are hilarious!

 

[Wikidogre]

Mal, I totally agree, and you right all his other pamphlets, are very hilarious, there is nothing like being 9 years old, and your crazy religous freak father, placeing them in various places of his house in order for me to read them, and convert. Joint custody was a bitch, but they where funny as hell. It used to burn his ass when i would laugh at them and say they where stupid. Apparently he prayed for my soul every night. Forget praying Dad, giv me some money for collage!!!

*Opps sorry i got a little carried away!!!


Peace

 

[Rhialto]

You know, at the risk of being ostracized by everyone here, I'd like to state that I have a certain admiration for Jack Chick. Mind you, it's very similar to the admiration I feel for those street lunatics one sees on occasion, screaming their hearts out as they explain that the Chiquita Bananna Woman shot JFK and John Lennon, to a disbelieving world--the admiration I feel for men who will state what they believe, no matter how wacky it is, and manage to do so in a reasonably entertaining manner.

True many of Chick's beliefs are amazingly offensive--but the way he states them lets you know his heart is at least partially in the right place. And it's a little known fact that Chick has actually had to endure the attacks of his fellow holy rollers, who find him a little too 'edgy' for their tastes. But despite that, he has stuck to his guns, and kept making his comics the way he likes. Well, that and supporting every born-again fraud who's come his way such as the man who wrote that anti-D&D article--a self proclaimed "ex-Satanist, and vampire "(!)--and of course, a so-called "Jesuit" priest, who revealed to him the Catholic Church's master plan for world domination. Which will probably go into operation the moment the campaign eliminate birth control is finished. From what I gathered, Chick genuinely seems to believe these people, which is more than they probably did. From what I hear, he's actually a rather pleasant, if earthy fellow in person.

So in other words, I consider Jack Chick a fellow lunatic passenger on this great spaceship we call Earth, as it hurtles through space at horrifyingly fast speeds that I won't even bother estimating, with his own unique, and terrifying views and give him all the respect that affords.

Which isn't much, I admit, but with me, you should be thankful for what you can get.

 

[Humanophile]

Maybe I was just lucky, but I never even heard of Jack T. Chick until someone sent me a link to Dark Dungeons as a joke. So to me, he's a conviently funny old crackpot who gets more attention from hecklers than believers. I do wish there were a JC/DD footnote on the FAQ, since the posts can get a little thick at times, but that's just because I personally find that the joke gets old quickly.

On the other hand, I do wish someone with a cooler head than I could explain the following to Mr. Chick;

1. Playing D&D is no more inherently evil for having supernatural powers than watching a Superman movie. The players all know it's a work of fiction, and as such moral questions should be less along the lines of "God does not allow this in the real world, therefore it's sinful" and more along the lines of "If God allowed for (XYZ), would such actions please Him or displease Him". Unless he argues that every work of fantasy is inherently sinful, I'd like to see him worm out of this.
2. Some gamers describe horribly blasphemous acts in their games, and some game manufacturers have put out highly blasphemous books. True, but the same can be said of the comic book industry, and I don't see him calling comics the work of the devil.

(...I had more when I started, but they slipped my mind. I'll edit them in if I remember.)

 

[Azure Trance]

Oof. If you're going to send something like that, make sure you spellcheck and proof read it first. I caught 21 typos in that short paragraph.

I'm rusty. I counted 9.

 

[Sidran]

Well you try and take a vicoden and then type nice and pretty




And yes I plan on filing a Personality Slandering charge against Chick Publishing if after thirty days A) I have not recieved my apology, B) They have not taken down offensive material, or C) They have not at least sent me a mail saying yah what ever looser

 

[Sidran]

So it isn't truthfully slander, but what I saw when I read his "Dark Dungeons" comic strip was derogitory, and personally offensive in the way that a Racial slur, and a Held loan would be to central united states black farmers.

And for me to be able to click onto a link where you see a girl hang herself over her characters death was revolting, and a violent portrayal of the depravity that the Articles creator was capable of)

The worst thing that I have ever personally seen that was considered bad was one of my non smoking friends begin to smoke as a social thing when we would flock outside to have a smoke break.

I can not agree with someone who could depict a teen girl hanging from her roof as proof of the vileness of D&D

And for anyone who has not read his masterly crafted load of crap about D&D to say that he was just mocking the anti gaming community is incorrect J.C. did his homework.

Being a buddhist I don't even give a rats butt about his personal fealings but to have him spit slander out against the community of gamers and say that we are evil is wrong, and it steps out of bounds as far as Freedom of speech is concerned.

FoS can only go so far before it encroaches on the rights of other men. He broached those for me. I did not think that his views, nor his artwork were entertaining, or funny in any way. And I have a good sense of humour.

 

[Whodat]

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the Chiquita Banana Woman shot JFK and John Lennon. Of course!

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

I did not think that his views, nor his artwork were entertaining, or funny in any way. And I have a good sense of humour.

Yes, but do you have a warped sense of humor?

Maybe you take the world too seriously. Maybe I'm a jaded and insensitive cynic. I don't know.

But if you you really want to laugh/cry/scowl you should take a look at this:

The Tycoon.

It's his ''Budhists go to hell, only Jesus can save you'' pamphlet.