<I've always had a fascination with Patricia Pulling and the 80s moral panic around D&D. Since not many people are panicking about it anymore, I thought I'd share my little satire with my fellow slaves to Satan here on these unholy message boards of the so-called circle of eight> Dungeons & Dragons is a gateway drug that is easily available to American children. My children, your children and our children. More insidious than cocaine, Judaism or homosexuality, D&D has been proven to cause more suicides than depression and inter-racial marriage combined. In all its forms - pewter models, 666 page 'manuals' and obscene dice, D&D - or "Satan's Game," as it was rightfully dubbed by Patricia Pulling - is the 20th and 21st century's white slavery. The matter has always been up for debate, and this is welcome. The cohorts of the lame-stream media have often cried moral panic. That would be an acceptable response, if it wasn't for the proven links to school shootings, steam tunnel suicides and gay scouts. But even hardcore D&D addicts agree that with changes introduced in its fourth edition, Dungeons & Dragons crossed the line. And if these degenerates balk at fourth edition, we should indeed be locking up our daughters; and sons. Now D&D’s publishers, Wizards (!) of the Coast have announced a Dungeons & Dragons is a gateway drug that is easily available to American children. My children, your children and our children. More insidious than cocaine or homosexuality, D&D has been proven to cause more suicides than depression and inter-racial marriage combined. The matter has always been up for debate, and this is welcome. The cohorts of the lame-stream media have often cried moral panic. That would be an acceptable response, if it wasn't for the proven links to school shootings, steam tunnel suicides and gay scouts. But even hardcore D&D addicts agree that with changes introduced in its fourth edition, Dungeons & Dragons crossed the line. And if these degenerates balk at fourth edition, we should indeed be locking up our daughters; and sons. Now D&D’s publishers, Wizards (!) of the Coast have announced a moratorium on the game’s fourth edition rules. They plan to reintroduce D&D under the guise of “Dungeons & Dragons Next.” Why does God permit this to go on? I think we all know the answer to that question. Our Lord moves in mysterious ways, but one thing we can count on is that he will test our faith every day of our lives. We must continue to repress our sinful thoughts and remove SATAN from our hidden panel under the sock drawer in our daughter’s bedroom. I don’t know about you, but I will be buying as many copies of this new edition - let’s call it what it really is, FIFTH edition - and burning them all on national TV. If NBC do not pay attention, we can at least count on Almighty Fox News to be the heavenly trumpet of our faith in Jesus, whose tolerance and holy vengeance has inspired as all. By this example, I hope to empty the shelves of every book, toy and gaming store of this new edition - or should I say, incarnation of SATAN. Rush out now and buy D&DNext! on the game’s fourth edition rules. They plan to reintroduce D&D under the guise of “Dungeons & Dragons Next.” Why does God permit this to go on? I think we all know the answer to that question. Our Lord moves in mysterious ways, but one thing we can count on is that he will test our faith every day of our lives. We must continue to repress our sinful thoughts and remove SATAN from our hidden panel under the sock drawer in our daughter’s bedroom. I don’t know about you, but I will be buying as many copies of this new edition - let’s call it what it really is, FIFTH edition - and burning them all on national TV. If NBC do not pay attention, we can at least count on Almighty Fox News to be the heavenly trumpet of our faith in Jesus, whose tolerance and holy vengeance has inspired as all. By this example, I hope to empty the shelves of every book, toy and gaming store of this new edition - or should I say, incarnation of SATAN. Rush out now and buy D&DNext!
And here are some nice links about that halcyon period in gaming history. Sadly, Ms. Pulling is no longer with us, but her work on this Earth stands in testimony to one of the most peculiar witch-hunts in modern history. http://www.rpgstudies.net/stackpole/pulling_report.html http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.ASP http://www.theescapist.com/darkdungeons.htm There's more out there, so if you have a link throw it at me - I have a weird enthusiasm for this whole topic. It links in some ways to the West Memphis Three hysteria, and I know that at times 'Occult Experts' would appear in American courtrooms! But that's a whole different can of beholders ...
Maybe you need theorpy? Maybe see a doctor? This thread sounds a bit like Demintia, and delusions of grandure. A board game, and rules, text about a board game have nothing to do with SATAN or the devil at all. Its a game, and everything there is all fantasy. making a fantasy game into something of reality is insanity. Like saying the board game MONOPOLY IS THE DEVIL!!! COUNTRY MUSIC KILLS MORE PEOPLE THEN D&D MAYBE GOD PERMITS because GOD IS WHITE by the way I would not care if you BURNT all the new 4th and 5fth edition Rules and books anyway. I went and bought one Long ago, and almost did the same thing but I wanted my money back, so I took the books back to the store. 4th and 5th edition D&D is for poeple with ADD (attention defisite disorder) like most pop culture kids had ADD anyways.
From a purely psychological perspective, gaming in general allows one to model behavior in a quasi-real setting. Modelling behavior may reduce inhibitions in acting out that behavior. I can tell you, being a former Substance Abuse Counselor and having read a fair amount of research on the subject, cigarettes may reduce the inhibition against smoking pot, which in turn may reduce the inhibition against using "harder" drugs. Just like studies trying to link the exposure of very young children to violent video games indicate that there's a possible link to increased violent behavior. You'll notice that I use the word "may" a lot here. That's because humans are complex critters. Just because someone chooses to play an Anti-Paladin doesn't mean they'll become the next "Son-of-Sam" killer. However, if a kid were to consistently play evil characters, who engage in hyper-violent gruesome behavior in the game and they where having problems in the "Real World", I would look at that as an indicator that perhaps something was going on in their lives that might require some type of Counseling / Therapy. TomthethankingGodIdon'tdothatkindofworkanymorefighter
From a theological perspective, asking "why does God permit Dungeons & Dragons" is basically asking "why does God permit anything"? The answer is "free will". God granted us free will, and all of the good and bad that comes along with it. People can get hung up on the details, but this is the answer distilled in its basic raw form. My two coppers worth Tomthenotplayingareligiousscholarontvfighter
