Fundamentalist Christians and Negative Conceptions of Dungeons & Dragons
This paper is an attempt to explain the negative conceptions about role-playing games, especially claims that the games are Satanic. I will be using many primary sources from the Internet, most of which are from Christian websites, to determine precisely what is being claimed about the games. I will be using more academic sources in order to try to explain where the claims are coming from. As the websites primarily focus on Dungeons & Dragons (henceforth noted as D&D), I too will focus on this game. First I will examine the most common conceptions one by one and try to determine the source of each, and then I will examine the claims as a whole to give an overall theory about them.
The first claim that I’ll discuss is that D&D causes players to commit suicide. According to http://www.webzonecom.com/ccn/cults/satn10.txt, Dr. Radedki, “chairman of the National Coalition on Television Violence”, said “[t]here is no doubt in my mind that the game Dungeons and Dragons is causing young men to kill themselves and others.” A character in the Chick Tract “Dark Dungeons” commits suicide after her character dies in the game. The conception seems to be that players get so obsessed by the game, so enthralled, that when something goes wrong (like their character dying) they have difficulty dealing with the consequences. They have so much difficulty, it is claimed, that they sometimes kill themselves because of it.
This claim appears to stem from a few different events. This brief history is agreed upon by a number of authors, but I am specifically using Brian Webber’s account, from http://www.voicesofunreason.com/essays/dungeonsanddragonsnotasatanicgame, and Paul Cardwell, Jr.’s article in the Skeptical Enquirer. The first event was in 1979, when a student named James Dallas Egbert III disappeared from Michigan State University’s campus. It was theorized by an investigator named William Dear that Egbert was lost in the steam tunnels under the campus, acting as a character in D&D. He was found about a month later, but his disappearance had already been highly publicized, starting a new public perception of the game. A year later Egbert committed suicide.
In 1982, a boy named Irving Pulling II committed suicide.
Amazon.com’s US operation business model is based on “sell all, carry few”. Amazon offers consumers a wide selection of products while keeping inventories at low levels. A major interest for Amazon in the US is optimization of netwo...
Is Amazon a bubble waiting to burst? The following discussions in this research paper will explore several key issues from its birth to its debatable future. Amazon is not a stranger to arguments revolving around questions of its longevity and success. When the systemic bubble of 1999 arrived Amazon’s corporate goal was to get big, to do it fast, and to establish a hold of new markets before any other competitor. During this time frame Amazon began branching out and selling anything and everything. With the burst of the internet bubble in 2000 and 2001, Amazon changed its goal from growth to aggressively making profits in all areas of their business. In 2001, Amazon’s founder and CEO stated in a Wall Street Journal article “We’ll ferociously manage the products we carry so that we sell only products that are profitable. The thirty-pound box of nails isn’t long for our world” (Elmer-DeWitt, 2001).
All the developed countries (developing countries are also in no way lagging behind) the incidence of the people being monitored under various surveillance systems is high of which closed circuit television system (CCTV) is gaining dominance. For instance, the UK has over 4.2 million of them, giving it a ratio of one for every 14 persons and the USA is reported to have been installing it on a rapid pace in every conceivable location as town centers, schools, public transportation systems etc with a spiraling budget estimated at $100 million. With the terrorists attacks looming large in the wake of 9/11 attacks and despite the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the trends are going towards more and more technology oriented surveillance methods. This has naturally caused widespread concerns about the privacy issues and necessitated more evidence based research to inform policy and practice.
The video game world is full of wonders, fantasy worlds, and even real life scenarios that we see on television. There are games based off of television shows, popular movies, and even comic book universes. In David Perry’s speech and presentation, “Are Video Games Better Than Life?” he brought up a lot of points about gaming both from its humble beginnings to where we are today. However, he made it clear that the discussion was to be about the video game world. Are video games better than reality? This is a hard question with various and diverse answers. It is something that people from just about all walks of life have an opinion about. Through the use of a media presentation, he showed the diverse evolution of games; how since 2008, they started to become more realistic despite the fantasy storylines and worlds. Even in our world, video games have found a way to make things more realistic from the comfort of your home and television. Video games such as, NBA 2K8, The Matrix, Half Life, and Need for Speed: Underground show that reality is merging steadily with the video game universe. It was also a relevant factor that he showed the effect of more realistic games and their evolution on an actual person. It was stunning to see this person, Michael Highland, talk about how he went from an outgoing, energetic child to an almost reclusive person addicted to video games. Still, where does that lead the question of what the effects of video game violence? Is it a therapeutic outlet that gamers use to vent daily frustrations or is it something detrimental that is warping the minds of our youth to commit violent crimes?
Surveillance cameras have helped hundreds of law enforcement agencies solve thousands of crimes throughout the nation. They have become so helpful that most law enforcement agencies are planning on setting them up on street corners, buildings, publication parks, and on their own officers. There are many cities across the nation that have began to use surveillance cameras. Setting up cameras is a pivotal technique to solving and preventing crimes. Although, it is often argued that having law enforcement surveillance cameras set up throughout the nations communities is an invasion of privacy, citizens should sacrifice a little bit of privacy in return for their safety and protection of civil rights against criminals and police officers.
