In this case, the conflict is simple enough. A game. Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). A classic pen and paper role playing game (RPG) that has survived the tests of time, and, indeed, the tests of cultural conflict.

Myths surround D&D. Some of these are benign, some can be quite dangerous. I recall a person called Patricia Pulling, who has been hired as a "gaming expert" in murder trials. Her anti-D&D crusade began with the unquestionably tragic suicide of her son. Unfortunately, she blamed D&D, claiming that her son shot himself "hours after a D&D curse was placed on him during a game conducted at his local high school." She filed a lawsuit against the principal of the high-school where he played the game.

I should hope I don't need to point out that she didn't win this lawsuit. However, it was only the beginning of her campaign against what she perceives as Satanic forces operating through fantasy RPGs.

At this point, the rational reader is likely thinking: "Okay, she's just one person who suffered through the tragic loss of a child and went a bit cuckoo. No harm done."

Unfortunately, there's more than just one person involved in this campaign, they're more than "a bit" cuckoo, and there's the potential for a lot of harm to be done.

Let me make my position perfectly clear right from the beginning. I do not believe there are negative effects from fantasy role-playing, or from the entertainment industry in general. My opinion is that entertainment should be taken only as entertainment and that people who participate in a particular form of entertainment rather than other forms are no more or less likely to commit acts of violence against self or others. I, myself, play D&D for several hours, twice a month.

So let's look at some of the opposition to fantasy role-playing, specifically D&D. Perhaps we'll uncover the truth.

Christian Opposition to D&D

There can be no doubt that a majority of the opposition to D&D comes from Christian fundamentalists, who view it as incompatible with their belief system. In no way, however, do I intend to promote the idea that the majority of Christians oppose D&D. In reality, most people think it's perfectly benign and, even if they don't enjoy such games, recognize that it's not promoting Satanism.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a common trend among Christian fundamentalists to equate anything that does not mesh with Judeo-Christian monotheism with Devil-worship. Again, this is untrue.

A Christian acquaintance of mine (I will NOT use the word "friend," because though we speak on friendly terms, his belief system is so alien to me, I am terrified of what he may be capable of doing in the name of his religion) believes that Pagans, Wiccans, Atheists, Occultists, etc., are all actually different sects of Satanism.

His sanity can further be called into question due to the fact that he believes that Professor Richard Dawkins is actually (literally) the Anti-Christ and that the end times must be nigh because Professor Dawkins' book THE GOD DELUSION made it to the best-seller lists. Oh, yes, he's a crazy one. And he'll tell you all about his "evidence" until your ears bleed.

We'll discuss Satanism in more detail shortly, but for now we need only to understand that many Christian fundamentalists view any belief system outside of their own (with the possible exceptions of Judaism and Islam, which are based on the same god) as Satanic.

The fictional religious system depicted in D&D is polytheistic and based on a fantasy world in which magic is the norm. Obviously different from Judeo-Christian doctrine. Indeed, though the Christian faith may be considered somewhat polytheistic (based on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity), it's certainly not polytheistic in the sense that religion in D&D is.

In the D&D core book (version 3.5) we can turn to pages 106 through 108 for a basic rundown of religion in the game, including brief descriptions of the nineteen deities.

It's obvious where the initial Christian discomfort about the game comes from.

Magic

Magic in D&D is based very loosely on some actual occult belief systems. I say very loosely for a reason, because if you ask any occultist about their beliefs, I highly doubt they're actually trying to cast Magic Missile at anybody.

In other words, the spells themselves are invented for the purposes of the game, though the overall tones of the magic may be based on genuine occult beliefs.
The magic in D&D consists largely of casting spells or using potions or magic items (which have been created by an experienced spellcaster). Spells can be divided into two broad categories: arcane and divine.

Arcane spells are cast though a manipulation of mystical energies in the game's fantasy world. Divine spells are cast through the power of some divine source.

A big problem with Christian fundamentalists comes from their opinions about magic, according to the Bible. They have several pet verses to cite when confronted with well-reasoned questions about magic.

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Exodus 22:18

"Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times. ... Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 19:26, 31

"There shall not be found among you any one ... that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer." Deuteronomy 18:10-11

There are several others, but you get the idea. The Bible says magic is bad. I'm tempted to point out that if magic is bad and God created magic(after all, God created everything, right?), that God must be bad, but I'm determined to resist that temptation.

