Recreatia: Roleplaying Games: ARCHIVES Here's a sample of some dialog I pulled from Usenet a year or two ago. It's a typical example of the bad stereotype some gamers face. It's still true today. I don't know if this is par for the course or not, but a while ago I was "accosted" outside my favorite gaming store just as I was leaving it. The person urging me away from the "tools of the devil" was quite earnest and sincere. He was also one of the most rabid born-again Xians it has been my displeasure to encounter... Are they all like that, or was it just "luck" on my part? No, they're all like that. One of our local ones tried to get "The Craft" banned, since he considered it evil. He then started a sort of smear campaign against me, when I started a counter-petition, and tried to convince his "followers" the god is actually... wait for it... a gas. Thanks for lumping us all into a great big group. I've been a born-again Christian for 13 years, a gamer for 15, and haven't had a conflict. For goodness sake, I've borrowed church keys and played in the elders' conference room! No one in my congregation has ever accused me of being a satanist or such, although many people have asked about D&D out of curiosity and were convinced by me that it was harmless fun. In fact, every single member of my AD&D group is Christian. This isn't some liberal, God loves everything, don't worry what anyone else says denomination. This is Church of Christ (known, at least here in the South, for thinking we're right and everyone else is wrong- a misconception, but it stems out of our very conservative approach to religion and willingness to take a stand against things we feel are hurtful to mankind's spirit). But no prob. with D&D. So: !!!!!!!!!!!WE"RE NOT ALL LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!! Steven Taylor From: Danny Frost (dfrost@vt.edu) But a disturbing number are. Because of the more vocal members of Christians, gaming is very dead in Virginia. Hell, in Florida... A lot of parents (at their churches rec) wouldn't even let their kids into comic book stores. Because they sold magic cards. Danny Frost wrote in article <32F25B84.1C00@vt.edu> But a disturbing number are. Because of the more vocal members of Christians, gaming is very dead in Virginia. I live in Richmond (VA) and I have been gaming regularly for the past 13 years and I am a Christian. The local gaming store currently has two nights a week dedicated to RPG's. There have been times that I had to turn people away because the group had gotten to large (8 Players is the most I want to deal with.) We currently have 5 members plus myself and that is all I want for the current campaign. Three of my group play in other groups and have friends that play in even more groups. We are out there playing look around we don't hide. I have said it before the fringe gets all the attention because they are not the norm! Everybody is entitled to their opinion, just as everybody is entitled to ignore the opinion of anyone. Play the game, have fun and respect others. They will respect you if they respect your right to choose. John Csaky JCsaky@sprynet.com On Thu, 06 Feb 1997 03:24:19 GMT, underdog@rain.org (Eric Tolle) wrote: one thing I'd like to point out that the urge for censorship is not a product of the Christian church. I have seen would-be censors coming from all faiths, including pagens and atheists. Likewise censors come both from the far right and far left- though the things they dislike may vary to a degree. The real commonality among censors is the decision that a given item is "bad" for people, and that others must be protected from it. Definitely true. Every group out there has members that are so sure that their opinions are the "one truth"(TM) that they have the right to restrict others rights. Christians are simply a bigger group than all of the rest. Warren Grant

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