Author: thewriterinblack

I do not know how long I stayed at the hospital.  Samantha was still unconscious.  The police found no clue where Bobbi was.  Eventually, I returned home thinking maybe, I don’t know, maybe Bobbi would show up.

I found my new friend Donner Rothskeg sitting in the doorway.  Just sitting.  Watching as he had promised to do when I rode to the hospital with my wife.  He stood at my approach. “My friend. Is your woman well?”

“The doctors said she’ll be okay.” I wiped my face with both hands. “They are not so certain about the baby.  Oh, God, I need to be back there but…”

Donner put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. “She would not thank you, I think, if you turned your back on your little one for her sake.”

“No, you’re right.  But what can I do?”

“That I do not know, but–” He turned me so that I was facing the wall. “Behold.” Written on the wall were letters in, oh god was that blood?

“I do not understand.”

“That message is for me.  He has…” Donner stopped and looked past me.  I turned.

Near the fence stood another coyote.  It seemed to be watching us.  Behind me I sensed Donner stooping.  A moment later he stepped past me and hurled something, a rock.  The rock struck the coyote in the hindquarters, knocking its rear legs out from under it.  As the coyote struggled to rise, Donner sprinted.  His hand closed on the scruff of the coyote’s neck and he lifted it at arms length.

The coyote struggled, snapping and clawing.  Donner shook it once and the coyote went limp.

“Where is your master?” Donner asked.  I knew then he had gone crazy.

“It’s just an animal,” I said. “It can’t talk.”

Short barks, almost like laughter emerged from the coyote’s mouth.  Then, clear as day, I heard, “You travel with fools, thunderer.”

“As do you, Trickster’s Servant,” Donner said. “As do you.”

Was Donner a ventriloquist?

“Tell me,” Donner said. “Or must I start breaking your bones?”

“Release me and I will tell you.”

At this point I finally understood.  It was not Donner who had gone mad.  It was I.

“Trickster’s word?” Donner laughed. “Do you think I am a fool?”

“Very well,” the coyote said. “I swear by Coyote, my master, by Raven the trickster, and by the Great Sky Spirit to take you to Coyote my master.” The coyote laughed again. “After all, he wants to see you.”

Donner looked at the writing on the wall then back at the coyote.

Once more the coyote laughed. “He changed his mind.  What do you expect?  I was sent to invite you.  None of this was necessary.”

Donner gave the coyote another shake then released it.  The coyote fell to the ground with a yip.  It came to its feet, sat, and licked its hindquarters.

Donner turned to me. “I must follow this beast and see…”

“But what about Bobbi?”

“This one’s master has your little girl, I think.  I will–”

“We will.” I sighed. “I may have lost my mind, but if you think they’ve got Bobbi.”

“Very well then.  Together.” He held out a hand, when I reached back to take it, he moved, clasping not hand to hand, but hand to forearm.  I returned the grip.  It was like grasping a bar of iron.

Well, not really, but I do now have a nice Viking pattern sword.  5160 carbon steel which means it will rust if you look at it crosseyed but it will take and hold a keen edge.  As the vendor (Sharp Pointy Things–yes, that’s their name) said, “It will carve a Buick.

31″ blade, 37 1/2” overall.

…I thought turkeys could fly.

It wouldn’t be Thanskgiving without Operation Turkey Drop:

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

 

Short one today.

For some reason I get emails from Vogue.com, with links to articles I can read if I want to. (I don’t.)  My best guess about how this happens is that my wife was on my account when she signed up for a free/low-cost trial subscription or something.

Well today one came in that had as the subject: “How not to Ruin Thanksgiving with Political Debate” which actually sounded promising (see later) however, the link inside was titled “How to Have a Productive Political Debate During Thanksgiving Dinner (or Just Keep it from Ruining Everyone’s Night).

Um, no.  Just…no.

I didn’t click the link.  Wasn’t going to go there.  So, here’s my suggestion on how not to ruin Thanksgiving with political debate.

Don’t.

Don’t have a political debate.  You’ve got 360 other days (reserving four more here for other holidays–adjust as needed for the holidays important to you).  You can do without politics for one.

Not everything has to be political.  Really.  It doesn’t.  You can put aside the politics and just enjoy an evening with family and friends–watch sports if you’re into that.  The Macy’s Thankgiving Parade is always nice.  Board games or cards.  Whatever.  Just leave the politics out of it for once.

The politics will still be there the next day.  And maybe, just maybe, people will be more interested in what you have to say if you demonstrate you’re not a douche on Thanksgiving.

Think about it.

 

This started based on a post over on Sarah Hoyt’s Blog also on Mad Genius Club.

The Human Wave movement is a response that a number of people in the Science Fiction & Fantasy field to the perception that professionally published SF has become circumscribed by “rules” that have little to do with story, that don’t address the needs and wants of readers as readers, and that artificially limit writers can do with their stories if they want to be “accepted” in the field.

The rules of the Human Wave movement are more anti-rules, not so much things you must do, but things you are allowed to do:

1. You are allowed to write a story for no other purpose but to entertain.  That someone get some enjoyment out of it is all the purpose it needs.  You may even consider someone getting enjoyment from it to be its highest purpose.
2. You are allowed to write, and publish, as much as you wish and are able.  There are no “only one book per year” or the like limits on your productivity.  We reject the idea that how long it takes to write a story is a necessary indicator of its quality.  That may be true for some people, not for others.  Do what is right for you.
3. You are allowed to write first person if you wish.  Third person?  Sure.  Second person?  Why not?  Fourth person (if you can figure out how)?  You bet.  Do whatever you believe is right for the story you wish to tell.
4. You are allowed to write stories that don’t match “accepted” views of the future.  Faster than light is impossible?  Use it anyway if that’s what you want.  People expect the future to be some great socialist utopia?  Have capitalism be the wave of the future if that’s your vision for the story.  So long as your story holds together enough for your readers to accept it, do what you want.  The idea is to explore possibilities, not limit yourself to mundane predictions of what will be.
5. It’s okay to have a goal to sell books (or short stories).  “To eat, or not to eat” is allowed to be the question.
6. You are allowed to write whatever heroes you want to write.  You are allowed to write whatever villains you want to write.  Want a white, male, Christian hero? Go for it.  Want a swarthy, pagan villain?  That too is permitted, just as the reverse is also allowed.  Write what your story, and your vision calls for.
7. Happy endings?  Permitted. Happy for the time being?  That too.  Everybody dies?  If that’s what your story calls for, sure.  Some mixture of good and bad?  Absolutely.  It’s your story.  All that really matters is that the ending derive from the events of the story (“And then a meteor hit the Earth and they all died” is probably not such a good ending unless the story was about that meteor) and that the ending satisfy the readers.
8. It’s okay to write stories which center on action and plot.
9. You are allowed to include sex in the story.  You are allowed to not include sex in the story.  You are allowed to have heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or even mechano-sexual sex if that’s what’s appropriate to the story and the characters.  It’s your story and they’re your characters.  You don’t have to avoid sex.  You don’t have to include it.
10. You can write politics if you want, provided that they’re the politics of your story.  (A story set in ancient Egypt should probably not have a debate between characters on the relative merits of Capitalism vs. Socialism.) You can have a message if you want, again, provided it arises naturally from the story.  But you don’t have to include one.  The story can be its own reward, with no deeper meaning required.

