From: jeremyl@screech.owlnet.rice.edu (Jeremy Lyn Hart)
Subject: Re: Metallica
Followup-To: alt.rock-n-roll.metal
Keywords: Dungeons & Dragons, Satanism
Organization: Rice University
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 16:46:40 GMT

In article <IdrsDES00Uh784w1QP@andrew.cmu.edu>, jn2i+@andrew.cmu.edu (John Adam Nimpfer) writes:
> 
>    I quit posting for awhile because I was losing faith.  I didn't see
> many people leaving this bboard.  But today in church, I had a
> revelation.  My priest, Father Patton, told the story of a young man he
> knew that got involved with heavy metal.  The boy was sixteen years old
> and his name was "Bennie."  Bennie was an ordinary average kid.  He
> played softball for the church softball league.  He was a community
> volunteer, working for Meals on Wheels.  He had a job of mowing lawns in
> town.  He made straight A's in school...he was your ordinary average
> kid.  Then one day he made friends with the new kid in school.  The new
> kid's name was "Reggie."  Reggie got Bennie into metal.

There is *nothing*, repeat *NOTHING* wrong with listening to heavy metal.
My friends got me into it back in high school, and I love it.  Does that
make me a complete and utter failure?  Am I going to hell?  NOT.
(read on...)
> After Bennie got into metal, he grew his hair long, started smoking, his
> grades dropped, and he just didn't care about life anymore.  He even stopped
> going to church!  Bennie and Reggie eventually started playing Dungeons
> and Dragons.  They became obsessed with the game and it took over their
> lives.  Bennie's story ended in tragedy.  He became mentally disturbed
> and thought the devil took over his life.  He became a Satan worshipper.
>  One night he killed his parents in a ritualistic murder before
> committing suicide.  The signs were obvious, Bennie's problems started
> when he began listening to metal.  Once again I make a plea for you
> people to stop reading this bboard.  Please, please don't end up like
> Bennie.
>                                                           Peace

Okay, let's go through this piece by piece, and I'll make a comparison
with MY life:

1.  Long hair.  So what?  Were hippies Satanic?
2.  Smoking.  I listen to heavy metal, and I HATE smoking.  The two DO NOT
	go hand in hand.
3.  Grades dropping.  This sounds like HIS fault, or maybe his friend's
	influence, not the music.  The day listening to Metallica makes me fail
	a class, I'll let you know.  (You'll be waiting awhile...)
4.  Dungeons and Dragons.  Okay, this is a sore point with me.  There
	is *NOTHING* wrong with Dungeons & Dragons.  It is just a GAME,
	you moron!!!  Oh, yes, it gives you urges to kill yourself, to
	run around with a sword attacking people - yeah, right, and
	Monopoly gives you this uncontrollable urge to go out and buy
	up the block.  NOT.  I have been playing RPGs (of which D&D is
	one) since I was eight.  I am an Eagle Scout, do volunteer
	work, was Salutatorian in high school, have been told I'm a really
	great guy, and I've got a loving family.  I also have MANY friends
	who play the game, and out of all of them, only ONE comes anywhere
	near what you're talking about (and the most "metal" he ever
	listened to was Van Halen), and he's a lot better now - he was
	mentally disturbed to begin with.  If someone goes crazy and
	happens to play D&D, show me some evidence that the game was
	at fault.  CONCRETE evidence.  I mean, c'mon!  It is a GAME,
	not a mind-control device.  Believe me, if there were subliminal
	messages in the books, *I* sure haven't succumbed to any yet.
5.  Mentally disturbed.  Maybe he was, and maybe he started out that way.

Mr. "Peace" (although I applaud the sentiment):  I am getting very tired
of people telling me what will happen to me if I play role-playing games
and/or listen to heavy metal.  It is *NOT*, in ANY way CONCEIVABLE, true.
As I said before, I am an Eagle Scout and Salutatorian, I go to Rice,
one of the more academically-rigorous schools around, I lead a damn-near-
normal life, love my parents (and my little brothers, most of the time...)
dearly, and have many friends I care about.  Don't tell ME that my life
sucks because I happen to listen to metal.  Take a look at your own
life before judging others.

Thank you.  I did not mean to be so rude, but quite frankly, people like
you piss me off.

Later.
-- 
Jeremy L. Hart				jeremyl@owlnet.rice.edu
"As opaque warriors, we ride alone
 Guarding our secrets with souls of stone
 Waiting for someone who holds the key
 Do you hold it...do you hold the key to my heart..."
	- "Apache Teardrops," copyright 1991 by Bill Fillbach and Steve Estes