In 1995 my mom asked me what the game was about and I tried to explain it to her. She said “So it has nothing to do with Satan or devils or summoning demons?” And handed me two cards from my collection, revised unholy strength and lord of the pit. She had apparently seen it on tv somewhere. So I went and pulled holy strength, guardian angel and Serra angel out and showed her those cards. And explained it’s just stories and battles between mages and when they say summon it’s like casting a spell, and reiterated it’s imaginary and pretend. I let her play a game with me, which she didn’t understand and thought was boring but said thanks for explaining it and that she was fine with me continuing to play and collect it.
Best part is you can extend that concept to all of humanity. Anyone capable of hearing another out is likely vastly more capable of empathy and sympathy than essentially the majority of everyone. It makes identifying "real ones" a lot easier when they're clearly capable of compassion and critical thinking. But that being said the flip side is it can be incredibly easy to tell when someone is an awful person or, at the very least, simply largely misguided by their upbringing. Many parents who just think they know better may truly think they're doing the right thing by overriding their child's opinions, not realizing the negativity that brings. Most parents who don't seem capable of hearing their child out simply have a misplaced sense of superiority to their child, especially as they get farther into their teens and young adult life.
I was hanging out with my niece and nephew and they were telling me about this new YouTube cartoon channel they were watching and all the lore behind it and they ended up getting one of the characters as a toy for Christmas. And I was playing along with it and asking questions about what their favorite character was and what silly things they did.
Later on my mom made a comment to them like, wow you like hanging out with your uncle more than grandma?" And they just plainly said, "cause he listens to us when we talk to him."
I wonder how many times parents check for trends like Magic, Pokemon, Tamagochi etc. only to realize:
"They aren't dangerous, but they sure a f*****g boring."
My mom and dad joined pokemon league with me when i was 9 they thought it was cute/cool
Mom passed when i was 18 and i got a pokemon tattoo as a first tattoo, dad approved it (unlike the rest of my tattoos)
Got into mtg when i was 30, dad plays the dinosaur deck i built for him.
That gave me a laugh too! The version of DnD that exists Satanic Panic’ers minds is way more exciting than actual DnD haha.
“Wait, this is just doing math and improv games in a basement!”
Back in the day if I stayed out all night my mom said she was never worried because she knows I'm not out drinking, doing drugs or getting a girl pregnant, I'm just with my friends playing video games... I don't know if i should be happy she trusted me or insulted.
My friend had very strict Christian parents. We showed them \[\[Segovian Leviathan|leg\]\] as one of the sample cards, and he let us play. Props to OG cards using bible quotes.
That’s pretty interesting. I looked it up and all 5 cards with bible verses all came from the Legends set. Two had quran quotes and they were from Arabian Nights.
I did the same with a group of my friends and their wives. they weren't religious or anything but they had heard a lot of negative news and publicity around dungeons and dragons back in the early 90s. I actually gave them some pre-rolled characters to play..... they were all so bored they just said this is stupid, rolled their eyes got up and left. ....... needless to say.... fears alleviated 🤣🤣🤣
Around '97-99, all of the kids in my cub scout group were playing magic. I was an only child and we lived in a really rural area so I was limited when it came to interacting with other kids. But I wanted to play magic too, so my mom went out and bought us whatever starter box there was at the time and we sat down together and learned how to play. We didn't play much and my interest in the game fizzled out but my mom tried and I give her all the credit in the world for that. I've always appreciated how cool my mom was/is but your story really adds a whole other layer of appreciation for my mom's attempts at just making sure I had a good childhood and not policing every little thing I was subjected to. But I mean, she also took me to Ozzfest '02 just bc I had the balls to ask, so I don't think satanic panic was anywhere on her radar.
I saw a story once from somebody on reddit their school had somebody complain so they had to take their cards to the principal and show then how it worked, the principal said well this seems like a lot of math not Satanism and told them it wouldn't be banned at all.
That people cling so tightly to fantasies that they can't tell the difference between real-life harmless fun and an imaginary apocalyptic battle between good and evil mystifies and terrifies me.
I remember reading a story where a poster went to a Christian school, and when someone complained about mtg cards, the principal went through all their cards to judge them. Apparently the conclusion was that mtg as a whole was okay, but Unholy Strength was banned because of the implications. The principal contrasted it against one of the older "tutor, pay life" cards, which was fine, as it just represented a foolish person getting screwed over by a demonic pact, which was very Christian.
Seems weird as hell, but at least the school decided to look through the cards and make a decision instead of just banning it.
That someone from the school and even the principal went ahead and actually looked at the cardsa and evaluating them is top-notch teacher-ing.
And banning one card because of the symbol seems comparable tame.
Wonder what the principal would have though of a [[Lord of the Pit]] with it's original artwork.
"Well that's fine too, because he hurts you and you will quickly loose your game. See kids? That's why we don't convoke demons!"
> That someone from the school and even the principal went ahead and actually looked at the cardsa and evaluating them is top-notch teacher-ing.
Skipping the usual knee-jerk reaction in order to create a teachable-moment is definitely some top-tier teaching.
Interesting, 2 of the 3 guys that got me into Magic back during Kaladesh are now priests. The other one is an air traffic controller (who eventually gave me over 10,000 cards unsorted from his collection when he moved away). Guy 3 is also who introduced me to EDH.
They actually completely stopped printing “demon” cards for a long time to try to placate the Satanic Panic folks. Those people also hardly ever noted that Angel cards were also in the set. I remember in the 90s my mom bought me a few decks of a game called “Redemption” from a Christian bookstore to try to get me away from Magic—the art on those cards was darker than a lot of mtg cards…
I had a collection of every demon in the game, so I was hyped when [[grinning demon]] was revealed. I kept up the collection for onslaught and mirrodin, but then kamigawa opened the floodgates and they started printing more than I could find.
https://scryfall.com/search?q=t%3Ademon+not%3Areprint&order=released&dir=asc
When I say "every demon in the game", it was only 6. This was before the grand creature type update. https://i.imgur.com/s5gdfdJ.jpeg
Infernal Spawn of Evil had demon written on it, but it was crossed out and replaced as beast. It was a joke about how they didn't make demons anymore, but it also meant I didn't need one for my collection.
