The "Satanic Panic" and Why it Was Horribly Wrong
In the late 1970s, a young man named Dallas Egbert had left a note for his family and ran away with plans of committing suicide. For some reason, the private investigator hired by the family decided that there must have been a link between Egbert’s enjoyment of playing DnD and his disappearance. This led to evangelicals of the time making bold claims that Egbert had said in his note “I’ll give Satan my mind and power” (Laycock 134) even though there was no indication that this was true. The sad truth was that Egbert was depressed, and would go on to take his own life a few months after returning home from his first attempt. These claims of satanic sacrifice remained linked to DnD however, and led to a Christian attack against the game. People like the members of Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons (BADD) claimed that the game would teach their children occult rites and magic spells, and the game could absorb players “so much that [their] minds… slipped through the fragile barrier between reality and fantasy” (Laycock 112).
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The incredible speed in which these ridiculous claims spread created a new avenue for people to use the fear of the unknown to gain popularity – and ultimately wealth. Jack Chick’s comic series Dark Dungeons depicted a young girl learning to cast spells and driving her friend to suicide by ostracizing her when her character died. Authors like Bill Schnoebelen make claims that players “must memorize and prepare for the use of each spell, and its casting makes it necessary to reabsorb the incantation by consulting the proper book of spells” (Schnoebelen) without understanding that character and player are two different entities.
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In the end the “Satanic Panic” had lasting effects, and there are groups that still equate RPGs with Satanism and the occult. However, the fact that most of the outlandish claims of these crusaders were so easily dismissed or proved wrong led to the decline of the fight against DnD and its like.
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The only way to learn something from DnD is to put it in the game yourself. Due to the open nature of the game, participants can add or remove what they want at will without compromising the integrity of the game itself. If I want to speak in tongues and do specific movements with my hands while my character casts “Fireball” I can, but I would have to go and look up the incantation in some other occult source if I was to believe I could have any success actually throwing a ball of fire across the room.
