{"id":12585,"date":"2013-01-26T08:49:59","date_gmt":"2013-01-26T13:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/?p=12585"},"modified":"2013-01-01T15:33:22","modified_gmt":"2013-01-01T20:33:22","slug":"2-years-ago-fantasy-role-playing-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2013\/01\/26\/2-years-ago-fantasy-role-playing-games\/","title":{"rendered":"2 years ago: Fantasy role-playing games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

From this blog, Jan. 26, 2011:\u00a0Fantasy role-playing games<\/a><\/p>\n

That bogus abortion\/slavery analogy is one that I used to find compelling and reassuring. It was a frequently invoked analogy in the evangelical community. We found it inspiring, but not because we knew much of anything about the actual abolitionists, slave or free. And not because we knew anything much at all, for that matter, about abortion. The inspiration didn\u2019t come from any perceived historical accuracy or from the logic of an argument from analogy.<\/p>\n

What was inspiring was being told that we were on the right side of the great moral struggle of our time. That claim didn\u2019t have to be accurate or true or logical. It wasn\u2019t meant to appeal to accuracy or truth or logic. It\u2019s an emotional appeal. It\u2019s the thrill that comes from being told that you are part of a great epic struggle \u2014 that even without ever really doing much of anything you will be looked back upon by future generations as a hero.<\/p>\n

Just assent to the proposition, cast your reliably partisan votes, attend the occasional photo-op vigil and learn to frown disapprovingly at the designated people. Do these things and you can regard yourself as being Harriet Tubman\u2019s equal in virtue, courage and commitment.<\/p>\n

The function of the abortion\/slavery analogy, in other words, is fantasy role-playing. It\u2019s a game of make-believe, of dress-up and pretend.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“It’s the thrill that comes from being told that you are part of a great epic struggle \u2014 that even without ever really doing much of anything you will be looked back upon by future generations as a hero.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n2 years ago: Fantasy role-playing games<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""It's the thrill that comes from being told that you are part of a great epic struggle \u2014 that even without ever really doing much of anything you will be looked back upon by future generations as a hero."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2013\/01\/26\/2-years-ago-fantasy-role-playing-games\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2 years ago: Fantasy role-playing games\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""It's the thrill that comes from being told that you are part of a great epic struggle \u2014 that even without ever really doing much of anything you will be looked back upon by future generations as a hero."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2013\/01\/26\/2-years-ago-fantasy-role-playing-games\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"slacktivist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-26T13:49:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-01T20:33:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fred Clark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fred Clark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2013\/01\/26\/2-years-ago-fantasy-role-playing-games\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2013\/01\/26\/2-years-ago-fantasy-role-playing-games\/\",\"name\":\"2 years ago: Fantasy role-playing games\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-26T13:49:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-01T20:33:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#\/schema\/person\/32666545e535b697afb93d9848dcfc47\"},\"description\":\"\\\"It's the thrill that comes from being told that you are part of a great epic struggle \u2014 that even without ever really doing much of anything you will be looked back upon by future generations as a hero.\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2013\/01\/26\/2-years-ago-fantasy-role-playing-games\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2013\/01\/26\/2-years-ago-fantasy-role-playing-games\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2013\/01\/26\/2-years-ago-fantasy-role-playing-games\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2 years ago: Fantasy role-playing games\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/\",\"name\":\"slacktivist\",\"description\":\""Test everything; 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