Bulk Order Update

[ironphoenix]

Current discount is 20%... I don't know whether we'll get to 25%. As of February 1^st, we were just over $1000, needing another $1000 to get to 25%. As you can see below, I haven't added my stuff yet, which will probably be about $300 worth.

Italicized stuff is on order.

M.V.: Total owing so far: $45.20
Master of Rules: $11
Start Player: $11
LotR: Friends and Foes: $28
Le Havre
Diamonds Club
Aviation Tycoon
Neuroshima Hex
Red November
MtG Conflux Booster Box

ilanikhan
Dominion

beable
Betrayal at House on the Hill (yeah right...)

feli_valkyria: Total owing so far: $114.70
Arkham Horror: $66
Arkham Horror: Curse of the Dark Pharaoh: $20
Serenity RPG: $44

dagibbs: Total owing so far: $43.39
Wealth of Nations: $48

theweaselking
Kobolds Ate my Baby Super Deluxx Ed.
50 Fathoms
Evernight
Deadlands Reloaded: The Flood

black_cat11
Betrayal at House on the Hill (again, yeah right...)

Comments

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Hey, Mike, I've got an actual serious Christian theological question I'd like your opinion on - and it has *nothing* to do with me or my opinions on the matter, AND I promise not to bring them up after this sentence.

It has to do with Christianity and role-playing games.

The question is this: Jesus often spoke in parables and gave his teachings in that context. Is it blasphemous (or in any way otherwise unacceptable) to do so yourself - imparting Christian stories and values via parable?

And, in the specific case I'm looking at, would you consider an RPG setting where the teachings of Jesus were referenced and analogies were made, but there were still fundamental differences, a la "Chronicles of Narnia", to be an acceptable way of teaching?

(I'm not implying "only" way of teaching - I'm saying, using the Gospel modified to fit a fantasy setting in an RPG as a parable to allow people to come to it themselves, in the same way that Christ's parables led his followers along)

For reference, the discussion is coming from a Baptist perspective. I know you're Catholic, but I'm still curious.

[ironphoenix.livejournal.com]

To my way of thinking, there's nothing wrong with this at all. Because allegory is open to interpretation, it involves people more deeply, inviting them to form their own thoughts on things by asking leading questions. It's been a favorite teaching tool of many fine folks going back at least to Socrates. An RPG being even more interactive than a story, it strikes me that it would be a pretty effective way of doing this. Dialogues, formalized to differing degrees, also have a respectable pedigree both within and outside the church.

All of that said, the essence of fundamentalism is that dogma trumps individual interpretation. Thus, I wouldn't be surprised if a Baptist saw this very differently... not to say that there aren't Catholic fundamentalists, but I think it's more solidly the party line in the evangelical denominations.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

What's funny to me is that one of the "defining characteristics" of Baptism, according to Wikipedia, is that the individual must be allowed to study scripture and come to individual conclusions.

But yeah. Online discussion about Christ in RPGs, where the side that isn't me was arguing that RPGs that weren't explicitly Christian and correct in every detail were misleading and could lead to demonic influence if you weren't careful, and I was all "Dude, Jesus spoke in parable. Constantly."

Anyway, thanks for your take on things.

[ironphoenix.livejournal.com]

That emphasis on being correct in every detail because people can't be trusted with anything not literal and exact? Yeah, that's not me.