Once More, With Feeling...

...Good riddance to bad rubbish!!

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, BoingBoing has reported that everybody's favorite fundie, Jack Chick, died yesterday. While BoingBoing's report claims nobody is divulging his cause of death, the Chick Publications Facebook page announced that he passed in his sleep. Like another of his ilk who was sentenced to prison earlier this year, I'm not going to bother talking much about his misdeeds, save to say that he was a hateful, misinformed man who inspired and misinformed many people to spread his hate and ignorance.

As someone who constantly wrestles with my faith, politics, and the meanings of right and wrong, I know how easy it is to get drawn into doing the wrong thing for what some would claim is the right reason. That struggle doesn't get any easier when you have family and friends who all have differing political and religious beliefs - but it sure makes things interesting from time to time.

In all honesty, with regard to Chick's reasoning (or lack thereof) behind his ignorance and hate, I think the smoking gun can be found in this statement from his Wikipedia page (bracketed text added from the actual FAQ to clarify things):

"On his 'Roman Catholicism FAQ', Chick said he began publishing his theories about the Roman Catholic Church because 'he loves Catholics and wants them to be saved through faith in Jesus[, not trusting in religious liturgy and sacraments.]'."

Having studied theology, I know the theological (and political) reasons behind Luther's 95 Theses. He voiced his dissent with regard to an increasingly meddlesome Papacy which indulged in greed and idolatry in a variety of ways, ranging from letters of indulgence to priests and bishops marrying into powerful families and fathering illegitimate children to gain money and property. Luther wanted to break down the barrier between the people and God's word that was imposed by the church. While that is certainly how Chick's reasoning appears on the surface, his ideas are much more conspiratorial and derogatory when exposed to the light of day.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not an angel. I get angry; I mess up; I stumble; and when I fall, it results in a pretty heavy thud (both literally and metaphorically). I can only hope that now that he's on the other side, Chick has seen the error of his ways because his minions employees have vowed to stay the course.

The madness continues...

My response. For context, start here and read to here. Something Positive is ©2016 R.K. Milholland.

In closing, I'll leave this bit of wisdom from Isaiah 5:20-21 (NIV) for us all, myself included.

Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes

and clever in their own sight.

And 2016, I know you did this to try and get back in my good graces. For the record, you're not even close...

Good Riddance To Bad Rubbish

Work has been taking a lot out of me physically and mentally, leaving me with little desire to create and write. In short, the soundtrack in my head has been Slough Feg's "Psionic Illuminations" and occasionally Blue Oyster Cult's "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" played on one continuous loop for the past couple of weeks.  However, the following topic made me sit up and take notice because it's a milestone in the history of the hobby, especially for those of us who started rolling our polyhedrals in the early and mid 1980s. What I'm talking about is the sentencing of Thomas Radecki, one of several individuals who were a scourge and pox on gamers during the satanic panic of those days.

Radecki permanently surrendered his license back in 2012 after he was accused of trading psychiatric drugs in exchange for sexual favors. I'm not going to get into the foul details of this blackguard's misdeeds; you can read those for yourself in the links above. As an individual who has been counseled by a number of upstanding and excellent caregivers in the mental health field I'm disgusted that Radecki betrayed the trust and violated the human rights of his patients for his own sick gain. Thinking of him makes me throw up a little in my mouth even as I write this.

I find it odd and ironic that the 70-year-old Radecki's sentencing to 10-22 years in prison intersects with discussion of the satanic panic and its effects on several popular RPG forums. Why people found it necessary - let alone desirable - to dredge up memories of a terrible time in a lot of gamers' lives, I don't know. Then again, the Internet is a weird place where a lot of people seem to take pleasure in others' suffering.

I was fortunate in that I didn't suffer many (if any) terrible effects from the satanic panic. I lived out in the boonies of northwestern Iowa and kept my gaming to myself; I didn't try to share it with anyone until high school, whereupon I received some pointed teasing from some classmates because they didn't understand it. Other gamers had it much, much worse, not only at the hands of their classmates, but also from "concerned" parents, relatives, and other figures of authority. I use the threat quotes because in some cases the "concern" about "satanic influences" was just another excuse to enact spiritual, physical, verbal, and emotional abuse upon the victim.

This karmic smackdown has been a long, long time coming thanks to the slow-turning wheels of our overloaded and oft-abused justice system. It comes as cold comfort to me - as I'm sure it does for the victims of his direct abuse - that Radecki is finally getting what he deserves only because patience is not one of my virtues. Some figures of the satanic panic have experienced a merciful fade from relevance and prominence, while others remain due to the tenacity of their ignorant beliefs. While the court of law has proven one cannot libel or slander the dead, I won't even bother to speak in detail about Sean Sellers and Patricia Pulling, each deceased now 20 years. Doing so won't undo the harm they did, nor will it affect their ultimate fate.

Having written this, I can honestly say I feel a little better. Hopefully this turn of events brings us closer to ending this painful chapter of our hobby's history and gives closure to those afflicted by it.