Response to a Religious Group's Smearing of Vampirefreaks.com

Going to check my messages on the site and to read, reply and post to content on my "cults," on top of seeing what's going on with all of my friends out in the cyber world, this article was posted by an online friend via a bulletin. Usually, this kind of extreme right-wing propaganda is easily ignorable. However, when this group, who uses their money and power almost exclusively to push such a distorted, misinformed, defamatory and utmost hateful message to not only a select few, but to the mass media as a way of capitalizing on scares turned moral panics such as Columbine, Red Lake, the Jacob Robida incident and any other dispatch from the non white bread, Abercrombie and Fitch culture, it is quite detrimental not only to the media, but to the majority of our society who has not only grown dumber and more easily entertained, but also have grown more closed minded.

In fact, when I read this article and also browsed around the "God Hates Goths: Parents Against Goth Organization," I was not only nearly as mad as when I heard that Fred Phelps' Baptist (God Hates Fags) "Church" was making a stop to spread their "message" outside of the funeral of a soldier who was killed in Iraq from my hometown of Spokane, but rather had a long time point I have come to ever since my parents taught me how to think for myself; the religious right truly does use their money and extreme influence (Fox News Channel, News Corp, the majority of our country being red states) not to unify, but to make our society not only shun, but persecute anything out of their comfort zone.

In other words, instead of doing their homework and seeing what minority groups really are about, they only go on smeared perceptions and the word of misguided religious nut jobs with money to create an "Us and Them" culture. And in this case, it is being done not only with members of the Goth subculture, which are some of the most misunderstood people in a lot of societies, but also members of the Vampirefreaks.com website.

First and foremost, might I say this; I have been a member of the Goth lifestyle, subculture "scene," whatever you want to call it, since about 2000. I also have been a member of the Vampirefreaks website and Myspace for a little bit of time now, utilizing both to find community with people with similar interests and to keep up with old friends and family and make some new ones.

What it is painfully obvious that the author of the article I am responding to has done, is, on an epic scale, pigeonhole all members of the website and subculture into the same extremely small circle as the people who have done heinous things such as kill their parents, rape people and attempt to carry out acts of pedophilia with those they have met on the Vampirefreaks site. The article also goes on to list other disgusting acts which they imply have to do purely with their affiliation to the site, not to mention that the site openly promotes such activities. Just like all the rest of the religious right vermin of this country, they have done it again, attempting to turn all "Christ followers" into Nazis.

Vampirefreaks.com and its sister apparel and accessory store is run by founder and programmer Jethro; a Computer Science graduate from Brooklyn with a passion for the subculture, industrial music, technology and a deep love for his wife and son, Joshua. The founder, 28, who DJs and posts to his site under the handle of "Jet," works tooth and nail to not only make the website a welcoming place for all, but also to weed out other whack jobs which feel the need to not only spread hate, racism and homophobia, but also screens diligently for those looking to commit illegal activity. Of course, with a site that harbors over a million users and thousands of forums (known as "cults" on the site.

The terms and agreements one must agree to clearly state that one on the site is not allowed, at any time, to post anything defamatory, racist, homophobic or otherwise hateful. Also, that illegal activity will not only be tolerated, but that those committing such acts will be deleted, banned and, if applicable, turned in to the proper authorities. And, quite frankly, Jet does not play around, having deleted a healthy number of user profiles and groups which were found to be posting promotional pictures of Adolf Hitler, swastikas, anti-gay propaganda and photos from Aryan Nations rallies attended, just to name a few of the things. Bottom line, this is not just a legal document that every VPF user must agree to; they must fulfill it or face severe consequences.

Of course, when something so vile, tragic and disgusting happens that is out of the ordinary, the media always has and always will pounce all over it. But, despite the fact that nobody ever stops to consider that 99.9 percent of the people who carry out such acts are not only a few tacos short of a combination but also so deranged that they really shouldn't be let out into the real world, the worst part is that when people get curious as to the "real scoop" on some things the assailants or rapists are/were into, the task of informing the people falls into the completely wrong hands.

For instance, when the strings of murders and rapes happened involving VPF members, or the when the Scott Dyleski incident occurred, where a "goth" and self-pronounced Satanist brutually murdered the wife of a prosecutor, of course people were curious as to what Goth is, what they believe and wanted to separate fact from fiction. But, instead of going to a scholar, or someone who has really studied the scene and truly done their homework, our country was doomed to rely on the word and twisted agenda of Rupert Murdoch, Jerry Falwell and other innocent-sounding Christian "outreach" groups. And, being that the Goths and scholars have little to no money and virtually no voice, whereas people like Murdoch and Falwell do/did have these things, only one is heard out while the other is told to shut up.

The thing that irks me the most, besides the fact that I am sick and tired of the Gothic subculture always being linked to Nazis, Satanists, rapists, baby killers, sadists, disease carriers and general menaces to society, is one more fact that the mainstream media fails to consider. Remember, VPF founder Jet works diligently to keep his site vermin and hate-free. Most anybody, technically, can create a VPF profile, though most do not feel welcome associating with those who go all out to pledge allegiance to this, a scene with a long and fruitful history on many fronts. But you know one site which is yet to be condemned by the religious right for not only tolerating the things that Jet works relentlessly to eliminate, but also encourages it? Myspace.

Myspace came about over five years after Vampirefreaks, which was founded in 1999. And while Myspace, founded by Tom Anderson, has been around a fraction of the time, the membership is over 70x that of VPF. However, consider this; while Jet works hard to eliminate any hostility, Anderson gives Myspace profiles to anyone and everyone. In fact, there are large communities of not only Nazis and sadists on Myspace, but even real registered sex offenders, who chronically use the site to look at photos of young people and proposition them for sex. However, Tom has first snubbed several police departments' requests for turning over the names and identities of sex offenders using the site, but also still allows them to use the site. Jet, on the other hand, would be banning such vermin from his site in a heart beat. This is the same thing with Nazis, which are also allowed to patronize the site, leaving them free to harass and publicly demonize anyone outside of their circle.

In conclusion, it is not just religious nut-job niche websites where such filth has been spread; such material also has become prevalent in our mainstream media, leaving those with money and power to spread lies and slander to anyone they please, all without any fear of repercussions. I have done several extensive research projects on the Gothic subculture and nowhere does it state that all believers must be Satanist, practice white supremacy or kill people. In fact, while all three of those things go against the Gothic code of conduct, it also preaches religious freedom. Perhaps next time something so horrible happens in our society, if we did our collective homework rather than blow the characteristics of an extreme minority up to characterize the rest, such people at sites like God Hates Goths would be seen for what they really are; an organization of lunatics who have much more brain damage than the figures that they waste all their breath demonizing. On the other hand, as long we don't take money away from the "faithful," nothing will ever change.

ADDENDUM: Further proof that such groups wish to turn "faithful" people into Nazis. Another article linked to from this article is entitled "Goths and Vampirism: A Final Solution," another lie and slander-smeared article, outlining ways to cleanse our society of this culture and turn them all into God-fearing hate mongers who spend their lives judging all others not like them.