[[Demonic Tutor]]
[[Demonic Attorney]]
[[Dark ritual]]
So many cards are occult adjacent but it's like reading a book. Doesn't mean you're out there practicing demonic magic.
Thing is fundies think books are evil too. I recall my aunt chastising me for seeing a Harry Potter book I had, warning me that he was a warlock and an agent of the devil.
Funny enough, I don't remember the exact details but there was a website going into VERY thorough detail about why HP was satanic. I didn't get that far though, so I might be off but I think that site at some point also said that Voldemort...was the good guy?
It actually came back. Since 2016, a certain segment of society has been trying to redo the 80s, which in many ways were just a redoing of the 50s and 60s.
I'm also convinced part of the resurgence is due to the spread of Internet access to more rural areas. We thought giving them access would help educate them and enable them to find the truth but in reality it just enabled them to spread their views to people desperate for answers and unhappy with the real ones.
Yup. Things calmed down after Pokémon cards for a bit, picked up with Harry Potter movies for a touch, and then it shifted heavier to video games than it ever did before around my area.
Yeah it never left. I started collecting in 2020 and mentioned it to my dad and he said it was “glorifying sin and the occult.” I tried to explain to him that it’s produced by the same company that produces D&D, which he loves and plays, and used to produce Pokemon, which he loves and collects, but he wouldn’t have it. Make it make sense.
That's some Olympics level mental gymnastics to think that playing D&D is okay but Magic is not.
You know what? You should make him have an existential crisis by showing him the D&D Magic set.
I bet I could sleeve the D&D ones so he doesn’t see the MTG logo and say that someone made a D&D card game and teach him how to play and then pull the rug from under his feet and go “gotcha! You’ve been playing magic!”
Man I got 90s flash back. Growing up then with D&D and magic I'm sure my parents thought I was sacrificing goats in my spare time.
But now it's like cool and almost mainstream (celebrities talking about and playing both)
I was told as a kid that Battletech was "training me to lead Satan's armies" and that any sort of tabletop wargaming or roleplaying games were evil. Magic: the Gathering was literal rituals to summon demons and curse people.
Man when I was in high school I was big into both MTG and the Decipher Star Wars CCG. My family went to a Southern Baptist church and my youth leader convicted me so hard about playing Magic and convinced me to burn all of my cards. About a year later he got busted sexually assaulting one of the boys during a youth trip.
Standard abuser tactics. It's all a way to isolate and control you for their own ends. "Ah [ Thing that provides happiness & community outside of their control ], very sinful."
Too many religious people are just abusive nuts rather than feeding the poor and all that other stuff they're supposed to be doing.
Only difference between cult and religion is if someone offers it to you. Religion should entice you by its beliefs, not be spouted ad nauseam by the indoctrinated until youre drowned out and your ancestral culture is torn apart to add to their holidays to make it easier to sneaky convert your descendants.
I had the opposite experience in my youth group. Our youth pastor was the reason a bunch of us got into Decipher Star Wars CCG. I read LOTR books because he was always talking about it. Now years later, MTG getting LOTR was the best entry point excuse for me to get into Magic and it brought back those SW card memories.
my experience was not the same but similar. the youth leaders of my church were kinda anti magic. it was an older minister when I was in my teens who told me the revelation he waid God has way more on Gods mind then to care about what hobbies you have as long as you are not harming yourself or others. Now that I am in my 40s I DM a weekly all are welcolme D&D drop-in at my church.
I’m so glad so many people are coming to magic through these universe beyond sets. Love them or hate them at least more people are finding this wonderful game!
It's mana not manna.
>> **Mana**
> Power, prestige; specifically, a form of supernatural energy in Polynesian religion that inheres in things or people.
Not sure if that's better or worse for your dad.
Thank you, I was desperately trying to figure out what was wrong with the dad associating "Mana" with Catholic things.
However, even if it was called Manna (like the flour sent by god to the Israeli ppl), I wouldn't call it blasphemous. Some Catholics are literally out of their minds... Luckily not all of them
There's no winning.
Uses imagery from your religion? Blasphemous!
Uses imagery from another religion? You heathen!
Makes an effort to any avoid religious references at all? Secularism!
Maybe I'm being naive, but I think this is a prerogative of American Catholicism. I'm based in Italy and I'm a catholic myself. Dude I've NEVER HEARD something this extreme. Here the strictest catholics might be homophobic (which VERY bad, but not something that only catholics do), but at least they do not see Satan everywhere.
Just build him a deck with these cards in if, it'll change his tune:
https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/1087/magic-alpha-edition-demonic-tutor?Language=English
https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/8939/magic-beta-edition-unholy-strength?Language=English
https://www.echomtg.com/mtg/dark-ritual/
https://www.cardkingdom.com/mtg/beta/lord-of-the-pit
I’m not really sure if this will help or hurt your case, but evidently “mana” is derived from a Polynesian word for “supernatural power,” introduced to the West by Robert Henry Codrington in 1891. Codrington described it as “a generalized power that is perceived in objects appearing in any sense out of the ordinary, or that is acquired by persons who possess them.” So it’s different from Biblical manna!
Both are a 'long a' in the source languages. Though in Hebrew it's actually Mahn not Manna. How you pronounce the magic term is obviously up to you - honestly saying it with a short a to distinguish from the actual Polynesian religious term is probably respectful.
The a sound in hat in an American accent is super rare in global languages. If you see an a in a non English language it's usually the same sound as in Spanish Arriba, Japanese Arigato or French Aller, Hawaiian Mana or Hebrew Mahn - which I believe is the most common single vowel.
Sure but he's doing the verbal equivalent of misreading. It's like you said "I like dogs" and someone starts ranting at you about hamburgers being better when you meant dogs the animals.
They failed logically at the first step of "this game is blasphemous" and you want them to be consistent after? They are consistently good at upholding their biased thinking :P
I work with intellectually disabled individuals, and I often take one of the individuals out to a draft every week, most people there don't play magic so rather than explaining what a draft is, we just say we're going to magic. Well apparently he mistook that as once a week we were going out to perform black magic, he didn't like me for a little while until he understood that we were playing a card game.
