What to make of these arguments regarding sinfulness of fantasy roleplaying games?

[carn]

As i myself sometimes do engage in fantasy roleplaying, i got curious regarding whether and when it might be a sin due to this texts:

chick.com/articles/dnd.asp
chick.com/articles/frpg.asp

The author is a fundamentalist, but still i cannot say that his arguments are obviously wrong.

I read this two months old thread
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=610923&highlight=dungeons+dragons
where it is said by some it is not sin.

But the argument is still, that fantasy roleplaying is in part about imagining to be a person in a world without God, a world where at least being good is not necessarily is equivalent with keeping some law, a person engaging regularly in violence (though nearly all the time the violence is about killing the “bad guys”), a person engaged in acquiring wealth (though most of the time with the intent to be armed sufficiently to beat the “bad guys”) and often a person using “spells”, which are at least inspired by what is supposed to be in our world real magic or witchcraft.
Furthermore as the majority of customers are adolescent or adult guys, pictures of women in books certainly have a sexual undertone. And last but not least the game rules are open - and i know some people do this for they seem to be few - to playing a evil villain, bound to conquer and subjugate the imagined world through murder and pacts with demons.

So i am a bit uncertain, whether it is a clear case as suggested in the other thread.

Opinions?

edit:
Forgot to add, in some RPGs there is an undertone against catholic family concept.

 

[Xlainamo]

Hallo. Whether RPG can be Christian or sinful is a hot topic. Here are some points

I have also been troubled by Chick’s comics and other Baptist/Fundamentalist ministries condemnating this or that as sin. I believe that Fundamentalists use the term ‘occult’ differently as Catholics do. Anything even distantly or indirectly connotes something about mythology or ‘supernatural’, it is understood as having occult connotation and therefore un-christian and therefore sinful

People in the media are not necessarily Catholics or Christians. Tolkien who wrote Lord of the Rings was a Catholic (I must note here that LOTR is condemned as occult by non-Catholic fundamentalists) and LOTR was the basis of the fantasy RPG. Beyond that, any Christian/Buddhist/pagan/atheist can “create” some fictional world with its own mythology and set of natural laws. An atheist can explore topics that a Christian author would not but I don’t believe reading or playing about them would be a sin.

Consciousness has a lot to do with anything. Even eating can be a sin if done with a sinful mentality. For example, I enjoyed playing “good” characters. I was playing mostly with atheist friends who would enjoy doing things I would not. But I guess if a person enjoys the occult and plays RPG in that capacity, it can be a sinful attitude.

But let me tell you something: After I had been playing for some months, I got bored and started not to take this too seriously. I would not enjoy “killing” an innocent character but I would stop worrying about him as if he were a real person.

My two cents is this: it’s not real. There have been video games which enable you to ‘steal’ an object from some annoying (usually bad and grumpy) character who has the purpose of an obstacle. I don’t think that solving such a puzzle (stealing from a fictional character) is a sin

If RPG is sinful because of engaging you into gaining “golden pieces” and “buying” better and better armament, playing The Sims would be also sinful.

 

[Joe_5859]

Jack Chick is not a reliable source of information on the Christian faith to any degree whatsoever. His work consists of conspiracy theories that defy credulity.

Have you seen his anti-Catholic stuff? Some con-man claiming to be an ex-priest fed him all this info that Chick accepted hook, line, and sinker and now perpetuates through his comics.

Chick lives a reclusive life. He doesn’t give interviews. The only pictures you can find of him online are 30 years old.

Frankly, if Chick argues for something, I’m inclined to believe the opposite just on general principle.

 

[Melinda_Selmys]

Don’t scruple.

Jack Chick’s arguments are absurd, but if anyone has real ones against it I’d be happy to defend the fine art of Fantasy Role Playing

 

[Dakota_Roberts]

Jack Chick is not a reliable source of information on the Christian faith to any degree whatsoever. His work consists of conspiracy theories that defy credulity.

Have you seen his anti-Catholic stuff? Some con-man claiming to be an ex-priest fed him all this info that Chick accepted hook, line, and sinker and now perpetuates through his comics.

