Roleplaying games and the christian right : Community formation in response to a moral panic

- Waldron, David

Title
Roleplaying games and the christian right : Community formation in response to a moral panic
Creator
Waldron, David
Date
2005
Type
Text; Journal article
Identifier
http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/44257
Identifier
vital:919
Identifier
ISSN:1703-289X
Abstract
During the 1980s, the newly established industry and youth subculture associated with role-playing games came under sustained attack from schools, churches, parents and governments, instigated by the Christian Right via organizations such as B.A.D.D. (Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons). While both the organization B.A.D.D and its claims linking Roleplaying games to youth suicide, drug use and Satanism eventually were discredited, the impact of these accusations lingers on to the present. This article examines the impact of the role-playing game “moral panic” on the role-playing game community and investigates the responses and coping mechanisms utilised by those directly targeted and harassed by churches, the police, schools and governments during the height of the “moral panic” in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The article also investigates the effect that the shared experience of being targeted by a “moral panic” had on the formation of a roleplaying counter culture and community.; C1
Publisher
Journal of Religion and Culture
Relation
Journal of Religion and Popular Culture Vol. IX, no. Spring (2005), p. 50-68
Rights
Copyright Journal of Religion and Culture
Rights
Open Access
Rights
This metadata is freely available under a CCO license
Subject
2204 Religion and Religious Studies; Role playing games
Full Text
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