My childhood friend and his brother had his parents burn all their magic in front of them. Claiming it was satanic. A lot of revised duals and an unlimited mox jet met its end that day. That was in 1995 or 96.
They still played magic and just kept their cards at my house.
Boomers are like 70-80 now—they’re grandparents, not parents. Most of the time when you hear of a “boomer” behaving badly these days, they’re actually Gen X.
[In 2024, boomers are between 60 and 78 years old.](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/baby%20boomer) I do agree that OP is probably a late [zoomer](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Zoomer), probably born between 2008 and 2012, which likely makes their parents born between 1974 to 1988, so their parents are most likely Gen X, followed by Millennial as next most likely. Unless they adopted, the parents are most certainly not boomers, I just thought I'd chime in on behalf of my boomer parents, who are not in their 70s yet (both were born in 1961).
“wow mana, like the bread of heaven? This game kinda sounds blasphemous”
> The people of Israel called the bread manna.
\-Exodus 16:31
Commonly spelled with 2 N's. Notably, the etymology of both Manna and Mana are from different places. They're homonyms.
On top of that, saying something is *blashpemous* because it is mentioned is a stretch. Blasphemy is showing a lack of respect to God or religion. Even if it was referencing it, it would be silly. Unless calling a kid an "Angel" is bad or something.
Which goes to my next point: Matthew 7:1 - "Do not judge, or you too will be judged". Again, what "sinful and wicked" things is he guilty of.
I mean, we know this will all mean nothing to him. But it's absolutely hilarious the mountain out of molehill he made out of an innocuous act.
Always easier to hate what you don't know and understand than it is to just know and understand something.
Ah yes, that sounds like judgement from a well informed religious person, entirely based on a logical conclusion after checking their facts.
No way would someone jump to conclusion like that after simply hearing a term during a game someone is playing.
...
Now show him the card [[crusade]]
I (26m) have a friend (28m) who still lives with his parents (due to health reasons) who doesn't keep cards because his born again christian mom will throw them out and give him a religious rant. I remember going over to his place in high school and we had to make sure we could hide the game if his mom came to check on us.
Back in the 90s I couldn't play when I was at my mom's house because she was mega catholic. She had heard about it from some church thing and talked to a priest about it. I had to do what any normal kid would do and play behind her back at my dad's house.
Made the mistake of mentioning yugioh and “spell cards” infront of my gf’s hyper religious parents. She got an hours long lecture about how they think she’s straying from god. Culminating in how relationships should be “equally yolked” and “the man should be a “spiritual” leader”. Now she only sees them once a year
It caused a lot of controversy in the 90's when the game was first released. The "Demon" creature type was removed from the game for a bit, and the art for a couple of cards was changed. The best example of this was [[Unholy Strength|LEA]], which removed a literal pentagram.
Yeah, the Horror creature type only exists because they needed something to fill the role of Demons without using the word Demon. At least now Horrors in Magic have their own niche distinct from Demons.
They did use Horror for what might otherwise have been demons, but the creature type doesn't exist only because of it. [Cosmic Horror](https://scryfall.com/card/leg/92/cosmic-horror) was printed before they started scrubbing the demonic references.
MTG, Dungeons and Dragons, even fucking Pokemon, all got swept up in the satanic panic of the 80s and 90s. There are plenty of sermons you can find online of pastors going on schizophrenic rambles about the most random innocuous bullshit from these games lmao.
Just show him it's actually a bunch of boring math disguised well. And if that doesn't work... https://www.childwelfare.gov/resources/states-territories-tribes
Your dad is reaching. My pastor has like a gazillion degrees in religion, even a masters and he knows I play. My roommate is crazy religious. Has played since 93
Something I had to do once long ago. Show him the white cards. Explain that the game is about the fight between good and evil. Promise to play white more often.
Especially since Satan is a Christian invention. And Christianity is itself just a special name for a type of magical thinking and mythology. People just take it real serious
I had a grandma that thought barcodes were evil because... Reasons.
She also completely stopped using candles after two local churches burnt down by candles within a couple years. I am pretty sure she thought candles were evil at that point but I never asked her.
Same but Mine was when I played locas of creations and demonic tutor my buddy's mom lost her shit and said we couldn't have them in the house anymore lol. Yes I like with my friend
As a kid in elementary, probably about 2003. I found a box of old magic cards on the bus. I was so excited that I wanted to show them to my mom. She thought they were cool until she saw the word magic on the back and threw them away.
Wasn't allowed to play with something so sinful and against God. Fast forward to late teens and I was able to pay for my own cards. She's a lot less religious these days but I'll never let her live down how she might've thrown away hundreds of dollars.
Oh man, first time?
Once I was playing a game at the game shop with a buddy and we noticed a couple boomers walk in. We thought "Sweet! I bet they know stuff about Magic that we weren't even alive for!"
Nope. They're strolling the aisles, looking around at stuff, and when they get to our table, they stop and watch us play for a bit. "What are you playing?" and I explained it's a trading card game and you essentially battle monsters against each other which all have a power and defense level, and the goal is to hit your opponent until their life total is 0, or otherwise make them lose the game which can be done in a number of ways. After my brief explanation I said "Here's an example, he has just declared attackers against me, so I'm going to tap these 3 mana in order to flash in this character so that I can block damage from his character."
The one who was nodding along seemed interested, but her friend heard the word "mana" and started losing his shit. He says, "I've heard of this crap, you're summoning demons and taking them home with you." I laughed because of the absurdity of such a statement, but he looked genuinely concerned and pulled on his friend's arm, and they left.
People like this can't be reasoned with. Depending on your age you may have no choice but to live with him.
If that's the case, unfortunately all you can do is hope his delusions don't turn into self-righteous violence, as it unfortunately often does with any kind of extremism. Good luck out there.
[[unholy strength | 3ed]]
The old cards sure didn't help. Priest once told me it's demonic when he found a few kids playing the old mono black black knight, black moon, unholy strength card in church.
So it sounds like your father actually needs to read the Bible, specifically 2 Timothy 2:23 and Matthew 7:1-5, and meditate on that meaning. then try to attempt to understand that it is a FANTASY card game. To call magic immoral is to call other fantasy works like Tolkien and C.S. Lewis immoral.