Chick lives a reclusive life. He doesn’t give interviews. The only pictures you can find of him online are 30 years old.

Frankly, if Chick argues for something,** I’m inclined to believe the opposite** just on general principle.

Likewise!
I occasionally find Mr. Chick useful to laugh at, such as the Jesuits founding Islam (ru cereal?)

 

[RastaPasta]

Hello:

Here is my view concerning RPG/MMORPG games (I have played quite a number of them).

In and of themselves, the game(s) may not be sinful, however, they CAN be sinful - it all depends on the content material of the game. Even though it might be a “fantasy” game, you have to consider what the fantasy entails. Two questions that I always ask myself are: “What would Jesus think about this game? Would Jesus approve of this game?” (and I have to be willing to give myself an honest answer).

The BIG question I had to ask myself was whether or not playing RPG’s/MMORPG’s helped me develop a deeper relationship with God. Fact is, I was spending more time “playing games”, than I was spending time praying and developing a relationship with Christ (a LOT more time).

Today I spend a very small amount of time playing any game (an hour or two a week is all).

The games are not necessarily sinful, however, if I invest a considerable amount of my time accomplishing nothing (remember, all games are just virtual realities made up of pixels, and so whatever I might accomplish in them can’t be used in the “real” world) than I might be on a sinful path (sloth).

If I spend more of my time focused on a game, and less of my time focused on God, than I have most likely committed a sinful act.

It’s all about finding a healthy balance. Entertainment is not necessarily a bad thing (and RPG’s/MMORPG’s are a form of entertainment), however, if I seek entertainment to excess and neglect the spiritual condition of my soul, entertainment then becomes a destructive force in my life.

 

[carn]

Jack Chick’s arguments are absurd, but if anyone has real ones against it I’d be happy to defend the fine art of Fantasy Role Playing

I think these are somewhat real arguments (i realize most of Chicks arguing cannot be taken serious, but this is a refined version of what is to me not obviously wrong):

• fantasy roleplaying is in part about imagining to be a person in a world without God and imagining something morally wrong can be sinful, e.g. repeatedly imagining who to murder somebody is sinful, it could train the mind to accept something seriously wrong. As God is source of all good imagining living in a world without God could train the mind to more easily accept the idea the world is without God.
  As a side thing, as such worlds are ripe with evil gods or at least gods with questionable character traits much like humans, imaging gods to have such attributes might cause oneself to more often put God into the human box, which might lead astray.
• a world where at least being good is not necessarily is equivalent with keeping some law,

Keeping the moral law is fundamental in christianity. I know many people, who disdain the catholic church because it has many laws. So opening ones mind to the idea that law is a contradiction of good, could be harmful. (I admit this point is pretty weak.)

-a person engaging regularly in violence (though nearly all the time the violence is about killing the “bad guys”),

I actually remeber one question regarding preparation for confessions is about whether one schooled ones respect for life by avoiding films/books and so on, which depict violence positively. In RPG violence is positive, in most RPG systems more than half of char information is about his capabilities to withstand or deal out violence.
Comparing splatter and horror movies with RPG, i see not much difference, except that the bad guys tend to get more beating in RPGs. (I think this is the most important point, as watching desensitizing material is considered to be at least problematic by the church)

-a person engaged in acquiring wealth (though most of the time with the intent to be armed sufficiently to beat the “bad guys”)

-and often a person using “spells”, which are at least inspired by what is supposed to be in our world real magic or witchcraft.

-Furthermore as the majority of customers are adolescent or adult guys, pictures of women in books certainly have a sexual undertone.

-And last but not least the game rules are open - and i know some people do this for they seem to be few - to playing a evil villain, bound to conquer and subjugate the imagined world through murder and pacts with demons.

• Forgot to add, in some RPGs there is an undertone against catholic family concept. Thiking about it, its actually even a major undertone in RPG, the life the chars lead is completely incompatible with having a family, the concept marry+children is something for retirement, when the fun ends. (And i even now an RPG were having a family and children is a serious disadvantage - obviously realistic, because evil villians will go for your family if they cannot target you).