When I was discussing fraud psychics with someone I know, she pointed out: "The Bible says magic is real, but that it's a sin to use it." For the sake of politeness in this social situation, I chose to mask my obvious disgust by simply saying that regardless of whether or not magic exists, the psychic in question was a fraud.

Okay, so magic equals sin. Got it.

But wait a minute, the sort of magic described in those Bible verses is comparable to Arcane magic in D&D. What about Divine magic? Those would be comparable to miracles, would they not?

So, my friend, who plays a sorcerer (arcane) is going to hell, but I'm okay because I play a cleric (divine).

Isn't this endless bickering over Gods and Bibles and magic senseless? After all, D&D is just a game!

Here's an interesting side note I've encountered during my study of these matters. The fundamentalist Christians tend to love J. R. R. Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS series, but loathe J. K. Rowling's HARRY POTTER books. Why?

This hatred of fiction that includes magic is silly enough, but the fundamentalist Christians take it to a whole new level of hypocrisy. Harry Potter and his friends are evil because they're wizards and magic is a sin. Yet Gandalf, the wizard in Lord of the Rings, is a hero. I don't understand it.

Personally, I enjoy both Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Harry and his friends are wonderful heroic characters, as is Gandalf.

So why the double-standard? Some Christians claim it's because they have found a "Christ-figure" in Gandalf, due to his self-sacrifice. Yet the Harry Potter books also have plenty of good characters engaging in everything from mild to extreme self-sacrifice for their cause. That explanation doesn't hold up.

I think that even Christians don't understand it. In order for the Christian faith to work at all, there needs to be such a mind boggling degree of mental compartmentalization, they essentially trick themselves into thinking a certain way.

Here's my theory: by default, these fundamentalists dislike fiction which includes magic, for the reasons listed above. However, they subconsciously decide to make an exception for Tolkien's work, because he was a devout Christian himself. They may not make a conscious decision, but they are imposing their perceptions of the author onto the work. When the author's beliefs are unknown to them, they revert to their default mode of thinking (ie., that magic is bad).

In the case of D&D, they can't interpret the works through the screen of the author's beliefs. The beliefs of the game's creators are unknown to me, and I suspect they are unknown to the Christians as well (though it is possible that they may have made some public declaration of their faith which a motivated researcher could discover). Plus, there are other people involved with the game. Artists, art directors, editors, revision teams, etc. This is not a project simply created by a single person.

Thus, without the author's beliefs to guide their own opinions concerning the merits of the work, they revert to their default opinion: that it contains magic, and therefore must be of the Devil.

Satanism

Talking about Satanism can be confusing, particularly if you're speaking with a fundamentalist Christian. The simple fact is, there are different kinds of Satanism, and that confuses many people. The fundamentalist Christian makes matters worse by calling other things (such as occultism) "Satanism" when it really isn't.

By far the most common form of Satanism is LaVeyan Satanism, so called because it was founded by Anton Szandor LaVey. Most people who call themselves Satanists subscribe to this particular sect, which is possibly the most misunderstood religion in the world.

The Church of Satan is the organized religion based on the writings and teachings of the "Black Pope." Indeed, you can pick up a copy of THE SATANIC BIBLE or THE SATANIC RITUALS (among other writings) by LaVey in your local bookshop. My copy of The Satanic Bible bears a cover price of $7.99, but if I recall correctly, I had a coupon for 20% off the day I bought it.

The understanding of this religion is cheap. It costs less than $10 to get started. The trick, of course, is that you have to actually read the book. Since most Christians don't even read the Bible, I don't hold much hope that they ever will read it, though.

But essentially, LaVeyan Satanists aren't so much a religion in the true sense of the word. Many of them are even Atheists. LaVeyan Satanism is more of a philosophy than a religion. The teachings are of self gratification. They are anti-Christian, to be sure, but not necessarily Satanic in the "pure" sense of the word.

Satan, to the LaVeyans, represents the opposite of the Christian Church, which they believe has caused more harm than good (in that regard, I must confess, I agree with them). Satan does not represent an actual entity.

LaVeyan Satanism, once it is viewed without being filtered through religious preconceptions (particularly because of the word "Satanism"), is just a philosophy like any other. You'll find some things you agree with and some things you don't agree with. I certainly don't subscribe to the philosophy, but I find certain aspects perfectly benign and indeed desirable.

