To be or not to be Goth

I was reflecting a little on my experience in high school. Most kids tend to hover around a group mentality where fundamentally it is the group that sets the standards of what is popular, fashionable, or unpopular. Kids form cliques and go through phases and in the end, God willing, they become adults. As they grow, they learn to build a moral compass rooted in an informed conscience by which they can judge things for themselves instead of looking toward the group for all of their answers. The ways in which some kids accomplish this has always interested me. Particularly these phases. My half-sister went through a big KISS phase in the 80s. It was around everything she did. She wanted to look like them, act like them, and be them as she embraced their music. She eventually grew out of it as she matured. Other kids idolize zealots like Marylin Manson. And others find themselves embracing groups and behaviors that many of us might deem bizarre.

Depending on what they are, subcultures are an interesting study. Sometimes they aren't as obvious as we think. The Goth subculture is one in particular that has fascinated me. Right now I am not going to focus on the religious ramifications of Goths, per se, but the sociological. I knew a few growing up. Typically I guess its a phase, but I always wonder, what brings it on? I could characterize the Goths whom I knew as living in some sort of bottomless, communal depression. My friends tried to portray themselves as deep and unknowable. They rebelled against anything society deemed good or sacred. They wanted to be deep because they felt they were living in a shallow culture. And therefore whatever society said was good was no longer interesting - coupled with an overwhelming desire to be different. This brings me to my point. In knowing the Goths that I knew, it was the Goth attitude that seemed more shallow to me. In a way, it was a sort of fundamentalism. Instead of recognizing the many diverse and opposing elements that make up a human society where human beings live, they rejected everything and invented their own society in a way. But they could not escape the fact that anything they could invent would always have been fundamentally rooted in the very society they were trying to obscure. That's what makes Goth satires like Goth Talk on Saturday Night Life so hilarious.

Our lair is located along a dark and sinister route, enshouded by weeping willows, a block and a half from the Pizza Hut. I am Circe Nightshade, and with me is Azrael Abyss, the Prince of Sorrow. Azrael had to work late last night at CinnaBuns, in the mall.

It's also what makes it very juvenile, which explains why being Goth is a phase that a person usually outgrows.

So what about the religious ramifications? Many of the Goths I knew rejected religion - well, they rejected the image of it put forth by society, and they did so very often superficially. But didn't I say that sometimes subcultures aren't as obvious as we might think? Case in point is xnetgoth.com:

...you will encounter a worldwide community of Goths and other outcasts that have one thing in common: The Christian faith. This is no ordinary website, it is made up of those who walk in the shadows cast by the Light of the world.

Yes you read it right - Christian Goths, walking in the shadows of the Light of the world. Yeah, it makes little sense, but hey. Reading through some of the discussions, I can see right away that this is a different type of Goth than those whom I knew growing up. Cynicism largely characterized those whom I knew, but what characterizes these Goths is optimism. They have come farther than the Goths that I knew. These Goths actually realize that sure, society can be shallow, but it is given a depth because it is redeemable. What, then, is the point? If it amounts to being different, okay - which shows that this, too, is a phase. I will not say that every person at that website is a Christian., but the mere existence of such a site is interesting, n'est-ce pas?