Of course none of this is a problem, if it is played like a game, where you have a rather complex pawn on an imagininary board. But that is not the sole intention in RPGs, immersion is considered important by many players.

@RastaPasta
I do not consider MMORPGs here or even computer games in general. They can have simmilar problems (e.g. realistic first person shooters could effect ones disposure toward violence), but they are different in my eyes, as they require no active immersion, no need to imagine something and imagine being someone different.

 

[Corpus_Cristi]

I think these are somewhat real arguments (i realize most of Chicks arguing cannot be taken serious, but this is a refined version of what is to me not obviously wrong):

• fantasy roleplaying is in part about imagining to be a person in a world without God and imagining something morally wrong can be sinful, e.g. repeatedly imagining who to murder somebody is sinful, it could train the mind to accept something seriously wrong. As God is source of all good imagining living in a world without God could train the mind to more easily accept the idea the world is without God.
  As a side thing, as such worlds are ripe with evil gods or at least gods with questionable character traits much like humans, imaging gods to have such attributes might cause oneself to more often put God into the human box, which might lead astray.
• a world where at least being good is not necessarily is equivalent with keeping some law,

Keeping the moral law is fundamental in christianity. I know many people, who disdain the catholic church because it has many laws. So opening ones mind to the idea that law is a contradiction of good, could be harmful. (I admit this point is pretty weak.)

-a person engaging regularly in violence (though nearly all the time the violence is about killing the “bad guys”),

I actually remeber one question regarding preparation for confessions is about whether one schooled ones respect for life by avoiding films/books and so on, which depict violence positively. In RPG violence is positive, in most RPG systems more than half of char information is about his capabilities to withstand or deal out violence.
Comparing splatter and horror movies with RPG, i see not much difference, except that the bad guys tend to get more beating in RPGs. (I think this is the most important point, as watching desensitizing material is considered to be at least problematic by the church)

-a person engaged in acquiring wealth (though most of the time with the intent to be armed sufficiently to beat the “bad guys”)

-and often a person using “spells”, which are at least inspired by what is supposed to be in our world real magic or witchcraft.

-Furthermore as the majority of customers are adolescent or adult guys, pictures of women in books certainly have a sexual undertone.

-And last but not least the game rules are open - and i know some people do this for they seem to be few - to playing a evil villain, bound to conquer and subjugate the imagined world through murder and pacts with demons.

• Forgot to add, in some RPGs there is an undertone against catholic family concept. Thiking about it, its actually even a major undertone in RPG, the life the chars lead is completely incompatible with having a family, the concept marry+children is something for retirement, when the fun ends. (And i even now an RPG were having a family and children is a serious disadvantage - obviously realistic, because evil villians will go for your family if they cannot target you).

**Of course none of this is a problem, if it is played like a game, where you have a rather complex pawn on an imagininary board. **But that is not the sole intention in RPGs, immersion is considered important by many players.

I think the bolded point you made pretty much negates much concern for what you listed above it. As for those who find it important to make RPGs more than the games they are and, as you call it, immerse themselves, that’s not a sin in itself. That’s just plain unhealthy and immature behavior. I think we sometimes blur a penchant for sin with a need to grow up.

As for the bulk of the points you addressed, there was a thread a while ago that dealt with fairytales. Basically, the OP asked if fairytales were morally permissible given the content of some of them. My response was this in a nutshell: If we’re going to say fairytales are, in themselves, immoral, then Tolkien is an automatic no-no. My biggest issue with some ideas thrown around was that some people couldn’t separate the way they viewed an imaginary world from the real world in terms of the content of the story (eg. the existence/acknowledgment of God; magic, although magic in most stories is not in any way the magic of the real world). It seems that doing the opposite (separating the two and taking a story for what it is) is problematic. I never once heard of a god of Middle Earth, at least not the God of this universe, so I hardly think it’s problematic.

