My take on it... like anything else, it can be taken to extreme. Those who take it to extreme cause problems for the rest of us.
Does it address topics that some people would rather not discuss? Absolutely. If you've got good, you've got to have evil as well. Do some people play evil? You betcha. But that doesn't make them evil any more than playing Madden NFL 2004 would make them professional football players.
I think there are a number of conservative religious folks who strongly fear letting their children learn and make their own decisions. What if one of them tried AD&D and became an atheist? The world would shatter, I'm sure. But what if that child grew up and never was able to formulate their own opinion or make their own decisions? Far, far worse, I believe.
As a parent, I know that I'm not always going to like what my kids do as they grow up. My father always said that every generation's job is to come up with music, hair, and clothes that irritate their parents. So far, so good [img]smile.gif[/img]
If I tell them they can't, they'll stick with it even more. If I let them explore, and be willing to share my opinions (and they're no more than that), and let them make up their own minds, even if I think it's wrong, they will grow far more and be far more independent.
You see, I believe that once my kids were born, the clock started ticking on when they leave. My job is to make sure that when they do, they're ready for the outside world. It is *NOT* to keep them sheltered here until I think they're ready... which would probably be around the age of 40
Hmmm... sideways step from D&D, but I think they stem from the same thing -- unwillingness to let your children explore and learn from their explorations. The important thing is to explore with them, so you have a basis for discussion with them.