I'm a gamer and a Christian and here's what I did in response to this.
You'll find the email I sent to this organization below. Here are key email addresses if you want to
do the same.
questions@ccfusa.org... - general inquiry email box
clprice@ccfusa.org - Communications staff
algoddard@ccfusa.org - Anne Goddard, CEO
elwhinnery@ccfusa.org - Communications staff
I recently learned that your organization turned down a gift of over
$17,000 from GenCon, LLC. If I understand correctly, your
organization refused this gift as some of the donations came in from
the auction of merchandise related to Dungeon's and Dragons.
I find your decision to refuse this gift disappointing. I have been a
Christian for over 15 years and a gamer for over 30. I thought the
overblown concerns about D&D in the Christian community to be a thing
of the past. Clearly your organization is holding onto a past
prejudice based on little current knowledge. Here are a few items for
you to consider.
1) Gary Gygax, in whose honor these funds were raised, had been a
Christian for many years at the time of his passing. Your
organization was his expressed preferred charity. Mr Gygax was a
featured speaker at a Christian Gamer's event in 2007. Imagine the
power of that witness amongst a group of 30,000 gamers, many of whom
do not know Christ.
2) There is a group called the Christian Gamer's Guild whose members
attend Gencon every year. Over 100 members attended a church service
on the last morning at GenCon. One of the organization's goals is "To
promote and Glorify Jesus Christ in the gaming community in our words
and lifestyle." I can assure you that your decision will not help
this organization achieve their goals and the goals of the Church.
3) Your decision to not accept these funds will do far more harm than
good in building the Kingdom of God. Gencon's goal of donating these
funds to your organization increased awareness among thousands of non-
believers that the founder of one of the most enduring Role Playing
games was a Christian. This awareness likely broke down barriers of
the negative perceptions of who Christians can be in this world. Your
decision has instead confirmed negative perceptions of organizations
like yours, Christians and Christ Himself.
I must ask how thoroughly you review all donors to your organization?
Mr. Gygax was a donor and clearly derived much of his income from the
game, yet you accepted his donations. Additionally, the $17,000
donated came from bankers, lawyers, teachers, college students and
others in attendance at GenCon. How do you characterize their
donations to your organization? Would you accept donations from them
outside of this event? Do you have other "morality tests" to
determine who is a worthy giver for your organization? What exactly
makes an "acceptable" donor in your eyes?
Sadly, as a result of your narrow-minded decision, you have taken an
opportunity to spread a positive witness among hundreds of thousands
of people and turned it into a confirmation of the negative
stereotypes of the Christian community. In the future I hope you
make more of an effort to understand the impact of your decisions on
the Kingdom of God.
I would be very interested in hearing additional details about how
you arrived at this decision. I am available at this email address or
at XXX-XXX-XXXX at your convenience.
Regards,
Craig P Anderson