This was big in the 80s but now it has waned; even the anti-video game crusade is winding down as we wait for the next moral panic. Todays favorite Evangelical targets tend to be gay marriage and Islam.
Honestly, when I got into my geek group, the biggest "witnessing" -- I hate the phrase because of the subtleties it implies, but it kinda works here-- was being an observant Catholic and an utter sci-fi/fantasy geek who loved role playing games.
Nearly half of "my guys"-- a self-selecting group of geeks on the USS Essex-- had been turned off religion by a (usually female) relative who did the "Elves is da devil!" thing.
Such power to be found in mixing Free Will Moral theory with elves and aliens... I miss those guys.....
You mean like the D&D BS?aerofoxOctober 6 2008, 15:48:30 UTC
Thank that fraud Mike Warnke for it. His BS triggered the Satanic Panic of the Eighties; one of the results was a permanent rift between Christians and gamers, with those who are both having to make like that Eighties song Silent Running:
"Swear alliegance to the flag, Whatever flag they offer; Never let on What you really feel..."
It's hard to duck some of the cr*p when it's being done in your own church.
All the more so when it's not done as "dis stuff is SAYYY-TANNN-IC", but in some passive-aggressive, "Don't you want to be a spineless wonderproperly sensitive modern enlightened Christian male?"
The first attitude is more easily dealt with than the latter, at least in my experience.
Here I am a Pastor. I am a Conservative. I vote conservative and moral on all issues. I am a Republican. I am a Born Again Bible Believing Charismatic Evangelical!
ALSO: I LOVE to play RPGs. I am playing Oblivion and really enjoy the game! I am also playing Dungeon Siege 2, Titan Quest, Morrowind and Dungeon Lord. I have played a lot of games for my computer. I also used to play games during the Arcade days of Pac Man, Dragon's Lair and Joust! My first home game playing system was the old 8-bit Nintendo system and had fun playing Gauntlet 2, Adventures of Zelda, Zelda II, Shadowgate and a bunch of others. I did play the RPG Iron Claw for a little while and would love to do so again!
I find nothing wrong with playing games as long as you know it's fake and are enjoying it for a bit of fun. That's what they are for arn't they?
Honestly, if I were a preacher...I'd use the alignment system from D&D to get points across.
Can you ask for a more clear-cut way of expressing morality? Evil calls on things like psychotic matricidal child-sacrificing dark elves that turn folks' fathers into zombies to kill them...and the good guys exhaust themselves to offer physical healing.
I bet there'd be a heck of a market for Symbolic questlines-- with things like raising the dead or detect evil, it'd be so easy to to make a STRONG story!
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heh, I don't even pay them any mind... which is exactly what they don't want :P
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Nearly half of "my guys"-- a self-selecting group of geeks on the USS Essex-- had been turned off religion by a (usually female) relative who did the "Elves is da devil!" thing.
Such power to be found in mixing Free Will Moral theory with elves and aliens... I miss those guys.....
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"Swear alliegance to the flag,
Whatever flag they offer;
Never let on
What you really feel..."
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All the more so when it's not done as "dis stuff is SAYYY-TANNN-IC", but in some passive-aggressive, "Don't you want to be a spineless wonderproperly sensitive modern enlightened Christian male?"
The first attitude is more easily dealt with than the latter, at least in my experience.
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(The comment has been removed)
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I am a Conservative.
I vote conservative and moral on all issues.
I am a Republican.
I am a Born Again Bible Believing Charismatic Evangelical!
ALSO:
I LOVE to play RPGs. I am playing Oblivion and really enjoy the game! I am also playing Dungeon Siege 2, Titan Quest, Morrowind and Dungeon Lord. I have played a lot of games for my computer. I also used to play games during the Arcade days of Pac Man, Dragon's Lair and Joust! My first home game playing system was the old 8-bit Nintendo system and had fun playing Gauntlet 2, Adventures of Zelda, Zelda II, Shadowgate and a bunch of others.
I did play the RPG Iron Claw for a little while and would love to do so again!
I find nothing wrong with playing games as long as you know it's fake and are enjoying it for a bit of fun. That's what they are for arn't they?
Jeff Ringtail
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Can you ask for a more clear-cut way of expressing morality? Evil calls on things like psychotic matricidal child-sacrificing dark elves that turn folks' fathers into zombies to kill them...and the good guys exhaust themselves to offer physical healing.
I bet there'd be a heck of a market for Symbolic questlines-- with things like raising the dead or detect evil, it'd be so easy to to make a STRONG story!
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I know that doesn't help any, really, but I find that if you accept that some folks are incoherent about some subjects things flow a bit easier.....
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