But it’s just a game!
Sure, you know that, and I know that, and anyone with half a brain who has looked beyond the cover of any role-playing game knows that. But there are a lot of people out there with only half a brain, and a lot more people who listen to the people with half a brain and who haven’t taken the time to check one of these games out for themselves.
And why should they? You do the same thing. You’re perfectly willing to believe that what other people do is worth banning. Whether it’s inexpensive pistols, target rifles, marijuana, sex, or jazz music, everyone’s got their own personal AD&D that they want to ban.
Me? Mine’s censorship. I think we should put people in jail for saying that other people aren’t allowed to say something else. And that includes people who say that other people shouldn’t say that other people shouldn’t be allowed to say something. See you in the slammer.
The Politics of Prohibition
As long as you support banning things that other people do, you have given the state the power to ban the things that you do.
Thanks to Pierre Savoie for doing the initial search to find many of the links on this page.
- Role-Playing Defense text archive
- Elder role-playing game research, legal information, and rants.
More Information
- The Christian Connection
- Playing loose with lies for Christ.
- Christian Information Ministries
- College Students are Addicted to Role-Playing Games. Oh, and the witch burnings were good things.
- Dark Dungeons
- “Now You’re Eighth Level”, from Chick Publications. So, I want to know where this “Mind Bondage” spell is, that causes your parents to buy you tons of gaming materials... I could have used that about twenty years ago. Beware of the cute javascript app.
- Dungeons and Dragons: Concerns for the Christian
- Honestly, the worst they could come up with is that it’s a waste of time to play D&D?
- The Escapist
- Part of (or all of?) The Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games. You can’t join by paying money, only by doing something useful. Also includes one of the best collection of RPG advocacy links on the net.
- The Game of Satan
- A very strange satire of religious-based anti-gaming pages.
- Gaming Suicides: Urban Legend
- Postings from alt.urban.legends about the gamers and suicides myth.
- Geoff's Rant About Games and the Media
- Ya know, it’s just a game.
- Mike Stackpole’s “Satanism & Gaming” seminar
- Part of an old FAQ dealing with Mike Stackpole’s fight against anti-gaming groups.
- Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
- An overview of the history of role-playing and why it is utterly stupid to oppose on religious principals. Extremely well written and fairly comprehensive. Lots of ads up top, though. Scroll down to get to the good stuff.
- The Pulling Report
- Michael A. Stackpole’s investigation of Patricia Pulling (BADD) and the dangerous and illegal tactics she uses.
- The Real Truth
- A very well-written high school paper on the anti-D&D hysterics.
- Soc.Religion.Christian FAQ
- “Gary Gygax has obviously used black magic books as background material while creating the game.” Someone’s giving Gary a lot more credit than he deserved, unless Jack Vance and Tolkien are secret witches.
- Studies About Fantasy Role-Playing Games
- A huge list of research papers and dissertations covering role-playing games and gamers. Includes a list of German articles.
- What Tipper Gore Has to Say
- It isn’t good to have an open mind if you don’t pay attention to what goes in.
- Yahoo RPG Directory
- A bit sparse, but likely to be more up-to-date than other listings.
Related Pages
