Do any of the religious types around here have and explanation for this?

[self biased]

from R.K. Milholland's 'Something Positive'.

[DRoseDARs]

"Inane ass-babble?" Gonna have to remember that one.

[Ben Kenobi]

With respect to D&D in particular?

All I can say is the usual, all things in moderation.

As for the D&D suicide, I've never heard anything along those lines.

[Elok]

Well, I don't know that "religious types" is a sufficiently specific appeal. I don't think there are any devout muslims on this site, but if there are they probably have no comment...
With that aside, what do you want a response to? My personal opinion on Dungeons and Dragons is that it's distinctly lame to roll dice and pretend you're actually an elf-wizard fighting a dragon. That's about it. I don't know the specific rules of D&D, but from what I can tell they just use references to Demon Summoning or what-have-you because it sounds cool to the adolescent cliques who follow the phenomenon. Such references in the grab-bag spirit are harmless and do not imply satanism any more than our use of the word "avatar" implies belief in Vishnu.
As for the weird denial, I'd guess the minister is just a little jumpy from the continuous receipt of hate-mail, and threw out reflexive stonewalls just to get the writer off his back. You can't run a site or article or whatever expressing strong opinions of any kind without getting several flames in the mailbox. Then again, I don't know the parties concerned so I'm just talking out my rear.

[Dinner]

Religious nutballs have been crusading against role playing games for thirty years. Apparently these idiots believe that RPGs are like a drug which will brain wash poor little children into commiting evil stanic things and cause them to kill themselves.

Personally, I'd say it isn't the kids who are having trouble decerning reality.

[Boris Godunov]

What are you asking relgious folk to explain, exactly? Seems rather vague.

The D&D suicide story seems pretty aprocryphal to me, though I suppose it is possible. But considering that out of the tens of millions who play the game all the time, if only one person throughout its 25-year history has killed himself, I'd say that doesn't speak well to arguments against it.

If you want real comedy, read the Jack Chick religious comic on D&D--it's a hoot!

[Cyclotron]

My take is that if you commit suicide, there was already something seriously wrong with you.

I'm open to any accusations against RPGs, but I would really like to see some kind of proof first, which our anti-RPG friends here seem to be lacking.

As a long time player of D&D, I'm not aware of any RPG linked depression, suicide, delusions, or even anybody taking the game seriously into real life. On the contrary, I've found it builds creative imagination and problem solving skills. That might be just my bias, but I certainly have seen no evidence that it is harmful.

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
If you want real comedy, read the Jack Chick religious comic on D&D--it's a hoot!

That's a good one. Crazy.

[Elok]

Ah yes, Jack Chick...the number one enemy of Christian missionaries everywhere. I've never read the D&D one. I did like the one where the bully steals the kid's Chick comics, reads them, and converts. Very realistic. I've also read and liked/vomited at:
-"Trust Me," which shows us that drugs are wrong because you get caught in a federal sting and wind up catching AIDS from a burly sodomite you're roomed with in jail. Also, it teaches us that inner-city kids wave guns and knives out of the schoolbus window.
-"The Traitor." Based On A True Story...apparently he took "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" too seriously. Indian priest turns his back on the human-sacrifice cult of Kali, is tortured by demons as a consequence, but is finally saved by the nice Christian missionary. The Missionary explains that he comes from a very special god with only two arms and one head, that all the Hindu gods are just demons from hell, and that the priest shouldn't thank him, he's just taking up the white man's burden. Or maybe that last part was just implied.
I think I can safely say that Jack Chick does not represent the views of myself, Obi-wan, or just about any other Christian on this site. At least, I hope not. I know nobody said they did; just wanted to make it clear.

[MRT144]

actually jack chick is my personal hero

[Boris Godunov]

Chick is a pretty obvious Nazi, when one thinks about it. Notice that his Christian protagonists are always Aryan whites who are very attractive. His tracts would give Hitler a woody.

[Dinner]

I looked up a few of the comics on the internet. They seems really boring. Where are the funny ones? I mean I can only take so much of the "I commited suicide and now I will burn in hell forever" type BS.

[MRT144]

the dungeons and dragons one is a hilarious

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046%5F01.asp

obviously the DM is the worst DM ever!

i think chick could have just called people who play D&D losers and got his message through, rather than trying to associate it with the occult and thus making it cool.

now the idea of a daughter using a mind control spell so her father could buy her 200 dollars worth of more D&D crap...thats aiming low.

[Dinner]

Why does religion make people believe this sort of trash? Are they lobotomized? BTW you where right that D&D was funny.

[MRT144]

to accept religion as fact you have to turn off the part of your brain that accepts reality.