Some general guidelines:

• You should be entertaining.  People should enjoy your story.  After all, even if you’re including a deep message, more people will get the message if they enjoy reading your story.
• Your characters should be individuals.  If your character is a bad guy, readers should not need to feel ashamed because they are the same age, race, sex, religion, ethnic background, or what have you as that character.  Virtue or its lack should come from who one is as an individual, not what group to which one belongs.
• Story first.  Message later.  In any dispute between story and message, story trumps.
• “Everything is shades of gray” is boring.  Add some black and white, or even color, to spice things up.
• People generally prefer positive feeling to stories. This doesn’t necessarily mean “happy endings” or “good guys win” but that even when they lose, they go down fighting and don’t whine themselves to death.
• Thou shalt not be boring.

Anyway, those are the basics.  Come ride the Human Wave.  The water’s fine.

I have decided that a themed collection I am putting together is too short.  So I decided to dip into Norse myth (well, I have a fascination for many things Norse) and expand on one of the tales told therein, treating the rather brief synopsis we have of the story as the outline for a more fleshed-out tale.

So here’s the opening.  It is, perhaps, not how it happened but rather one way it might have happened.

---

Sleet fell in slants from the iron-gray sky.  The barest hint of carmine indicated where the sun neared the western horizon.

The two-wheeled cart, drawn by two enormous goats, rumbled to a stop in the lee of a hill.  The larger of the cart’s two occupants shifted the reins to one hand and twisted to look at the young man who trotted nimbly behind the cart.

“Thjalfi,” the burly one said, “find us shelter.  The weather is worsening.”

The young man stopped and bowed. “At once, master.”

As the young man dashed off, the smaller of the cart’s occupants hopped to the ground.  He stretched.

“Why do you insist on using that thing, Thor,” the smaller said. “A horse would be more comfortable.”

The burly one, Thor, laughed. “It is what people expect.  I am the charioteer.”

“Yes, yes,” the other said. “And when the goat-drawn chariot approaches with hoof beats like thunder, all know it is Thor who rides.  Have you thought that when you journey in Jotunheim, that perhaps it might be a good idea not to let everyone know that it is Thor who approaches?  Could you find some wit in that skull of yours for once?”

“Why, Loki,” Thor said. “Do you fear your kin might give you cold reception?”

Loki snorted. “I have lived among the As for how long now?  I don’t think even my own mother would recognize me as Jotun now.”

Before Thor could respond, Thjalfi returned. “Master?”

Thor nodded.

“There is a cave to the left of our track but not far, large enough for us all, with enough overhang we can build a fire and…” He cast a sideways glance at the goats.

Thor chuckled. “Well done, lad.  Lead on.” He looked down at Loki. “Will you ride or do you prefer to walk?”

“Fine.  Fine.”  Loki put a hand on the rail of the cart and lightly vaulted up onto it.

“Lead, Thjalfi,” Thor said. “Tanngrisnir, Tanngnjóstr, on.”

Thjalfi was as good as his word.  They soon came to the yawning entrance to a cave, barely visible in the gloom.

Thor pulled the cart up to the entrance and stopped.  The opening was low.  Thor would need to stoop to enter.  But it was large enough to hold the three of them and the interior was dry.

“This will do.” Thor hopped off the back of the cart. He removed the massive hammer from where it hung at his belt. “Bring firewood.”

Thjalfi bowed before turning and speeding off into the gathering darkness.

With measured blows, Thor struck each of the goats once in the head.  Long practice let him measure the force and location of the blow, just enough to kill the goat from shock without cracking bone.

By the time Thjalfi returned with an armload of wood Thor had the two goats dressed and skinned and was carving chunks of meat from the best parts.

“Uncle Fox,” Thor said with a grin up at Loki. Fire is your province, I believe.”

Loki snorted. “Just because the similarity of name does not mean that I am a fire god.”

Thor paused in his carving. “Can you start the fire or not?”

“Of course I can start the fire.  I’m just saying…”

Thor held up his hands. “Peace.  Peace.”

Loki closed his mouth and looked toward Thor, not directly into his eyes, but close.  Thor followed the direction of his gaze to his own right hand, still holding the knife that dripped blood, spoiling the peaceful nature of his gesture.  He laughed.

“Please, Uncle, if you would start the fire.”

“Very well, nephew.”

Thor flipped the knife in the air and caught it be the blade.  He held the grip toward Thjalfi. “Continue the butchering while I inspect our shelter.”

“Yes, master.”

Thor started to turn toward the mouth of the cave then paused and looked back. “And, Thjalfi?”

“Yes, master?”

Thor tapped his thigh with one finger and cocked his head to the side.

“No, master.  I will be carefull.”

Thor grinned and turned back to the cave.  It was, perhaps, unkind of him to continue to tease the boy for that long ago incident but Thjalfi took the teasing with a good heart.  While Thjalfi’s affrontery of breaking the goat’s thighbone to get to the marrow had earned him much more severe punishment than being made Thor’s bond servant, Thor liked the lad.  The arrangement had worked well for both of them.  Bilskirnir was a far better dwelling than the peasants cottage and his work for Thor, relying mainly on his fleetness of foot, was far lighter than guiding a team of oxen plowing a field.

Then there were the apples, why Thjalfi remained but a lad after so many years.

