Is it not true that the original meaning of "goth" is devil worshiper?

Question

I want to go punk but when I'm called goth I think of it as someone who worships Satan and I don't want people to see me that way. Is a true goth really like that?

Answer 1

No. The Goths were actually a race of people at one point. They used to live somewhere in France, I believe. It has nothing to do with the Christian concept of the devil.

Answer 2

No they aren't.

Are goths evil?
Goths consider themselves witnesses of the horrific. The media interprets this as meaning they are the perpetrators. Goths are peaceful and respectful in a way that would put most norms to shame.

Do goths think they are/want to be vampires?
No. Some goths think that vampires are very cool, others think the whole concept is stupid. In general, goths are not crazy. There are always fringe people that attract media attention, but this problem is not unique to the gothic world.

Are goths religious?
Some are, some aren't. All goths are in love with religious imagery, though, because of its power, darkness, and intangibilty.

Is goth a fad?
Goth culture has been around for 20 years and is showing no sign of waning. However, some say that dark themes tend to appear and disappear at the end of an era, much as was seen in the gothic movement in literature at the end of the 19th century.
Mainstream interest/tourism/purchasing in the gothic world is certainly fad-based, and tends to come and go.

Is goth a movement?
Artistically, yes. Socially, probably not. Goths don't try to recruit normal people and they don't care whether the mainstream appropriates aspects of gothic culture. They mostly want to be left alone.
It's widely believed that you can't learn to be goth; it's some personality type that you either have or you don't. (The make-up, on the other hand, takes a lot of practice ;-)

Answer 3

Goth started out for a descriptions for fancy buildings like old Catholic Church's. So no. There are Christain Goth's you know. As for a true goth well the only definition I can think of to use is a person with a little darkness in there soul. I saw that on a website once. Goth.net I think it's called.

Answer 4

No the Goths were a pastoral people who fled to Rome because of the threat of the Huns. They had nothing to do with "devil" worshiping, and were a peace loving people. They are the ones who became so distraught over the Romans selling their children for slaves, and starving the rest of them that they formed their own army, and went across the Roman Empire defeating the Roman army's until they reached the capitol, and then burnt it to the ground.

Answer 5

It was an old language and culture around the time of the Roman Empire, actually. There were Visigoths and Ostragoths. When people call you a 'goth' they might be referring to the rather angular architectural style you see on a lot of older buildings.

Or perhaps not.

Answer 6

you can't be serious! but just in case google "christian goth" you'll see that there are a lot of goths out there are christian as well as all the other religions out there. we aren't based by religion it's all about musical tastes (joy division, bauhaus, sisters of mercy, siouxsie and the banshees. they are the original goth bands from the first movement in the late 70's but there still are some modern bands that stay true to they're goth roots) and the fashion too, but people emphisize too much on that, it's really the music...

Answer 7

False. Saying goths are devil worshippers is a common stereotype by narrow minded people who are scared or repulsed by someone who is different from them. (I'm not a Goth by the way) Goth is usually short for "gothic" and its word history is:

'The word Gothic, first recorded in 1611 in a reference to the language of the Goths, was extended in sense in several ways, meaning “Germanic,” “medieval, not classical,” “barbarous,” and also an architectural style that was not Greek or Roman. Horace Walpole applied the word Gothic to his novel The Castle of Otranto, a Gothic Story (1765) in the sense “medieval, not classical.” From this novel filled with scenes of terror and gloom in a medieval setting descended a literary genre still popular today; from its subtitle descended the name for it.'
From: http://www.answers.com/gothic&r=67

Read more at:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/goth.htm

or:
http://www.sfgoth.com/primer/

Answer 8

i imagine many people basically do not do sufficient interpreting (of a few thing besides the bible), or self reliant wondering. Satanists and devil worshippers are Christians, in essence. devil would not exist outdoors of Christianity -- the devil is the Church's personal invention. Satanists basically turn Christianity the different way up -- they're nonetheless reacting to it. Wiccans and Pagans are honoring gods and energies that are far older than the Christian god. They revere Nature. Nature is the nearest aspect to actuality we can ever understand.

Answer 9

Goth is short for Gothic.

Today, the term Goth applies to the style of clothing that is dark and morbid. Black clothing, and usually of a style from the 1800's, the person wearing it is trying to appear as a copse from any Hammer Dracula movie.

White face makeup, with black highlights.

Satan worship is a religious choice, Goth is a fashion choice, the two are not related.

Answer 10

No. Goth simply means 'gothic'. It is a modern revival of the gothic styles of clothing as seen through modern eyes.