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The Gen Con Live Auction last August was originally supposed to be sponsored by the Children’s Christian Fund, the favorite charity of Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons. It’s safe to assume that Gary probably donated a fair amount to the charity, himself.
So it’s rather unfortunate to read that CCF withdrew from sponsoring the auction, and therefore the receiving of the proceeds, when they discovered that some of the items to be sold were D&D material. I prefer to think of it as vast ignorance rather than vast stupidity, but I’m waiting to hear a response from CCF.
The proceeds instead went to the Fisher House Foundation.
(source)
Update: CCF finally responds. Somewhat lamely.
Update again: Clarification from GenCon. In essence, CCF declined to support the event before the event occurred. They didn’t turn down the money after the event. (source)
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“I prefer to think of it as vast ignorance rather than vast stupidity…”
I would say it is a lot of both. Hypocrisy at its finest… how sad.
Depressing. Seriously depressing. Particularly if he did donate…
…..there are no good words for this. Particularly not printable ones.
That’s a tough one. I can understand them not wanting to “sponsor” the auction if anything objectionable was going to be auctioned including D&D, swords, maces, demon costumes, etc. I’m not sure if that means the would have rejected the proceeds if offered. There is a verse in th Bible about things offered to idols and it holds that just because something is offered to a false god that does not exist does not mean it cannot be consumed/used by a Christian who is consuming or using it as what it is and not what significance it may have had when it was offered. Yet the same book in the Bible says that it accepting, consuming or using it offends our Christian conscience then we should not accept it. So to be fair them they may have simply withdrawn out of conscience.
D&D is evil! Eeeeeeeeviiiiiiilllllll!
Ironically, one of the creators is Christian.
Eeeeeeeviiiiiilllll!
Very sad. Even as a religious charity, I think they should put these things aside and accept the money for those that will need it. But it is good that the money ended up in the hands of someone else who needed it.
Religulous!
Giving them the benefit of the doubt, it may be that the CCF itself didn’t have a problem with D&D, but perhaps they were thinking that other prominent supporters of theirs would be bothered by the association.
Further evidence of the backwardness of Christianity.
It’s frustrating that now, where we are fortunate enough to self-educate on nearly any topic you can imagine with little more than the time involved, people’s useless fears or misgivings about something as beneficial as D&D can guide them to making obtuse decisions.
Wake up, people.
“Further evidence of the backwardness of Christianity.”
It’s thinking like this that begins the kind of misinformation we’re talking about in the first place. Just as not all D&D is related to evil, not all christians think like this. Seriously now…
[…] Christian Children’s Fund Refuses Charity Tainted by D&D CCF withdrew from sponsoring the auction, and therefore the receiving of the proceeds, when they discovered that some of the items to be sold were D&D material. I prefer to think of it as vast ignorance rather than vast stupidity, but I’m waiting to hear a response from CCF. […]
*rolls eyes* I’m a Christian and I gotta say, they’re idiots. Gygax was a christian for crying out loud.
[…] realize the money FDG donated earlier this year in Gary’s memory was tainted by D&D too… :) Christian Children’s Fund Refuses Charity Tainted by D&D:)by:)Purple Pawn __________________ Tom Tullis Fat Dragon Games […]
[…] they realize the money FDG donated earlier this year in Gary’s memory was tainted by D&D too? Christian Children’s Fund Refuses Charity Tainted by D&DbyPurple Pawn __________________ Tom Tullis Fat Dragon Games http://www.fatdragongames.com Last edited by […]
With any luck, the money will still get to the children that need it. Hopefully without all the ideological baggage the CCF would have brought along, baggage that would only have served to reinforce the cycle of poverty that victimized the recipients in the first place (Contraception and birth control BAD!).
Who knows? Maybe they are trying to be consistent by not taking the money. Then again, if it’s like most religious folks, they’re still voting for politicians who were in favor of state lotteries, even though they’re probably opposed to gambling. But, that money goes to education, so it’s okay I guess. Or, they’re probably voting for so-called “pro-life” presidents(whose opinions usually allow for some exceptions-which still equals choice). It’s just that D&D money is thought to be Satanic, and therefore one worse a sin than other sins. Oh well. I thought the D&D creators were supposedly the Great Satans? Turns out that one of the two men was a Christian, and wanted to give to a Christian organization. Thanks for being so kind with your donations, Gary. At least the Fisher House will benefit from your generosity.
Please forgive the afore-mentioned ramblings of a conservative-friendly libertarian!
Ridiculous. It shows total ignorance. D&D is a game. Its not “satanic” and does not promote “devil worship” in any way. I am Christian & have played the game for years.
I bet many of the critics of D&D have never sat and observed a game, or opened a rule book. Its fantasy. Its bad to have an imagination?
Hypocrits. Gambling is bad, its a sin. But Church bingo games are OK?? Bingo isnt gambling??
“It’s thinking like this that begins the kind of misinformation we’re talking about in the first place. Just as not all D&D is related to evil, not all christians think like this. Seriously now…”
There’s a disanalogy, however. D&D *itself* is not evil, it has nothing to do with devil-worship. Crap like the CCF’s position does indeed follow from religious conviction, even if not all religious people think this way. So the problem *is* with religion.
Please avoid any general shots at religion, religious convictions, or similar. Thank you.
Still no response from CCF.
Yehuda
As an active duty member of the military, I’m glad to see the money go to the Fisher House. As a Christian, I’m ashamed of the ignorance that’s sometimes perpetuated as “God’s will”. Maybe it was God’s will that the money go to the Fisher House. I know it will certainly be used to help a lot of very appreciative and deserving families.
[…] in Uncategorized at 17:41 0 by gillsmoke Christian Children’s Fund Refuses Charity Tainted by D&D What is this the eighties? My favorite part about the article was the inventer of D&D gave […]
now everybody can see how being lawful good is not a good idea… sarcasms aside, i hope they will reconsider this poor choice
I’m Attacking The Darkness…
Here’s a thought experiment for you: Let’s say you run a charity to care for impoverished kids around the globe and someone hands you a check for $17k. The money was raised from a charity auction of books and art – nothing racy, just…
All you bashing CCF really do not have a clue about what is going on. This most likely has nothing to do with CCF’s personal beliefs about D&D. CCF most likely has 100’s of donors who are Christians. Some of those Christians who support them definitely have a wrong view of D&D and probably never read game instructions, etc. Yet, it is to CCF’s long term interest for financial support that it not allow itself to be tainted in Christian circles by items that offend some Christians (like D&D). In addition, the bible gives clear direction that Christians may have freedoms (like playing games such as D&D) but they are required to NOT use their freedoms if it causes weaker Christians to stumble. I don’t expect non-Christians to understand this or even agree with what the Bible teaches, but I would encourage them to not judge Christian principles without “playing” — the same way you don’t want Christians to judge D&D without playing. (And please, a fund-raising event is not the time to try and correct the wrong thinking of Christians!) Save that for internet debates :-)