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Charity Refuses Donation Because of D&D Connection
An anonymous reader writes "This year's GenCon Charity Auction
raised over $17,000 which they intended to donate to Gary Gygax's favorite charity,
Christian Children's Fund.
However, the charity refused the donation when they learned of its connection to Dungeons & Dragons." It seems to me all they would need to do is cast remove curse or dispel evil and the money would be fine to use.
CCF is not a sponsor. They are the sponsored charity. No endorsement from CCF was needed. Well... a simple "thank you" would have sufficed.
*They* decided to turn down the gift, which CAN be interpreted as having such an opinion.
So CCF had to back-pedal, and release an announcement about how to interpret the decision. Meh. Too late, the dunderheads have spoken very loudly with their actions.
Just another "Cubible(sic) Joe" 2 17 3061
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.
Therefore, anyone they do accept money from, they are endorsing. Interesting. Sure makes you wanna know who's been donating.
Well, the difference here is that they feel that the donation implies their endorsement, while other donations might carry no such implication. Its perfectly valid for a charity to be careful about what they appear to endorse. They've explicitly stated that it has nothing to do with D&D, so why not take their words at face value? Whats the harm? That we can't get worked up into an "OMG Christians!" fervor?
Hell, send the money to Child's Play. Great cause and run by gamers.
No, this particular donation appeared to imply an endorsement. They're in no way saying that every donation received implies an endorsement. Why they feel that way is probably related to the detail of how the funds were raised and donated (as in, I'm not a lawyer so I wouldn't know).
You should really check out some of the Chick religious tracts surrounding gaming and witchcraft. I really don't think I've ever laughed that hard before in my life.
Today is red jello day - all workers must eat all of their red jello. Failure to comply will result in five demerits.
I'm sure the kids that would have benefited from the money are completely behind this reasonable decision.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
The money doesn't just *poof* disappear because one charity said "No thanks." Last time I checked there is a huge variety of charities that they can donate that money to.
I could see CCF's viewpoint if they were the ones giving money to Gen Con, or lending their logo as a sponsor/supporter, but instead, it's Gen Con giving CCF the money. How is accepting a donation supporting the donor? This sounds like BS to me.
I've built up so much character I have an alter-ego
Gen Con, LLC should donate the money to some other worthwhile charity and "Get Over Themselves!"
They did, your point was what again?
You know, they are a private charity and are free to any opinion and action they wish as long as they do not infringe on the rights of others.
And others are perfectly free to call them idiots for it. Or does freedom of opinion only go one way?
I used to run D&D sessions in lunchtimes at school, back in the 80s. They got more and more popular until a dozen or so of my fellow students would gather in the classroom to get involved in my latest effort. Then the PTA got wind of it, the school banned it, and the kids went back to doing nothing much at all. (To add insult to injury, we were only playing Basic & Expert D&D. I tried to explain it wasn't 'The devil worshipping one' but they weren't buying it.)
Hal Spacejock: Science Fiction with Nuts
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.
How can you not see this as "D&D is not good" in that context? It is an opinion, straight up that they don't feel it is a good donation... strictly because of the D&D connection. This is nothing more than mealy-mouth speak for "we don't want to look bad for dissing on them."
No! It's a *SIG*. Keep the Special Interest Groups away! (Con joke!)
And the question wasn't "What's the harm in CCF not taking the money", it was "What's the harm in taking their explanation at face value". Why take their explanation as cover up something more idiotic if their reasons seem to be adequate?
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
So you're offended that people think you believe one particular wacky thing, then quickly dismiss roughly half of people who call themselves Christians as "not really" because they belong to denominations without bishops? Somehow I'd have thought following the teachings of Christ might have been more the telling point, but whatever; I'm not sure you have much standing to get all offended at that point.
Anyway, as an atheist (who no doubt slipped from my Christian upbringing due to a lack of bishops) let me assure you that I don't believe all christians are creationists. It is however, fine to assume creationism of all who bring up their Christianity in order to claim oppression from internet posts that don't actually make any mention of it. People that eager to force their religion into things either are creationsts, or are, as you apparently claim, so eager to be offended it would be cruel not to give them the chance.
"We thank you for allowing the opportunity to raise money on our behalf", or any number of phrasings in the request could imply endorsement. Why is this such a big issue? Because misrepresenting (and I'm not saying they did at all, but it's something to be aware of from the perspective of the charity) an endorsement from a charity to solicit donations is what some people might refer to as "fraud".
You forgot one:
An atheist on Slashdot is characterized by their remarkable ability to build and knock down ridiculous straw men for a religion of which they remain willfully and almost entirely ignorant, and yet continue to claim rationality as their guiding light.
A similar level of ignorance of any other subject on which one would claim to speak intelligibly would rightly result in that person laughed out of the room. Only here can we be so anal about parsing code correctly in joke posts and yet admire ourselves for so completely misunderstanding and misrepresenting all religious belief, belief which has claimed the adherence of many of the greatest minds the world has known.
Paint 'em all dumb, I guess, if it allows me to feel special and earn the fleeting respect of my fellow /.ers.
To reign is to serve.
Strange, because I know plenty of christians who have no problem D&D because they recognize it for what it is, a harmless game. Some of them even play it, and would resent the implication that their hobby is 'dirty".
How 'bout this one?