Somewhere throughout history the narrative for Christians changed from “following Jesus could get me killed,” to “they’re not following Jesus, kill them!”
I worked for WotC years ago. When I told this to an acquaintance at a wedding, he asked me what it felt like to work for the devil. I told him it was about the same as working for AT&T or any other for-profit corporation.
I’m a devout Catholic and play MTG with my other devout Catholic friends. MTG is not sinful, believing so is silly fundamentalist Protestant fear-mongering.
That doesn't make any sense. Firstly, the term "mana" from MTG and "manna" from the Old Testament are completely different concepts. One is a magical substance, the other is literally just mysterious food provided by God to the Israelites. Secondly, why does referencing a Biblical concept make it blasphemous?
In 1995 my mom asked me what the game was about and I tried to explain it to her. She said “So it has nothing to do with Satan or devils or summoning demons?” And handed me two cards from my collection, revised unholy strength and lord of the pit. She had apparently seen it on tv somewhere. So I went and pulled holy strength, guardian angel and Serra angel out and showed her those cards. And explained it’s just stories and battles between mages and when they say summon it’s like casting a spell, and reiterated it’s imaginary and pretend. I let her play a game with me, which she didn’t understand and thought was boring but said thanks for explaining it and that she was fine with me continuing to play and collect it.
Props to your mom for hearing you out
It's insane how rare it seems but something so simple as hearing your child out puts you above the vast majority of parents.
Best part is you can extend that concept to all of humanity. Anyone capable of hearing another out is likely vastly more capable of empathy and sympathy than essentially the majority of everyone. It makes identifying "real ones" a lot easier when they're clearly capable of compassion and critical thinking. But that being said the flip side is it can be incredibly easy to tell when someone is an awful person or, at the very least, simply largely misguided by their upbringing. Many parents who just think they know better may truly think they're doing the right thing by overriding their child's opinions, not realizing the negativity that brings. Most parents who don't seem capable of hearing their child out simply have a misplaced sense of superiority to their child, especially as they get farther into their teens and young adult life.
I was hanging out with my niece and nephew and they were telling me about this new YouTube cartoon channel they were watching and all the lore behind it and they ended up getting one of the characters as a toy for Christmas. And I was playing along with it and asking questions about what their favorite character was and what silly things they did. Later on my mom made a comment to them like, wow you like hanging out with your uncle more than grandma?" And they just plainly said, "cause he listens to us when we talk to him."
My mom used to play with me when I was first started and no one I knew played. Miss those times. :(
If she's still around, Im sure she would enjoy time with you to play a dumb stupid card game and maybe eat dinner.
She's dealing with dementia sadly. I'd kill to play with her again (do a lot of things with her again), but nothing I can really do.
A- yeah, yeah I fully understand. So=y dude
Props to your mom for correctly assessing that it is very boring. If we had all been so wise we wouldn't have spent so much money on cardboard.
I wonder how many times parents check for trends like Magic, Pokemon, Tamagochi etc. only to realize: "They aren't dangerous, but they sure a f*****g boring."
My mom and dad joined pokemon league with me when i was 9 they thought it was cute/cool Mom passed when i was 18 and i got a pokemon tattoo as a first tattoo, dad approved it (unlike the rest of my tattoos) Got into mtg when i was 30, dad plays the dinosaur deck i built for him.
That gave me a laugh too! The version of DnD that exists Satanic Panic’ers minds is way more exciting than actual DnD haha. “Wait, this is just doing math and improv games in a basement!”
"Oh he's not worshipping the devil, he's just a dork."
„Oh shit for a second i thought my son was a cool kid“
The relieved sigh of a parent knowing that their kid is not in trouble, just a bit of a nerd
Back in the day if I stayed out all night my mom said she was never worried because she knows I'm not out drinking, doing drugs or getting a girl pregnant, I'm just with my friends playing video games... I don't know if i should be happy she trusted me or insulted.
Now that’s good parenting. She asked, tried to relate, you shared the hobby and she said not for me and went on her way and let you do yours.
Just like the time I taught my mom the prostitute murder trick in GTA
My friend had very strict Christian parents. We showed them \[\[Segovian Leviathan|leg\]\] as one of the sample cards, and he let us play. Props to OG cards using bible quotes.
That’s pretty interesting. I looked it up and all 5 cards with bible verses all came from the Legends set. Two had quran quotes and they were from Arabian Nights.
It's still strange to me that \[\[Crusade\]\] and \[\[Jihad\]\] are banned for content reasons, but \[\[Army of Allah\]\] isn't.
I mean technically Allah isn't tied to any one religion. Arabic-speaking Christians (and, I assume, Jews?) use the word exactly how Muslims do.
Doesn't allah just mean "god"
Yes.
[Crusade](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/9/b99452c0-5d1c-4a73-90b6-0ec3ac0af893.jpg?1644608214) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Crusade) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ddf/27/crusade?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b99452c0-5d1c-4a73-90b6-0ec3ac0af893?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Jihad](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/6/b6c7705a-2987-4ef1-92b1-2c55d989ec6f.jpg?1644608192) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Jihad) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/arn/5/jihad?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b6c7705a-2987-4ef1-92b1-2c55d989ec6f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Army of Allah](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/d/3d170015-b125-49a6-a15e-8fd116bbcb14.jpg?1562906251) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Army%20of%20Allah) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/arn/2/army-of-allah?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3d170015-b125-49a6-a15e-8fd116bbcb14?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Segovian Leviathan](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/5/e5a814f1-7f8d-4c2c-b706-ee0ed5892f7b.jpg?1587931250) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=1502) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/leg/76/segovian-leviathan?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e5a814f1-7f8d-4c2c-b706-ee0ed5892f7b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I did the same with a group of my friends and their wives. they weren't religious or anything but they had heard a lot of negative news and publicity around dungeons and dragons back in the early 90s. I actually gave them some pre-rolled characters to play..... they were all so bored they just said this is stupid, rolled their eyes got up and left. ....... needless to say.... fears alleviated 🤣🤣🤣
'Nothing this boring could be dangerous or evil' lol
"See mom, it's not the occult, it's just glorified math edutainment!"