God bless,

Rob

 

[Melinda_Selmys]

carn,

I would agree with Corpus Cristi’s point that some of the problems in role-playing basically stem from the fact that most of the people playing are adolescent boys – and there’s a certain amount of immaturity that will necessarily arise in that context (the lack of family responsibilities, for example, and the sexualization of women in the artwork). However, I think that there needs to be a distinction drawn between 1) particular role-playing game systems, and 2) fantasy role-playing as a story-telling medium. I think that certain game systems are morally problematic, and that the authors of those systems are to some degree culpable for that, however I think that the individual would need to pay attention to how they play within those systems and what impact that has on their psyche. It’s the same sort of determination as you make when deciding to read a book that is non-Christian – you’ll probably encounter some potentially scandalous content, and you have to work out for yourself whether you are actually being scandalized, and whether or not the benefits of reading the work outweigh the potential scandal (if you couldn’t make this determination, it would be impossible, for example, for university undergrad’s to complete a BA in almost any subject…) In the case of fantasy role-playing, the benefit would usually involve the opportunity to socialize with peers – a major benefit for most role-players, because let’s be honest, most of us are serious geeks, nerds and weirdos
That said, it’s perfectly possible to jury-rig almost any role-playing system so that it does correspond to true values – I play with my kids. I don’t have them killing human beings (the “bad guys” are monsters) and I use the violent components of the games to teach about courage and prudence, fraternal love, justice, and so forth. I insert moral realism, reward good behaviour, show the consequences of evil decisions, and I allow the characters moral freedom. I disinclude false gods and include prayer to the real one, etc. etc. Ultimately, it’s a medium like any other: you can use it to reveal or to obscure the truth, and it all depends on the intent of the artist.

 

[Dakota_Roberts]

snip

That’s like suggesting that reading the Classics might predispose someone to not believing in God because the Greco-Roman gods can be explained with three rules (1. The Greek gods are perverts, 2. the Greek gods are jackasses and 3. When in doubt see 1. with reference to 2. for example see the Minotaur) due to their vindictive and capricious nature.

Laws have not necessarily been just, just ask Catholics under the USSR. You could play a Lawful Good character…

The campaigns I play have violence as a last resort and a significant amount of time is spent in diplomacy and exploring.

None of us are particularly focused on acquiring wealth.

The magic in D&D is more of a science than it is witchcraft

The D&D 4E books aren’t that sexual, it’s not like anime where for females the armor class is the quadratic inverse of the amount of clothing they are wearing.

I think it is accurate to say that if you are a wanderer that a family is more of an encumbrance than an asset

I think the bolded point you made pretty much negates much concern for what you listed above it. As for those who find it important to make RPGs more than the games they are and, as you call it, immerse themselves, that’s not a sin in itself. That’s just plain unhealthy and immature behavior. I think we sometimes blur a penchant for sin with a need to grow up.

As for the bulk of the points you addressed, there was a thread a while ago that dealt with fairytales. Basically, the OP asked if fairytales were morally permissible given the content of some of them. My response was this in a nutshell: If we’re going to say fairytales are, in themselves, immoral, then Tolkien is an automatic no-no. My biggest issue with some ideas thrown around was that some people couldn’t separate the way they viewed an imaginary world from the real world in terms of the content of the story (eg. the existence/acknowledgment of God; magic, although magic in most stories is not in any way the magic of the real world). It seems that doing the opposite (separating the two and taking a story for what it is) is problematic. I never once heard of a god of Middle Earth, at least not the God of this universe, so I hardly think it’s problematic.

God bless,

Rob

Agreed

snip

D&D played by adults is typically far more mature than than that played by adolescents, many of the players seem to be more mature than the typical adult. Now that the D&D group at my high school is part of ASP the percentage of females has jumped up significantly, it’s probably 40% now so the guys are acting more mature which I think is fantastic. I’d personally say reading the Twilight “Saga” is far more detrimental to a person’s well-being than D&D.

PS I think you should all watch the Dead Alewives skit (I chose it with the background being MLP to make it more humorous)
youtube.com/watch?v=XsCHIKTRYRk

 

[Shondee]

To me, roleplay is like acting. Is Emma Watson sinning because she’s pretending to be a witch in a movie? am I sinning when I play the role of a theif in my roleplay?

