Yu-gi-oh Cards: Spawn of Satan?
“It’s time to duel!”
If this statement conjures up two guys standing back to back with pistols raised, then you obviously don’t have boys under the age of 12. If you did, you would know that this is the signature line of Yu-gi-oh! A card game that spawned an animated feature - or was it the opposite - and is the latest fad to infiltrate our society from Japan. Yes, Japan lost the war (or so they want us to think…) but the Japanese are slowly taking over our society with their addictive fads - and Yu-gi-oh! is the latest to drive parents insane with overpriced merchandise ($30 for a single “Egyptian God card"? Are you f$^&ing nuts?)
I collected baseball cards: my kid collects Yu-gi-oh! He carries his deck with him wherever he goes, and discusses the cards with just about any kid near his age.
He met one of his friends yesterday at the pool. They began talking excitedly about the cards when the kid’s mother interrupted. “Peter! You know that those cards are the devil’s work and you are forbidden to talk about them.” The kid looked crestfallen, mine looked puzzled.
It turns out that the kid’s mom has evidently swung to the fundie side of things. She’s pulling her kid out of public school to homeschool him - against the kid’s wishes judging by what my kid reports. And she obviously isn’t keen on Yu-gi-oh! (Neither are other fundies judging by this link.)
Now I’m not pleased with our kids’ school (see the previous post), and last night I had to explain to my kid why the woman thought the way she did without telling him “Son, contrary to what you believe now - but will believe soon - some adults are screaming nutcases.”
I am still amazed at how fragile some people’s faith is as to be threatened by something as innocuous as trading cards. I’d hate to see what Dungeons and Dragons would do to this woman’s faith. Probably have her frothing at the mouth and barking…
Of course hearing this, I wanted to run out and shower the kid with $4 packs of the damned things.
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“I’d hate to see what Dungeons and Dragons would do to this woman’s faith.”
I’ve played D&D off and on for 25 years. Yes, old geeks never die. Anyway, I cannot mention this fact to my sister since she believes that I conjure, and worship at the feet of, Beelzebub when I play this game. Her intentions are good, of course, but I still find her attitude condescending: “You don’t know any better but I do.” She even loaned me a booklet, “The Christian Answer To D&D", or some such title. When she asked me honest opinion, I told her the truth: it was factually challenged and would only convince someone who already agreed with the book’s premise beforehand. There was no possible way that if would sway someone undecided about the issue. Since then, she’s adopted the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy about D&D with me. Ignorance is bliss in her case.
Comment by physics geek — 7/7/2004 @ 11:26 am
“Old geeks never die…” Heh.
I heard that the original copies of Gygax’s books sell well on eBay.
I’m still amazed:
Playing cards vs Yahweh
Not exactly a deathmatch if you ask me… But what do I know? I’m just a pagan at heart.
Comment by Scott Kirwin — 7/7/2004 @ 3:55 pm
First, I’d like to point out the fact I’m a young adult and I play most of the so-called “satanic” games, I.E., Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, D&D, and the like. Now, I have no problem with the bible/church group, since I believe in the “if you don’t bug me, I won’t take pot shots at your religion", but after reading this little nugget, http://www.landoverbaptist.org/news1099/pokemon.html I have to wonder what kind of people these are. If you read that article, especially made mention of “Pokemon, (pronounced POH-kaymahn), is short for pocket demons. The Devil loving phenomenon began in Japan over 20 years ago. A young boy summoned an evil demon to kill his entire family because they wouldn’t buy him a stick of chewing gum at the supermarket. The demon came, and brought with it, other pokemons who jumped into the parents mouths while they were sleeping, and lodged themselves in their tracheas, suffocating an entire family, and setting the boy free to steal their money and buy gum.", I need to laugh. Pokemon came out in Japan in 1995 according to its own copyright, and came out in the US in 1998, also according to the copyright. This could not have happened. But this is the kicker “Earlier this week at Landover’s Wednesday evening service, children’s pastor Marty Richards told 714 kids ages 2 through 10 that Pokemon is evil and was sent to this planet under direct orders from Satan himself. To drive home his point, Richards burned Pokemon trading cards and video games with a blowtorch and skewered 14 plastic Pokemon action figures with a 40 inch broad sword. Richards then held the sword with all 14 pierced Pokemon figures over a charcoal grill. Richards’ 5-year-old son tore the limbs and head off a Pokemon doll and spit on the dismembered carcass.” This reminded me of a scene right out of Lord of the Flies, to tell you the truth, and is much more brutal than someone who uses a tiny, fluffy little monster to battle against other little fluffy monsters. Then I saw this article, and the aforementioned link up there. Being a pagan myself (Buddhist, as all non-believers in Christian-Judeo God are automatically labeled as Pagans by definition), I laughed. I have studied and still to the day enjoy Egyptian mythos, and the Eye of Horus is scene as a symbol of divine vision, ’seeing’, and the eye of the gods. And, to be perfectly fair, The Yu-gi-oh version is more based off the Eye of Horus rather than the actual eye. How is it the “eye of Satan"? Just because they were polytheistic? So thusly we can infer every other religion that happens to be polytheistic is satanic for using symbols from their religion? Wow, no wonder the Iraqis hate us. With that kind of arrogance (in the bible, it states, “God also says do not make a mockery of him by assuming you know what he means."), doesn’t that make these fanatics hellworthy? Just a little food for thought.
Comment by Ancient Egypt/Japan does not equal Satan — 8/22/2004 @ 9:43 am
I believe I am Yu-gi-oh!’s number 1 fan. All my friends think so too. I have seen the movie about 50 times now, and have an extremely powerful deck. My bedroom is littered with weak cards and the wall cannot be seen through Yu-gi-oh! posters. I am only a teenager, and my parents do not care about any devlish background to the card game. My parents are actually glad I like these cards. They are please with my amazing knowledge of Ancient Egypt, and thanks to Yu-gi-oh! I can now read ancient egyptian. My parents also think it’s great to have a hobby, and as long as I don’t beg them for money to buy the strongest cards there are, they love the idea. I even have my own Yu-gi-oh! website, which you can see at www.yugiohfans.co.uk. My cousin is also into the game and my parents and his too love the time I spend with him. whoever said Yu-gi-oh! was a scam or a devilish spawn is (to quote Joey from the Yu-gi-oh! tv show) not right in the head!
Comment by Clark Sirl — 9/29/2004 @ 7:27 am
I am a homeschooling mom. We homeschool because our children deserve a better education than the “everybody be mediaocre” policies of public school. My sons LOVE Yu-Gi-Oh. My oldest (8) plays competively in tournaments and does quite well against much older kids (yes, I am bragging. I am a proud mom:) ). I know many homeschoolers that choose to not be part of the school system for reasons unrelated to religion. It is important to not lump all homeschoolers into the fundie label. That is a stereotype that needs to die because it is so far from the truth. As part of our homeschool schedule we work in practice time for both Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic the Gathering. Both offer immense amounts educationally, including the ability to play in tournaments to earn scholarship money with MTG. And, yes, we all play D&D too. We are a whole family of old school geeks!
Comment by Terry — 12/30/2004 @ 4:05 pm
“http://www.landoverbaptist.org/news1099/pokemon.html”
Landover Baptist isn’t a Christian organization, but a parody of such, like the Onion.
Comment by Nyke Young — 3/5/2005 @ 2:23 am