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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Dungeons and Dragons	Rachel	Saturday, October 23, 2004
Question: Hi Brother, I'm glad to hear you're feeling at least a little bit better, and I'll be praying for a FULL recovery (nothing is impossible with God!) I have a question. Before we married, my husband would get together with a group of friends and play Dungeons and Dragons as the dungeon master, meaning he created the scenarios for the players to role-play in. While recognizing the POTENTIAL for the game to be used in evil ways, he said that he never created scenarios that were evil, and that usually his scenarios were formulated around some Christian principle and required good actions by the characters to bring about the end result. When I expressed deep misgivings about the game, he agreed not to participate until finding more evidence. He argues that although there exist such characters in the game as magicians, demons, thieves, witches, etc., that these types of characters also appear in C.S. Lewis' books and in the Lord of the Rings books, and that as long as the person running the game only makes use of the game's attributes in a positive way, there is not really a distinct difference between the game and the aforementioned books. He also understands that people can easily become obsessed with the game, but he says that as long as you're playing it as a GAME and not as your alternate LIFE it's harmless (provided, of course, that you're not giving the game an expressly occult theme). Because I am not intimately familiar with the game's specifics, I was unable to answer him sufficiently, but looking through the rulebook really gave me the willies, and that combined with what I've heard about the game was enough to make me request that he stop. I need to know if the game CAN BE alright, and if not, how would a "moral" playing of the game be different than Christian fantasy books. My husband is perfectly willing to be convinced that the game should be avoided, but he would like some concrete reasons so that he could defend his position to the group of people he used to play with. As an aside, what about other fantasy role-playing games, such as the Final fantasy games for playstation? I've been wondering about that for awhile, because I used to enjoy playing them until I second-guessed the morality of the game's use of magic spells and summoning spells, even though it was a good vs. evil game. Where does one draw the line between dangerous and harmless as far as stories and games go? Are fairy tales bad since they involve witches and wizards and faires and the like? What about fantasy novels such as Madeline L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time"? This has been a confusing topic for my husband and me, and I would really like to be able to have a consistent ethic concerning it. I sure don't want to give Satan any footholds in my life based on how I ENTERTAIN myself. Thank you in advance for your time. I know it must be difficult to answer all of these questions, but it's so very helpful to all of us here. God bless, Rachel
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM+ Dear Rachel: Thank you for your prayers. As of today I seem to be back to my normal illness (I have a chronic illness and disability) instead of the extraordinary illness of the past two weeks. Your continuing prayers are appreciated. As for Dungeons and Dragons played in a "Christian" manner, I do not believe that is possible. This is NOT the same thing as the stories of C.S. Lewis. C.S. Lewis created a story from a Christian worldview; Tolkein did the same. It is within the Christian worldview as the foundation and presumption of the fiction that witches, magick, and demons are characterized. Dungeons and Dragons was invented from a non-Christian worldview and specifically an occultic worldview that is utterly inconsistent with and hostile to Christ and the Truth. Casting spells to overcome evil, for example, is an act of evil itself. The casting of spells and the like is an abomination before God. The other major difference between those novels and the role-playing games is the dynamics involved in the manipulation of the imagination. Role-play is about a million times more powerful in manipulating and influencing the imagination than reading a novel, even a fantasy novel. In addition, it is really foolish to take what is fundamentally an evil game and try to apply some Christian principles as an excuse to play the game. That is like trying to make a tasty apple pie with rotten apples. I am also disturbed about your husband making a presumption that what he is doing is okay unless he can find evidence otherwise. As Christians our presumptions should always be on the side of that which is excellent and obviously beneficial and that which glorifies God. To answer your question requires talking about the nature of how Satan influences us. Satan?s primary position of attack is on our imagination. All sin begins with a thought, and then an imagination, and then a desire, and then an action. If Satan can influence our imaginations he can manipulate our thinking and our behavior. Satan has successfully found ways to manipulate our imaginations through music, movies, T.V., art, books and games; but what better way to get access to our imaginations than to encourage us to manipulate our own imaginations in role-playing games -- one of the most powerful form of manipulating imagination. Role-play is well known to be a therapeutic device to help people to understand how others are feeling, to get rid of emotional baggage, and to train oneself to avoid a habit or to adopt a better personality demeanor. Police Officers role-play dangerous situations so that they can train themselves in gun battle situation to act automatically then the time comes. Practicing piano is a form of role-play that allows us to, in essence, create neural pathways that eventually allow us to play the piano without thought. Images and imaginative ideas that we put into our brain in essence ?programs? our brain. This was expressed in the old days as ?garbage in, garbage out.? We cannot expect to put negative, occultic, death-oriented, magic oriented, witchcraft-oriented, non-Christian worldview