Thor crouched and walked into the cave, his hammer loose in his hand.  If any creature made its dwelling here, he was best fit to deal with it.  A short way into the cave the top drooped until the only opening was a narrow crack at the bottom, too narrow for even Thjalfi to pass through.  Loki might take a form that could pass, but Thor decided that nothing else that could endanger them could lie beyond.

He backed out of the cave to find Loki had kindled a modest fire over which Thjalfi had propped spits of roasting goat meat.

President Abraham Lincoln gave a speech at a battlefield near the town of Gettysburg.  I have expressed before my mixed feelings on the civil war.  Still, by this point in history that was a long moot point.  We were at war and would continue to be for another year and a half.  The tide had, perhaps, turned with the battle commemorated here, but the end was not yet in sight.

It was in this context that Abraham Lincoln spoke the following words:

---

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate-we can not consecrate-we can not hallow-this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

From a work that I hope to release soon as one of a collection of two shorts on a theme. (Cover is still in the works):

---

Let me tell you about the most remarkable person I ever met.

It began on an early spring evening.  I turned up my collar against the drizzle.  A three block walk from the bus stop to my apartment.  With Samantha out of work, there just wasn’t any money to get the car fixed.  That meant the bus.

A coyote howled.  I shivered.  The Department of Natural Resources reported that a few wander the outskirts of town. There’ve been the occasional attacks, mostly dogs and cats. Some folk were starting to worry about their children.

I passed the school and approached the gate in the fence around the apartment complex.  I saw a man huddled against the fence, wrapped in a blanket.  I always hated to see that.

“Sorry buddy,” I whispered as I passed him.

“Hey, Gimme a dollar.”

I nearly jumped at the voice and looked down.  No, it wasn’t the bum by the gate.

A figure stepped out of the shadow. “Gimme a dollar.”

I held up my hands. “Sorry, but I’m broke myself.”

“Then you won’t mind my checking.” His right hand darted out and grabbed my left sleeve.  I saw a flash of bright metal in his left hand.

Panic rose in me.  I stepped back meaning to run but I could not break his grip on my sleeve.  I heard fabric tear but the sleeve held.

I closed my eyes, expecting at any moment to feel the bite of the knife.  But then the man released me.  I fell backward, bruising my hip on the pavement.  I looked up.  Another man towered over my attacker.  He stood over six feet tall.  Thick-waisted, he nevertheless had the bulky, muscular body of a bouncer.  His left hand gripped my attackers left about the wrist.  I could see the muscles in his hand tighten.  My attacker’s knees buckled.

I scrambled backward.  The blare of a horn warned me before I reached the edge of the road.

“That was unkind,” my rescuer said. He looked at me. “Are you well?”

I opened my mouth but no sound came out.  I swallowed, then nodded.

My rescuer squeezed.  I could see the muscles in his arm bunch.  The attacker’s hand opened and the knife clattered to the ground.  My rescuer pushed him back. “You, depart.”

Without even looking back at the attacker to see him fleeing, my rescuer turned to me and held out a hand.

I looked up at him.  Over six feet tall, easy.  Had to be on the high side of two hundred and fifty pounds.  His hair, red in the streetlights, fell down to his shoulders, framing his bearded face.  His eyes–I could not see their color in the shadows–crinkled with his smile.

I stared up at him, uncertain what to do.  He held his hand out, unwavering.  After a moment, I took it and he pulled me to my feet.

“You seem unharmed,” my rescuer said.

“I am.  Thank you.” I hesitated and looked him over.  His clothes were plain and looked to be hand sewn.  Behind him I could see the blanket that had covered him while he curled by the fence and a sack with its neck tied back to its base so that it could be slung over a shoulder.

One of the city’s homeless then.  They usually didn’t wander out this far.  More traffic, and more handouts, to be had nearer downtown.

Still, I owed him.

“Are you hungry?” I asked.

“Why do you ask?”

I spread my hands, palms up. “I told the guy the truth.  I don’t have any money.  Spent the last of it on lunch at work.  Still, my wife should have dinner ready about now.  If you…Look, you really saved me here and I’d really like to do something for you.”

He looked at me.  A car passed and by its light I could see that his eyes were blue. “I will accept your invitation.  My thanks.”

I held out my hand. “Pleased to meet you.  My name is Travis Smith.”

He took my hand in his, making me feel like a small child in his massive paw. “I am called…Donner.  Donner Rothskegg.”

I beckoned him to follow me as I entered the gate into the complex.  He scooped up his bag and blanket with his left hand and slung them over his shoulder.

I paused to let him catch up, then turned to continue.  He walked beside me.  He had that easy way of walking that I had seen in some athletes, strong but relaxed.

“So, you’re new in our neighborhood?” It sounded stupid even in my own ears.

“I have been…away for a while, a long while.”

“Away?  Were you in prison?” I bit my tongue, although too late to stop the question.

He laughed and shook his head. “Prison?  If only my father could hear…I suppose you could call it a sort of prison.” He stopped.

I took two steps then stopped and turned back to face him.

He spread his hands. “Does that bother you?”

“I’m…not sure,” I admitted. “What were you in for?”

“It is…complicated.” He again held out a hand. “I give you my word that I mean you and yours no harm.  This I swear.”

I thought for a moment.  I still owed him.  Had he not come to my aid I would have been knifed, possibly killed.  His hand remained.  Slowly, I reached out and took it.

“A pact of friendship, then,” he said as he held my hand in his firm grip, “between you and me.”

His gaze shifted and he looked past my shoulder. “Be very still.”

I froze.  A moment later I heard a growl behind me.

Donner released my hand and grasped the bag slung over his shoulder. “Turn slowly.”

I turned.  At the edge of a circle of light cast by one of the security lamps slunk a dog.  No, a coyote.  A big one.  It crouched low, belly to the ground, and bared its teeth in a snarl.

My mouth went dry.  I had not heard of a coyote attacking full grown men unless it was rabid.

The coyote slithered forward.  I took a step back.

Then everything happened at once.  The coyote bunched.  Donner slipped the bag off his shoulder and let it fall to the ground.  The coyote sprang and Donner lunged forward, almost too fast to see.  I stumbled backward.  Donner’s hand fell on the back of the coyote’s neck and closed.  The coyote yipped and Donner turned and heaved, hurling the coyote away.  I managed another step backward as the coyote hit the ground with a yelp.  In the dark it was only a blur as it darted away.

