I suspect causally youd find a better link between D&D and diabetes.

The answer is both yes and no, depending upon one's point of view. There are many religious terms like demonic possession, Neopaganism,  Occult, Satan, and Satanism which have multiple meanings. Often conservative Christians use one definition, whereas others use another definition:

Common beliefs among conservative Christians: They often oppose fantasy games because of the alleged occult content of the games. They frequently state that RPG rule books include poison recipes or methods of summoning demons, etc. This appears to be a misunderstanding. A very few games have printed spell incantations from folk and ceremonial magick, but most do not. A gamer who wants his pretend character to cast a spell in order to protect itself from attack might simply say to the GM "I am casting a healing spell now." Note that neither the player nor their character actually casts a spell or practices magick. The player simply describes what the imaginary character is doing. Gaming is basically an adult version of make believe. It does not promote actual black magic or manipulative magick.
Evangelical Christian authors often view Satanism as being at the core of "the occult". Many believe that Satanism is a secret, underground, highly organized evil group that is international in scope and under the personal control of Satan. Some feel that Satanists are responsible for kidnapping, torturing, ritually killing and even eating infants and children. They look upon many diverse occultic activities as performing a recruitment function for Satanists; these include fantasy role-playing games, astrology, heavy metal rock music, the "Care Bears" and "Smurfs" on children's TV, a second religion Wicca - often called "white" Witchcraft. Some conservative Christians view all religions other than Christianity (e.g. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam) as forms of Satanism.

Common beliefs among mainline and liberal Christians, some conservative Christians, secularists, RPG players, etc: They view the Occult in very different terms. It is seen as a list of many unrelated and harmless activities: two religions, one type of game, one form of music, a variety of methods of foretelling the future and some imaginative and charming children's cartoons. In particular, two very different religions, Satanism and Wicca are unrelated to the other activities mentioned. Neither Satanists nor Wiccans recruit members. "The Occult" is not an organized entity. 
Since conservative Christians use a different definition for the term "occult" from others, it is not possible to harmonize these two beliefs.

Attack on RPGs by Focus on the Family:

On 1997-APR-7 and 8, the Adventures in Odyssey program of Focus on the Family broadcast two episodes which attacked what they call "role-playing Fantasy Games" [sic]. 12 Odyssey is a radio play about pre-teens and teens in an American town. In both episodes, Dr. James Dobson presented a short talk directed to the children and youth listening to the program and their parents. He attacked RPGs, because he feels that its players actually become the pretend characters that they have selected. To play the game properly, he said that the players need to practice magic and mysticism. His choice of the terms "magic" and "mysticism" is unfortunate, because both words have multiple, conflicting meanings. In the APR-7 episode, he said that some gamers have reported involvement with demons and Satan worship.

In the radio play, "Jimmy" is visited by a RPG playing cousin, "Len". Len's character in the game is known as "Luther the Magician." The latter introduces Jimmy to a game called Castles and Cauldrons"; he gives Jimmy's character the name of "John Dell, the Apprentice." They play the game together. A battle is fought with some evil enemies; both experience auditory hallucinations in which their plastic swords sound like real weapons. Some of the misconceptions mentioned in the play were:

the gamers actually become the pretend characters, and engage in battles and other adventures. In reality, the gamers remain quite human and simply direct the character that they have chosen to go through the adventure.
the gamers are described as kneeling and reciting an incantation. Actually, the gamers would typically remain sitting and simply say that their characters are kneeling and engaged in a ritual; no incantation would actually be spoken.
if the gamer proves themselves worthy then they are supposed to accumulate special powers. This is incorrect. In reality, it is the character that the gamer has selected who may accumulate or lose imaginary powers during the course of a game.
Len described how one of his gamer friends is able to have visions. He can see things far away through the eyes of a flying bird. Again, in reality, it is the gamer's imaginary character that might be said to have visions, not the gamer. And in reality, the character sees no visions; the character is not alive; it is merely a symbol fantasized by the gamers as if it were real and seeing visions.
Len says that he has the power to read Jimmy's heart and implies that he received this special power during his gaming. This again is nonsense; players do not accumulate special powers; it is the player's pretend character that may accumulate or lose pretend powers.
The game is linked with manipulative black magick throughout the episode. Whit, a store owner, became overcome with feelings of dread and dropped a glass. He felt something oppressing his spirit. A cat became influenced (presumably by Len) to tear the arms off of a doll. A roast in the oven started to smoke. The implications are that the game playing is linked closely to black magic, and that one result of the game is to harm other people elsewhere in the town.
The games are described as involving evil, spiritual forces. Playing these games is said to "open doors" that "lets loose" demonic forces into people's lives. Again, gamers do not participate in evil sorcery, recite incantations, curse other people, etc. The Christian Scriptures contain many references to demons; they were very much a part of 1st Century CE belief, and were considered to be the source of many mental illnesses. But most people stopped believing in demons with the rise of modern mental health therapies. Demons are today mostly limited to Hollywood horror movies and the mental health belief systems of some conservative Christians.
Len explains that some adults become "Interferers" and attempt to stop young people from playing the games. He explained how they drove-off one such woman through the use of magic. Again, gamers do not engage in black magic or spells to dominate, manipulate, or control others.
At one point, Len tried to draw blood from Jimmy. Gamers don't draw blood. Their pretend characters might be imagined to draw pretend blood, but that is all.
"Whit" Whittaker, the owner of a local store comes across Len and Jimmy playing their game. He immediately destroys one of the tools of the game, called The Board of Talisman. Later, Whit casually mentions that he has stolen and destroyed all of Jimmies' gaming equipment. The implication is that a Christian is well within his rights to destroy another person's possessions if he feels that they are unchristian.

