I've noticed a lot of people have commented on the rise and fall of D&D in the 80s, especially where it relates to relgion so I decided to add my recollection to the pile.

 I taught Sunday school in the early 80s when D&D was picking up a lot of popularity.   This meant a lot of people were playing it, or tried it, or thought of playing it, especially teenagers as they are usually the first group to have time and money to give something new a shot.  Unfortunately teenagers are also the group that gets the most attention when they commit suicide.  So when a handful of teenagers decided life was too hard it wasn't so unlikely they would have D&D in common.   So like rock and roll in the 50s, drugs in the 60s (although this one holds merit), and the sexual revolution in the 70s D&D joined the ranks of the condemned.  It was condemned by people that never tried it, didn't want to try it and to be honest were too afraid to try it, but they were certain they understood exactly what it was about by flipping through a book.  Mainly the monster manual with an entire section devoted to demons and devils.  (Oh, and the spell list in the PHB.) 

I remember discussing D&D with the CCD coordinator.  And with my kids parents.  And Father Ray.  And Father Steve, who wanted to make sure Father Ray had it correctly.  They were all concerned with my spiritual well being and those of the little first graders whom I spent a hour teaching prayers, reading bible stories and coloring themed papers on a weekly basis.  Finally I pretty much demanded that they allow me to demonstrate the game and they experience it before passing judgement.  

Due to the whole false god thing and fear of casting a spell I ended up with four stalwart fighters.  They were champions of all things good and right.  So I sent them out to vanquish the goblin horde that was killing defenseless farm animals and causing much grief to the poor farmers.  So off they went and what ensued was a  very long discussion on whether or not the goblins were truly evil or just misunderstood.  Right up until they tried to negotiate with said goblins.  To give them a feeling of the game I had the goblins fire arrows at the  unprepared party. . Then I saw a bunch of very excited people eagerly having a shootout "old west style" until they managed to fell the vicious goblins.  Okay, they only became vicious when they dropped on and tried to tie it up.  I had it bite the ankle of my ccd coordinator who then really got into character and kicked it in the head.  She spent the next twenty minutes trying to ask its forgiveness.  Believe me, the next encounter was definitely handled successfully by diplomacy,  and the final verdict was that D&D was no more unhealthy than punching a bag in a boxing club (often recommended back then for troubled boys with excess energy) or writing a story. 

In my naivete I thought the ripple would run its course and die out quickly, but Pat Roberts picked up on it and had an entire 700 Club episode on it.  He featured a police officer that had written a book called "The Dungeon Master" about a college student who supposedly committed suicide over the game.  I bought the book and found out that a 16 year old, depressed, drug using COLLEGE student was having difficulties adjusting to his new circumstances and ran away.  The boy attempted suicide four times before finally succeeding.   Oh, and he hadn't played D&D for years.  But that MUST have been the catalyst.  

Now, I'm not going to say that D&D never influenced anyone's life.   Or that it might not have been a good influence.  I've read the acccounts that prompted the Mazes and Monsters movie and I'm not sure that LARPing or even tabletop rpging is the right hobby for someone with issues dealing with reality.  However, this is the exception and not the rule.

The 80s were a time where D&D took the hit for being the easy scapegoat, with its wierd attraction to the social ackward, the misfits of their time.  Twenty years later D&D has withstood the test of time, its social misfit enthusiasts are now the moguls of the new millenium.  D&D has held supporting roles in movies, tv shows, commercials, magazines; it spawned several dozen or more video games and has become the focus of several websites including this one.   Gone are the stereotypical nerds with pocket protectors and taped up glasses, replaced by overachieving teens in verbiage black t-shirts.  For those of us that stood and fought that fight it is a time that will forever be fondly remembered.   It was in its own way our rebellion, our revolution.  We threw our heads back and laughed in the face of convention,  stood strong against those that would oppress us and emerged victorious with our d20s held high.