Comments on: Charity money befouled by D&D

By: Allan Sugarbaker

Allan Sugarbaker — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:50:56 +0000

From a GenCon forums post by Jeannette LeGault, Director of Event Programming - Gen Con LLC:

Gen Con contacted CCF about our intentions and asked for a logo and some promotional materials that we could use on our website. We were informed by a person at CCF that they would not be able to provide us with these materials, apparently due to our association with D&D. [Emphasis mine]

We have a new thread on this here, but it seems this was a still a refusal to be involved with D&D, whether it would benefit children or not.

By: Third Eye

Third Eye — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:06:02 +0000

They could be sincere here, yet it pisses me off when I see relatively small and namely religiously-inspired charity institusion having a board, fundraising specialists and the like: how much goes to them and how much to their supposed target?

By: Sethra007

Sethra007 — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:58:12 +0000

@Adam:

Not at all. It’s very common for charities to have very strict limits on how their names are
used by other organizations, even if those organizations are donating.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:05:47 +0000

That sounds an AWFUL lot like covering their asses.

By: Jennifer K

Jennifer K — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:18:44 +0000

This is inaccurate and a quick email to CCF easily clears this up. I know because I did so. I was astounded when I read this story. I could not believe a charity I personally respect (and I am a hardcore atheist) would be so…dumb. Here is the email I recieved from CCF.

“Dear Concerned Gamer:

Thank you for writing to Anne Goddard and sharing your concerns. Anne was traveling when she received your email. We discussed your concern and she asked that I respond on her behalf Please know that we take your email very seriously.

There appears to be a misunderstanding which I would like to correct. When Gen Con contacted CCF about its auction, we were pleased to accept donations. However, we couldnâ€™t lend our name for publication because our policies have specific criteria for endorsements. We were unaware that this had caused any problem or concern for Gen Con until we began receiving emails. This decision was in no way intended to be a reflection on Mr. Gygax, gaming enthusiasts or the game Dungeon and Dragons. We have the utmost respect for the gaming community and were touched by the generosity expressed through your auction. We were disappointed that we were not the recipients of the donation but we were pleased that another worthy organization benefited.

We realize this has become a topic of discussion in the gaming community and we hope you will help us by sharing this response.

The needs of children are great and we welcome your support. Should you wish to learn more we invite you to visit our website at http://www.christianchildrensfund.org.

Again, I thank you for taking the time to voice your concern. Your passion for gaming and your support for children are admirable.

Sincerely,

Cheri Dahl

Vice President,

International Communications and

Fundraising”

By: Peter Brunton

Peter Brunton — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:06:24 +0000

It really pisses me off when this kind of stuff turns up. As a Christian, I feel embaressed by the fact that there are so many narrow minded idiots like this out there, and as a roleplayer it infuriates me that I can’t talk about my hobby to anyone in my church because they’re all convinced that D&D is evil, just because the only place they’ve heard about it is in Christian magazines.

By: Jarrod Acquistapace

Jarrod Acquistapace — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:18:46 +0000

As a game designer, minister, and enthusiast who was suspended for carrying a GURPS rulebook in middle school (in 1994!), I can thoroughly attest that said asshats permeate the waking world with alarming regularity. It’s all gone Mazes and Monsters with these folk.

By: Allan Sugarbaker

Allan Sugarbaker — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:41:16 +0000

It was in the last sentence of the story: Fisher House Foundation gets the money instead of CCF.

By: Boris

Boris — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:20:25 +0000

So who will end up getting the money as an alternate?

By: Michael Erb

Michael Erb — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:04:31 +0000

As both a Christian and a journalist, I am going to echo the “asshat” sentiment first posted.

Of course, we recently had a school refuse to hand out our October issue of Parent Magazine because I had a review of the card game “Gloom” in my column on Halloween games, and the school principal felt it sent the wrong message to the students and community. She’d never played the game, refused to look at the company’s Web site and made the decision purely on her own.

So those kinds of people are still out there.

By: misuba

misuba — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:35:51 +0000

According to Wikipedia, the CCF was founded by a Presbyterian minister and has no current formal connection to any church, let alone the Catholic church.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 17:25:44 +0000

And just think how far that money could have gone to pay out the legal settlements for all those Alter Boys…visionless Fundies.

By: Mad Brew

Mad Brew — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:28:56 +0000

I love it. I am glad they turned down the money, I’d hate to think that some of my money (participated in the auction) went to a bunch of dumbasses, fortunately another charity (Fisher House), that I am glad to support, stepped up and was more than willing to take the donation.

By: Starhawk

Starhawk — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 11:39:30 +0000

I agree with Evan. The “Satanic D&D” craze was starting to pass when I graduated high school in the mid-90’s.

By: Evan Waters

Evan Waters — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 07:00:35 +0000

“Most” Christians? The tide of anti-D&D rhetoric passed a long time ago, and I doubt the average journalist would care. If they’re hanging on to this outdated panic, it’s their own fault.