Fantasy

One more reason I won’t have to worry about spending my winters in Tehran. Via Matt.

Does the Israel Defense Forces believe incoming recruits and soldiers who play Dungeons and Dragons are unfit for elite units? Ynetnews has learned that 18-year-olds who tell recruiters they play the popular fantasy game are automatically given low security clearance.

“They’re detached from reality and suscepitble to influence,” the army says.

Fans of the popular role-playing game had spoken of rumors of this strange policy by the IDF, but now the army has confirmed that it has a negative image of teens who play the game and labels them as problematic in regard to their draft status.

So if you like fantasy games, go see the military psychologist.

Imagine if we applied a similar policy in the United States (who knows, perhaps we do, sounds about right). A don’t ask, don’t tell policy regarding D&D? What about fantasy baseball? Does that also detach one from reality? Believing in Santa Claus as a kid?

How about believing in the imminent return of a mystical “savior” who will smite the wicked with a flaming sword and shower favors upon the righteous? Fantastic enough?