Religion vs Gaming

The argument is as old as role-playing games themselves - that games are evil, tools of the devil, Satanic, whatever. It's a topic guaranteed to draw heat in any town with even a remotely religious population, and has led to Dungeons & Dragons and even Pokémon being banned in schools across the world. The following is an actual transcript of an email discussion between Chris "Dual" Lansdell, our esteemed webmaster, and a young man who wishes to remain anonymous, mainly because he is afraid of being flamed to death. Please direct any comments to us, and they will be posted as follow-ups on this page.

Please note: the original email has been swallowed by our mail server, but it was along the lines of "Magic is an evil game with demonic artwork"

Well, I am obviouly going to disagree with the statement, but I do
understand your point of view. Anything that is addictive can be dangerous,
yes. However, people get addicted to all sorts of things, and no-one makes
any outcry surrounding ice cream, for example. Or chewing gum, or coffee.
Magic is as harmless as these. As for the demonic appearance of some
characters...I am of the belief that without evil, there can be no good.
Making something look demonic is not in and of itself going to give anyone
ideas about mass murder or devil worship. Those ideas would have to be in
their heads already. True, you hear stories about people going off the deep
end having played Magic or Dungeons & Dragons, but those are an isolated
(very) few. The millions of others who play the game and are never affected
by it don't make the news. Why? Cos they're normal.

Hope that puts some of your ill feeling at ease. I would be more than happy
to continue this discussion with you should you wish to reply.

Chris Dual Lansdell
Webmaster, Melgin's Keep


Thanks for your speedy reply. I don't mean to be argumentative, but even
addiction to ice cream, as you said, can be dangerous for your health. The
demonic looks represent different things to different people. I see nothing
good in demons.
I'll be frank with you. I'm born again. What I mean by that is that I
believe in God. I believe that He sent his Son Jesus Christ to earth to die
on the cross for my sin. I also realize that demons are incredibly powerful,
and nothing good can come of being involved with them. It's just another way
the Devil, the "Chief Demon" can keep people under his influence.
I don't mean to sound like a religious nut, but everything you do, good or
bad, has eternal ramififcations. Addiction to Magic, or the like, can keep
you from a saving knowledge of Christ, until it's too late.
Again, thank you for your speedy reply. I'd be happy to hear from you again
in the near or distant future.


I, too, believe heartily in God. I would not call myself "born again",
because I have problems with that expression. And I agree with you totally
that no good can come from being associated with demons. But without an evil
presence in the world, how can we know what good is? We would have no
yardstick by which to measure our actions.

Even so, Magic itself is not inherently evil. A piece of cardboard cannot
possibly be a tool of evil any more than it can be a tool of good. I
strongly believe that God is everywhere. If Magic is a tool of the Devil to
keep people under his influence, then why is it that I play for several
hours each week, yet still pray and live a God-fearing life?

The Lord our God is a forgiving God. He is a tolerant God. He is not a
vengeful or strict God. He accepts worship in whatever form we feel
comfortable giving it to him. I am sure you cannot deny any of this. The
logical extension, then, is that if I or anyone else who plays Magic,
Pokimon, or any of a hundred other addictive games, can continue to worship
God, then how can it be evil?

Chris Dual Lansdell
Webmaster, Melgin's Keep


Again, thank you for the speedy reply. You had several good
questions/remarks in your last email. I'll attempt to answer the questions
that I can.
1. There is a big diference between believing in God and being born again.
I've been born into God's family, and I have a personal relationship with
him.
2. How do we know what good is? We read God's letter to us. The Bible. I
believe that the Bible was inspired by God, and since he is perfection and
holiness personified, how could he give us bad info? That is the
"yardstick".
3. It's not the game that is evil. It's the addiction to it that makes it
dangerous.
4. I can pray to Buddha, but that doesn't make me a Buddhist. I could cite
many more examples like this, but I don't have a whle lot of time here.
5. Our youth pastor's father is not by any means God-fearing, but in his
business he used Biblical principles, and he was enormously successful.
6. God is a merciful God. If He fried me every time I screwed up, as soon as
I screwed up, I wouldn't be talking to you.
7. God doesn't exactly take worship in any form. I know He doesn't approve
of human sacrifice for example.(I know this is an extreme example.)
8. My last point is, what are you really worshipping. You say you spend
several hours a week playing Magic. How much time do you spend with God?
Which do you spend more time thinking about?
I hope this clears up a few of your questions. I hope to hear from you soon.