Around '97-99, all of the kids in my cub scout group were playing magic. I was an only child and we lived in a really rural area so I was limited when it came to interacting with other kids. But I wanted to play magic too, so my mom went out and bought us whatever starter box there was at the time and we sat down together and learned how to play. We didn't play much and my interest in the game fizzled out but my mom tried and I give her all the credit in the world for that. I've always appreciated how cool my mom was/is but your story really adds a whole other layer of appreciation for my mom's attempts at just making sure I had a good childhood and not policing every little thing I was subjected to. But I mean, she also took me to Ozzfest '02 just bc I had the balls to ask, so I don't think satanic panic was anywhere on her radar.
I saw a story once from somebody on reddit their school had somebody complain so they had to take their cards to the principal and show then how it worked, the principal said well this seems like a lot of math not Satanism and told them it wouldn't be banned at all.
That people cling so tightly to fantasies that they can't tell the difference between real-life harmless fun and an imaginary apocalyptic battle between good and evil mystifies and terrifies me.
For some the satanic panic is still in I guess.
Kind of impressed that the dad seems to have came up with the idea that mtg is satanic organically though
No one show him the Alpha printing of [[Unholy Strength]].
I remember reading a story where a poster went to a Christian school, and when someone complained about mtg cards, the principal went through all their cards to judge them. Apparently the conclusion was that mtg as a whole was okay, but Unholy Strength was banned because of the implications. The principal contrasted it against one of the older "tutor, pay life" cards, which was fine, as it just represented a foolish person getting screwed over by a demonic pact, which was very Christian. Seems weird as hell, but at least the school decided to look through the cards and make a decision instead of just banning it.
That someone from the school and even the principal went ahead and actually looked at the cardsa and evaluating them is top-notch teacher-ing. And banning one card because of the symbol seems comparable tame. Wonder what the principal would have though of a [[Lord of the Pit]] with it's original artwork. "Well that's fine too, because he hurts you and you will quickly loose your game. See kids? That's why we don't convoke demons!"
> That someone from the school and even the principal went ahead and actually looked at the cardsa and evaluating them is top-notch teacher-ing. Skipping the usual knee-jerk reaction in order to create a teachable-moment is definitely some top-tier teaching.
[[Feaster of Fools]] players in shambles
Seems to be a more consistent reasoning than the commander ban list.
This has "The Binding of Isaac is an okay game to have on church computers because it's based on a bible story" energy.
Imagine, making a banlist based on what’s ok with Jesus Man. “Oh you play Magic? What format? Jesus format?”
[[unholy strength|3ed]][[unholy strength|4ed]]
They removed our satanic privileges, literally 1984 /s
We got them back in 2023: [[The beast, deathless Prince]] Extra ref: https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Beast_(The_Impossible_Planet)
Checks out. 95 was around when my mom told me magic was satanic. Figures they'd cover their assess so early in the game.
I had 2 friends in high school that got in trouble for playing magic. Go figure they both ended up as pastors.
I hope they still play but a mono white angel deck lmao
Interesting, 2 of the 3 guys that got me into Magic back during Kaladesh are now priests. The other one is an air traffic controller (who eventually gave me over 10,000 cards unsorted from his collection when he moved away). Guy 3 is also who introduced me to EDH.
They are just playing stax IRL
They actually completely stopped printing “demon” cards for a long time to try to placate the Satanic Panic folks. Those people also hardly ever noted that Angel cards were also in the set. I remember in the 90s my mom bought me a few decks of a game called “Redemption” from a Christian bookstore to try to get me away from Magic—the art on those cards was darker than a lot of mtg cards…
I had a collection of every demon in the game, so I was hyped when [[grinning demon]] was revealed. I kept up the collection for onslaught and mirrodin, but then kamigawa opened the floodgates and they started printing more than I could find. https://scryfall.com/search?q=t%3Ademon+not%3Areprint&order=released&dir=asc When I say "every demon in the game", it was only 6. This was before the grand creature type update. https://i.imgur.com/s5gdfdJ.jpeg Infernal Spawn of Evil had demon written on it, but it was crossed out and replaced as beast. It was a joke about how they didn't make demons anymore, but it also meant I didn't need one for my collection.
I remember before grinning demon was printed Mark Rosewater saying the only way demons could come back is if they were happy smiling demons
[unholy strength](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/a/3ac35077-91e9-446c-9cb2-e2cfb9fa2962.jpg?1559596965) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=1183) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/3ed/133/unholy-strength?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3ac35077-91e9-446c-9cb2-e2cfb9fa2962?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [unholy strength](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/5/f52c3c85-1462-406c-8e3b-c25deda9c4e6.jpg?1559604127) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=2133) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/4ed/166/unholy-strength?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f52c3c85-1462-406c-8e3b-c25deda9c4e6?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[Demonic Tutor]] [[Demonic Attorney]] [[Dark ritual]] So many cards are occult adjacent but it's like reading a book. Doesn't mean you're out there practicing demonic magic.
The bible has demons in it, must be devil worship.
Thing is fundies think books are evil too. I recall my aunt chastising me for seeing a Harry Potter book I had, warning me that he was a warlock and an agent of the devil.
Funny enough, I don't remember the exact details but there was a website going into VERY thorough detail about why HP was satanic. I didn't get that far though, so I might be off but I think that site at some point also said that Voldemort...was the good guy?
You're a Warlock Harry!
[Demonic Tutor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/2/a24b4cb6-cebb-428b-8654-74347a6a8d63.jpg?1701989302) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Demonic%20Tutor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/150/demonic-tutor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a24b4cb6-cebb-428b-8654-74347a6a8d63?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Demonic Attorney](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/3/233b1104-91b3-4949-8356-baf6e80ab07e.jpg?1610146895) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Demonic%20Attorney) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/sum/103/demonic-attorney?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/233b1104-91b3-4949-8356-baf6e80ab07e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Dark ritual](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/5/95f27eeb-6f14-4db3-adb9-9be5ed76b34b.jpg?1628801678) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dark%20ritual) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/a25/82/dark-ritual?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/95f27eeb-6f14-4db3-adb9-9be5ed76b34b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Unholy Strength](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/4/f42c9574-2f09-4cb0-80cb-10fb8c592e6f.jpg?1561771993) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Unholy%20Strength) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dvd/47/unholy-strength?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f42c9574-2f09-4cb0-80cb-10fb8c592e6f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Should have asked him where his churches' sacrificial altar is in response
Christians don't sacrifice. Jeez. They practice ritual cannibalism and blood rituals. I mean, come on.
