OCTOBER, 2004

The Wit and Wisdom of Scott Thomas

ery few people use snail mail anymore. We, at Gothic Christianity, have a P.O. Box but most of what we receive is bills; that is until Scott Thomas came into our lives. Scott has taken letter writing to a new level. The outside of each envelope is decorated with Pixies, Goth Pixies; the letters are hand-written with great care and penmanship. Just looking at one of his letters is a pleasure but Scott is an opinionated gentleman that isn’t shy about letting me know where he stands. You may agree with Scott or you may disagree but I thought his letters were, at times, challenging, at times inspirational and always thought provoking.

With that in mind, I have decided, with Scott’s permission, to share some of his thoughts with you. I have also scanned some of his art. You can view it in our Art and Photography section.

“You know, at first, Christianity and the Goth culture sound like an unlikely mix. I worked nearly a decade at a Methodist college and a Goth showing up at chapel probably wouldn’t go over well…few of the people there were of the hard-shell, stereotypical fundamentalist type – the ones that, in my opinion, give true Christians bad press. A bumper sticker I saw nearly summed up my religious views: ‘It’s not God I have a problem with, it’s some of His groupies.’”

“I think the incorrect view of Christians as ‘fundies’ has driven people away or, at least, made the true Christians job more of a challenge. I suppose this is where the Christian Goth fits in—to show the world not all Christians are fundies. Like the rest of humanity, Christians are individuals, each unique and maybe some like the Goth look. To my knowledge there is no 11th commandment stating, ‘thou shalt not be Goth.’ Another problem I have with the fundamentalist types is it seems to me they spend too much time on the ‘thou shalt nots.’ What about a few, ‘you can do this, enjoy it and make the world a better place,’ bits?”

“You know, right after ‘judge not, lest ye be judged’ should be, ‘engage brain before mouth.’ I cringe at the number of times I’ve let my mouth get ahead of my brain, of people’s feelings I’ve stepped on.”

“Am I Goth? No, not really. I have some black clothing, I go into Hot Topic every so often—they have some cool stuff, but they are expensive! I like some of the Goth clothing, and read a Goth comic (‘Serenity Rose’). But, I don’t think I’m Goth. Do I know any? Yes! I would class them as ‘Perky Goths’—with a strange but well developed sense of humor. Both are the brighter bulbs in the chandelier, if you ask me. Weird is good because it adds variety.”

Scott Thomas