Gothic Crosses

Your Teenager And Gothic Crosses

Today, teenagers are under an incredible amount of stress.  In school they are taught facts, and pop culture morality.  Unfortunately, with or without religious training, many teenagers wind up feeling a lack of wonder in their lives.  Aside from turning to drugs, sex, and other risky behaviors, some turn to cults.  As with any other spiritual grouping, cults also have specific symbols and types of jewelry.  In particular, gothic crosses, clothing, and other materials are associated with some cults.

Although gothic crosses do not carry an inherent cult meaning, many self -proclaimed religious leaders use them for effect. Unfortunately, for a teenager that has not seen enough of the world, let alone established religions, these cult leaders can seem very enigmatic.  In extreme cases, suicide cults and many other harmful types of cults can easily brainwash young people.  Consider that even normally functioning adults get caught up in cults, not realizing that the leader is not much better than a depraved lunatic.

While gothic crosses are not an absolute indication that your teenager is involved in a cult, their presence indicates you need to be watchful for unusual behavior.  These include associating with different friends from usual, lower grades, changes to black or dark colored clothing, and erratic behavior.  If you do notice these symptoms, you may want to speak to your son or daughter's teachers and see if they have any insights to offer.

You may also want to keep an eye on what books and magazines your teenager is reading.  Typically, cult materials are provided by an older person.  If you watch carefully, you might notice books or pamphlets that relate to issues that the cult leader wants to use for indoctrination purposes.

Once you see gothic crosses amongst your son or daughter's belongings, it may be time to have an open and frank discussion about spirituality.  While your gut instinct may be to demand that your teenager cease and desist from all cult associations immediately, this is likely to be ineffective.  Among other things, it is important to enable your teenager to see the insanity of the cult leader for themselves.  As these nefarious people can brainwash and suggest, so can you.

It is important to establish who your teenager is in contact with.  You will have a hard time getting at that information if you do not appear to be sympathetic to your teenager’s position.  You will also have a harder time sharing your concerns and explaining about how faith and spiritualism work. By listening, you may uncover a number of issues that are of concern to your teenager.  Dealing with these may well be enough to ensure that your teenager departs from the cult atmosphere on their own.  While it may not seem obvious at the beginning of the situation, in the long run, this is the best way to ensure that your teenager will stay away from cults in the future.

Statistically speaking, few people in a cult are so involved in it that they cannot get out on their own.  If sympathetic intervention occurs quickly and early enough, you have an excellent chance of stopping your teenager from falling into the hands of a spiritual predator.  While gothic crosses may be difficult to accept and deal with, look at their presence as an opportunity to establish a better and stronger relationship with your teenager.