Great Hairy One, that's what I meant.

I know personally that my "ideas" and "beliefs" about life have changed just through roleplaying. For me, and I am a "serious" roleplayer who isn't some sort of cultis ;), it gives me a chance to theorize and be someone else who believes something else... and has helped me evolve my interpretations of my bible that I have now. When you 'become' someone else, you think diffrently, and when you think diffrently, ocasionally you get a really good idea about something that isn't related to the game at all.

Kudos to that. Once I started gaming, I had to see in the perspective of the characters I played. When I started, I was given roles to play, I didn't make them myself.
Most times I was given characters so unlike myself. And to become a good roleplayer, I had to understand the why's of the character.
RPG taught me to think, to question, to form my own conclusions, as well as respect that of others.
But one cannot say that gaming was the only influence. I had books, and I had friends, as well as family. It just taught me how to handle differences in a constructive manner.
***
I'm sad to note, though, that I have seen players caught up in their own characters, such that their personality in and out of character merged. We try to discourage that. So, as a group we do other things, like go bowling, or watch a movie together, or mingle with other people (ie conventions).
In relation to religion, though, I have not seen anyone change their religion based on a game. I think it takes more than gaming to change somebody's mind about religion. They need to have a coach, someone to explain the intricacies of religion before they make the leap of faith.

For your first statement, "obsession" is at the root of worshipping a false god, so I think we're both right.

For the second statement, it is interesting that the very creators and early developers of the game were (the vast majority of them) extremely religious.  It is unfortunate that a few extremist wackos create a stigma against other religious adherents.

Personally, I'd have to agree with Altair. It takes something more than a game to make a person change religion. However, I do think that playing a game could stir you to look more deeply into a religion and later convert after thorough understanding. Just a personal opinion though.

We should write a book:  "All I ever needed to know I learned in D&D."  ;)

Well, there's already the "All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" and "All I Need to Know I Learned From my Cat" and "All I Need to Know I Learned From Dinosaurs"... why not add it to the list?

Of course, I've never played D&D... I've only ever Text roleplayed. But what I meant was more along the lines of INTERPRETATION of your own religion.

You only point out that sin is 'someone else's opinion' and not an absolute.
Therefore as far as you as an individual are concerned, you cannot sin unless you think you have.

Though that doesn't stop you from offending others, but that's their problem.
That being said, you should always be aware of the POV of others.

Yeah, but roleplaying is just one way of being opened up to other/new concepts.

I think everyone should be required to do a course in anthropology so that you can get a feel for cultural relativity and different worldviews.
It's got to be harder to maintain that your way of thinking is the only 'right way' (religious, national or cultural) when you look at just how illogical it would seem from a different cultural viewpoint.
And that they are all equally valid.

GHO-I think you misunderstand.  A sin is absolute regardless of someone's POV, although it will be judged more or less harshly depending on a person's responsible level of knowledge.  (Thus, Moses would be judged more harshly for adultery than someone living in a tribe in Africa.)  It is stated that no unclean thing can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.  Whether a person is cleansed of sin or not is not something that person determines according to his own judgments, but whether that person has truly repented of his ways and can successfully access the Mercy of Christ to be cleansed is dependent on the person making knowledgeable decisions.  (For example, we are much more forgiving of an 8 year old than we are of a 17 year old.)  Thus, it is about forgiveness of sins, not whether something is a sin.  The latter is an absolute.

It would certainly be controversial. And controversial makes sales. ^_^

I wonder if it would get to the bestsellers' list.



Yeah, I get you there. If a certain act is a sin in religion A, and not a sin in religion B, those in religion A would call the person who did the act a sinner but not to those in religion B.

Example, in a friend of mine's religion, they are forbidden to celebrate their birthdays because it is a vanity, and therefore a sin. So, should the other Christians who celebrate their birthdays be called sinners and repent and celebrate their birthdays no more? In the POV of my friend, this would be true, since she believes that their faith is the true faith.

In the POV of other Christians, this act would not mean sinning, but rather a joyful celebration of the Lord's giving them another year of blessing.

So who's who and what's what? Who sinned and who did not? Can you call your religion more valid than the other? Is it fair? Is it just? ^_^ Is it black and white? Who is the judge... or rather, who is worthy to be judge?

Only from the POV of someone who believes in sin as an absolute.

Me, I can't sin. You may think so, but I don't subscribe to any of that supernatural stuff.

There are things I won't do and don't like other people doing, but I'm aware that that is only my POV and shaped by my background.

The concept of right and wrong is a cultural artifice.

^_^ I'd also like to believe I haven't sinned, ever... but from my POV, I have. And from experience, I know everyone else has too (Christians, anyway).

Therefore, I cannot bring myself to point a finger at sinners, because I know the first one I should point to is me. Nor can I preach what should or should not be done, because I am no holier than anyone else. It would be vain for me to say God has chosen me to preach about sinners when I know I had been remiss. I would rather preach about love and forgiveness, something God has given all of us an abundance of.

I suppose to others, I am vain to think that no one but God himself (in person) can tell me I am a sinner, which should be sometime after I die. But then again, to each his own. ^_^

Fair nuff!

But all that is because you subscribe to that POV in the first place doesn't it.

Yes, it does. ^_^

I know I have an unusual POV, but I wonder just how wierd it is.

Well, it's not wierd to me.
Maybe because I have seen and heard about a lot of religions and/or beliefs. It doesn't surprise me at all to know what you believe in.
Well... maybe I would find it wierd if someone believed he had to eat all the spiders he sees in order to get to some heaven he believes in... Or stand on his head for the rest of his life...

I meant more non standard or uncommon than wierd.


Spider eating... I don't feel too wierd now if that's one of the first things that pops into your mind 8@

If any group says something is a sin, and it isn't a sin by the standards of God, just exactly where do they get their information from?
A sin is a sin only because God says it's a sin.

Although I think you have to be faithful to your religion.  It may not be sin per se, but it might be a form of dishonesty to oneself and one's beliefs, so long as the requirement itself is not sinful.

^_^ Which god?
Well, their pastor says that's what God says in the Bible... I didn't stick around long enough to hear the explanation. Only it was something about man's vanity.
So it counts as a sin, ne?
Their followers believe that their pastor had been given authority by God to interpret the Bible, as with all other religions and their pastors or priests or councils.

If you are talking about Jehovah's Witnesses, they don't celebrate birthdays because they see the celebration of 'you' as elevating yourself above the Lord, or something like that.  My mother-in-law is a JW - holidays are a blast at my house.  :P

Oh, my friend was a JW then... Hmmm... I must not have been a very good friend if I couldn't even remember what her religion was...
Great to know you still celebrate some things ^_^.
So, is it a sin as they said it was?

It would be easier to list what is not a sin in the Society's eyes then what is a sin.  In a nutshell, you do what the Society says (even if they change their mind - repeatedly) or you will be disfellowshiped - meaning you are cut off from all of your friends and family still in the church.  They are forbidden from seeing you, speaking to you, or even acknowldgeing your existance.

These people were a big hump my wife and I had to get over in our marriage, so chances are I will never look favorably upon them.

That's sad. :(  It's hard to be separated from family. More so when they don't even acknowledge you.

Sin is what God says it is, not what man says it is.
Sin is defined by God.