>1. There is a big diference between believing in God and being born again.
>I've been born into God's family, and I have a personal relationship with
>him.

I agree there is a difference, but all the people claiming to be "born
again" that I have met have a tendency to try and force others into their
style and way of worship. I live in a heavily Pentecostal community and I
personally do not agree with their...shall we say energetic way of preaching
and worship. I myself am an Anglican and prefer the more traditional style.
Each to his own, though.

>2. How do we know what good is? We read God's letter to us. The Bible. I
>believe that the Bible was inspired by God, and since he is perfection and
>holiness personified, how could he give us bad info? That is the
>"yardstick".

I agree with you on the Bible, but it is common knowledge that it
contradicts itself in several places. Several versions of Christianity
believe that alcohol is a sin, yet there are several references in the Bible
to drinking alcohol, and Jesus himself turned water into wine.

>3. It's not the game that is evil. It's the addiction to it that makes it
>dangerous.

So it's not the game you have a problem with, it's the addiction. It is a
fact that people can play the game without becoming addicted, just like I
can go out tonight for a bottle of beer without becoming addicted. Some
people have addictive personalities.

>5. Our youth pastor's father is not by any means God-fearing, but in his
>business he used Biblical principles, and he was enormously successful.

I'm not quite following this. I do not advocate any form of religion
anywhere, nor do I condemn any.

>6. God is a merciful God. If He fried me every time I screwed up, as soon
as
>I screwed up, I wouldn't be talking to you.

True. Therefore, if I am indeed sinning by advocating a game that MIGHT turn
some people into addicts or weirdos, then God will know that this was never
my intention and will forgive me.

>7. God doesn't exactly take worship in any form. I know He doesn't approve
>of human sacrifice for example.(I know this is an extreme example.)

Point taken. What I meant was that I don't need to go to church every week
or pray 3 times a day for God to know I believe and trust in Him and try to
live my life by His rules.

>8. My last point is, what are you really worshipping. You say you spend
>several hours a week playing Magic. How much time do you spend with God?
>Which do you spend more time thinking about?

To me, God is not a jealous God. he understands that the average person has
an everyday life to lead, and cannot dedicate even the majority of their
time to Him. My webpage, and my playing of Magic and other games, is what I
do for a living, and if I don't earn one of those I won't have anything
left.
As an aside, would you object to me posting this discussion on my webpage,
to demonstrate the opposite views on gaming? I would be happy to withold
your name if you would prefer

Chris "Dual" Lansdell


First of all, it was not my intention to preach at you, so forgive me if I
sounded that way. Salvation is a personal decision that you can't be
railroaded into.
Second of all, the Bible was written by a God of perfection. It contains no
errors in its original text. It's true that over time  as the Bible was
translated into different languages some errors came about as a result of
man's imperfection, but we're talking punctuation and capitalization. Any
apparent contradictions are merely what happens when we try to understand
God. With the help of the Holy Spirit(God), who we get when we are saved,
the veil over our eyes is removed. A veil placed there by the devil. But now
we're getting into theology.
Versions of Christianity is a term I don't agree with. Christian means
little Christ. If you follow Christ and his Word, the Bible, I couldn't care
less what your denomination is.
About that drinking thing. I have never consumed alcohol, and I probably
never will. That's my choice. There's a passage in the Bible that deals with
this very well. I don't have a Bible at my disposal, but I'll see if I can
find one for next time. It's about the weaker brother. I won't elaborate
until I have it in front of me.
I believe that I mispoke myself on point #3. I'll start with your beer
illustration. Alcohol affects you from the first drink. Magic works the same
way. It slowly pulls you in as time goes on. Eventually you might find it
hard to not play for a while. Like, maybe, impossible. Even though you're
not playing 24/7, you couldn't let a period of time, say 3 days, go by
without playing. I watch several people at school playing every spare
minute, and planning to play after school. It's nuts, in my view.
I have to go. I'll try to answer the rest of your questions on Monday.
That reminds me, I only have internet/email access at school, so I won't be
able to talk again until Monday. See you then.
And about posting our converation, I'd prefer to wait on that until another
day.