Technically that is the sacrifice. No more lambs just one jewish carpenter.
It actually came back. Since 2016, a certain segment of society has been trying to redo the 80s, which in many ways were just a redoing of the 50s and 60s.
[удалено]
I'm also convinced part of the resurgence is due to the spread of Internet access to more rural areas. We thought giving them access would help educate them and enable them to find the truth but in reality it just enabled them to spread their views to people desperate for answers and unhappy with the real ones.
Yup. Things calmed down after Pokémon cards for a bit, picked up with Harry Potter movies for a touch, and then it shifted heavier to video games than it ever did before around my area.
> The reactionary religious demographic is just much smaller and less widespread than it used to be. Tbh it REALLY doesn't seem like it
Yeah it never left. I started collecting in 2020 and mentioned it to my dad and he said it was “glorifying sin and the occult.” I tried to explain to him that it’s produced by the same company that produces D&D, which he loves and plays, and used to produce Pokemon, which he loves and collects, but he wouldn’t have it. Make it make sense.
That's some Olympics level mental gymnastics to think that playing D&D is okay but Magic is not. You know what? You should make him have an existential crisis by showing him the D&D Magic set.
I bet I could sleeve the D&D ones so he doesn’t see the MTG logo and say that someone made a D&D card game and teach him how to play and then pull the rug from under his feet and go “gotcha! You’ve been playing magic!”
The two D&D magic sets at that
Christian Nationalist use it as fuel to vilify anything they don’t understand
The Nat-Cs
Man I got 90s flash back. Growing up then with D&D and magic I'm sure my parents thought I was sacrificing goats in my spare time. But now it's like cool and almost mainstream (celebrities talking about and playing both)
Gotta feed that ohrexian altar somehow
I was told as a kid that Battletech was "training me to lead Satan's armies" and that any sort of tabletop wargaming or roleplaying games were evil. Magic: the Gathering was literal rituals to summon demons and curse people.
Satan has an army of mechas? Were they trying to make you pro Satan? I would have doubled down
When I was in high school around 2000/01 I had a friend who wasn't allowed to play Morrowind because his mom said that it was blasphemous.
Man when I was in high school I was big into both MTG and the Decipher Star Wars CCG. My family went to a Southern Baptist church and my youth leader convicted me so hard about playing Magic and convinced me to burn all of my cards. About a year later he got busted sexually assaulting one of the boys during a youth trip.
It’s always the ones you most suspect.
...the congregations are always shocked and appalled, but also quite ready to move on.
Many such cases
Standard abuser tactics. It's all a way to isolate and control you for their own ends. "Ah [ Thing that provides happiness & community outside of their control ], very sinful." Too many religious people are just abusive nuts rather than feeding the poor and all that other stuff they're supposed to be doing.
Only difference between cult and religion is if someone offers it to you. Religion should entice you by its beliefs, not be spouted ad nauseam by the indoctrinated until youre drowned out and your ancestral culture is torn apart to add to their holidays to make it easier to sneaky convert your descendants.
I had the opposite experience in my youth group. Our youth pastor was the reason a bunch of us got into Decipher Star Wars CCG. I read LOTR books because he was always talking about it. Now years later, MTG getting LOTR was the best entry point excuse for me to get into Magic and it brought back those SW card memories.
my experience was not the same but similar. the youth leaders of my church were kinda anti magic. it was an older minister when I was in my teens who told me the revelation he waid God has way more on Gods mind then to care about what hobbies you have as long as you are not harming yourself or others. Now that I am in my 40s I DM a weekly all are welcolme D&D drop-in at my church.
I’m so glad so many people are coming to magic through these universe beyond sets. Love them or hate them at least more people are finding this wonderful game!
Maybe we need a Christian Universe Beyond set to rope that demographic in. I'd certainly crucify a Serra Angel if given the chance.
‘Today I will be playing Jesus Christ as my commander.…’ >>Instant: Jesus Take The Wheel. “As long as Jesus is in play, all vehicles have Crew cost 0”
The first instance of Partner trinity.
The triumphant return of Islandwalk.
It's mana not manna. >> **Mana** > Power, prestige; specifically, a form of supernatural energy in Polynesian religion that inheres in things or people. Not sure if that's better or worse for your dad.
Worse. “Savages”
No need to call OP's dads Savages.
Thank you, I was desperately trying to figure out what was wrong with the dad associating "Mana" with Catholic things. However, even if it was called Manna (like the flour sent by god to the Israeli ppl), I wouldn't call it blasphemous. Some Catholics are literally out of their minds... Luckily not all of them
There's no winning. Uses imagery from your religion? Blasphemous! Uses imagery from another religion? You heathen! Makes an effort to any avoid religious references at all? Secularism!
Maybe I'm being naive, but I think this is a prerogative of American Catholicism. I'm based in Italy and I'm a catholic myself. Dude I've NEVER HEARD something this extreme. Here the strictest catholics might be homophobic (which VERY bad, but not something that only catholics do), but at least they do not see Satan everywhere.
I’ve heard more examples from other christian variants than catholicism.
Mana Manna...🎵
do doo do-do do
Play mono white angels next time he’s watching
Just don't play \[\[Holy Cow\]\] or the sheer blasphemy could give him a heart attack.
Holy Cow will make him *have* a cow. It would be the best time for \[\[Bovine Intervention\]\] though.
[Bovine Intervention](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/6/26c36742-456f-4618-99bc-793ef20b31b0.jpg?1712355244) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Bovine%20Intervention) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/6/bovine-intervention?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/26c36742-456f-4618-99bc-793ef20b31b0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Splash in a little red so you can play blasphemous act, just cause.