and theologies into our brains and not be affected by it. The Bible specifically teaches that we are to guard our senses because what we allow our senses to experience WILL affect our thinking and our imaginations and our behavior. Ultimately it can affect our eternal soul. St. Paul in Philippians 4:7-8: And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. D & D can hardly be considered noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. In fact D & D presents a worldview and a theology that is occultic, magical, death-oriented, and totally inconsistent with Christianity. The game is played by player assuming roles often of unsavory characters such as a thief, assassin, or magic user. In the old days with role-playing games of the civil war and the like players assumed roles of soldiers and related characters, but in today?s role-play games the orientation is toward occult-type characters. Although imagination was used with the old battle games of the past, the focus was on mere role-play. Today, intense imagination is required, and the tendency now appears to be in the direction of developing an alter ego. These games are, by nature, set within a worldview. In the past role-play games had a historical setting. Today it in one of fantasy and mythology. Although past games had violence, today there is immortality, idolatry, and occultism. The most dangerous aspect of these games is that it manipulates the imagination and submits the imagination to ideas contrary to God. More than submission, these games encourage indulgence of exploring the imagination in these ungodly ways to the point of alter ego at times. St. Paul states in 2 Corinthians 10:5: We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive of obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. Our first Pope, St. Peter warns us in 2 Peter 3:17: Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability. The Theology of FRP (Fantasy Role Play) Games is polytheism against Christianity?s monotheism; nontheistic universe against Christianity?s theistic universe; reincarnation against Christianity?s one life and then the judgement, amoral universe against a moral universe of Christianity. Some of the occult connections of FRP games include occult magic and casting of spells (some of these spells found in some books are ?real? spells used by real Satanists and witches), astral projection, necromancy, conjuration of demons, divination, etc. All these things are resolutely condemned by God. One researcher, Stanley Dokupil, has noted on the subject of the danger of occultism in FRP games: The very nature of D & D, and FRP in general, is such that the imagination is being guided into encounters with nonmaterial entities, forces, or spirits. Those entities, we are told, are mere fantasies with no basis in reality. If, however, those entities do actually exist in some form in the spirit world, then the line of demarcation between what is fantasy and what is actual with spiritual, demonic forces becomes extremely abstruse if not entirely nonexistent. Regardless of the difference between reality and imagination, Elliot Miller cautions: However real this distinction may be in the minds of the players, though, I feel no assurance that the spirit world will not respond when it is beckoned. Then I was of high-school age I was extremely skeptical about anything reputedly supernatural. I recall engaging in a mock sî ce with a group of friends. Our lightheartedness was turned to fear when suddenly the ?medium?, my best friend, began to convulse, his eyes rolled back in his head, and a strange voice emerged from his throat. For the following two years this young Jew was tormented by spirits. Withdrawing from all social contacts, he haunted graveyards until he was delivered through the power of Jesus Christ. FRP games have lead players into bizarre behavior. It can be very addictive. It can lead to odd curiosities and strange actions. I personally consulted with law enforcement in Florida on a case where three boys dug up the remains of a suicide victim from a local graveyard. The used the decomposing body for rituals associated with the D & D game. "But, none of this ever happened to me!" we will hear people say. Or, ?It?s only a game!? Those words were composed directly by Satan. All sorts of devilish activity is excused by saying, ?It?s Only?.? (a game, a TV show, a movie, a song). Yes, it is ONLY a game, TV show, movie, song -- that may lead us to hell. As for the childish, "but none of this ever happened to me? excuse, I could stand in a barrel of gasoline lighting matches 100 times and never blow up. ?It never happened to me? I could say. In saying that I am giving a testimony that it is okay to take the risk. If someone is influenced by my testimony that ?I did it 100 times and nothing happened? and a person follows my example and dies, that person?s blood is on my hands. Your husband seems to recognize the serious danger of D & D. The problem is even if he can successfully play the game without offending God, will others succeed who are influenced by your husband to believe that playing the game is okay for Christians? We are our brother's keeper. We need to pay attention to the danger we make put others in who may not handle the situation as good as we do. Let me be blunt, in my opinion, no Christian as any busy playing D & D and no Christian has any business even having the game in their house. In fact, having such a device in the house can, in some instances, give demons permission to come into the house. We need to clean house. As to the game being harmless, there is no such thing as a harmless game that serves the purposes of Satan. When you play in Satan's sandbox, you WILL get Satan's sand in your shoes. We need to stop playing in the devil's sandbox, and we need to clean ourselves up so that we don't track Satan's sand into the house. There is an excellent article called "The Demon of Distraction" It deals with media, but role-play games are similar. George Grant, the guy who exposed Planned Parenthood in his book, The Big Lie, has written a paper on this subject too. It is called A Christian Response to Dungeons and Dragons This is a pdf file. I hope this helps. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Dungeons and Dragons