Like all other fictional works, this needs to be taken as a WHOLE. One charactor I play a LOT is a murderer, who’s described in the book he’s from to be a demon. But I don’t play him because i enjoy pretending to kill people, or lie, or slit throats. I play him because I’m fascinated with his deeply abusive childhood, his unstable attachment to his father, and his beliefe that he can never be any other way. I play for psychology, not to have a free pass on morality

For example, only once have my friend and I ever been able to even play through a scene where he takes someone’s life. What was the purpose of that scene? for his subordinate, who would later be a father figure to him, and try to save him, could see that although he’s completely mental, he’s broken as well. We played it so the other charactor would see him break down sobbing, having a complete hysterical fit over the body, and hear him cry for his mother, for father, for someone to notice what he’d done. He’s a lunatic, completely off it.

Now, what I do is verbal role play, fan fiction based. I don’t play MMORPG’s or DandD. but I don’t see anything instrintically wrong with those either. I think it’sall in individual hands. While I play this book charactor because I find him fascinating, and I relate to a lot of his troubles, and I’m REALLY into psychology, another might play him because they agree with his views on how humans are disgusting and have no right to live, and want to emulate him for it. I think there’s a difference

 

[Speedypizza]

Well lets start with this, I was a pagan for 19 years AND I play fantasy RPGs. The two have NOTHING in common. As far as saying that in an RPG a person HAS to play in a world with no God is insane. In fact I once played a cleric who just for fun I made a Christian/ Catholic priest. Now this was before I was thinking about coming into the Church and he was not played in a holy manner, however there was no rule saying that I could not have played him like that if I had chose. Overall, I find that God or gods or the lack of such does not play a large part in the game at all.

I also fail to see how playing an evil character is in and of itself evil or sinful. I myself however almost never play any character in a very serious manner however, and avoid groups where others are overly serious. In fact I almost always play my character in a way that is funny and silly. I once had a wizard with low magic skills who thought he was the greatest wizard that ever lived. He also was a drunk and liked to chase young girls who would run away screaming because he was fat, ugly and smelly.

In closing, I think fantasy is fun and PRGs are a great way to relax.

Pax

 

[Godfollower]

Wow. If all these posters saying RPGs are sinful are right (because they take away from focusing on God, they emphasize gathering wealth, they permit violations of law and morals inside the game, they teach witchcraft, etc.), then:

• Don’t play Monopoly; it emphasizes building wealth at the expense of others.
• Dont read the Sherlock Holmes books; the protagonist was addicted to opiates and engaged in vigilantism (and taught disrespect for the authorities).
• Don’t take the kids to see Disney movies; they assume the existence of magic.
• Don’t read the Odyssey, the Illiad, or the Aeneid – or, for that matter, any of the classics from Greece and Rome – because they assume the existence of other gods.
• Don’t play chess; it’s based on killing the enemy and capturing the king.
• Don’t watch any of Shakespeare’s plays; there are bad guys in them – and some of them win!
• Don’t watch any movies starring John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Jean-Claude Van Damme, or Chuck Norris; they all teach by example that violence is good in some contexts.
• Don’t watch football; it teaches that physical violence against your competitors is good.
• For that matter, don’t watch professional sports, don’t watch television or the movies, and don’t listen to professional music; they teach that easy money is available for entertainers when others are starving to death.
• Don’t play cowboys and Indians, cops & robbers, or anything similar; the kids always pretend to be killing each other. And they try to make it seem realistic, too.
• Don’t follow politics; you’ll just get used to the idea that lying works, cheaters succeed, and the only way to get ahead is to stomp on the other guy. Inevitably, by mere exposure to the medium, you’ll become corrupted in your own life.

Or, you could try teaching your kids that there’s “pretend” and there’s “real” and they’re different; and people who act immorally in real life are wrong.