A far less common form of Satanism would be "true" Satanism. The LaVeyans are often incorrectly presumed to be the same as this version, which is unfortunate. Some fundamentalist Christians can't even distinguish between Paganism and this form of Satanism.

This form of Satanism, which we can call Theistic Satanism, is the actual worship of a being (Satan). This form of Devil worship is what the Christians are really worried about, but even within this version, there are several different sects, some of which are quite benign. Still, subscribers to these versions of Satanism are quite rare when compared to LaVeyan Satanism.

We need not go into all the specific sects. But one interesting group pay particular interest to the Serpent from the Bible (Genesis 3). This serpent is not identified in the book of Genesis as Satan, but modern theologians tend to agree that the serpent does represent Satan. This group of Satanists believe that Satan (acting as the serpent) is the patron of human knowledge, helping us to break the chains that bound us to the cosmic tyrant (God).

Interestingly enough, if you look at the book of Job, you discover something interesting.

"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them." Job 1:6

There are a few interesting things I would note (namely that the New Testament claims that God has only one son, Jesus), but we'll focus on Satan. This passage has been interpreted differently. Christian theologians tend to say that Satan simply followed the sons of God. Almost everybody else says that this passage actually identifies Satan as one of the sons of God.

Many Satanists seize on this idea and interpret it in different ways according to which sect they subscribe to. Personally, I think it's just evidence that the Bible is full of absurdity and contradiction.

At last, we come to the dreaded class of Satanists: the ones who actually perform the Black Mass. However, we come to another problem. There may not actually be any such thing as a true Black Mass. No authors seem to agree on what it is, except that it's a parody of the Christian Mass, with the main objective being desecration of the Host (blessed communion wafers).

Some versions are fairly simple. Indeed, even the Black Mass can be benign. They involve only the desecration of the Host, usually by some sexual means. Unless you're a Christian, this doesn't really matter in your life.

However, some authors have described a much more gruesome ceremony, often involving human or animal sacrifice, torture, and rape (sometimes involving small children or infants).

Despite the overwhelming amount of literature on the subject and stories of actual Black Masses being performed, there is no case of a Black Mass being performed to be found anywhere within official documentation or from credible sources. It's all hearsay.

So, really, unless you're a Christian, there's no concern about Satanism. The Satanists that do exist are benign. The stories of more dangerous Satanists are shrouded in mystery and are likely complete fabrications.

Christian believers will continue to worry about Satanism, though, as long as their religion survives. There's really not much we can do about that, except to continue the fight for rationality.

However, in the case of D&D, we can point out that it is in no way a Satanic game. Among the fictional deities listed in the Core book, you'll find some good ones such as Pelor, the god of the sun. You'll find some evil ones, such as Hextor, the god of tyranny. Others are neutral.

While the belief system outlined in D&D is not compatible with Christianity, the overall tones of morality do not differ. There is good in the world and evil in the world, whether you're talking about the fantasy world of the game or the real world we all live in.

Occultism

Some Christian fundamentalists do manage to break away from the strange idea that Satanism is akin to all varieties of occultism (or, indeed, any belief other than their own).

The simple fact of the matter is no Christian I've ever met knows very much about occultism. Oh, they can quote you Bible verses about it all day, but the vast majority of them have never even read a book on the occult.

One of the most famous occult books is probably the Necronomicon, and Christians are very upset about this book. They say that delving into this book and using it even in part can lead to the destruction of minds and souls.

This is a big joke to those of us who are familiar with the horror genre. Every time we hear a Christian blabber about the Necronomicon's destruction of souls, we have a good old fashioned belly laugh.

You see, the Necronomicon was invented by H.P. Lovecraft, possibly the most famous pulp writer of all time. Lovecraft, an atheist, didn't want to write about such things as Satan and demons, because they didn't frighten him. His goal was to write stories that would scare atheists.

So the stories Lovecraft wrote were of great monsters. I love his stories (though I must confess, his writing style does begin to bother me after a while). Eventually, as time went on, other writers began to "play in his sandbox." The Cthulhu mythos was born, and the Necronomicon is a part of this mythos.

