I've been thinking more about spirituality and the line between healthy/unhealthy and one thought that came to me* is that spirituality would be much less prone to harm if people treated it like D&D.
I watch a lot of actual plays, most of which take place in settings that the DM created, with either completely invented pantheons of gods or adapted/cherrypicked versions from cannon as well as rules around magic and divinity that DON'T exist in D&D cannon, but grew out of the worldbuilding for the setting.
The stories told at the table can be utterly engrossing and emotionally fulfilling to experience even if its just vicariously through a youtube channel or a twitch stream VOD. But the thing is, at the end of the day it's a game, or at least most people do. And the ones who don't, well, they're a perfect example of what happens when you take it too seriously.
Ditto on Oprah. She should have done more to promote one of the decent people she had on, Harville Hendrix, who created useful therapeutic exercises & was quite upfront about where he was coming from. Not a charlatan.
Yeah, Oprah got taken in by a whole host of charismatic charlatans, and the entire country is paying the price. Though she's only partly to blame--clearly a huge proportion of Americans have an appetite for this dangerous shit.
That's what powers religion! :( Which is why I used to have a lot of respect for Dr. Gene Scott--he always said, "You don't have to check your brain at the door of the church to be a Xtian." I dunno how many of his fans followed his advice, tho. I wonder what he'd make of Trump?
I used to hear that line from evangelical apologists, so I can't really comment without knowing what stances he took on things and where he fell re: evangelicalism vs. more mainline theology. I'm afraid I know pretty much nothing about him.
That's a good question, since he died long before all this bullshit came to light. Plus he played em pretty close to the vest, so we never did know much about his personal life.
I've been thinking more about spirituality and the line between healthy/unhealthy and one thought that came to me* is that spirituality would be much less prone to harm if people treated it like D&D.
I watch a lot of actual plays, most of which take place in settings that the DM created, with either completely invented pantheons of gods or adapted/cherrypicked versions from cannon as well as rules around magic and divinity that DON'T exist in D&D cannon, but grew out of the worldbuilding for the setting.
The stories told at the table can be utterly engrossing and emotionally fulfilling to experience even if its just vicariously through a youtube channel or a twitch stream VOD. But the thing is, at the end of the day it's a game, or at least most people do. And the ones who don't, well, they're a perfect example of what happens when you take it too seriously.
*Okay, it was a shower thought, I'll admit it.
Shower thought or not, it makes some sense
Ditto on Oprah. She should have done more to promote one of the decent people she had on, Harville Hendrix, who created useful therapeutic exercises & was quite upfront about where he was coming from. Not a charlatan.
Yeah, Oprah got taken in by a whole host of charismatic charlatans, and the entire country is paying the price. Though she's only partly to blame--clearly a huge proportion of Americans have an appetite for this dangerous shit.
That's what powers religion! :( Which is why I used to have a lot of respect for Dr. Gene Scott--he always said, "You don't have to check your brain at the door of the church to be a Xtian." I dunno how many of his fans followed his advice, tho. I wonder what he'd make of Trump?
I used to hear that line from evangelical apologists, so I can't really comment without knowing what stances he took on things and where he fell re: evangelicalism vs. more mainline theology. I'm afraid I know pretty much nothing about him.
That's a good question, since he died long before all this bullshit came to light. Plus he played em pretty close to the vest, so we never did know much about his personal life.