Here as well an email is missing. It was from Chris stating, among other things, that 
the Bible is not perfect.

I'm back. I'll be able to talk to you almost every day this week, but they
probably won't be too long. I have a lot to do.
First of all, I can't drop what you said the other day about the Bible. It
is perfect. If you have time, take a look at Psalm 22, then look at one of
the crucifikion accounts Matthew, Mark Luke, or John. You'll find several
direct quotes of Psalm 22 in the passages. Then, remember that the Psalm was
written over 1000 years before the Crucifixion ever happened, by a different
author.
Now about that drinking thing. Forget that first passage I said. I looked it
up, and it didn't work as well as I thought. But I found another one. I
don't have a reference on it, but it works. It goes something like, Take
care of your body because it is the temple of God. I don't believe that
alcohol would be a good way to take care of your body. I just finished
studying its effects on you.
Also the "wine" that Jesus made was just grape juice. I don't think they had
alcohol back then.
Now, you said,"Therefore, if I am indeed sinning by advocating a game that
MIGHT turn some people into addicts or weirdos, then God will know that this
was never my intention and will forgive me."
If this game even had the slightest inkling of even possibly making someone
go nuts and do something drastic in any form, I'd stop immediately. Another
thing is, for God to forgive you, you need to be repentant.
God has not given us a book of things to do every day. All he wants from us
is a relationship. A relationship will require an investment of your time,
but it is well worth it. What I think is cool is that we have a 24/7 direct
line to God, the Creator. That's awesome. He talks to us too. Through His
PERFECT Word.
God has said that he is a jealous God. His first Commandment was "Thou shalt
have no other gods before me". That sounds like jealousy to me. Righteous
jealousy.
I do my best to live my life in a manner that pleases Him. Thats what He
wants.
God is a God of plenty. He could take your website away from you, and then
provide you with another means of supporting yourself. Maybe even better
that what you have now.
Gotta go.

Again here, Chris's email is missing. I guess he stopped including it when he replied. 
Oh well. It shouldn't be too hard to guess at what was said...
First of all, nice hearing from you. Sorry if I took a while in answering
your message, but I've been busy.
Second, could you please give me a reference for your alleged slave passage.
I do not recall ever reading anything of the type. Ever.
About the Jehovah's Witnesses. You can take any verse you want in the Bible
and twist it to mean whatever you want it to. That doesn't change the actual
meaning of the verse, but often causes people to miss it. The most important
thing is to interpret the Bible literally. Take it at face value.
I'll give you the alcohol thing, but as a wise man once said, everything in
moderation. I don't recall ever seeing Jesus drunk.
The fewer triggers there are, the less likely that someone will blow up. I
know it's a little unrealistic to decree that all of them should be removed,
but every little bit helps.
If you're unaware of the laws of a particular state, and get busted for it,
you still get in trouble. 1 John 1:9 says,"If we confess our sins He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness."
And yes if you don't confess, your still guilty and will suffer the
consequences. But you know, God lays out pretty clearly what we should and
should not do. I make a habit of confessing sin that I know I did, but can't
remember specifically.
God said in 1 Thessolonians 5:17, I think, "Pray continually". That doesn't
mean constant verbage, but a heart of relying on God, because we can't do
it.
One good thing about God is that He doesn't make us figure Him out.
Something for which I am grateful. He tells what to do to please him.
One thing I'd like to say before I go is, don't make God tell whether
something is good or bad because God has wired everything with consequences.
Some good, some bad. Sometimes He'll skip those all together, and take care
of you Himself. Not something to be desired, if what you're doing os bad.
Fortunately, he usually gives us warnings. Through friends, or reading the
Bible. They should be heeded.
I guess that's all. See you soon.