I swallowed to get my heart out of my throat and back down to my chest.  Donner stood staring after the departed coyote, a deep scowl on his face.

“Are you okay?” I asked.  If the coyote was rabid…

“What?” He asked.

“Did he get you?” I raised then lowered my hand indicating Donner’s body. “If he was rabid, we might need to get you to the doctor.”

Donner lifted his arms forward and to the sides. “I am unharmed.”

I sighed in relief. “That’s twice now I owe you.  What a night.  Let’s get inside before something else happens.”

“By all means, my friend.  By all means.”

So there was this.  I want to think this is parody but I’ve heard every argument made here told with complete seriousness, just not usually all together.

As usual, the original is in italics, my comments are in bold.

Goth is a deplorable type of heathen culture

Actually, I am a Heathen (sort of) and the two are not the same.  Heathens, per modern definitions, are those who believe in and worship the Germanic/Norse Gods, also known as Asatru.  I don’t particularly believe in them–don’t particularly believe in any gods–but I try to follow the ways of modern Asatru as exemplified in the Nine Noble Virtues. (Yes, I know they are found nowhere in the surviving Lore, but as a concise distilling of the virtues that are exemplified in that lore, they serve.)  I know some Goths who are Heathen.  Most are not.

that glorifies everything that is vile and unholy.  The dictionary defines “Goth” as: A crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement.

Which Dictionary is this from, I wonder?

Merriam Webster says:

1. :a member of a Germanic people that overran the Roman Empire in the early centuries of the Christian era

2. often not capitalized
   a :rock music marked by dark and morbid lyrics
   b :a fan or performer of goth

3. a person who wears mostly black clothing, uses dark dramatic makeup, and often has dyed black hair

Nope, nothing in there about being crude, uncouth, ill-bred, or lacking culture or refinement.

This pretty much sums up the Goth culture today.  Goth glorifies things that are sick, nasty, improper, freakish, and downright demonic.  Goth is NOT just the music.  In fact, not all Goths listen to Goth music. 

Well, that depends.  Some define Goth as only those who are fans of the music.  I tend to be a “big tent Goth” and include all who are fans of the aesthetic.

The Goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s in thegothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The Goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify. Its imagery and cultural proclivities indicate influences from nineteenth century Gothic literature along with horror movies and -according to César Fuentes Rodríguez and Carol Siegel- to a lesser extent, the BDSM culture.

Well, here’s they actually say something right  Many define the origin point of Goth with the release of Bauhaus’s song “Bela Lugusi’s Dead”.  And, yeah, all of those influences are present to some extent.  But not every Goth follows all of those.

And look at that scary phrase “cultural proclivities”.  Oooh.  This just means people tend to have things in common (while having a great deal of diversity as well).  The main commonality is an appreciation of the “dark” in counterpoint to the light.  Consider the line from the otherwise mediocre movie “Bruce Almighty”, where Morgan Freeman explaining why just answering “yes” to all the prayers was a bad idea:  “If you want to paint pictures like that, you’ve got to use some dark colors.”

Goth’s, in my experience get that.  And it’s reflected in their, in our, outlook.

The Goth subculture has associated tastes in music and fashion, whether or not all individuals who share those tastes are in fact members of the Goth subculture. Gothic music encompasses a number of different styles. Common to all is a tendency towards a lugubrious, mystical sound and outlook. Styles of dress within the subculture range from death rock, punk, androgynous, medieval, some Renaissance and Victorian style clothes, or combinations of the above, most often with black attire, makeup and hair.

SOURCE: Goth subculture – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oh, well that explains it.  Not able to think for himself, he instead relies on grabbing a quick bit from Wikipedia before going on about crap he doesn’t know the first thing about.
The term “Goth” refers to all categories of Gothics, from Emo ‘Goths’ to black metal ‘Goths’ to vampire ‘Goths; from thrasher ‘Goths’ to punk ‘Goths’ to industrial ‘Goths.’  “Goth” is just a word the media uses to group a certain type of people together.

Emo is not Goth.  Black metal is iffy.  Punk is not Goth.  That idiots like this bozo lump them together just underscores their own ignorance; it doesn’t make it so.

The Goth culture includes Emos/ punks/ Wiccan witches/ self-abusers/ thrashers/ grungers/ heavy metallers, et cetera.  This includes the Marilyn Manson, AC/DC, Smashing Pumpkins, Van Halen and Ozzy Osbourne crowd as well.

And it includes Christians, Agnostics, people who rescue animals, vegetarians, meat-eaters, and many others.  And while some folk into metal are also Goth, neither are all “metalheads” Goth nor are all Goths “metalheads”.

Also AC/DC is not Goth.  Van Halen is not Goth.  Ozzy Osbourne is not Goth.
 
Goth causes teenage girls to become whores,

The truth is if you look at Goths, actually look at them, you’ll note that they’re usually in couples, serious long-term relationships.  This is bullshit.

depresses kids to the point of cutting themselves,

While some depressive individuals may find themselves attracted to the dark aspects of Goth, it does not cause their problems.  The biggest cause of those problems, frankly, is poor parenting.  But you can’t admit that, can you?  You can’t consider the beam in your own eye so you look for a mote in someone else’s to blame.  You whited sepulcher, outwardly clean but inwardly full of all manner of corruption.

and turns otherwise normal kids into Columbine shooters.  The Goth culture is obsessed with death and the darker side of life, which is clearly evidenced in Goth music.

The dark side is part of life.  People deal with death.  Have you never lost someone you cared about?  Have you ever had bad things happen to you and wondered why?  Have you ever wondered if anyone else felt the pain you did?

Perhaps you haven’t.  Perhaps you’ve lived a charmed life where you’ve never felt the pain of loss or hardship.  Or perhaps you’re so wrapped up in your imaginary friend in the sky that reality never touches you.

I, however, am not.  And so when I’m feeling down or depressed, I can listen to Goth or metal and I feel better because someone else has felt what I feel.  Someone else understands.

Goth is of the Devil.
 
Goth in itself is a mental illness, a sickness of the soul, mainly affecting teenagers in the same way as schizophrenia would, although to a greater extent.  Its symptoms range from isolation and negativity to aggression and hate for humanity, depression, violent outbursts, low self esteem, self-loathing, self-harming and suicide.  Many Goths turn to a life of crime to feed their addiction to drugs, sadism, violence and perversion.

