D&D, WOD, God, and Me

I am writing this blog to point out the hypocrisy and the dangers that the religious right poses. But i do know that I have a dark sin. A sin that some might say will lead me to straight to Satan worship.

So so as a preemptive move. I made this blog. This is for those who play D&D, World of Darkness, and cyberpunk but are also Christians. We will no long be marginalized. Warning. I write very stream of consciousness.

MY SIN IS ROLEPLAYING

Wait a second, that isn’t a sin. I do not practice dark witchcraft or worship foreign gods. What is worse playing a high priest of Pelor, god of sun, light and strength or being a high priest of the gun lobby, the NRA? Playing a priestess of Corellon Larethian, god of elves, magic, music, and arts or a worshipper of the most dangerous false god of all money. Not for nothing but outside Wall Street is a bronze bull. Golden calf anyone?

Gary Gygax was a practicing Christian who did not talk much about his beliefs because of the death threats and the moral panic that happened in the 1980s. He even made St. Culthbert into a character.

” I was reticent to say the fact, you know, that I was a Christian, mainly because I was afraid that I would give Christianity a bad name because I did D&D. So I did, I kept my mouth shut. But I just decided no, I’m not going to do that any more.”

It’s a shame that he did that. Him standing up for both his hobby and his faith would of done a lot to help repair the schism between Christianity and nerdom. I am not afraid. I am a Christian who role plays.

The ones who should be ashamed are the ones that made him ashamed.

I just hang out with my friends and we create stories. Is that so bad? Really? Think about it. I will do a compare and contrast using games I ran or have been in.

#1 I played a manic depressive film critic who due to a freak accident with an MRI machine got magnetic powers and is an Adam West figure who tormented another with the nickname metal friend. He was played by a guy named Barry. He is the most annoying person on the face of the planet. He didn’t show up when he told us he would. He itemized every cost to an insane degree, and he is overweight and fell asleep during games and doesn’t use his BiPap because he forgets.

Now I dare any fundamentalist Christian to put up with him for one year, let alone the 10 years as we did. We did eventually ask him to leave. But I still love the guy. I just hate being around him.

You have a newspaper columnist who writes scathing vindictive articles  against liberals, Muslims, atheists. He has the superpowers of hypnotizing his readers into living a life of hate and fear.

#2. I play an android who her creator killed his wife because she wanted to have a career. And he put the personality into the android to make her docile. He programmed her just want to stay home and cook and serve her husband rather than being a loving partner.

Or the husband who demands that she stays home, have as many children that he wants, and whenever she tries to speak for herself shuts her down.

The verses used to justify this abuse were to a matriarchal pagan church turned Christians. Basically saying women shouldn’t be in charge and lord it over men. They should be equal partners. Because remember in Christ, there is no male and no female.

You often say that the marriage is a symbol of the relationship that Jesus has with us. But to an unbelieving world you make Jesus look like a borderline sociopath that only wants us to serve Him.

Well those who are least will be first and those who are first will be last. So if you do enter the Kingdom of Heaven and that is a big “if” you will be the lowliest servant  there.

I do like the analogy Jesus does love us like a spouse. He loves us warts and all. When I fall away and I sin and I often do. I come back to Him. I say I’m sorry. I say I’ll try to be a better follower of you. He doesn’t slap me with some disease or disaster as a punishment to me like so many fundamentalists slap, hit, and even spank their wives in anger.

You curse gay marriage but there are married gay couples who treat each other with such love that you can barely imagine. They don’t hit, they are equal partners, and they do whatever they can do for the other because they love them.

Why are their marriages so much better than yours?

#3 a group of disparate heroes. A man who can tell the future, an aging ghost hunter, a reformed government killer, and werewolf  waging a cosmic battle between good and evil. A plot where anti-Christ Karl Rove uses the government to help bring about Hell on earth.

Or those that actually helped the evil side and called the evil side good.

The gaming examples are better than the real life examples. Also I don’t think that Karl Rove is the anti-Christ I am just saying that what the right has been doing since 2003 has been demonic.

My roleplaying friends are the deepest strongest friends I ever had. They have my back. They care more about the poor and about justice as much as the entire tea party combined.

In July of 2008, my best friend and myself had a stupid argument that went out of control and I left the group. In September of that year I came to Christ. It was an elder at my church that urged me to make up with him.

Now I was worried about going back and roleplaying. I wondered “is this sin?” “Can I be a Christian and roleplay?” I talked this over with my church’s pastors. I asked them that and I said “well fundamentalists say this” and they both said in unison “we are not fundamentalists”.

If I listened to you and believed what you said about Roleplaying. I would do one of two things.

#1 I would be so terrified of upsetting God that I would not have gone back and I would have lost some of the funniest and weirdest years of my life. I could have lost that because of you.

Or #2 I would think that if God is scared of a little game. He is very insecure and a God that I want nothing to do with. I could have lost my faith in God because of you.

This dilemma has plagued me those years, the little fundamentalist that says “you don’t want to hang out with sinners” or “you are going to go to hell for watching that wretched FDR AMERICAN BADASS.” That film had FDR’s mistress licking ketchup off of FDR’s polio legs. It  starred an actor from one of your favorite movies “God is Dead” the actor that was in one of my favorite faith based movies “What if? in FDR He played a stoned Abraham Lincoln.

Now. I can’t judge him for doing that movie. A paycheck is a paycheck. But he puts himself out there as a Christian and attacks liberals and gays and he co-starred in the filthiest, stupid, and historically inaccurate movies ever made. Why does he behave like Ben Walker pre salvation and not post.

Was it a mistake to watch that movie? Yes there are images that I can never unsee. But a sin hardly.

I don’t have that dilemma anymore. I can do both.

So please. Read the scriptures, pray, and if you ever made fun or put down a friend or family member who role plays. Call them up. See how they are doing whether they are Christian or not.

And this  is to those who may use me gaming as a sin you can label on me, if you have disowned any of your friends or family members who like to roleplay or like worldly science fiction movies. Grow up and grow more mature in your faith.

Because if you don’t love them. If you disowned them. God will disown you.

Reverend Franklin Graham. You may think that I still am a willful sinner by roleplaying. If you do, you are more than welcome to join us for a game.