From: brinkley@cs.utexas.edu (Paul Brinkley)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Re: D&D and Christianity
Date: 5 Jan 1993 10:10:14 -0600
Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin
NNTP-Posting-Host: kara-kum.cs.utexas.edu

In article <1iaeosINN9uq@meaddata.meaddata.com> timk@meaddata.com (Tim Klein) writes:
>> Here are a few occult connections in Dungeons and Dragons :
>> 
>> (b) descriptions of spells which are REAL
>                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> (c) descriptions, spells from and worship of REAL pagan gods - which are
>                                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> (d) accurate drawings and descriptions of "magic circles" which are
>>     used in REAL LIFE by practicing witches and warlocks to summon up
>       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>     demons and do sorcery, which is condemned in the Bible (Rev.22:15)
>       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>The presence of these phrases is enough to convince me that the person
>who wrote this is already confusing fantasy with reality -- he doesn't
>need any help from D&D.  He's probably doing himself a favor by no longer
>playing D&D, albeit for mistaken reasons.

Hold up there a minute.  I think you know what he meant.  That FAQ's point
was that such "spells" and "magic circles" are being used by present-day
"witches" and devil-worshippers in their rituals, and though I've never
witnessed it myself, I consider it safe to take the FAQ's word for it.  (And
besides, the poster was forwarding a pre-made article anyway.)  These pagan
gods mentioned as being in the game, I would assume, are also being worshipped
to a small extent in modern times.  (An aside:  I can sort of understand why
"popular" deities such as Yahweh, Allah, or Christ weren't listed in Legends
& Lore or Deities and Demigods.  Assigning ability scores to the head of
my religion would strike me as a tad--demeaning.)

Just to clear up my position on this (as if anyone cares), the FAQ seemed
pretty well thought out.  And pretty heavy on the positive side, to boot.
Reading his words gives me the impression that this guy has nothing but
selfless intentions, which is more than one can ask for in this day and age.
On the other hand, the very next article was just as well thought out, cited
a lot of sources which debunk a lot of the anti-D&D rallying points, and even
granted some concessions:  true enough, role-playing isn't recommended for
those without a good grip on reality.

The soc.christian FAQ mentioned something to the tune of "thinking about
only good, spiritual, and healthy things".  And since it also liked to make
its arguments stick with snappy adages like "You can't touch fire without
getting burned", let me reply by saying, to defeat your enemy, you must
first know him.  In other words, Christianity necessarily must conduct an
objective study of evil if it is to overcome it.  And if role-playing games
are considered evil, then play away!  Furthermore, history has taught us
countless times that a system where part or all of the population was kept
"out of the know" ended up with such censorship being one of its major
weaknesses.  It simply isn't practical to hide information from yourself.
(Hiding information from other NATIONS is another ballgame.  :)  )  In the
same breath, releasing information pell-mell to an uneducated mob doesn't
proved much better, as either the releasing agent (i.e. the media) might
"edit" somewhere down the line, or else the uneducated may choose to believe
what they want and discard the rest.  If you want your organization to excel,
you have to teach its members to retain and treat all input objectively, and
learn from its mistakes.  And now I'm starting to sound like a philosophy/
political science professor, so I'll move on.

There was at least one good point in the FAQ, however.  Many times, role-
playing campaigns are played in such a way as to cheapen life.  No, our
characters don't often treat peasants as cannon-fodder.  (Our characters
only treat the mages as such.  :)  )  But I'll be darned if I've never
gone through any adventure without keeping score of how many hit dice of
creatures each PC has killed.  It's true enough:  in many campaigns, the
goals lean toward the acquisition of experience through mass slaughter,
albeit slaughter of evil creatures.  Of course, suddenly a dozen possible
adventures have sprung to my mind just now involving a study of this very
act, and must tip my hat to Sea Wasp and the other master DMs lurking in
this group who've probably run quite stimulating campaigns, thank you very
much.

But think about this, Satan-haters:  If you give the chance to a party of
good and neutral characters to slay a city-full of peasants for experience,
they'll most likely turn it down.

Paul Brinkley
brinkley@cs.utexas.edu