The overall effect of the Adventures in Odyssey program is:

to give a very distorted view of fantasy role-playing games,
to link them with "The Occult", black magick, evil sorcery and demonic activity.
to imply that it is quite acceptable for Christians to destroy other people's possessions if they disapprove of them.
If the program had simply been presented as a play, then it would have been an amusing piece of fiction - something like the "X-Files" or "Outer Limits" for kids. But the introduction by Dr. Dobson seems to imply that the activities described in the episode reflect the reality of role-playing games. They do not. The producers of the program are either completely misinformed, or intentionally deceptive about the nature of these games. The radio program promoted an hopelessly inaccurate version of fantasy role-playing games in which the players become involved with demons, Satanic worship, spells, curses, evil sorcery etc. The end result of the program is to create fear and insecurity in the minds of listeners in order to scare them away from playing this type of game.

"Video games producers are getting smarter. They lead you to sites where you can be instructed by a real life occultist. You talk to hardcore people."1 Peter Lanz, a former member of the occult Order of the Golden Dawn

"The magical occult practices of the ancients aren't just for the ancients. The spirits involved are eternal beings, and they are just as active today as they were a thousand years ago, as is their worship.... The toys children play with depict powerful creatures of the darkness. Now, games give explicit instruction in the rituals and methods of the occult. Indeed, gaming tournaments are prime times for occultists to find 'recruits' with exceptional ability."2 N.R.K.

 "Satan is not simply trying to draw people to the dark side of a good versus evil conflict. Actually, he is trying to eradicate the gap between himself and God, between good and evil, altogether."3 Ray Yungen, A Time of Departing

"These kids are easily drawn into occult groups through [role-playing] tournaments," said Peter. "When kids transition from simulation -- when they actually experience the POWER that is available to them through the rituals they are learning to perform under the guise of 'fantasy' -- that power becomes like an addiction and they get hooked. But they don't see that."


"I could walk up to any of these teens who showed promise," he continued, "and I could put my hand on their shoulder, look them in the eye and say, 'If you get a rush from this, how would like to do it for real?' No one has ever answered no."

