To Whom it May Concern,

by Jay Payne

This letter is in response to Gwedolyn Snope's overzealous and rather absurd letter concerning Satanism in RPGs.

First off I'd like to point out that I am in fact a God-fearing Christian. I have been baptized and am a fairly active member of an Episcopal Church in southwest Georgia. I do believe in God, and I do believe in Jesus's and the Bible's teachings. However, I completely disagree with the way you interpret the 'agenda' of RPGamer and RPGs in general.

If you've ever played an RPG, you know it's either in a fantasy or sci-fi environment. Back in the days of Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior, there was really no reference of God or any higher deity except kings. Back in those days you really didn't have to think behind any profound or hidden meaning in the game as you do today. The layout was simple: Build levels, kill bad guy, save world. That's more or less how it went.

Today however, RPGs are much more complex in gameplay as well as plot. I don't see how you can view RPGs as Satanic. I have played many RPGs and I have never seen anything 'Satanic'. If you were a right-wing extremist, you might view Ifrit from the Final Fantasy series as Satan since he comes from the ground and casts Hellfire. But anyone who has read up on any of this knows that almost all summon/call spells in the Final Fantasy series are from mythology or, oddly enough, Hindu religion.

The more popular RPGs recently that have dealt with religion would probably be Final Fantasy Tactics and Xenogears. If you think that Final Fantasy Tactics is against God and Satanist (I don't even see how Wiccan got into the picture. Naturalism really isn't touched in any RPG I've played, although I'm not saying it never has) then you are blatantly wrong. Anybody who's taken a course in history knows that the Catholic Church was one of the most murderous groups that history has seen. Anyone who didn't go to Church everyday was considered antichristian and was promptly killed as all the other 'God fearing Christians' watched in sadistic joy as the 'witch' before them was violently killed in front of them. Is this what you call Christian? There wasn't any of that in FFT, but they were trying to kill Ramza for being a heretic when he obviously wasn't. This was the exact same thing the Church did in reality.

Xenogears is probably the first game I've played that actually had God as a higher entity. Even a priest joined your party (Billy) who brandished two guns. If you could say that this game is Satanic is wrong too. Xenogears offers the player deep questions that you must answer on the inside of your heart and soul. It makes you question things you wouldn't have before. It's definitely mentally exhausting if you dwell upon these new paradigms for too long, and if you've played through the game, you know what I'm talking about. How can a band of outcast land dwellers destroying corrupt 'gods' in the world above them be the least bit pagan?

I'll admit, no RPG actually says 'Hey everyone, you need to be saved or you will go to Hell', but it shouldn't. RPGs try to stay away from actual religions on earth. They may insinuate some things, but not go out and say "This is Catholic" or "This is Jewish".

When it comes to other games that actually have some demonic things in it, you're always the guy trying to end it. Take Silent Hill with it's demonic symbols and antiuniverse and the mention of a higher Satan-like demon controlling it all. There are biblical quotes in the game too. Same with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Dracula utters a biblical quote before he dies. Are all these games Satanic? No. They are not promoting Satanism in any way. In fact, you're always trying to end the evil, not trying to let it spread. Are the games Pagan? No. Pagan would mean it's promoting some sort of religion that's not based on God. It's a very broad area anyway. There's nothing wrong with Paganism. Almost all 'Christian' holiday traditions have their roots in Paganism anyway. Sure, one may believe all Pagans are going to hell, but are they evil? No. Not unless they actually have some sort of deep hatred inside of them wishing to hurt others or themselves. Are the games Wiccan? Absolutely not. As I said, I have not seen one reference to Wiccan. Wiccans are naturalists anyway...their religion can probably be closely compared to that of Native American beliefs, that Mother Earth must be respected, and if you take, you must give back to her. How is this bad? I've met many more Pagans and Wiccans who were better people than half the 'Christians' I've known.

When you get down to it, a website like RPGamer that gives the latest news on RPGs isn't any of these things. I can't see how anyone would interpret some fun games and a website promoting them as extremist as you have. You should be ashamed that you have 'promoted' your Christianity in such a negative way. That's not how God would have wanted it.

Original Editorial: Concerned Parent strikes out at RPGamer