Wow, that’s breathtaking.  You just make shit up, don’t you?  You might find a few isolated cases but here’s a hint.  The plural of “anecdote” is not data.

You might want to Google “Confirmation Bias”.  Never mind. Here.  I’ll do it for you.

CONFIRMATION BIAS
 
There is a theme running through all these different types of gothic groups, and a common fashion and dress that all tribes of Goth wear.  The clothing is usually dark and sinister looking, sometimes called the ‘gothic uniform.’

You can’t possibly have looked much at Goths to think there’s anything like a uniform.  Yeah, dark colors are common.  But sinister is only in your own mind.

Are all things dark “sinister” to you?  Careful how you answer because it will be used against you.

Goth women often wear black lip stick and paint their eyes so dark with mascara that they look like vampires.

I’ve never met an actual vampire.  I don’t know what they might look like.  Oh, you mean Hollywood’s depiction of vampires, right?  But note that Hollywood depiction comes from a romantic ideal.  The resemblance is simply because they both draw from the same romantic ideal.  Some Goths (and only some) carry that farther and actually dress as vampires with fake fangs and everything.  But, again, that’s drawn from the Hollywood depiction of Vampires as romantic figures.  Take that up with Hammer Films and Anne Rice among others (neither of which are Goth).

Goths are all obsessed with death and despair, with terror and violence, and most Goths use drugs as a form of everyday life.

More bullshit.  Goths cover a wide range.  Most are just ordinary people with an aesthetic that you neither like nor understand.  I’ve known Goth pacifists.

When Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend were assaulted and Sophie was murdered it wasn’t the Goths that resorted to violence.

You, no doubt, would be right in that crowd, kicking and beating on two teenagers who never did anything to you.

Some abuse their children, perform Satanic rituals, and drink human blood.

So do some Christians (some of the things I’ve seen “Christians” do to their children is as bad as any “Satanic ritual”).  And many Christians, through the Eucharist and the Miracle of Transubstantiation believe that they are actually drinking the blood of Christ and eating his flesh.

As for drinking human blood, I’ve got to tell you, when I had nasal surgery a lot of the blood went down that way.  Made me physically ill, not from any horror or distaste, but because, as my doctor explained to me, human blood is an emetic.

Some Goths consider the sharing of body fluids like small amounts of their own blood, to be a form of sharing as or even more intimate than sex.  Not my thing but, hey, so long as everyone’s consenting and this is almost always a matter between committed couples so is no more likely to spread blood borne pathogens than when you and your spouse boink without a condom.

You see, one thing that Goths frequently have that you don’t is a very strong “live and let live” philosophy.

They recognize your right to be a conceited, self-righteous douchebag.

Goths would have us believe that the Columbine Massacre was just an isolated incident; however, here are some alarming statistics:

1991
NORWAY – Vocalist of Mayhem commits suicide. The guitarist Euronymous, upon finding him, takes pictures of his bloody corpse for their album cover, and collects pieces of his skull to make necklaces out of.
1992
NORWAY – Church burnings and murders by Nazi Goths in Norway following Euronymous, lead guitarist of gothic black metal band Mayhem calling on fans to be terrorists for their anti-Christian cause.
NORWAY – Bart Faust, bassist of Goth band Emperor, murders a homosexual.
1993
USA – satanic murders of three innocent little children by Goth monster Damian Echols in West Memphis, Arkansas.
NORWAY – Euronymous murdered by Goth ‘friend’ Varg Vikernes, guitarist of Goth band Emperor.
1994
SWEDEN – Jon Nodtveidt, singer of Goth black metal band Dissection murders man.
1995
USA – Murder of 15 year old Elyse Pahler by Satanist Goth teens Royce Casey, Joseph Fiorella, and Jacob Delashmutt who idolized metal band Slayer and had conspired to kill a virgin girl as a sacrifice to Satan.
Goth Brian Bassett shoots and kills his parents before drowning his 5 year old brother, then proceeds to kick their corpses to the music of silver chair.
1996
USA – The infamous Vampire Clan Murders.
1997
Goth Satanist Luke Woodham brutally beats and stabs mother to death before going into school and killing 2 and injuring 7.
Kimberly Wilson, age 20, her 17-year-old sister, Julia, and their parents, William and Rose Wilson brutally murdered by sick Goths Alex Baranyi and his best friend, David Anderson, both 17.
1998
ITALY – Beasts of Satan cult, Goths into heavy metal, murder 2 teenagers.
1999
USA – 15 dead in the Columbine High school massacre, carried out on the anniversary of Hitler’s birthday by two Nazi obsessed Goths.
2001
USA – World Trade Centre destroyed by plans drawn up 2 year previously by Dylan Klebold, one of the terrorists from Columbine.
GERMANY – Three Goth teenagers ages 14, 17 and 18 committed suicide after forming an online satanic death sect in an internet chat room.
2001
GERMANY – Bride of Satan satanic murder case.
2002
UK – Vampire teenager slaughters frail old woman and drinks her blood.
UK – Alan Menzies also murders man after becoming obsessed with sickening Vampire film ‘queen of the damned’, He claims the queen of the damned ordered him to do it.
2003
UK – Goth Jodi Jones aged 14 brutally murdered by her evil Marilyn Manson obsessed Gothic boyfriend.
Two self-styled vampires jailed for conducting a campaign of religious harassment against a vicar and his family. Scott Bower and Benjamin Lewis were found guilty of waging the three-month campaign against the Reverend Christopher Rowberry, his wife Karen and children Hannah, 15, and Simon, 17.
2004
USA – Lely high school students caught planning copycat Columbine.
Teen Rachelle Waterman from Craig, Alaska masterminds murder of her own mother. She roped two former boyfriends into doing the deed. Her mother Lori ended up bludgeoned to death and her body burned out in the Alaskan wilderness.
2005
Beasts of Satan cult finally stand trial for their evil crimes.
USA – Orlando, Florida, a Goth named Christopher Dunsmoor killed his fiancée, Fawn Trivette. Dunsmoor nearly beheaded Fawn, using a samurai sword.
USA – 105 Year old Minnesota United Church burned to the ground in a hate crime against Christianity by three sick Goth teens on the birthday of Varg Vikernes, a black metal musician now serving time in prison in Norway for murdering a band mate and burning several churches. Vikernes has inspired dozens of copycat church burnings around the world.
USA – Goth Ben W. Fawley, age 38, told Richmond, Virginia police that he killed Virginia Commonwealth University freshman, Taylor Behl, age 17 while having “rough sex.” Though 38, Fawley looked 17 and made it a point to dress like a 17 or 18-year-old Goth kid.
USA – Ten killed in Red Lake High School massacre by Goth Nazi Jeffrey Weise.
Goth David Rodriguez, 18, and a companion abducts 2 children in order to perform satanic ritual, allegedly to get his girlfriend back. Erika Castillo, 6, and her older brother, Oscar, were snatched outside a Little Village library on Friday. Rodriguez planned to carve a pentagram in the girl’s chest.
USA – California, Goth Scott Dyleski, age 16, arrested for the brutal bludgeoning murder of Pamela Vitale, age 52. Vitale was the wife of well-known defense attorney and legal analyst for various cable news outlets, Daniel Horowitz.
These are but a few of thousands of recorded mainstream news events involving Goth killers.  To say that the Goth subculture isn’t dangerous is to be very ignorant indeed.  Goth is of the Devil. 

