How many kids turned away from religion because the Satanic Panic taught them religious leaders didn't know what they were talking about? Sad on so many levels.

Quote from: Ruprecht on January 26, 2025, 10:45:04 AMHow many kids turned away from religion because the Satanic Panic taught them religious leaders didn't know what they were talking about? Sad on so many levels.

A grain of sand moving through the hourglass is not what makes time pass.

Quote from: HappyDaze on January 26, 2025, 10:55:59 AM

Quote from: Ruprecht on January 26, 2025, 10:45:04 AMHow many kids turned away from religion because the Satanic Panic taught them religious leaders didn't know what they were talking about? Sad on so many levels.

A grain of sand moving through the hourglass is not what makes time pass.

In fact, the observation of an event demonstrating the Second Law of Thermodynamics is the definition of "time."

Quote from: Eirikrautha on January 26, 2025, 11:05:04 AM

Quote from: HappyDaze on January 26, 2025, 10:55:59 AM

Quote from: Ruprecht on January 26, 2025, 10:45:04 AMHow many kids turned away from religion because the Satanic Panic taught them religious leaders didn't know what they were talking about? Sad on so many levels.

A grain of sand moving through the hourglass is not what makes time pass.

In fact, the observation of an event demonstrating the Second Law of Thermodynamics is the definition of "time."

correlation =/= causation

Quote from: HappyDaze on January 26, 2025, 12:48:18 PM

Quote from: Eirikrautha on January 26, 2025, 11:05:04 AM

Quote from: HappyDaze on January 26, 2025, 10:55:59 AM

Quote from: Ruprecht on January 26, 2025, 10:45:04 AMHow many kids turned away from religion because the Satanic Panic taught them religious leaders didn't know what they were talking about? Sad on so many levels.

A grain of sand moving through the hourglass is not what makes time pass.

In fact, the observation of an event demonstrating the Second Law of Thermodynamics is the definition of "time."

correlation =/= causation

"Eppur si muove."

This was a really good video. I knew about the Satanic Panic and had a general inkling it had been caused by grifters of some sort, but never had the names to do anything like a sensible search.

Quote from: RPGPundit on January 25, 2025, 12:52:07 PMThey were wrong about D&D (and I was right), but they were right about the price of an aggressively secular "progressive" world, and I was completely wrong.

Let me speak as someone on the religious right: religious communities have fools who are easily manipulated and more than a few grifters, but there are also metaphorical prophets who can see social forces working decades in advance. My own example has nothing to do with the Satanic Panic, but Francis Shaeffer's How Should We Then Live book/ video series. The later sections which pivot from historical study to future projections practically spelled out large stretches of the Democrat playbook from 2010 to 2025.

The book was written in 1975.

Returning to the moral slippery slope; liberalism of the 90s and early 2000s had a fatal flaw in that it constantly underestimated the human potential for malice and corruption. Christian religious figures especially tend to be much more pessimistic about human behavior, with doctrines and beliefs ranging from original sin to spiritual warfare.

It's my general opinion that liberalism of the 00s was pushed down by people wanting power. And I don't just mean politicians; Anita Sarkeesian wanted reputation and influence and was more than willing to stretch the truth to get it. Humpty Dumpty was pushed. But at the same time, Humpty Dumpty wasn't exactly braced against anything to stop from getting pushed over, so Humpty Dumpty was definitely going to fall. It was just a question of how and when and who was going to try to capitalize on the power grab.

The shocking thing isn't that it happened, but that it basically happened the moment liberals thought the religious right was out of the way. There was no hesitation; this was premeditated action. In fact, part of the problem they had is that they got impatient and did it too soon. And that speaks volumes to the religious people having the generally better understanding of humanity than liberals.

Fortunately, the right also changed, including the religious right. Being forced to become more ecumenical to operate as a voting bloc meant that they gradually became more focused on the core common issues, and less likely to go nuts about someone playing with miniatures and strange dice.

Quote from: RPGPundit on Today at 07:21:08 AMFortunately, the right also changed, including the religious right. Being forced to become more ecumenical to operate as a voting bloc meant that they gradually became more focused on the core common issues, and less likely to go nuts about someone playing with miniatures and strange dice.

I don't know that it was so much the Right changing (or even that they were the prime mover in the persecution), so much as it was the vehicle that the moral busybodies (what we today call Karens) were using and have since moved on to more modern venues to assert authority over other people's lives.

Remember, Tipper Gore was one of the bigger voices behind the "Moral Majority." It was only the Right in the sense that it valued religion, but in terms of politics, it spread from extreme Republicans to the most radical of Democrats.

These puritanicals glommed onto Christianity because until recently, it was THE vehicle for exerting influence over American society. The Scolding Church Lady was a real thing. But with rise of The State now as the prime influence over society the Scolds abandoned conservative religion for petitioning the State to crush those who refuse to be as miserable as they are.

And that's the common thread between the scolds of The Satanic Panic and the modern WokeScold infesting modern RPGs... miserable cat ladies using whichever was the effective lever of power for the time trying to ruin everyone else's fun because they're miserable and want everyone else to be too.

Quote from: Brad on January 23, 2025, 10:20:04 PM

Quote from: Bedrockbrendan on January 23, 2025, 06:51:45 PMThe 700 club was pretty intensely on the anti-D&D train even well after the Satanic Panic ended. One of my favorite PSAs they used to run: https://youtu.be/kDJ1UOpxjt4?si=-21YOkBsnR3Ahtaw

That game looks super badass compared to a bunch of nerds playing D&D. Was this supposed to deter anyone?

No kidding. That's how we started. Now... we've reached apotheosis.

https://youtu.be/R0S8JZ6YO5c?si=tQF8kC4vQ9mNdLV-