(I've already posted this in several different places, including the news page for BeQuest, one of the projects at my site, The Escapist. I apologize for the redundancy, but I feel it is a very important message that needs to be shared.)
Recently, a news item has been circulating about a certain charitable organization's refusal to accept a donation from Gen Con in Gary Gygax's honor, because the money came from the sale of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. The story has hit practically every major gaming site, and has even appeared on sites like FARK and the science and atheism blog Pharyngula.
As some gamers raged about the story, more information began to come in on the situation between Gen Con and the Christian Children's Fund, which after a while began to look more and more like a misunderstanding that anything else.
I contacted CCF directly, and after a short exchange, I was able to get this response from them:
Christian Children’s Fund made the decision to decline the gift from Gen Con, LLC after the review of numerous factors that in combination precluded our acceptance of the gift. These reasons include the possible misinterpretation of CCF’s role in regard to the event. CCF is selective in its endorsements or support because it must maintain the highest degree of integrity with respect to the use of its name and logo. The information presented to us gave the appearance that CCF (the organization) was an endorser or supporter of the event instead of a beneficiary.
Karrin, an online friend of mine, got a more specific response that included a very positive message to roleplayers - probably because the Fund had so much inquiry into the matter that it would be wise to prepare a statement:
Dear Concerned Gamer:
Thank you for writing to Anne Goddard and sharing your concerns. Anne was traveling when she received your email. We discussed your concern and she asked that I respond on her behalf Please know that we take your email very seriously.
There appears to be a misunderstanding which I would like to correct. When Gen Con contacted CCF about its auction, we were pleased to accept donations. However, we couldn’t lend our name for publication because our policies have specific criteria for endorsements. We were unaware that this had caused any problem or concern for Gen Con until we began receiving emails. This decision was in no way intended to be a reflection on Mr. Gygax, gaming enthusiasts or the game Dungeon and Dragons. We have the utmost respect for the gaming community and were touched by the generosity expressed through your auction. We were disappointed that we were not the recipients of the donation but we were pleased that another worthy organization benefited.
We realize this has become a topic of discussion in the gaming community and we hope you will help us by sharing this response.
The needs of children are great and we welcome your support. Should you wish to learn more we invite you to visit our website at www.christianchildrensfund.org.
Again, I thank you for taking the time to voice your concern. Your passion for gaming and your support for children are admirable.
Sincerely,
Cheri Dahl
Vice President,
International Communications and Fundraising
"We have the utmost respect for the gaming community" is a very bold and positive statement for a representative of the Christian Children's Fund to make, and they should be commended for it.
There is also something else to consider that many gamers, including myself, have been overlooking - the actual content of the materials offered for auction. In a discussion in a Livejournal group for roleplayers, one of the members pointed out the list of items from the auction, which contained a copy of The Book of Erotic Fantasy and some other books that could possibly be objectionable to a Christian-based organization. While it's not clear if this was another factor in their decision, it is certainly something to consider in the future.
In the end, we have a very gaming-positive answer to a situation that appeared at first to be very gaming-negative, and we've been given an opportunity to learn from it. Let's make sure that we do.
Tags: RPGs Advocacy Charity BeQuest