The Necronomicon was said to be written in blood on parchment made from human flesh. It contained the history of the Elder Gods (Lovecraft's great monsters), and anyone who read it would go insane. It's become a major staple in horror fiction, even though it never saw print for the first fifty years of its life. It never saw print because no text of it existed. It was a complete fabrication.

Eventually, several editions were compiled and published. Of course, they were all very different (including one version that was the same ten pages repeated over and over again).

In reality, there is no Necronomicon. Oh, sure, I have a paperback copy on my bookshelf. It cost me $7.99 at Barnes & Noble. But there is no real Necronomicon. It's all just fiction.

I put the Necronomicon to the test, however. It's said that to read it is to go insane. I have read it and still have my sanity. The spells in it are said (jokingly, of course) to have the power to summon these great beings. I have tried many of them myself, following the instructions explicitly. Nothing happened.

As Michael A. Stackpole wrote in THE PULLING REPORT (his defense of D&D against the Christian weirdos), "The Necronomicon is a joke."

Still, Christians will not be swayed. These people have become almost as convinced of the Necronomicon as they are of the Bible. I must give the Necronomicon due credit however. It is much better fiction than the Bible could ever hope to be.

Here's a tip. If a book is in mass market paperback, and sold at the local Barnes & Noble, it's probably not a real spell book. Likewise, if it was invented by a pulp writer for his horror stories, it's probably not a real spell book.

Christians, you can relax. There is no such thing as magic.

Christian Misunderstanding of Game Mechanics

I find it particularly humorous when a Christian tries to tell me how evil D&D is. Not because there's any humor in the statement per se, but because I know I'm about to see a funny sight. You see, whenever I'm confronted with such a statement, I put their knowledge to the test. Watching them stammer and search for an answer that sounds plausible is about the funniest thing I've ever seen.

Usually, I lead them on first. "So, you know a lot about D&D, do you?"

"Oh, yes!"

"Well, I've been wondering, what's the core mechanic in D&D?"

I phrase it that way on purpose. I play the role of someone who's asking them for their "expert" opinion, to see if they just try to make something up so I can catch them. Frequently, they do.

In fact, the core mechanic in D&D is the d20, or the 20-sided die. Rolls of the d20 are used to determine the outcome of attacks, or success or failure at tasks.

Such misunderstandings of the basics of the way the game is played should make it painfully self-evident that their theories about the game are lacking in anything resembling a well-reasoned argument. All they have is a narrow-minded religious interpretation of their twisted sense of morality.

However, to the unsuspecting reader who doesn't know much about the game, their ramblings actually might seem to make some degree of sense. If a religious moderate, for instance, sees the writings of a fundamentalist on the topic, they may be more likely to side with the fundamentalist, simply because they don't understand why the fundamentalist's ideas are wrong.

One aspect of the game given considerable attention from the Christian crusaders is the alignment of the characters. When a character is created by the player, he chooses an alignment, which is a simple way of describing his moral standing.

The possible alignments are:
Lawful Good
(Neutral) Good
Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral
Neutral
Chaotic Neutral
Lawful Evil
(Neutral) Evil
Chaotic Evil

Note that "Neutral Good" and "Neutral Evil" are frequently referred to simply as "Good" and "Evil."

Each axis (the "good-evil" axis and the "lawful-chaotic" axis) represents moral standing from a different context. The good-evil axis represents morality from a more individual point of view. The lawful-chaotic axis represents morality from a more social point of view.

To some, a few of these possible alignments seem a bit paradoxical. For instance, how can a character be "Chaotic Good" or "Lawful Evil?" Well, the answer is that, as I indicated above, these alignments represent the merging of two different measurements of morality.

The Chaotic Good character is the rebel. He's a good person, but rebels against the dominant social structure. This is the "Han Solo" character.

The Lawful Evil character is the tyrant. He's careful to always uphold the social structure of power, but can hardly be said to have good interests at heart.

Christians opposed to D&D generally don't complain too much about the fact that characters have a chosen alignment for the game. They have other complaints about alignment. One of the popular ones is that having such apparently contradictory alignments is confusing to children who play the game.

I contend that every child who has ever seen Star Wars understands the nature of the Chaotic Good character (Han Solo) and the Lawful Evil character (Darth Vader or the Emperor). Apparently, even a child is able to grasp concepts of morality and social context far better than these Christian fundamentalists ever could. I guess that's the result of getting your morality from an ancient holy book that's so full of contradictions, you could use it to justify anything.