Inigo Montoya Moment.  “You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.” A rather modest list (compared to the number of murders that have happened worldwide in the same period) isn’t “statistics”.

Also, just because you say “Goth” doesn’t mean they actually are.  Yes, the claim that the Columbine murderers were “Goth” was bruited but other students of the school refuted that claim.  It simply wasn’t true.  Just because you attribute something to “Goth” doesn’t make it so. 

Go back up to where I googled “Confirmation Bias” for you.

The Dangers of Rock Music

Over 30 years ago a woman named Dorothy Retallack conducted experiments using music, plants and their combined environment. These results are famous.

Taking two identical sets of plants in two separated but identical rooms, she exposed them to music. The first set of plants were played quiet placid subdued devotional “religious” classical music, while the other set were subjected to loud aggressive rock music played at full deafening volume 24 hours a day. The plants exposed to rock grew away from the music source, withered and died, while the plants that were played religious music grew towards the music source and thrived.

The lesson? If rock music attacks and kills plants, what does it do to people? I think it’s rather obvious – it does the exact same thing!  Rock music attacks the nervous system, affecting one’s emotional state.  Is it any wonder why Americans, now more than ever before, are blowing-up in anger, flying off the handle, committing suicide, and losing their minds?

Bullshit on multiple levels.  First off others have performed the same experiment, mostr famously the Mythbusters team.  You know what mythbusters found with experiments actually better controlled than in this ridiculous “study” you cite.  They found that the plants exposed to metal actually grew faster than those exposed to classical music.  Oh, and they found that “talking”, whether positive or negative, led to more growth than no talking.

As for the “now more than ever” that’s utter and complete kark.  Violent crime in America is down.  For the last several years it’s been hovering at about half the peak it reached in 1993.  You wouldn’t know that to listen to the media, but the media is lying to you.  Department of Justice statistics tell a different story.

You are using bad science to “explain” something that just isn’t happening

Goth is particularly dangerous because the lyrics to the music often glamorize killing, brutality, sadism, masochism, pedophilia, torture, freakism, and all sorts of heathendom. 

And once again, you have demonstrated that you haven’t actually listened to Goth music.  I’m not surprised.   You declare it “evil” without any actual knowledge and that gives you all the excuse you need to not actually research (real research, not the confirmation bias–see above–crap that you do) to see whether your assessment actually matches reality.

The music is often characterized by relentless yelling and screaming, freakish embellishments of the voice, evil sounding backgrounds, etc.  There just a bunch of sickos.  Magician, Criss Angel, has made millions of dollars with his “Mind Freak” series, and he definitely fits in well with the Goth freak culture.  Criss Angel’s theme song is characterized by his own voice screaming “mind freak” repeatedly at the top of his lungs.  This is Satanic.

More Inigo Montoya here.  Just because you don’t like something doesn’t make it “Satanic”.  Or are you one of those:  There’s vigorous Bible-thumping and there’s “everything else” with “everything else” being of the Devil and, therefore, Satanic.

It’s people like you who drive more people away from Christianity than all the actual Satan worshipers who ever lived.

We read in the Bible in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  God doesn’t want us to walk around singing “mind freak” (which a person cannot help but hear repeatedly in their memory after watching one of Criss Angel’s shows).  Satan is the freak of freaks.  Jesus called Satan the father of all liars (John 8:44). 

Ah, you are one of those.

Goth is a Destructive Influence on Children

A mother who looks and dresses like a sick circus freak, who harms herself in front of her children, who is obsessed with death and suicide, who holds BDSM (i.e., Bondage, Domination, Sadism, and Masochism) parties that consist of bondage and rape, is hardly a fitting role model for children.  That is why Christians ought to be taking a stand against this heinous evil in society. 

And all these things which you attribute to “Goth” which aren’t actually any part of the Goth culture, but rather baggage that some people bring with them.  Often times I’ve seen people with severe depression and suicidal tendencies come to Goth culture and find people who actually understand them, who don’t sneer and look down their noses at them, and simply having people to talk to who do understand them makes them feel better and. they. get. better.

I shudder to think what would happen if someone depressed or suicidal came to you.  You, no doubt, would tell them to pray and “give themselves to Christ.” Some people that works for.  Most it doesn’t.  You’d simply dismiss those others as not having tried hard enough or not being sincere.  “No True Scotsman” is a wonderful fallacy for people like you. (No, I’m not going to Google this one for you.  You’re a big boy.  Do it yourself.)

Oh, and as for self-harm and BDSM?  You might just want to look up the history of the practice of self-flagellation in the Christian religion.  Mote and Beam time again. 

Goth is often associated with sexual immorality and pedophilia.

That you associated it in your demented mind doesn’t make it so.  Immorality?  Most of the times when you see Goths they’re always in couples, long term committed relationships.  From what I’ve seen of Goth couples, they’re at least as successful as Christian ones.

You keep making up things and then using the things you make up as “evidence” for other things you make up.  That’s not even fallacious.  It’s not connected enough to reality to rise to the level of fallacy.

And now we are finding websites that sell gothic clothing for children as young as kindergarten age, so that their sick gothic parents can dress their kids as Halloween freaks just like themselves.

Again, the only reason that’s “bad” is stuff you made up.  Parents generally dress their children according to their own tastes at least until the children are old enough to decide for themselves what they like.