Rachel

Saturday, October 23, 2004

Question:

Hi Brother, I'm glad to hear you're feeling at least a little bit better, and I'll be praying for a FULL recovery (nothing is impossible with God!)

I have a question. Before we married, my husband would get together with a group of friends and play Dungeons and Dragons as the dungeon master, meaning he created the scenarios for the players to role-play in. While recognizing the POTENTIAL for the game to be used in evil ways, he said that he never created scenarios that were evil, and that usually his scenarios were formulated around some Christian principle and required good actions by the characters to bring about the end result. When I expressed deep misgivings about the game, he agreed not to participate until finding more evidence.

He argues that although there exist such characters in the game as magicians, demons, thieves, witches, etc., that these types of characters also appear in C.S. Lewis' books and in the Lord of the Rings books, and that as long as the person running the game only makes use of the game's attributes in a positive way, there is not really a distinct difference between the game and the aforementioned books.

He also understands that people can easily become obsessed with the game, but he says that as long as you're playing it as a GAME and not as your alternate LIFE it's harmless (provided, of course, that you're not giving the game an expressly occult theme).

Because I am not intimately familiar with the game's specifics, I was unable to answer him sufficiently, but looking through the rulebook really gave me the willies, and that combined with what I've heard about the game was enough to make me request that he stop.

I need to know if the game CAN BE alright, and if not, how would a "moral" playing of the game be different than Christian fantasy books.

My husband is perfectly willing to be convinced that the game should be avoided, but he would like some concrete reasons so that he could defend his position to the group of people he used to play with.

As an aside, what about other fantasy role-playing games, such as the Final fantasy games for playstation? I've been wondering about that for awhile, because I used to enjoy playing them until I second-guessed the morality of the game's use of magic spells and summoning spells, even though it was a good vs. evil game.

Where does one draw the line between dangerous and harmless as far as stories and games go? Are fairy tales bad since they involve witches and wizards and faires and the like?

What about fantasy novels such as Madeline L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time"? This has been a confusing topic for my husband and me, and I would really like to be able to have a consistent ethic concerning it. I sure don't want to give Satan any footholds in my life based on how I ENTERTAIN myself.

Thank you in advance for your time. I know it must be difficult to answer all of these questions, but it's so very helpful to all of us here.

God bless,
Rachel

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM+

Dear Rachel:

Thank you for your prayers. As of today I seem to be back to my normal illness (I have a chronic illness and disability) instead of the extraordinary illness of the past two weeks. Your continuing prayers are appreciated.

As for Dungeons and Dragons played in a "Christian" manner, I do not believe that is possible. This is NOT the same thing as the stories of C.S. Lewis. C.S. Lewis created a story from a Christian worldview; Tolkein did the same. It is within the Christian worldview as the foundation and presumption of the fiction that witches, magick, and demons are characterized.

Dungeons and Dragons was invented from a non-Christian worldview and specifically an occultic worldview that is utterly inconsistent with and hostile to Christ and the Truth.

Casting spells to overcome evil, for example, is an act of evil itself. The casting of spells and the like is an abomination before God.

The other major difference between those novels and the role-playing games is the dynamics involved in the manipulation of the imagination. Role-play is about a million times more powerful in manipulating and influencing the imagination than reading a novel, even a fantasy novel.

In addition, it is really foolish to take what is fundamentally an evil game and try to apply some Christian principles as an excuse to play the game. That is like trying to make a tasty apple pie with rotten apples.

I am also disturbed about your husband making a presumption that what he is doing is okay unless he can find evidence otherwise. As Christians our presumptions should always be on the side of that which is excellent and obviously beneficial and that which glorifies God.

To answer your question requires talking about the nature of how Satan influences us.

Satan?s primary position of attack is on our imagination. All sin begins with a thought, and then an imagination, and then a desire, and then an action.

If Satan can influence our imaginations he can manipulate our thinking and our behavior.

Satan has successfully found ways to manipulate our imaginations through music, movies, T.V., art, books and games; but what better way to get access to our imaginations than to encourage us to manipulate our own imaginations in role-playing games -- one of the most powerful form of manipulating imagination.

Role-play is well known to be a therapeutic device to help people to understand how others are feeling, to get rid of emotional baggage, and to train oneself to avoid a habit or to adopt a better personality demeanor. Police Officers role-play dangerous situations so that they can train themselves in gun battle situation to act automatically then the time comes. Practicing piano is a form of role-play that allows us to, in essence, create neural pathways that eventually allow us to play the piano without thought.

Images and imaginative ideas that we put into our brain in essence ?programs? our brain. This was expressed in the old days as ?garbage in, garbage out.? We cannot expect to put negative, occultic, death-oriented, magic oriented, witchcraft-oriented, non-Christian worldview and theologies into our brains and not be affected by it.