The next claim is that many characters tend to lean toward the evil side. Well, that's not really harmful, either. It can be indifferent, or in some cases, even helpful. My first point is that many writers tell stories about evil characters and many actors like to play villains. It provides an interesting new perspective on the whole moral question.

And consider that D&D is quite popular among teenage boys who tend to be the "nerdy" kids in class. Many of them are, quite simply, social outcasts. Playing an evil character allows the player a release. They can let off all that steam and those negative emotions in a fantasy world in which no one is actually hurt. Or they can keep holding their negative emotions in until they finally decide to kill themselves and take as many of their classmates with them as they can.

When the alignment argument fails, they go for the "class" argument. They correctly point out that during the character creation phase, a player chooses a class (profession) for his character.

Christian opponents often oversimplify the class distinctions by dividing them into four categories: the warrior, the wizard, the priest or cleric, and the rogue or thief.

In reality, there are eleven character classes to choose from. They are: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Wizard.

Each has skills and weaknesses we don't need to get into right now. Any class can be of any race (we'll get to that in a minute) and any alignment. Christians often point to the Rogue (or thief) and say: "How can that class be a Good character?" I respond by pointing out that Robin Hood is generally considered a good character (though I have political reservations about Robin Hood's methods), and that the patriots involved in the Boston Tea Party could certainly be labeled with a Chaotic Good alignment.

Christians are always quick to point out that characters who use magic (ie., sorcerer or wizard) are not compatible with Biblical teachings. I'm always quick to point out that it's just a game and the Bible's self-contradictory anyway.

Some Christians like to make a big deal out of the Clerics and the Monks, always making sure to point out that these cannot be compared with Christian Priests or Monks (indeed, the Monks are more akin to Eastern Monks who use martial arts and such).

Christian Misunderstanding of In-Game Morality

Many Christians tell us that the character in D&D is to use whatever means necessary to take treasure from other characters. Well, I won't lie to you. In some games, that is the case. What these Christians fail to understand is that the morality of the game is completely neutral. The player chooses his own path.

A person I play D&D with from time to time frequently plays Rogues. He does follow this idea. He picks pockets, threatens, and bluffs his way into all kinds of riches. However, his character would never go so far as to murder.'

The character I'm currently playing is a cleric. My character is chaotic neutral, but leans toward the good side. He dislikes the social structure, but doesn't murder or steal. Indeed, he's a healer who helps other characters when they're in need. My character obviously doesn't fall into these Christians' narrow description of in-game morality.

The point that they're trying to make is that D&D has a particular morality to it. It doesn't. They worry that we should instill these types of values in young Christians (though it makes me cringe to actually write that, because children don't have the mental capacity to make religious determinations for themselves).

I would argue that these are exactly the sort of values we want to instill in young people. The real world is full of all sorts of people, good and evil. Children need to understand that not everyone will always share their views. They need to make the right decisions for themselves and live the right way, but at the same time, they need to recognize that not everyone will agree with them. Some people will murder. Some people will steal. That's an unfortunate truth of life.

And it's certainly better than the Biblical ideas of morality. The Bible advocates rape, slavery, and murder.

Christians claim that D&D is too violent. At the same time, they have no problems with the violence in Lord of the Rings. This, they say, is because violence is justified in some situations. When evil people are attacking you, you're justified in using violence to defend yourself.

I agree. My character never murders. Yet my character does kill when threatened by an evil enemy. There are clear distinctions.

Can One Play D&D Without Subscribing to its Worldview?

Yes! I play D&D frequently, and I have never believed in magic. I live a normal life, I don't kill, I don't steal. The main point that many Christians seem unable to grasp is that D&D is only a game. Perhaps this is understandable in the sense that they also can't understand that the Bible is just an old work of fiction.

"It's just a game," I say.

"So is Russian Roulette," replies the fundamentalist.

"By your logic," I counter, "Anyone who ever played RISK would try to take over the world."

Does D&D make the player more prone to magical thinking? I highly doubt it. If the player is already prone to this kind of thinking, such a game could potentially provide ideas. But even that scenario seems highly unlikely.

Even still, if a person does become convinced that the magic is real, the Christians have nothing to worry about. There is no real magic, so it matters little if some cuckoo decides to try casting spells.

