Stairway to Hell: The Well-Planned Destruction of Teens

Rating:
Summary: As much as I may admire an attempt...
Review: I can't really say that the idea isn't in the right place. It's trying to help teens live better lives and their parents to help them do so. But the facts are all wrong. As many of you may be aware, it is most certainly written by a Christian fundamentalist, and a VERY conservative book. After reading a chapter on the "evils" of Dungeons and Dragons on a website, I could only shake my head. I am a christian, but I also play D&D, and I can tell, NOTHING mentioned in "Stairway to Hell" about the game is correct. It is misquoted and has sadly traced evidence. To begin with, there are quite a few quotes stating things like "[the person] played D&D" and tracing it to a crime. There is never more than a short sentence metioning D&D simply to make it look bad. After reading through the article, I noticed that the author of "Stairway to Hell" took everything in the game guides literaly. He takes the quote from "Dieties and Demigods", a manual to expand the game, and twists it around. The manual says it's important for each player to have a patron diety. What he does not mention is that the book is talking about your in-game character, not you. There is not a single reference, quite literaly, in the entire game to specific Satanic worship. There are some dealings with made-up evil cults, but no rituals or dark witch-craft. It is a game of imagination, and only gets as evil as the players make it. Simply from this little bit of reading, it's obvious that after little and very inacurate research, the author did not turn out a trustworthy parenting guide.

Rating:
Summary: Salvation
Review: Let me tell those people that are going to buy this book. the book speaks the truth. I was going through these very same steps.Still My God had enough mercy to forgive of all my sins. Satan will blind you spiritually and tell lots of lies. I know how it feels. I made up my mind to serve the Lord My Savior. He too can be your Savior. This is a good book. May God Bless You my friend.

Rating:
Summary: Life is precious. Go figure.
Review: No, he didn't kill himself, dress in scarlet robes, shout curses at the lightning. My friend, that is. What he did was worse. he just faded away.

There were a few like him. Not any sort of spectacular demise, but a gradual erosion of a life that may have been better than mine in some parts by far. I remember these sessions while we had something on the slow cooker, tired, hungry, sort of student like for what seemed endless years. D&D was sort of a minor part of it.

When everything becomes amplified and hyped up as it sometimes is in the good old USA, you can imagine that it really does get to the part where the scarlet robes indeed come out, and it goes a bit weird. I think though, that this is the exception.

I eschew this stuff because I (a) am in the wrong place at the wrong time (b) am getting too old anyway.

I'm dreading these reunion things (I realise that if I don't do anything I'll never go to one anyway) because these days I'm so boring.

Note well the absence of grand theological objections. I know the devil would dearly like to get you down there, but as we all know, people are quite capable of doing that themselves by having quite a normal life and giving God the finger. No-one would notice the difference!

So I would say, take it easy and don't worry too much. But really and truly, if you have a room with a cupboard full of little cast metal characters, books of spells, and weird clothes, NOW is the time to get either an Amplified Bible or a gym membership, and if you are really smart, BOTH.