The Mayo Clinic defines a blood transfusion as “a routine medical procedure in which donated blood is provided to you through a narrow tube placed within a vein in your arm”. The first human blood transfusion on record was conducted by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys, a French physician during the late 1600’s. Although Denys’ transfusions weren’t sound proof and often written off as unorthodox, he unknowingly ushered in a new era of medicine and laid the foundation for modern advances in Hematology. I choose this topic because I volunteer to donate blood four times a year alongside thousands of other people. On average these donations help save 4.5 million Americans that would die in a years’ time without a blood transfusion. These generous people
Since the creation of Amazon in 1995, it has been a reference of adopting a successful strategy which has preserved over time; being the largest online store in the world nowadays. In addition, i...
There have been so many experiments and studies to try and figure out if video games have a negative or positive effect on our children. A growing body of research is linking violent video game play to aggressive cognitive, attitudes and behaviors (D.A. Gentile, 2004). The 'Path of the 'Path of the 'Path of the 'Path of the 'Path of the 'Path of the 'Path of the 'Path of Video games can obviously be dangerous for our children, causing aggression, bad performances in school and obesity. Although we cant blame all of these problems on the use of video games, there have been many studies to prove so.... ...
Studies have shown that there is a wide variety of physical and behavioral effects that video games can have on their players.
The second reason video games are an issue is that videogames have been linked to a variety of mental and physical ailments. The most common physical health problems tend to be arthritis from barely moving the fingers while using a keyboard or game controller, and a variety of eye problems due to constantly staring at the game screen. The most frequently occurring mental problems range from delusions to schizophrenia and becoming desensitized to violence. Keegan says that "repeated exposure to violent images can make people less sensitive to the effects of violence" (1). All of these ailments, both mental and physical, can and will occur in many people, but this statement only holds true if the player spends much of his or her free time playing video games. The essay “Violence and the Media: A Psychological Analysis,” shows how the number of hours spent watching a television program may be more influential than the nature of the program itself (Javier 4). While this statement refers ...
In the article “Why we need violent video games,” Gilsdorf draws attention to the fact that violent video games are not the reason for aggressive behavior amongst youths; rather he suggests that they are an outlet for people’s aggression (Gilsdorf, 2013). Ethan Gilsdorf started out in journalism as a Paris-based travel writer and he is the author of the travel memoir investigation Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms. He is known to be a writer, journalist and a critic (“About Ethan Gilsdorf”, n.d.). The author’s purpose in this article is to inform the readers that violent video games are not always related to the violence in reality. This is a timely argument as the article assesses the relation between violence and video games
Brady, Robert. "Violent Virtual Video Games and Hostile Thoughts." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media (2004). EBSCO. DePaul Library. 7 Mar. 2008.
People know that for the most part they can rely on Amazon.com for fast delivery and a wide selection of goods and somewhat affordable prices. Amazon.com has an efficient and advanced supply chain model, which is why they are able to guarantee quick product delivery to customers. They have strong customer loyalty due to their string customer service and unique business model. Customers freely and openly rate products and services which allows for greater customer satisfaction because customers are able to perform better product research in order to find the best fit for their needs. There are many benefits to be a strictly online business, for example having less overhead expenses compared to normal department stores with multiple locations and employees. and more money to give back to shareholders (Free SWOT). Customers can shop anywhere, anytime, and in any condition they choose. And depending on where the customer may live, they will always get their desired product within a week unless notified otherwise. It is easy to understand why Amazon.com has become a giant in the E-shopping
Amazon is one of the largest brands in the world, reporting $23.18 billion in sales last quarter. They operate with a customer-first mentality. This is clear in their mission statement, which is as follows: “We seek to be Earth’s most customer-centric company for four primary customer sets: consumers, sellers, enterprises, and content creators (Amazon).” Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos seeks to bring the highest quality products and most efficient services to their customers. According to critics of Amazon, Bezos’ goals have lent themselves to a
The past decade has seen a proliferation of law enforcement security cameras in public areas, with central London having more cameras than any other city. In cities like New York, Los Angeles, and central London, cameras can be found at almost every intersection. Terrorist attacks have been a major basis for this significant increase in law enforcement security cameras; however, privacy advocates, along with many of the public, feel that it’s an invasion of privacy. People are concerned that all this video surveillance, which is continuously expanding, has created a “Big Brother” society, where people are constantly watched. This creates paranoia and unease for people that just want to go about living there private lives, without feeling that their every move is being watched. The increased presence of surveillance cameras is almost compared to George Orwell’s novel from 1984, where he imagined a future in which people would be monitored and controlled by the government. One question that needs to be asked is: does the benefits of law enforcement security cameras outweigh the negative sides to it? Although the invasion of privacy is a serious argument against law enforcement cameras; nevertheless, it should be seen as a valuable tool to help fight crime. As long as surveillance cameras are in public places and not in people's homes, privacy advocates should not be concerned.