Some websites are even selling ‘bondage’ clothing for babies!  For babies?  Don’t you find that wrong and sick?  Not just from a Christian point of view, but just plain ole common sense.  No wonder children are so messed up nowadays, because their parents are freaks.

First off, I’m going to call “Citation needed” on that.  But let’s go with it.  You might want to look up “swaddling”.  Pediatricians recommend it, restricting the babies movements (which possibly feels more like being in the familiar environment of the womb to them) to help calm them.  Babies have no shyness about crying when they’re unhappy of uncomfortable.  That this calms them down, soothes them shows that it is not uncomfortable or painful to them.  As for somebody choosing something that they find decorative (assuming you didn’t just make that up as you have much else) so what?  The baby doesn’t care.

It is not difficult to let Lucifer into your home (1st Peter 5:8).  The Apostle Paul prophesied in 2nd Timothy 3:6 of the future time when lustful men would creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lust.  From the witchcraft of Sabrina, to the lewdness of Hugh Hefner; from the whores of Desperate Housewives, to the demonic New Age indoctrination of Oprah Winfrey; from the homosexuality of The Ellen DeGeneres (Degenerate) Show, to the lasciviousness of nearly every prime time TV program―Americans have opened the door wide for Satan to creep right into our homes.  In fact, Satan doesn’t even need to creep his way into our homes anymore, because the average American willingly INVITES Satan into their home through the DEVILVISION!  Most people don’t care what they watch anymore.  The TV does the exact OPPOSITE of what the Word of God does.  Television DESENSITIZES people to sin; whereas the Word of God SENSITIZES us to sin… that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful(Romans 7:13).

Thump.  Thump.  Thump.  Thump that Bible.

But you want to know what’s worse than even the “Devilvision”?  The Internet!  Why anybody, anybody at all can put stuff there without any filter whatsoever.

You need to get off it, right away, lest you let Satan into your house.
 Goth and Satanism

Photo to Right: Album cover for one of the top Goth bands, “The Cult.”  Ram and goat horns are extremely popular amongst Satanists.  Paul McCartney even produced an album in 1971 titled, “RAM,” to show his allegiance to Satan.  Check out the Rolling Stones’ 1973 album, “Goat’s Head Soup.”

Wow, that’s breathtaking.  You just kind of make things up.

You want to know another thing that’s popular among Satanist?  The Bible.  I’ve generally found Satanist better versed, and better able to cite the Bible than most Christians.

Here’s the thing, that some groups of people like something does not define that something.  Otherwise all the time a certain holy man spent with Publicans and Sinners would itself be condemnatory.

I could publish an entire website just addressing the demonism which saturates the Goth movement.  The Goth culture is the consequence of a nation that has turned its back on God.  Rock n’ Roll was seemingly innocent back in the 1950s (but it wasn’t).  Then in the 1960s we saw the British Invasion, bringing with it the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and other heathen bands.  Illegal drug abuse flourished in the 1960s, fornication became epidemic, and a nation decided that the Bible was incompatible with their new amorality.  So in 1962 the Bible was banned from the Public School System.  The 1970s naturally led to the passing of legalized abortion laws, to address the epidemic fornication problem (and all the unwanted babies).  The 1970s began with the introduction of Satanism and occult imagery into much of the Rock music.  The Church of Satan was founded on 06/06/66 by Anton LaVey, whose picture appears inside the Eagles’ Hotel California album cover. 

LaVey in the cover?  False That some people claim to see Lavey there is nothing more than faces in clouds.

Goth deliberately crosses all the lines of proper dress, manners, refinement, and decency.

And yet, unlike you, every Goth I’ve known has been courteous and well mannered.  The dress is more likely to hearken back to Victorian and Edwardian attire, hardly lascivious.

  Goth picks up where Rock ‘n’ Roll leaves off, offering a course in advanced rebellion, sexual immorality, and Satan worship.  The Goth crowd is truly living at the bottom of the barrel of life, right where Satan wants them.  Wiccan witches are naturally attracted to Goth, because they are Luciferians themselves, who worship hundreds of pagan deities; but vehemently deny the Lord Jesus Christ. 

More utter bullshit.  Really, it’s so disconnected from reality that it’s not even wrong.  I could eat a bowl of alphabet suit and shit a more coherent string of words than that.

Most Goths are in committed, usually monogamous relationships.

Some witches are Goth, some aren’t.  Some Goths are witches, some aren’t.  Witches aren’t “Luciferians”.  They don’t believe in any of the figures of the Christian religion.  They don’t believe in your Trinity.  And they don’t believe in your adversary god.  Somebody believing differently from you does not mean they believe in your adversary.

Let me give you the words of another Christian, from another day: “I abjure you in the bowels of Christ to consider the possibility you may be mistaken.”

Pride is a sin, and you are full of it.

Conclusion

Goth is a degenerate form of subculture, that brings with it hate, loneliness, heartache, and woe.  It is sin-centered music (if you dare call it music).  If you are a parent, please steer your teens away from this perverted culture of death and hatred.  If your daughter comes home from school one day with dark mascara around her eyes, and wearing black clothing, she’s being influenced by the wrong crowd at school.  Be a parent!  Put your foot down!  Be as loving and kind as possible, but if that doesn’t work, then be aggressive and say “NO!”  It will be a cold day in Hell before any child of mine is going to tell me what, where, when, or how they’re going to run their life.  As long as I’m paying their bills, and they reside under my roof, then I make the rules!  That’s being a good parent.  If you train your children while they’re still young, then you will eliminate a lot of necessary conflicts when they become teens.  I am amazed when I hear teenagers cursing their parents.  That shouldn’t be.  The key is tough love.  If your kids KNOW that you love them, then they’ll give you their heart.  So many parents neglect their kids, by allowing the TV to raise them, and letting them run the streets all hours of the night.  I hate that commercial which says, “It’s 10 o’clock, do you know where your child is at?”  That’s a lot of bologna!  You had better know where your child is at AT ALL TIMES!!!

