My Life is so Totally Ruined (or, Why Pat Robertson is an Idiot)

Polarizing men create polarized opinions about them.  Some of them are celebrated, and some of them are reviled.  Some of them start off either reviled or celebrated and, over time, become the opposite.  Senator Joseph McCarthy was, at one time, thought to be a hero defending the American way from those dirty evil Commies.  Today, his name is associated with McCarthyism, which has become an associated term with witch-hunting, for attacking others with little evidence, to assume guilt until proven innocent.

Pat Robertson, is one of these men.

For the unaware, Pat Robertson hosts a Evangelical Christian show known as "The 700 Club."  It is a religious news/lifestyle show that discusses current events and the like through an Evangelical, Fundamentalist weltanschauung.  Stating that, I'm sure it is pretty obvious that I would disagree wildly with both Mr. Robertson and The 700 Club:

Him                                                                                                Me
Christian                                                                                         Pagan
Conservative                                                                                   Liberal
Homophobic                                                                                   No H8
Successful show host                                                                       Unsuccessful Blogger
Looks nice in a traditional tie                                                            Bowties are cool

I could honestly go on and on, but I think you get the idea by now.

Opposites

So imagine that I am going on some of the news-sites I sometimes go to so I can read up on current events, and I come across Pat Robertson claiming that Dungeons and Dragons literally destroyed peoples lives.  Forget for a moment, that I am a huge nerd and play D&D often, what evidence does he have that D&D is some sort of ticking spiritual time-bomb?  Sure, there was that ONE incident that happened back in the 70's, an incident that launched such things like Mazes and Monsters and Patricia Pulling's Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons.  However, that is only one story of many.  In fact, The American Council of Suicidology discovered no links between role-playing and suicide.  In fact, there are studies that show that RPGs like D&D and such are beneficial in therapy.  Interesting what research brings up!

I would not be knocking Mr. Robertson here if he stated something like "Dungeons and Draons is antithetical to Charismatic/Evangelical Christianity."  I would honestly just look at it as just an religious opinion on the subject.  However, Dungeons and Dragons destroying lives?  I think I have mo anecdotal evidence to back up the Sociological and Psychological research to show that RPGs have beneficial affects on people.  I've heard about how RPGs got kids off the streets and got them to turn their lives around, to take a philosophical view on ethics.  Many actors have played RPGs in their career, respectable actors like Judi Dench (Dame Judi Dench to you).

We cannot deny how much ass Dame Judi Dench kicks!

I know I know, appealing to celebrities does not a point prove, but   I don't see her career in the gutter, and she played.

Pat Robertson might look at me and see a Satan-worshiper that sacrifices babies and desecrates hosts; that doesn't change the fact that I am a college graduate and a philanthropist who feels a spiritual connection to many Gods instead of one singular one.  The thing is, is that I wouldn't sit back and call Pat Robertson a Christofascist that believes that a woman must marry her rapist or that you have to go far from any dwellings only to take a shit in a hole, or that The 700 Club leads to delusions and ruins families.  I have no proof of that, thus making that claim would make me no worse than he.  Mr. Robertson is human, just like us all, and has his flaws and the like.

But from what I can tell, from both research and anecdotes, no, Dungeons and Dragons is no more likely to ruin your life than reading the Bible daily or shopping at Target or Wal-Mart.