I'd like to write a blog entry explaining to people why enjoying games like Final Fantasy, Magic: The Gathering, and so forth does NOT make me the Spawn of Satan.

I know too many Christians who don't think I'm a genuine child of God because I like to associate myself with witchcraft and blah, blah, blah.

I say BAH to their BLAH!

Do you guys have any verses or quotes I can include to back up my point? Thanks for your help!

Well there is a few ways to go about it.

1) Make the person prove through Scripture that playing that stuff is wrong in God's sight.  If they ask you to prove that it's not in there, tell them that it the burden of proof rests on them.  This is because you would need perfect knowledge of all things to prove the nonexistence of something (or nothing).  For example, prove to me that there is no gold bars shaped like Barbra Bush.  You would need to have absolute and perfect knowledge of every inch of China both above and below the surface in order to prove it doesn't exist.  Also to have perfect knowledge of something...wouldn't that make you God?  Are they implying that you are God?  Oooo I bet that'd trip em up.

2) If they would refer to the 2 Scriptures I've found concerning what I would call witchcraft then look at them closely.

Exo 22:18  Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

And

Deu 18:10  There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.

Both of these means you are attempting to practice witchcraft.  Now if you are really trying to cast spells in these games, I mean real spell, I think we can consider that wrong.  However, you are pretending.  Looking up the words "wich" and "enchanter" in Biblical concordences bring up these terms.

Enchanter - מנחש  menachesh, from נחש  nichesh, to view attentively; one who inspected the entrails of beasts, observed the flight of birds, etc., etc., and drew auguries thence. Some think divination by serpents is meant, which was common among the heathen.

A witch - מחשף  mechashsheph, probably those who by means of drugs, herbs, perfumes, etc., pretended to bring certain celestial influences to their aid

None of those terms apply to what you listed as the games you play.

3) Many Christian authors use fantasy in there books.  Two of the widest known have to be C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien.  Both had talking animals and magic.  Also you could point out that the pharisees thought Jesus was some type of witch when He produced His miracles of healing.  Surely they would not suggest Jesus was performing witchcraft. 

Well that's all I have...if they use other Scripture I can look it up later for ya.  However slap them upside the head and tell them imagination doesn't mean you're a witch or practicing magic.  I'm sure they imagined themselves flying or other such imagination scenes...are they evil then as well?

X

Yanno, I could take the time to mount a serious defense against the "fantasy is evil" debate, but it's really not even worth it.  One of my seminary instructors routinely mentioned that he believed fantasy role-playing games were "sinful," but I never bothered to correct him.  Seriously, why bother?

Like everything in life, I believe that fantasy RPG's can be used sinfully in certain applications, but to paint all role-players with one huge "sin brush" is patently absurd.  It's no different than saying it's evil to play electric guitars because they're often used in "satanic" rock music.  Yeah, they are, so what?

I have a document around here somewhere from my Teaching Techniques class that shows a child considering a variety of sins.  Among them were usual sins of lying, cheating, stealing, and swearing, along with the neo-fundamentalist sins of rap music and fantasy roleplaying.  Show me those in the Bible, why don't you?

Ultimately, there is no point in arguing with idiots, and anyone that thinks "D&D is the devil!" is an idiot.  There is no scriptural basis for it, there is no logical basis for it, and there is no conscientious reason for it.  The stigma against D&D is little more than a misguided manhunt based on decades-old misconceptions.  Check out this site for reference.

http://www.helium.com/tm/117527/dungeons-dragons-stigma

Just as the anti-RPG sentiment exists amongst conservative Christians, a similar stigma exists about gun-owning Christians within liberal Christian circles.  It's the same garbage.  Somebody takes their pre-conceived notion about a given cultural subject and wraps it in the facade of Christianity and BOOM, you've got a brand spankin' new false doctrine.


-b0b
(...thinks the "hater" Christians buy their dumb at Costco.)

Blast!  You'll rue the day you crossed me, Trebek!

-b0b
(...is still the supreme Grammar Nazi.)