 

[Shondee]

Wow. If all these posters saying RPGs are sinful are right (because they take away from focusing on God, they emphasize gathering wealth, they permit violations of law and morals inside the game, they teach witchcraft, etc.), then:

• Don’t play Monopoly; it emphasizes building wealth at the expense of others.
• Dont read the Sherlock Holmes books; the protagonist was addicted to opiates and engaged in vigilantism (and taught disrespect for the authorities).
• Don’t take the kids to see Disney movies; they assume the existence of magic.
• Don’t read the Odyssey, the Illiad, or the Aeneid – or, for that matter, any of the classics from Greece and Rome – because they assume the existence of other gods.
• Don’t play chess; it’s based on killing the enemy and capturing the king.
• Don’t watch any of Shakespeare’s plays; there are bad guys in them – and some of them win!
• Don’t watch any movies starring John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Jean-Claude Van Damme, or Chuck Norris; they all teach by example that violence is good in some contexts.
• Don’t watch football; it teaches that physical violence against your competitors is good.
• For that matter, don’t watch professional sports, don’t watch television or the movies, and don’t listen to professional music; they teach that easy money is available for entertainers when others are starving to death.
• Don’t play cowboys and Indians, cops & robbers, or anything similar; the kids always pretend to be killing each other. And they try to make it seem realistic, too.
• Don’t follow politics; you’ll just get used to the idea that lying works, cheaters succeed, and the only way to get ahead is to stomp on the other guy. Inevitably, by mere exposure to the medium, you’ll become corrupted in your own life.

Or, you could try teaching your kids that there’s “pretend” and there’s “real” and they’re different; and people who act immorally in real life are wrong.

In the paraphrased words of Rapunzel,
BEST, POST, EVER!

 

[Shondee]

Well lets start with this, I was a pagan for 19 years AND I play fantasy RPGs. The two have NOTHING in common. As far as saying that in an RPG a person HAS to play in a world with no God is insane. In fact I once played a cleric who just for fun I made a Christian/ Catholic priest. Now this was before I was thinking about coming into the Church and he was not played in a holy manner, however there was no rule saying that I could not have played him like that if I had chose. Overall, I find that God or gods or the lack of such does not play a large part in the game at all.

I also fail to see how playing an evil character is in and of itself evil or sinful. I myself however almost never play any character in a very serious manner however, and avoid groups where others are overly serious. In fact I almost always play my character in a way that is funny and silly. I once had a wizard with low magic skills who thought he was the greatest wizard that ever lived. He also was a drunk and liked to chase young girls who would run away screaming because he was fat, ugly and smelly.

In closing, I think fantasy is fun and PRGs are a great way to relax.

Pax

We have a priest charactor too. Good ol’ Father Cooper. he’s our Ken doll, really. In one universe he’s a priest, in another he’s a psychiatrist. A doctor, a physical therapist, a foster father, a scientist…Cooper’s our go-to, and it’s a running gag with my friend and I (so a priest, a shrink, and a mad scientist walk into a bar…)

and he’s a very good, somewhat goofy guy in 99% of our stories, and ALWAYS in relation to the aforementioned batso-nuts killer we play. In addition to the man’s subordinate, Cooper is his moral compass, per se.

 

[Mintaka]

Not to mention the eeeeevils of “Pattycake, pattycake, baker man”.

• Defenseless babies and toddlers are invited to engage in ritualistic practices intended to simulate culinary practices far too dangerous for children to perform.
• There is an attitude of selfish disrespect toward the authority of the Baker Man, as the ominous chant demands service and a cake “as fast as you can”.
• Obviously, fertility magic is involved. You know, yeast and rolling things and all that gross stuff. Shudder. And there is a Cake in an Oven, and Of Course you know what That means.
• Obviously, the cake is being marked with a B not for Baby, but for Beelzebub.

Stay tuned for the horrible ritualistic roleplaying occult secrets of See See My Playmate, Cinderella Dressed in Yella, and The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.

 

[Shondee]

Not to mention the eeeeevils of “Pattycake, pattycake, baker man”.

• Defenseless babies and toddlers are invited to engage in ritualistic practices intended to simulate culinary practices far too dangerous for children to perform.
• There is an attitude of selfish disrespect toward the authority of the Baker Man, as the ominous chant demands service and a cake “as fast as you can”.
• Obviously, fertility magic is involved. You know, yeast and rolling things and all that gross stuff. Shudder. And there is a Cake in an Oven, and Of Course you know what That means.
• Obviously, the cake is being marked with a B not for Baby, but for Beelzebub.

