I live in Lansing Michigan and was a Jr high student into gaming (we played more than D&D) when James Dallas Egbert ran off from MSU in 1979. The police and school officials rounded up us "Dragons & Dragons cultists" as they called us.
We were interrogated, threatened and bullied for several hours with NO PARENTAL NOTIFICATION, NO LEGAL COUNSEL, NO BATHROOM BREAKS, NO WATER. We were threatened that "this will go on your permanent record and haunt you all you all your life if you don't cooperate." This resulted in my Dad strapping me with a leather strap you do not attract the attention of Law Enforcement in my family.One of the kids dad was a high powered lawyer and filed a civil rights suite on our behalf.
My next major encounter was my second church. We had some serious problems. You could not listen to certain music or play certain games but leadership could cheat on their spouses. These people self destructed real big and took the church with them. Sad but predictable.
As a side note My current church has no problem with gaming and sponsors game days I also Pastor a small group gamers and other groups that churches don't know how to reach out to. The Satanic Panic was the result of a "Perfect Storm." A new game that no one had ever seen the likes of before, a few Witch hunt trials, Some deaths wrongly connected to gaming, and intellectually lazy Clergy and Laity in churches. Add in a large number of Hucksters and we got the Satanic Panic.
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