Defense of Darkness

So I heard a couple of months ago that I could be best described as a "homeschool anti-christ." When I enquired as to why exactly I would qualify, I was told that "How I dress, what I listen to, How I conduct myself, pretty much everything I do is anti-Christian." My first response was a vulgarity that, while I do not regret in the slightest, I will not write here.

Ok yes, I'll admit, I don't listen to "christian" bands and am not a "typical Christian," especially not for the homeschool communities I belong to. Thank God for that. Honestly, my response to you people is to get your heads on straight and realize that there's more to life than your stupid restricted view of it. I'll admit I've got my problems. However, I'm not going to admit that my problems are what a lot of people think they are. What especially pisses me off is a general insistence that I live my life in "darkness." If you're going to accuse me of that, I want a more concrete definition of it. I have a few Christian friends who live in "darkness," and I'll say that one of the most honest, faithful Christians I've met was a Goth. Most "Christians" seem to think that the two concepts are incompatible. Well, they're not.

For starters, what is darkness? True, Jesus said that "I am the light of the world" and that we are charged not to love darkness. I'd agree 100% with those verses, I disagree with what modern Christians consider "dark." What they tend to consider "dark" is not only irrational, it's actually hypocritical. Take, for example, the entire condemnation of the Goth/Emo subculture. The first argument that tends to be advanced always involves Marilyn Manson or Alice Cooper. Alice Cooper is a Christian now, with quite a firm faith, and as for Manson-I concede. Yeah, I like some of his music, but some of it is blatantly anti-Christian and Satanist. I won't listen to it. But then, let's look at what Christians accept. They accept "A Wrinkle in Time" series-pseudo biblical gnostic crap. Or they let their daughters read Twilight. See my previous posts for my thoughts on that. So yes, the first argument might seem to have a little merit, but in reality it has none.

The second argument these idiots will grasp for is the "appearance of evil." This is relating more to an actual action than to mere physical appearance. No serial killer has dressed wearing mascara and eyeliner. Abortionists tend to be suit and tie people, actually. Mussolini had a killer dress sense. Hitler, ok, not so much, but the other two Axis powers were quite snazzy. If "appearance of evil" relates simply to how people can construe your actions....well, can I help how people might interpret my actions? Nope. Not my problem.

Popular argument three: culture of death and darkness/anti-joy. People with eyeliner are not trying to make themselves look like corpses, it's simply a fashion statement. It's a part of goth/emo/punk culture, the same way those ridiculous napkins you people like to call "ties" are a part of your wonderful "Leave it to Beaver" culture. When the Bible speaks of "darkness," it is referring to evil. I have yet to be convinced that one can just look evil, or that "scary" equates with evil. Nowhere does the Bible say "thou shalt not look scary" or "thou shalt not defy the status quo of fashion, for indeed, I ordained mine apostles to wear business suits." There is a difference between the darkness of evil and the darkness of nature. A person can enjoy twilight (the time of day) or night and not be inhumanly evil. If you enjoy Twilight the books...I'm not so sure. The same principle applies. Does reading and enjoying Edgar Allen Poe or Flannery O'Conner make one evil or "dark?" No it does not. Their works are dark, grim, and rather dismal. One can enjoy such things without being evil. There is a beauty outside the everyday "light" that not everyone can see. Some of us prefer Mozart's Requiems to his "Magic Flute." Such is the way of life. The band "The Cure" has long been upheld as the epitome of Goth subculture, yet their songs, like "Friday I'm in Love", "Mint Car," and "Why Can't I Be You?" are some of the happiest songs I know of. Most of the Cure's songs are happy. Then there are Goth artists like Voltaire, who's upbeatly macabre ballads call to mind Tom Lehrer more than Marilyn Manson. I guess Lehrer was more acceptable though, seeing as he wore a suit. Everyone ought, after reading this, to look up "I hold your hand in mine" by Tom Lehrer. Pretty Gothy for a "normal" guy.

Yet another popular bullcrap argument is the "suicide/cutting" argument. This is so stupid on so many levels. Alright, yes, some emos cut. So do a lot of normal people. All the hardcore cutters I've known have been "normal." As for suicide, more normal people do that then emos/goths. I've buried five friends, none of them were goth or emo. As for the culture supporting it, that's again a stereotype. Good Charlotte, Blink-182, Alice Cooper, My Chemical Romance, Senses Fail, even Marilyn Manson, all, fairly or no, associated with punk/goth/emo subculture, have all released songs/statements very much against suicide. One cannot pin individual wrongs on the whole culture.

Christians, especially "homeschoolers" are so stupidly xenophobic it's not even funny. Anything different or independent needs to be quashed or killed quickly. Well, unfortunately for them, and fortunately for those of us who laugh at or defy the status quo, the goth/emo/punk subculture has infiltrated Christianity. A man considered on of Punk's best bassists, John Maurer, formerly of Social Distortion, is a Christian. The father of Shock Rock, Alice Cooper, is also an open Christian. Cooper remains as interesting and Vaudevillian as ever he was, and Maurer retired from Social D only after family matters called him away. One of my favorite metalcore bands, Deathcore band Demon Hunter, is Christian. Christian metal band "The Showdown" plays Ozzfest beside Marilyn Manson, Korn, and Drowning Pool. Christianity is not incompatible with those subcultures. I can't help it if you morons are so closed-minded, xenophobic, and just plain ignorant as to write me or anyone else "different" off. You should be ashamed of yourself, because we may be guilty of the sin of being "different," but you're all guilty of the much more heinous sins of being hypocritical, and worse, boring.

"I'm the first one to rock as loud as I can, but when it comes to what I believe, I'm the first one to defend it too. It has also gotten me in trouble with the staunch Christians who believe that in order to be a Christian you have to be on your knees 24 hours a day in a closet somewhere. Hey, maybe some people can live like that, but I don't think that's the way God expected us to live. When Christ came back, He hung out with the whores, the drunks and miscreants because they were people that needed Him. Christ never spent His time with the Pharisees."-Alice Cooper (pictured)