One Christian even said that D&D players follow Hitler as a result of the game. "Huh?" is the only response I can think of. It's simply beyond my capacity to understand. However, this same author went on by saying that, even if the Hitler praising were removed from the game (I challenge anyone to demonstrate that Hitler is praised in any RPG handbook-if you can do so to my satisfaction, I'll give you $50), the overtones are still anti-Christian.

To that I reply, not necessarily. The themes presented in the fantasy world are not Christian, but neither are they anti-Christian.

Either way, these authors cannot demonstrate that playing the game makes players live out the themes presented in the game. And why can't they demonstrate this? You should know this by now…PLAYING A GAME DOES NOT CHANGE YOUR WORLDVIEW!

Still, they consider it a spiritual deception. One author who I will not quote directly (because I won't give him publicity by stating his name in this paper) went so far as to call D&D more dangerous than people dying of starvation! How Christian morality can be so twisted, I cannot fathom.

Suicide & Homicide

Christians love to point to real world tragedy as evidence for their narrow-minded views about the cosmos. In this case they say that D&D promotes suicide and homicide. What's actually happening here is that all their other arguments fail when someone simply calls them on their bullshit and points out that the only argument they have comes from theology (and not even mainstream theology at that).

So they take real tragedies and warp them into the sort of perversions that mesh with their twisted worldview.

Before I tackle this portion of the debate, let me make it perfectly clear where my heart is. I have nothing by sympathy for the people who've lost loved ones due to suicide or homicide. I can't even begin to imagine how they must be feeling.

The true hideousness of the situation, though, does not end with the violence. It keeps going. These bigoted fundamentalist Christians distort the memories of the grieving and insult the deceased in pursuit of their own goals. This wretched poisoning of an already horrible situation is so vile, it makes me sick just to write about it.

Now, the anti-gamers have their pet cases they like to cite, as incriminating evidence against D&D. In some of these cases involving homicide, the criminals have come forth with statements that the game made them do it. I'm reminded of the classic schizophrenic defense: "God made me do it." In some cases, they may actually be schizophrenic, and might really believe that D&D, or God, or a purple fairy, made them commit their crimes. These people, however, have a serious mental disorder, and are not to be taken seriously. Others simply try to shift the blame away from themselves.

One of these cases is that of Sean Sellers. He was indeed a D&D player, and he was indeed convicted of several murders. However, he makes it exceedingly clear in his writings that D&D did not contribute to his interest in the occult or the murders, pointing out that D&D contributed to his involvement with the occult in the same way that an interest in electronics can contribute to building a bomb.

The suicide cases are more difficult to determine. Unless a detailed suicide note is left, there's sure-fire way to tell what happened to cause it. Sometimes even a detailed note can't tell us for certain. However, the anti-gamers will look for correlations. If someone who played D&D commits suicide, they immediately assume that the game was the cause.

They ignore the fact that the two may have been completely unrelated, or may have had a common separate cause.

It's not uncommon knowledge that role players are generally more creative than average, often more intelligent than average, and are typically considered "nerdy," particularly through the school years. They are often social outcasts.

Is it so difficult to imagine that D&D is popular among a demographic already prone to higher suicide rates? Could this not explain some of those suicides? Instead of looking at the gamers, maybe these people should be looking at football players if they really want to find the culprit.

However, I may have been slightly misleading there. There is no higher suicide rate among D&D players. In fact, many experts insist there is a significant decrease in suicide rates among gamers. Why would this be true? Because D&D is a social game. When you play D&D, you're sitting around a table with like-minded individuals. The social outcast can enter this fantasy world with a group of friends and fit in perfectly. This could easily result in a lower suicide rate.

I will not leave this section of my paper without making at least one cheap shot at the Christian anti-gamers. They feel the need to point out every D&D player who kills himself or others. Well, two can play at that game.

I remember a man named Dennis Rader. He was a devout Methodist and a leader in his church community. He was also known as the BTK Strangler, one of the most notorious serial killers of modern times.

Did Christianity make him kill? I doubt it, but it's certainly more likely than the idea that D&D makes people kill. You see, the Bible actually advocates murder.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that D&D is harmless. Play it if you want and don't play it if you don't want. But there's certainly no merit to the idea that it's dangerous in any sense of the word.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a game session tomorrow and I need to prepare...

Remember...

Jesus Saves
(And takes half damage)