Customer Reviews

Christian Response to Dungeons and Dragons

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I am a Christian and I must say that this book does not deserve the title '"Christian" Response to Dungeons and Dragons'. Many of the facts are wrong and most of the arguments are deceptive or outright false. If you are planning to read this book, I recommend you get the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook and/or Dungeon Master's Guide and compare them. Most (if not all) of the author's claims are wildly inaccurate.

As with the Harry Potter books (silly as they may be), we Christians need to use careful, intelligent discernment and not automatically condemn anything with "magic." After all, what then do we say of C.S. Lewis' _Chronicles of Narnia_ or _The Lord of the Rings_, written by J.R.R. Tolkien, a Catholic? (And yes, Catholics are Christians, contrary to some misinformed opinions.)

As occasional entertainment, where the players play good characters, D&D has its merits. Playing in that way is not inconsistent with devotion to Jesus Christ; the greatest danger is that, in playing it, you not be spending your time in a way that best advances God's kingdom. Thus the need for moderation . . . I found that my playing of the game aided my vocabulary, imagination, organization, memory and writing skills--and my friends and I had fun and didn't go out drinking, using drugs, or womanizing. In that sense, it was a good thing.

As a correspondent with one of the authors of this title, in his defense, he wrote it long ago when evangleicalism was producing "responses" to everything under the sun.

It has obvious flaws, like accepting some of the less founded criticisms of D&D's effects as factual, and in using quotes out of context to trash the D&D books.

But along with this "bathwater" is a "baby" of a call to discernment and moderation, which is too often ignored.

I also find it interesting that while D&D has often denied accuers who link it to the occult, it seems that as the occult has become more mainstream, D&D has adapted to the mainstreaming of the occult. A few of the publishers higher-up employees ARE admitted occultists (they admit it).

But D&D really doesn't contain occult info or encourage the dabbling in any real occult practices.

I certainly don't think the reviewer who said this was just a moneymaking scheme on the part ofthe author was warranted.

Peter Leithart's "Christian Response to Dungeons and Dragons" is the slightly more learned version of the anti-D&D Jack Chick tract. This book survives as an '80s artifact of sorts, like a Pac-Man game or a She-Ra playset. It's a relic of a controversy that has long since passed into the sands of time.

In his book, Leithart calls D&D a "Catechism of the New Age." It's odd terminology. "Catechism" is a Catholic term. He makes a few positive references to Catholicism and uses Catholic terms,making one wonder if he's an evangelical who's a closeted Catholic.

Leithart claims that D&D ensnares hapless children into the snares of the New Age movement, trapping them in the occult. He doesn't seem to see it as a form of playing pretend. He takes advantage of the wild claim that D&D leads to suicide for young gamers,and invokes the example of a famous actor who said he felt suicidal because he identified with his character, Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman." He breaks Godwin's Law when discussing the impersonation of historical characters.

Leithart invokes unsubstantiated claims,as well as the infamous Egbert case (inspiration for the '80s made-for-TV stinker "Mazes and Monsters" starring a young Tom Hanks) Egbert was a troubled young man. However,it's doubtful whether D&D/Wizards of the Coast were liable for his death.

"Christian Response to Dungeons and Dragons" is mostly hysteria and paranoia. Towards the end, Leithart is reasonable. He advises parents to be vigilant of their children's media consumption. He is rightfully concerned about gaming addiction. He thinks parents should be concerned about their children's spiritual life. Unfortunately, Leithart mixes these reasonable conclusions with poorly researched material and a heavy-handed style. He comes across as another paranoid Bible thumper. However, he doesn't go to the extreme of Michael O'Brien in "Landscape with Dragons",who expects parents to fast and pray if their kids are into D&D. Dungeons and Dragons might be questionable for some kids.... but fasting is going a bit far!

It's not that Christians in general misunderstand the game. Au contraire, I know a Christian family with more RPG in their blood than half the guys who write th D&D books. It's that they'd rather be hypocrites than formulate an unbiased opinion. And hey, there's nothing wrong with being a hypocrite. Jesus probably LOVES D&D.

Of all the Christian Anti- D&D propaganda this one is the best (least bad). The authors attempt to look at the game, sincerely I believe, but they simply do not know what they are talking about. All of the silly claims in the Christian community are repeated here in one place. Scholorship is poor generally with authors simply quoting each other without checking the facts in ther original references. Just get the D&D and AD&D books and compare what these authors SAY is in them with what is actually there. Pay special attention to the claim that the DUNGEON MASTERS' GUIDE lists Hitler as a roll model for charisma. Compare that with what is written on the page the authors indicate. Check out any other claim similarly and you will see that these authors simply did not do that. Every invented story is represented here. Every farfeched claim that has no proof is here. Every typo that other authors make that gets into the literature is here. These guys not only know nothing about the game they don't know that they know nothing. Every anti-D&D claim herein can be disproved, usually by reference to the actual game rules. The Christian writers generally do not make even that simple check and these authors are no exception. The section "HOW SHOULD WE THEN PLAY" contains some good advice for Christians and others but these authors are so full of the propaganda that their section is almost a verbatum description of the principles actually USED in D&D and they don't even know it. I have not found a Christian writer who knows anything about the game except what they have invented and these authors are no exception. Two stars for the advice on how parents and children should play together. Othrwise if you want to know about the game buy the BASIC RULEBOOK and read it or email me at the address included. Ken Winniford.

Of all the christian propaganda I have heard, this is just a lame excuse made by them. I cannot see in just what this book says, but everything else, how D&D is associated with satan and hitler. This book to me just seems like another excuse for something christians cannot explain. For how long I have been playing D&D, it has not affected my reality at all.