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 Xian charity refuses money raised by D&D players!
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the_ignored
SFN Addict

2562 Posts

Posted - 11/01/2008 :  08:10:39  Show Profile Send the_ignored a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Pricks. That's all I can say about this.

One would have that that this kind of superstitious f**knuttery would have gont out the window with Jack Chick.

Nope.

On Saturday, August 15th, 2008 at 6:00 PM, the Gen Con Live Game Auction hosted their traditional charity auction. This year, the event was in honor of Gary Gygax. Originally the charity chosen for GenCon was Gary's favorite charity, the Christian Children's Fund. Unfortunately, when they found out that the money they would get came partially from sales of Dungeons and Dragons they decided not to be the sponsored charity. Instead Fisher House Foundation became the official charity of GenCon this year!! The Fisher House Foundation donates "comfort homes," built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful times - during the hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease, or injury. The homes are normally located within walking distance of the treatment facility or have transportation available.


So, anytime someone brings up that old saw about how xians donate more money than atheists, you can bring this up?


The gaming people have another charity in mind that doesn't have a problem with them. I'd suggest dealing with Fisher House Foundation or any other charity other than "Christian Children's Fund" if you can help it.


Found out from Pharyngula.


EDIT:
There may be a reason after all. Not as bad as I thought; not superstitious, just idiotic, in my opinion.

Still, I was wondering why they'd have taken money from Gary himself but not his supporters...

>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.

What brought that on? this. Original posting here.

Another example of this guy's lunacy here.

Edited by - the_ignored on 11/01/2008 08:35:16

Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist

USA
4955 Posts

Posted - 11/01/2008 :  09:35:44   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Cuneiformist a Private Message  Reply with Quote
But their excuse doesn't make any sense to me. According to the link, the CCF said:
Christian Children's Fund made the decision to decline the gift from Gen Con, LLC as the request presented to us gave the appearance that CCF (the organization) was an endorser or supporter of a gaming convention, which CCF was not. As many non-profit organizations, CCF is selective in its endorsements or support in order to maintain the integrity of its name and logo. We cannot lend our name to an event for which we have no involvement. This decision should in no way be interpreted as CCF holding an opinion on Mr. Gygax, gaming enthusiasts or the game Dungeons and Dragons.
So, in order for CCF to take money raised from Gen Con, the CCF itself would have to be involved in the fund-raising? If I donate money to CCF, would they refuse it because they don't have a say in how I earn my money?

Would it have been different if Gen Con raised the money to go to an un-named children's charity, and then, after the fund raising, announced that the CCF was the intended one?
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard

USA
4574 Posts

Posted - 11/01/2008 :  11:16:16   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send H. Humbert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I'm not sure I understand their rationale either. The poster On_the_wings_of_TPK in the D&D forum writes:
As someone who does a lot of work with an organization that relies heavily on charitable donations (political party) I can honestly say that the reason the CCF is giving is most likely the real one. As an organization, when you accept money from another organization you are supporting/approving everything that the donor organization does and stands for. This effects different organizations in different ways. It would be perfectly acceptable for the organization I am associated with to accept money from a large oil firm. (So long as it was neither our only source of funding, nor our primary or even a major one) But it would be impossible for an environmental organization to accept money from the same oil company.

But I can see the conflict of interest between an environmental group and an oil company. What's the supposed conflict of interest between D&D and a Christian charity? Yes, CCF says "This decision should in no way be interpreted as CCF holding an opinion on Mr. Gygax, gaming enthusiasts or the game Dungeons and Dragons," but how can it not be? If it was a group they approved of, they would take the money.

On_the_wings_of_TPK concludes:
As for the CCF, in order to maintain it's integrity it must make sure that all the places it accepts money from jive with their christian values. In the case of Gencon they have to be 100% that everything that happens at gencon, publicly, is also in line witht heir christian values. To do this they must have some manor of control with the organization of gencon. They did, and thus they can't say they 100% support gencon, and all its actions, games etc, that happen their. Which means they can't accept money from gencon. I highly doubt that it is D&D which is sending alarm bells for them... More they object to the drunken debauchery that happens at gencon.
Which sounds extremely weak to me. Gencon is a gaming conference where nerds dress up like elves and fantasy characters. I'm sure it has a party atmosphere, but I don't think it could qualify as "debauchery."

All we know at this point is that the CCF states that their rejection of Gencon's charitable contribution should not necessarily be taken as evidence of a negative opinion of fantasy gamers. (They claim to have no opinion.) However, to my mind at least, they've not really offered a satisfying explanation for what it is they do have a problem with.


"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman

"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie
Edited by - H. Humbert on 11/01/2008 11:16:28
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Simon
SFN Regular

USA
1992 Posts

Posted - 11/01/2008 :  12:00:04   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Simon a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I don't know... I mean, imagine that they accept to get their name attached to the project and then GenCon decides to receive NAMBLA has their honorary guest.

I would spell a lot of trouble for Christian Children's Fund.

Of course; it seems unlikely and borderline paranoid... But I can imagine the lawyers of any big organization systematically advizing against endorsing any particular event that the charity does not have direct control over. As a matter of policy.

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996
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