A rambling melange of pop-culture.
Monday, November 16, 2009
WA Sheriff Warns Parents About D&D, Satanic Phrases
The Thurston County sheriff's department posted a warning to parents regarding their use of the computer. Among the many ridiculous claims - and there are at least an even dozen - the Thurston County sheriff's department groups together warnings about Dungeons & Dragons and "...satanic phrases, sexual references or a sudden interest in related hard rock or satanic oriented posters, music, etc."
I have no idea what kind of county Thurston is, but it's obvious from this nonsensical, inflammatory, and reactionary information that the sheriff's office employs stupid rednecks. Those stupid rednecks have since removed the page, but you can view it here.
Needless to say, this misinformation is fueled by 1980's "Satanic Panic." This reactionary propaganda is frightening and the people who create and promote it are dangerous; the Thurston County, WA sheriff's department is a dangerous entity which is attempting to incite the general public. Scariest of all is the fact that this misinformation is cleverly peppered into truthful information, giving it the air of authenticity.
Dungeons & Dragons is not, at all, Satanic in nature. In fact, the latest version is more "game"-oriented than roleplaying! Trade Wars, another "Satanic" game with which your kid might become "obsessed" is a computer game which is entirely different from D&D.
This is highly dangerous, extremely scary, stuff! Corrupt police and officials in Arkansas misrepresented three boys on the basis of a Stephen King book and the fact that they listened to heavy metal music. All three remain in prison for crimes they did not commit. None of the offending officers, "detectives," judges, or attorneys have been prosecuted; they have all achieved raises and promotions due largely to their misconduct on the infamous "West Memphis Three" case.
WA residents are urged to write their local authorities and request the sheriff's office personnel be terminated - immediately - before something awful happens to innocent victims whose interests might include tabletop roleplaying games, computer games, or heavy metal music.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
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2 comments:
The page wasn't removed. I got to it just fine a few minutes ago. I think they just couldn't handle the meager traffic that resulted from people learning about that EXTREMELY out of date article.
Granted, having been to that area in Washington, I'm not surprised that the law enforcement is clueless enough to post something that is clearly at least a decade old. What does surprise me is that they have a web page in the first place.
Thanks for commenting, Laughingdog. I've gotten a lot of hits thanks to Ace of Spades' link and I appreciate it. I tried leaving this comment there, but it was continually rejected for "long lines of annoying text" or something, so here goes:
I run a website with several blogs and live out in the middle of Nowhere, so am on dial-up. I honestly don't have time to go searching for links to the West Memphis Three case, but I'm certain they abound. It is the subject of at least a half-dozen non-fiction books, an HBO documentary (or two) - there was even a compilation album put together by artists like Henry Rollins, with some portion of the proceeds going to help them!
Most recently, their attorneys tried to have the case reopened based on the fact that none of the boys' DNA was found at the scene of the crime, but the corrupt rednecks in West Memphis, AR turned a blind eye to the matter, as did the majority of the national media.
The West Memphis Three (aka, The West Memphis Six) is a real-life travesty of which everyone should be aware. It is the ultimate case of "Satanic Panic" gone awry and I've discussed it numerous times across all of my blogs and the Web, as have many others.
No "shenanigans" here. I, myself, am a longhaired heavy metal geek living in the Bible Belt and have documented the bigotry and outright nastiness of "Christians" in the South innumerable times.
It's an ongoing problem because of tent-revival Baptists and moronic house-fraus who have, luckily, taken to demonizing Muslims these last few years. I honestly believe we gamers and rockers have to be more vigilant about this kind of thing because we are the fallback targets and it always seems to resurface.
As odd as it sounds, I'm glad to find that this sort of nonsense exists elsewhere, because up to now, I've thought it was only a problem in the South. I am, of course, worried about gamers and fans of heavy metal music, horror, et.al. in the area, though.
Thanks again for commenting and thanks again to Ace of Spades for the link!
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