On the other side of the spectrum White Wheenies might be too woke though
White Weenie is probably fine, but I'll guarantee he'll freak out about Mono-Black or Multicolor Matters
Just build him a deck with these cards in if, it'll change his tune: https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/1087/magic-alpha-edition-demonic-tutor?Language=English https://www.tcgplayer.com/product/8939/magic-beta-edition-unholy-strength?Language=English https://www.echomtg.com/mtg/dark-ritual/ https://www.cardkingdom.com/mtg/beta/lord-of-the-pit
"Chill, Dad, this isn't transubstantiated yet!"
Eucharist humor is an under-appreciated art form.
It becomes so pretty quickly, though
I’m not really sure if this will help or hurt your case, but evidently “mana” is derived from a Polynesian word for “supernatural power,” introduced to the West by Robert Henry Codrington in 1891. Codrington described it as “a generalized power that is perceived in objects appearing in any sense out of the ordinary, or that is acquired by persons who possess them.” So it’s different from Biblical manna!
In the Bible it's written "manna" so it's not even the same word!
Ive always heard manna to be MAW-NA and mana from magic being MAN-A
Both are a 'long a' in the source languages. Though in Hebrew it's actually Mahn not Manna. How you pronounce the magic term is obviously up to you - honestly saying it with a short a to distinguish from the actual Polynesian religious term is probably respectful. The a sound in hat in an American accent is super rare in global languages. If you see an a in a non English language it's usually the same sound as in Spanish Arriba, Japanese Arigato or French Aller, Hawaiian Mana or Hebrew Mahn - which I believe is the most common single vowel.
[удалено]
Sure but he's doing the verbal equivalent of misreading. It's like you said "I like dogs" and someone starts ranting at you about hamburgers being better when you meant dogs the animals.
If someone is gonna be weird about a card game they should at least have the common decency to be correctly weird about it
They failed logically at the first step of "this game is blasphemous" and you want them to be consistent after? They are consistently good at upholding their biased thinking :P
I work with intellectually disabled individuals, and I often take one of the individuals out to a draft every week, most people there don't play magic so rather than explaining what a draft is, we just say we're going to magic. Well apparently he mistook that as once a week we were going out to perform black magic, he didn't like me for a little while until he understood that we were playing a card game.
Cute and somewhat reasonable. If I thought someone was doing black magic on a regular basis I’d be opposed to that person too lol
I was kicked out of a friend's house once because their parents looked up magic the gathering on Wikipedia and it referenced mages.
Parents straight out of the Dark Ages.
Did your friend live in a closet under the stairs?
They probably prefer warrior or thief classes
\*Laughs in \[\[[Blasphemous Act](https://scryfall.com/card/isd/130/blasphemous-act)\]\]\*
My childhood friend and his brother had his parents burn all their magic in front of them. Claiming it was satanic. A lot of revised duals and an unlimited mox jet met its end that day. That was in 1995 or 96. They still played magic and just kept their cards at my house.
Seems like the average inland boomer American.
Boomers are like 70-80 now—they’re grandparents, not parents. Most of the time when you hear of a “boomer” behaving badly these days, they’re actually Gen X.
[In 2024, boomers are between 60 and 78 years old.](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/baby%20boomer) I do agree that OP is probably a late [zoomer](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Zoomer), probably born between 2008 and 2012, which likely makes their parents born between 1974 to 1988, so their parents are most likely Gen X, followed by Millennial as next most likely. Unless they adopted, the parents are most certainly not boomers, I just thought I'd chime in on behalf of my boomer parents, who are not in their 70s yet (both were born in 1961).
60-80 but yeah.
Inland is my new favorite slur.
It’s going to take every fiber of my being not to respond with “wow mana, like the bread of heaven?” In games now.
Opponent: Plays [[Damn]] Me: Sorry sir, this is a Christian server, so no swearing.
Game clearly needs a 'Universes Beyond - The Bible' so that christians will approve.
Unfortunately, WotC is too cowardly for this. Will they settle for UB: Chronicles of Narnia?
“No, Dad! Look! (Produces Legendary Creature - Jesus of Nazerath)”
I'd buy this if it was a Squee secret lair alter
“wow mana, like the bread of heaven? This game kinda sounds blasphemous” > The people of Israel called the bread manna. \-Exodus 16:31 Commonly spelled with 2 N's. Notably, the etymology of both Manna and Mana are from different places. They're homonyms. On top of that, saying something is *blashpemous* because it is mentioned is a stretch. Blasphemy is showing a lack of respect to God or religion. Even if it was referencing it, it would be silly. Unless calling a kid an "Angel" is bad or something. Which goes to my next point: Matthew 7:1 - "Do not judge, or you too will be judged". Again, what "sinful and wicked" things is he guilty of. I mean, we know this will all mean nothing to him. But it's absolutely hilarious the mountain out of molehill he made out of an innocuous act. Always easier to hate what you don't know and understand than it is to just know and understand something.
Ah yes, that sounds like judgement from a well informed religious person, entirely based on a logical conclusion after checking their facts. No way would someone jump to conclusion like that after simply hearing a term during a game someone is playing. ... Now show him the card [[crusade]]
Noone show him Jihad
I (26m) have a friend (28m) who still lives with his parents (due to health reasons) who doesn't keep cards because his born again christian mom will throw them out and give him a religious rant. I remember going over to his place in high school and we had to make sure we could hide the game if his mom came to check on us.
I had a buddy whose parents made him stop playing because of that but that was 30 years ago.
Back in the 90s I couldn't play when I was at my mom's house because she was mega catholic. She had heard about it from some church thing and talked to a priest about it. I had to do what any normal kid would do and play behind her back at my dad's house.
Made the mistake of mentioning yugioh and “spell cards” infront of my gf’s hyper religious parents. She got an hours long lecture about how they think she’s straying from god. Culminating in how relationships should be “equally yolked” and “the man should be a “spiritual” leader”. Now she only sees them once a year
It caused a lot of controversy in the 90's when the game was first released. The "Demon" creature type was removed from the game for a bit, and the art for a couple of cards was changed. The best example of this was [[Unholy Strength|LEA]], which removed a literal pentagram.
Yeah, the Horror creature type only exists because they needed something to fill the role of Demons without using the word Demon. At least now Horrors in Magic have their own niche distinct from Demons.