Having a car radio with a "scan" feature is
that you often listen, albeit briefly, to lots
of radio stations you would never normally
allow yourself to hear (country
music, classical music, talk radio, etc.).
About a month ago, on my way to work
before the sun was even up, I punched
“scan” and soon found myself listening to
a warning being issued by a Christian fundamentalist
radio station in Milwaukee.
The warning was against a Walt Disney
movie, Beauty and the Beast.
Before I go any further, I want to paraphrase
a much more famous person and
say that I will defend to my death the Constitutional
right of that radio station to give
air play to such views. I say this despite
fact that some of those views, such as the
one I'm about to relate, might come across
to some people as being a little on the
lunatic side (as I am sure my editorial will
come across to the people who have those
lunatic views, but I can live with that).
The meat of the message to radio listeners
was that parents should have nothing
to do with Beauty and the Beast, despite its
beauty and grandeur and warmth and
moral lessons, because the movie contains,
right at its very start, an episode of
black magic--namely, the transformation
of a heartless prince into a beast by a sorceress
’s spell. That's lycanthropy, the station
said, and that's evil, so don't buy the
video and expose your kids to it.
It's obvious that the people issuing the
warning believe fully in the existence of
black magic and lycanthropy, which does
make me wonder if they also lock their
closet doors every night to keep out the
boogeyman. (I can already guess what
they must think of fantasy role-playing
games like ours.) Anyway, since these people
believe in black magic, they want people
to stay away from it, which is good
advice for anyone under the age of three
but might sound agonizingly ignorant to
everyone else.
Obviously, some people in this country
(and elsewhere) are very much afraid of
fantasy, in whatever form it takes. Antifantasy
attacks are not limited to arguments
against Beauty and the Beast, of
course. The same kind of reasoning that equates a Walt Disney film with black
magic reappears in arguments against the
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game, such as
the one offered by a lawyer who tried to
get nominated for the office of Virginia
state attorney general in 1985: "The
essence of D&D is violence. It teaches
Satan-worship, spell-casting, witchcraft,
murder, rape, suicide, and assassination
along the way." (He lost the nomination.)*
Other fantasy materials have been under
attack in this century, particularly fantasy
and science-fiction novels and stories.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, A Clockwork
Orange, The Martian Chronicles, The
Lathe of Heaven, Oscar Wilde's The Happy
Prince and Other Stories, 1984, Slaughterhouse-
Five, Tarzan of the Apes, Brave New
World, Flowers for Algernon, Stephen
King's The Shining, John Gardner's Grendel,
and The Wizard of Oz, among others,
have run into trouble in this country
because of their content. (Some people
felt, incredibly, that 1984 promoted communism;
bad language snarled a number
of others, Tarzan and Jane were living in
sin, and The Happy Prince was challenged
because it was "distressing and morbid"--
well, jeez!)
However, some fundamentalist groups
have challenged fantasy books on the
basis that they are supposed to be occult
and connected with satanism or witchcraft
--that's what snagged The Wizard of
Oz, if you can believe that. The revolting
but amusing "Dark Dungeons" pamphlet
published by Chick Publications, which I
described in the editorial for DRAGON®
issue #182, urges the reader at one point
to burn all "occult books" that he or she
owns; a footnote clarifies this to include
"C. S. Lewis and Tolkien, both of which
can be found in occult bookstores." I even
have a clipping from the February 27,
1992 issue of the News Messenger, a newspaper
published in Marshall, Texas, in
which one of TSR's old FANTASY FOREST
multiple-plot paperbacks is accused of
using "mind control" tactics on young
readers. The argument put forth by those
opposing the book is that reading this
"pick-a-path" book will lead to satan worship
and cult activities. There are parts of
this article that I want very much to laugh
at, but it's hard to laugh because you
know these people are very, very serious
about their accusations.
As annoying and stupid-sounding as
anti-fantasy attacks can be, they are
merely the tip of the Titanic's iceberg. The
American Library Association's Office for
Intellectual Freedom keeps tabs on
attempts to ban or restrict public access
to any books, and many public libraries
have materials from the ALA on censorship
and book-banning that you might
find shocking. Among the other books
that have come under attack in this country
are some that you might even be reading
right now. They include: The American
Heritage Dictionary, The Merriam- Webster
Collegiate Dictionary, Catch-22, Lord of the
Flies, Oliver Twist, Jaws, Gone With the
Wind, The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn, A Farewell to Arms, The Merchant of
Venice, Soul on Ice, Deenie, Native Son,
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, To Kill a
Mockingbird, Ulysses, Grapes of Wrath, All
Quiet on the Western Front, Serpico,
Elmer Gantry, The Bell Jar, The Sun Also
Rises, Catcher in the Rye, Death of a Salesman,
The Color Purple, Where the Sidewalk
Ends, and The Lorax by Dr. Seuss!
The people who really burn me up,
though, are the ones who have tried to
ban The Diary of Anne Frank. It’s been
tried several times. People who think that
The Wizard of Oz promotes witchcraft are
laughably foolish; they merely wish to
smack your hands with a ruler so you
won’t daydream. But I have difficulty
imagining the bottomless abyss of moral
and spiritual depravity to which someone
has sunk who is trying to ban Anne
Franks story. These people would put out
your eyes, blinding you to their bigotry,
then lead you by the trusting hand into
the inferno. You will hear the echoes of
Gestapo jackboots in every word they
utter, the most accursed of the cursed, the
lowest of the low.
I've taken a break to calm down, so we
can continue.

If the idea of boycotting Beauty and the
Beast because it promotes lycanthropy
often offer to teach us something, though
the lesson may be very unpleasant. Even
Mein Kampf is valuable in some sense, as it
shows the highly disturbed mental workings
of a major historical figure and
throws light on the origins of World War II
and the Holocaust. You can flip through it
and get a feel for how something as horrific
as the events in Anne Franks diary
could have possibly occurred, and why
we should never allow that to happen to
anyone else ever again.

Drop by your local library to ask about
the ALA's materials on banned books and
intellectual freedom. Check out the
Banned Books Week displays at local
libraries every September. Look up books
like Dave Marsh's 50 Ways to Fight Censorship
(it's fairly radical but still rather
entertaining). Keep an open mind and
open eyes and ears.

And if you want something good to
watch on TV, get a copy of Beauty and the
Beast at the video store and watch it with a
special friend or loved one. It's the best.

If involvement with role-playing games leads to
Satan worship and the “influences of evil power,"
then I suppose that after 10 years of working here
I should be one of the top evil high priests, which
would probably come as quite a surprise to my
family, my many friends, and those with whom I
attend worship services. Though I’ve not conducted
a poll here, It’s been my experience that my
100+ co-workers at TSR, Inc. are predominately
Christian, either Catholic or Protestant, with an
assortment of other religions. From overhearing
random conversations, I know that church-going is
a part of the lives of many people here. It’s interesting
that in all the negative antigaming crap that
I’ve seen, I’ve never seen anyone accuse TSR
people themselves of being satanists—only the
people who play the game are bad, not the ones
who make it. A peculiar distinction, no? Ignorant
rumors are like that.

Lots of people at TSR also have families, as is
evident when happy mothers bring in their
newborn babies or tired parents enlist their
older children to help stuff envelopes or sort
papers. No one here would tolerate or condone
the publication of material that we felt was
harmful to the public—and especially material
that was harmful to our own families!
Lots of people like our games. Some don’t and
that’s fine, but to accuse us of producing satanic
material is worse than ignorant; it is crudely
destructive and insanely stupid.

But, of course, that’s just my opinion.