The Bible specifically teaches that we are to guard our senses because what we allow our senses to experience WILL affect our thinking and our imaginations and our behavior. Ultimately it can affect our eternal soul.

St. Paul in Philippians 4:7-8:

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

D & D can hardly be considered noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. In fact D & D presents a worldview and a theology that is occultic, magical, death-oriented, and totally inconsistent with Christianity.

The game is played by player assuming roles often of unsavory characters such as a thief, assassin, or magic user. In the old days with role-playing games of the civil war and the like players assumed roles of soldiers and related characters, but in today?s role-play games the orientation is toward occult-type characters.

Although imagination was used with the old battle games of the past, the focus was on mere role-play. Today, intense imagination is required, and the tendency now appears to be in the direction of developing an alter ego.

These games are, by nature, set within a worldview. In the past role-play games had a historical setting. Today it in one of fantasy and mythology. Although past games had violence, today there is immortality, idolatry, and occultism.

The most dangerous aspect of these games is that it manipulates the imagination and submits the imagination to ideas contrary to God. More than submission, these games encourage indulgence of exploring the imagination in these ungodly ways to the point of alter ego at times.

St. Paul states in 2 Corinthians 10:5:

We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive of obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

Our first Pope, St. Peter warns us in 2 Peter 3:17:

Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability.

The Theology of FRP (Fantasy Role Play) Games is polytheism against Christianity?s monotheism; nontheistic universe against Christianity?s theistic universe; reincarnation against Christianity?s one life and then the judgement, amoral universe against a moral universe of Christianity.

Some of the occult connections of FRP games include occult magic and casting of spells (some of these spells found in some books are ?real? spells used by real Satanists and witches), astral projection, necromancy, conjuration of demons, divination, etc. All these things are resolutely condemned by God.

One researcher, Stanley Dokupil, has noted on the subject of the danger of occultism in FRP games:

The very nature of D & D, and FRP in general, is such that the imagination is being guided into encounters with nonmaterial entities, forces, or spirits. Those entities, we are told, are mere fantasies with no basis in reality. If, however, those entities do actually exist in some form in the spirit world, then the line of demarcation between what is fantasy and what is actual with spiritual, demonic forces becomes extremely abstruse if not entirely nonexistent.

Regardless of the difference between reality and imagination, Elliot Miller cautions:

However real this distinction may be in the minds of the players, though, I feel no assurance that the spirit world will not respond when it is beckoned.

Then I was of high-school age I was extremely skeptical about anything reputedly supernatural. I recall engaging in a mock sî ce with a group of friends. Our lightheartedness was turned to fear when suddenly the ?medium?, my best friend, began to convulse, his eyes rolled back in his head, and a strange voice emerged from his throat. For the following two years this young Jew was tormented by spirits. Withdrawing from all social contacts, he haunted graveyards until he was delivered through the power of Jesus Christ.

FRP games have lead players into bizarre behavior. It can be very addictive. It can lead to odd curiosities and strange actions. I personally consulted with law enforcement in Florida on a case where three boys dug up the remains of a suicide victim from a local graveyard. The used the decomposing body for rituals associated with the D & D game.

"But, none of this ever happened to me!" we will hear people say. Or, ?It?s only a game!?

Those words were composed directly by Satan. All sorts of devilish activity is excused by saying, ?It?s Only?.? (a game, a TV show, a movie, a song). Yes, it is ONLY a game, TV show, movie, song -- that may lead us to hell.

As for the childish, "but none of this ever happened to me? excuse, I could stand in a barrel of gasoline lighting matches 100 times and never blow up. ?It never happened to me? I could say. In saying that I am giving a testimony that it is okay to take the risk. If someone is influenced by my testimony that ?I did it 100 times and nothing happened? and a person follows my example and dies, that person?s blood is on my hands.

Your husband seems to recognize the serious danger of D & D. The problem is even if he can successfully play the game without offending God, will others succeed who are influenced by your husband to believe that playing the game is okay for Christians?

We are our brother's keeper. We need to pay attention to the danger we make put others in who may not handle the situation as good as we do.

Let me be blunt, in my opinion, no Christian as any busy playing D & D and no Christian has any business even having the game in their house.

In fact, having such a device in the house can, in some instances, give demons permission to come into the house. We need to clean house.

As to the game being harmless, there is no such thing as a harmless game that serves the purposes of Satan. When you play in Satan's sandbox, you WILL get Satan's sand in your shoes. We need to stop playing in the devil's sandbox, and we need to clean ourselves up so that we don't track Satan's sand into the house.

There is an excellent article called "The Demon of Distraction" It deals with media, but role-play games are similar.

George Grant, the guy who exposed Planned Parenthood in his book, The Big Lie, has written a paper on this subject too. It is called A Christian Response to Dungeons and Dragons This is a pdf file.

I hope this helps.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.