Do not allow your children mom and dad to associate with Goths.  I am a stickler for knowing exactly who my children are hanging around.  I don’t want my children associating with homosexual teenagers.  I don’t want my children hanging around creeps, freaks, or troublemakers who are headed for destruction.  Goths are infatuated with vampires, witches, the color black, torture, self abuse, and anything freakish.  Goth is extremely luring to lonely teenagers who don’t seem to fit in anywhere, because Goth is all about being a social misfit, i.e., a freak.  Parents are mostly to blame for not spending quality time with their teens.  Listen parent, you ought to be best friends with your teen.  A teenager who is loved by their parents won’t have a need to identify with others who are in their same lonesome boat.  If you don’t make time for your kids, the Devil certainly will.  Notice I said “make” time.  Life is hectic nowadays, and there’s always too much to do, and there’s never enough money to pay the bills.  Forget the overtime!  You spend some quality time with your teens on a regular basis. 

If you are into Goth yourself, then I ask you as a friend to come to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.  You don’t need to identify with the Devil’s crowd anymore.  Goth represents everything that is evil and unholy.  Aren’t you tired of running from God?  God loves you, no matter who you are, or what you have done.  God loves sinners.

I’ve gotta know.  When you wipe the spittle from your keyboard, does it leave the screen extra clean?  Does self-righteousness add an extra luster to the pixels?

As for your “advice”, how about “no”?  Does “no” work for you?  It doesn’t?  Then how about “fuck yourself with a rusty chainsaw you self-righteous, bible-thumping, smegma-lipped twatwaffle”?

And I mean that in the nicest possible way.

 

A “revitalization movement” is a deliberate, organized, systematic attempt by members of a society to create a culture they find more acceptable.  That’s a pretty broad definition but one form it often takes is in an emphasis on “old ways” in an attempt to return to the culture of an earlier era which people believe is more congenial.

The general pattern is something like this:

1. Period of generally satisfactory adaptation to a group’s social and natural environment.
2. Period of increased individual stress. While the group as a whole is able to survive through its accustomed cultural behavior, changes in the social or natural environment frustrate efforts of many people to obtain normal satisfactions of their needs.
3. Period of cultural distortion. Changes in the group’s social or natural environment drastically reduce the capacity of accustomed cultural behavior to satisfy most persons’ physical and emotional needs.
4. Period of revitalization: (1) reformulation of the cultural pattern; (2) its communication; (3) organization of a reformulated cultural pattern; (4) adaptation of the reformulated pattern to better meet the needs and preferences of the group; (5) cultural transformation; (6) routinization, when the adapted reformulated cultural pattern becomes the standard cultural behavior for the group.
5. (In a successful one) New period of generally satisfactory adaptation to the group’s changed social and/or natural environment.

In the cases I am talking about, the “period of revitilization” generally involves picking elements from the cultures historical norms an emphasizing them in an effort to “restore” or “revitalize” that earlier generally successful adaptation.

A classic example is the Ghost Dance of the Plains Indians in the post Civil War era.

Typhoid fever and other diseases had decimated native populations.  Native cultures were not well equipped to handle these stresses.  In that environment, Paiute spiritual leader Jack Wilson claimed to have seen visions, one in particular during the Solar Eclipse of 1889.  His vision showed people in Heaven living in a land of plentiful game and engaging in their traditional activities.  This essentially provided a nostalgic view of their own past as an idea of paradise.

While Wilson’s message was one of peace and love, some of his followers did not take it so.  Many started wearing “Ghost shirts” (which may have been inspired by Latter Day Saint “temple garments”) that were reputed to be able to repel bullets through spiritual power.  Add in that the Lakota interpretation of a “renewed Earth” where “all evil is washed away” as including that all European Americans are eradicated from their lands and you have the potential for a powder keg.

To make a long story short, the result was Wounded Knee, a particularly dark spot in American History.  American troops were confiscating weapons from the Lakota camped at Wounded Knee Creek.  One old, deaf Lakota refused to relinquish his weapons.  A weapon was discharged in the struggle, probably accidentally I would guess.  An officer gave the command to open fire and the Lakota grabbed for their confiscated weapons.  The resulting massacre ended with 25 US soldiers dead, along with 153 Lakota, mostly women and children.

In the end the Ghost Dance did not create a “renewed Earth” and most certainly did not remove European Americans from the land.

The key here is that often when societies are stressed, when they see their way of life and culture threatened, they revert to a kind of fundamentalism.  Sometimes it can save the culture.  But often it is the last gasp of a dying culture.

As we look around, what do we see?

In the time of Saladin, the Muslim world was as advanced as any.  While they may not have been the origin of much that folk will give them credit for (given their location on the Silk Road, a lot of ideas passed from one end to the other that they happily took credit for), they were still a marvel of the day.  However, somewhere between the Renaissance and the early industrial age progress passed them by.  Trade going by ship, first around the Horn, then in Transatlantic and Transpacific trade more and more rendered the Silk Road less important.  The switch in Europe from muscle power to various forms of mechanical power, starting with widespread use of water mills to power foundries and on into steam power lead to their pulling ahead in technology and engineering.  Islamic military conquests slowed dramatically, pretty much ceasing in the West (and eventually people would start to bruit the idea about that “jihad” didn’t really mean military conquest for religious reasons, it meant an internal struggle.  Really.  Trust us).

This was not a fast process, but the accumulation of centuries.  And for the most part they were able to live in their own parts of the world, largely untouched by the outside world.

But then came the mid to late 20th century and mass communication.  People were seeing more and more of what was outside their own little world. (Much like the response of some folk in the old Soviet Union to films that were supposed to show the plight of the poor in Western, “capitalist” countries: “The poor people have cars?  The poor people are fat?”)

And, of course, the 21st century with widespread Internet and the near ubiquitous access to vast amounts of data only exacerbated the problem.

But instead of just adapting to the new reality, which might require taking a hard look at their own presumptions and considering that some might not be valid, a position that was emotionally unacceptable to them, they retreated to those beliefs.  They built ever higher and steeper walls between themselves and what was outside.  Anything not within those walls was the enemy.  And jihad, in the old sense of actual war against the unbeliever, was once again on the table in spades, only more so.

And the result is the various “fundamentalist” groups, striving to bring a strain of Islam from the 7th and 8th centuries, unfiltered by the intervening years, into the modern world.  But the violence and fanaticism are not signs of strength.  Just the opposite.  They are the signs of a culture tottering on the ropes, trying desperately to return to glory days that never were save in their fevered imaginations.

Painful it may be, but it may actually be a good sign, so long as we’re willing to stay the course and not surrender to them.