Stay tuned for the horrible ritualistic roleplaying occult secrets of See See My Playmate, Cinderella Dressed in Yella, and The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.

Cinderella dressed in yella is obvious pressing young girls into a life of prostitution

 

[Melinda_Selmys]

Not to mention the eeeeevils of “Pattycake, pattycake, baker man”.

• Defenseless babies and toddlers are invited to engage in ritualistic practices intended to simulate culinary practices far too dangerous for children to perform.
• There is an attitude of selfish disrespect toward the authority of the Baker Man, as the ominous chant demands service and a cake “as fast as you can”.
• Obviously, fertility magic is involved. You know, yeast and rolling things and all that gross stuff. Shudder. And there is a Cake in an Oven, and Of Course you know what That means.
• Obviously, the cake is being marked with a B not for Baby, but for Beelzebub.

Stay tuned for the horrible ritualistic roleplaying occult secrets of See See My Playmate, Cinderella Dressed in Yella, and The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.

My head fell off. I am burning incense to you as I write this.

 

[John_Paul_Jones]

Jack Chick is not a reliable source of information on the Christian faith to any degree whatsoever. His work consists of conspiracy theories that defy credulity.

Have you seen his anti-Catholic stuff? Some con-man claiming to be an ex-priest fed him all this info that Chick accepted hook, line, and sinker and now perpetuates through his comics.

Chick lives a reclusive life. He doesn’t give interviews. The only pictures you can find of him online are 30 years old.

Frankly, if Chick argues for something, I’m inclined to believe the opposite just on general principle.

That is an argumentum ad hominem and does not address the issue whether role playing games (especially those that involve “magic” and “witchcraft”) can be sinful. And anyway the article was written by William Schnoebelen, not Jack Chick - it’s only carried by the Chick web site.

As i myself sometimes do engage in fantasy roleplaying, i got curious regarding whether and when it might be a sin due to this texts:
…
But the argument is still, that fantasy roleplaying is in part about imagining to be a person in a world without God, a world where at least being good is not necessarily is equivalent with keeping some law, a person engaging regularly in violence (though nearly all the time the violence is about killing the “bad guys”), a person engaged in acquiring wealth (though most of the time with the intent to be armed sufficiently to beat the “bad guys”) and often a person using “spells”, which are at least inspired by what is supposed to be in our world real magic or witchcraft.
Furthermore as the majority of customers are adolescent or adult guys, pictures of women in books certainly have a sexual undertone. And last but not least the game rules are open - and i know some people do this for they seem to be few - to playing a evil villain, bound to conquer and subjugate the imagined world through murder and pacts with demons.

So i am a bit uncertain, whether it is a clear case as suggested in the other thread.

Opinions?

edit:
Forgot to add, in some RPGs there is an undertone against catholic family concept.

It really depends on what game you are playing, what it involves.

The argument about games has gone on forever and the article you’d linked is 10 years old, and D&D been controversial since it came out. Since RPG, cosplay and video games involve fantasy they might seem harmless to some people but that might not be the case.

Playing cards might seem innocent enough by today standards, but Joan of Arc advised the men who were playing cards against it, telling them they would better spend their time praying. On the other hand there are things like using a ouija board that should be absolutely avoided. The whole premise of the ouija board is just like divination and fortune telling, since it does not come from God, if there is a power behind it that reveal certain information of the future then its evil.

Certain RPG may not be evil but still sinful if it occupies so much of ones time where he shirks his responsibility whether temporal or spiritual. And then a RPG might not have the appearance of being sinful, but they can be certain elements in the game which would lead one to desire something that is evil. If you don’t feel comfortable play a certain RPG for whatever reason, then don’t do it.

 

[x1980x]

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The D&D 4E books aren’t that sexual, it’s not like anime where for females the armor class is the quadratic inverse of the amount of clothing they are wearing.
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Oh my. Also, any female wearing a schoolgirl uniform is bestowed with invulnerability, super-strength, super-sassiness, the skill to pilot any starship in the galaxy, and a heart that skips a beat whenever BOY OF DESTINY looks in her direction.