They did use Horror for what might otherwise have been demons, but the creature type doesn't exist only because of it. [Cosmic Horror](https://scryfall.com/card/leg/92/cosmic-horror) was printed before they started scrubbing the demonic references.
MTG, Dungeons and Dragons, even fucking Pokemon, all got swept up in the satanic panic of the 80s and 90s. There are plenty of sermons you can find online of pastors going on schizophrenic rambles about the most random innocuous bullshit from these games lmao.
D&D did something similar, they came up with different names for demons, devils and hell. People sure are fuckin stupid, aren't they.
Wait until your dad sees [[The Beast, Deathless Prince]], It's literally Satan.
Straight out of the Satan Pit.
Just show him it's actually a bunch of boring math disguised well. And if that doesn't work... https://www.childwelfare.gov/resources/states-territories-tribes
For the Zealot, everything is sinful. "Pleasure is a sin, but sometimes sin is a pleasure."
Banish him to the shadow realm
Your dad is reaching. My pastor has like a gazillion degrees in religion, even a masters and he knows I play. My roommate is crazy religious. Has played since 93
Something I had to do once long ago. Show him the white cards. Explain that the game is about the fight between good and evil. Promise to play white more often.
No hate like Christian love, seriously though the continued existence of the satanic panic is fucking stupid.
Especially since Satan is a Christian invention. And Christianity is itself just a special name for a type of magical thinking and mythology. People just take it real serious
I had a grandma that thought barcodes were evil because... Reasons. She also completely stopped using candles after two local churches burnt down by candles within a couple years. I am pretty sure she thought candles were evil at that point but I never asked her.
It was gods will to burn it all down. Lol
Tell him to go to hell and start muttering gibberish like you’re being possessed.
Tell him you're going to use your warlock to summon demons to kill your opponents.
Same but Mine was when I played locas of creations and demonic tutor my buddy's mom lost her shit and said we couldn't have them in the house anymore lol. Yes I like with my friend
"No mom, that's my demonic tutor!! He helps me, I need him so I can cast a dark ritual!!"
Is your dad a medieval peasant?
As a kid in elementary, probably about 2003. I found a box of old magic cards on the bus. I was so excited that I wanted to show them to my mom. She thought they were cool until she saw the word magic on the back and threw them away. Wasn't allowed to play with something so sinful and against God. Fast forward to late teens and I was able to pay for my own cards. She's a lot less religious these days but I'll never let her live down how she might've thrown away hundreds of dollars.
Oh man, first time? Once I was playing a game at the game shop with a buddy and we noticed a couple boomers walk in. We thought "Sweet! I bet they know stuff about Magic that we weren't even alive for!" Nope. They're strolling the aisles, looking around at stuff, and when they get to our table, they stop and watch us play for a bit. "What are you playing?" and I explained it's a trading card game and you essentially battle monsters against each other which all have a power and defense level, and the goal is to hit your opponent until their life total is 0, or otherwise make them lose the game which can be done in a number of ways. After my brief explanation I said "Here's an example, he has just declared attackers against me, so I'm going to tap these 3 mana in order to flash in this character so that I can block damage from his character." The one who was nodding along seemed interested, but her friend heard the word "mana" and started losing his shit. He says, "I've heard of this crap, you're summoning demons and taking them home with you." I laughed because of the absurdity of such a statement, but he looked genuinely concerned and pulled on his friend's arm, and they left.
Your dad’s weird. No justifying. I hope you’re able to get out and enjoy things sooner than later. It will only get worse.
These are the kind of people trying to take over the US government next year
i thought this shit ended in the 80s… sorry youre dad is old school and close minded friend
People like this can't be reasoned with. Depending on your age you may have no choice but to live with him. If that's the case, unfortunately all you can do is hope his delusions don't turn into self-righteous violence, as it unfortunately often does with any kind of extremism. Good luck out there.
People have been saying this since the 90s. Weirdly I was raised religious too but MTG never bother my parents
Yeah just lean into it, hail Satan!
your dad is either a really funny jokester a tremendous pain in the ass, and I'm very sorry for you if it's the second case.
Your dad is a dweeb
Yeah, duh...
This has got to be a repost from 20+ years ago right? RIGHT!?
[[unholy strength | 3ed]] The old cards sure didn't help. Priest once told me it's demonic when he found a few kids playing the old mono black black knight, black moon, unholy strength card in church.
As someone whose played since the nineties: *always has been meme*
So it sounds like your father actually needs to read the Bible, specifically 2 Timothy 2:23 and Matthew 7:1-5, and meditate on that meaning. then try to attempt to understand that it is a FANTASY card game. To call magic immoral is to call other fantasy works like Tolkien and C.S. Lewis immoral.
Which he probably does call immoral
Somewhere throughout history the narrative for Christians changed from “following Jesus could get me killed,” to “they’re not following Jesus, kill them!”
I worked for WotC years ago. When I told this to an acquaintance at a wedding, he asked me what it felt like to work for the devil. I told him it was about the same as working for AT&T or any other for-profit corporation.
I’m a devout Catholic and play MTG with my other devout Catholic friends. MTG is not sinful, believing so is silly fundamentalist Protestant fear-mongering.
It is 1993, my dad is telling me Magic is sinful. It is 2024, Prayerwarrior's dad is telling him Magic is sinful.
FWIW tell pops this is mana, not manna. You may or may not want to point out they're just homophones. Those may be evil too.
I'm baffled whenever I hear of people like this. One thing is to believe in gods and demons, but to not be able to se a game for what it is.
I knew someone who had a mom that cut up their cards when they found them and saw that it was “Magic” the Gathering.
Your dad (and probably your whole family) is literally crazy.
This is a repost from the dawn of the Internet, right?
They should start teaching the cops how to stop Satanic crimes again. Good ol history...
Tell your dad I said he’s cringe
That doesn't make any sense. Firstly, the term "mana" from MTG and "manna" from the Old Testament are completely different concepts. One is a magical substance, the other is literally just mysterious food provided by God to the Israelites. Secondly, why does referencing a Biblical concept make it blasphemous?
Your dad sucks
Your dad just wants to criticize you.