
Spiritual paths and ethical systems
Part 2: Goths' religious beliefs. Stereotypes.
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The religious faith of Goths:Many Goths reflect popular culture and are probably nominal or devout Christians. Atheism, Agnosticism, the New Age, Gnosticism, Shamanism, Wicca, other Neopagan traditions, and other minority faith groups are
represented more frequently among Goths than in the general population. Goths often wear Christian crosses or Christian crucifixes, which many regard
as a pre-Christian religious symbol. Others wear New Age/ancient Egyptian Ankh
symbols. Some do this as expression of their religious beliefs, some for satire, and others
because they like their appearance. Religion is frequently discussed on the Goth newsgroups. Many songs, band names and
album titles have Christian themes. 1 The public incorrectly commonly associates Goths with Marilyn Manson. 2
Julie Carroll said:
"Manson publicly presents himself as a follower of the Church of Satan...
He was ordained a priest in the Church of Satan by the [late] founder, Anton LaVey. Many
fans refer to him as the Rev. Marilyn Manson." 3
Actually,
Manson is not a follower of that Church; he was simply appointed as a Reverend within the
Church by its founder, Anton LaVey. From this Satanic connection, the perception has
grown that Goths are frequently linked to Satanism. There are a
few Satanists who are also Goths, but they are rare. Stereotypes:People have accused or described Goths as being:
- Depressed,
- Unusually bigoted,
- Violent,
- Suicidal,
- Involved in illegal drugs,
- Actual vampires or believe themselves to be vampires,
- Sado-masochists,
- Satanists,
- Musicians, painters, and other artists,
- Computer programmers (although there seem to be a lot of them)
- Wearers of black (some wear white and gunmetal),
- Dyers of their hair,
-
Users of white makeup. 4
Some of the above probably apply to some Goths, but
definitely not to all. Anti-Goth parody website:Please do not read
the next even paragraphs unless you
have a strong
stomach, are slow to anger, and are over 18.GodHatesGoths.com is apparently a lampoon
website written from an exaggerated fundamentalist Christian point of view.
They present themselves as the official website of an apparently non-existent
organization "Parents Against Goth" headed by a fictional character, Rev.
R. G. Green. He wrote:
"I hope you will find much comfort in the message of
hope and inspiration our website offers."
He quotes the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and its list of crimes for
which the penalty is death: Witchcraft,
Satanism, Divination, spell
casting, acting as a medium, rebellion against one's parents, blasphemy,
worshiping Gods other than Yahweh, disrespecting a member of the clergy, etc. He
implies that these prohibitions and their punishment by execution are still
valid today. He interprets the Bible as condemning to Hell all
Buddhists, Goths, Hindus,
Jews, Satanists,
Wiccans, as well as children who die young or
individuals who are challenged mentally. Aborted fetuses
will also "burn in Hell." Unfortunately, many visitors to that site will assume that it is a legitimate fundamentalist Christian website and believe that it contains useful information. The web site concludes:
"GOD ALSO DETESTS RETARDS. DOWN SYNDROME,
CEREBAL [sic] PALSY, THALIDOMIDES [sic], DWARFISM, SPINA BIFIDA, AND OTHER
CREATURES SPASTIC RETARDATIONS ARE REPULSIVE TO GOD. THE BIBLE STATES QUITE
CLEARLY THAT THESE TWISTED LIMBLESS MONSTERS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED ANYWHERE
NEAR A CHURCH, AS THEY ARE UNCLEAN AND REPULSIVE TO GOD. THEY ARE AN
ABOMINATION. THEY HAVE MINDS OF SUCH A REPROBATE NATURE THAT THEY ARE GIVEN
TO SEXUALLY GRATIFYING THEMSELVES IN PUBLIC, AND ARE NOTHING MORE THAN
SLOBBERING STAMMERING ANIMALS. WHY SHOULD THEY GET THE BEST CARE? GET GRANTS
TO BUILD RAMPS FOR THEM? WHEELCHAIRS? PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT? IF GOD DID NOT
INTEND THEM TO WALK, LET THEM CRAWL LIKE THE SNAKES THEY ARE."
"GOTHS ARE PROUD OF THEIR SIN, PROUD TO
PARADE AROUND LIKE SICK HALLOWEEN FREAK-SHOWS, PROUD TO DEGRADE THEIR BODIES
WITH TATTOOS AND PIERCINGS, PROUD TO ENGAGE IN FILTHY SEXUAL
PERVERSIONS, AND IN THAT PRIDEFUL STATE THEY CANNOT REPENT - YOU CANNOT
REPENT OF SOMETHING YOU'RE PROUD OF. PRIDE IS ONE OF THE 7 ABOMINABLE SINS
WHICH ARE HATED BY GOD."
"THE GOTHS' ONLY HOPE IS TO HAVE THE
UNAMBIGUOUS TRUTH PREACHED TO THEM, AND PERHAPS GOD WILL SOFTEN THEIR HEARTS
AND GRANT THEM REPENTANCE TO DEPART FROM THEIR SIN AND NAME THE NAME OF
CHRIST. NOT VERY LIKELY, THOUGH, SINCE GOD HAS GIVEN UP ON THEM. HE HAS
ABANDONED THEM. HE SHALL MOCK THEM WHEN THEY SUFFER, AND LAUGH AT THEIR
DEMISE. WHEN A GOTH DIES, GOD LAUGHS."
 Helpful Goth resources:
-
ChristianGoth.com provides "a haven for people who have found the
Truth through the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ)." See:
http://www.christiangoth.com/
They have a listing of Goth-friendly Christian churches at:
http://www.christiangoth.com/
-
Euphonika, according to Scanner: "... pushes outwards,
fusing unsettling imagery, serial killers, rudely obsessed doll fanatics
within a vaudeville circus atmosphere, leaving this viewer disoriented,
unsteady, yet thirsting for more" See:
http://www.euphonika.com/
-
The Gothic Resource Network is a large and very active website
featuring information on entertainment, news, shopping, etc. They have
chats, message boards, personal pages, and other features online. See:
http://www.egoth.com
-
Gothic Clothing supplies the latest designs of Gothic clothing, pirate shirts, medieval clothings, Gothic corsets, etc. at an affordable cost. See: http://www.thegothicclothing.co.uk/
-
Iniquity supplies Goth clothing and accessories. See:
http://www.iniquityclothing.com/
-
MakeupPad.com has a list of links dealing with Gothic make up at:
http://www.makeuppad.com/
-
Moon Maiden Gothic Clothing in the UK sells a "... range of
exclusive gothic clothes; including plus sizes and made to measure gothic
clothing at no extra charge! They ship worldwide. See:
http://www.moonmaiden-gothic-clothing.co.uk/

Sponsored links:
Amazon.com's online bookstore lists the following books on the Goths:If you see a generic Amazon ad here, please click on your browser's refresh
key. 
References:The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
-
ShanMonster, "Jesus was Gother than You," at: http://www.bigfoot.com/
-
The website angelmanson.com bills itself as "the most
'in-depth' Marilyn Manson website on the Internet." See: http://www.angelmanson.com
-
Julie Carroll, "Marilyn Manson brings death rock to children," at: http://www.dwc.org/
-
Ice Princess, "Academia Gothica," a course of study in the
Goth
subculture at: http://www.blarg.net/ *
-
Some websites with many links to Goth resources are:
* These URLs appear to have gone offline since this essay was originally written, perhaps permanently.
Copyright © 1999 to 2014 by Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2014-FEB-17
Author: B.A. Robinson

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