Mmm, I’m getting really tired of these “Norse pagans who are nazis aren’t real Norse pagans” and “ugh, everyone keeps trying to make sure I’m not a neo-Nazi when I say I’m Norse pagan” attitudes I’ve been seeing around lately.
Distancing yourself from fascist and racist Norse pagans doesn’t address the problem. Whining because someone wanted to make sure you weren’t a fascist doesn’t address the problem.
The prevalence of neo-nazis in Norse pagan spaces is a real and relevant issue and it’s an issue that makes many religious spaces unsafe for poc, queer folks, and disabled folks who practice Norse pagan traditions. If you silence people speaking out about a Norse pagan group with Nazi leanings by saying “they’re not really Norse pagan” then you’re are making it harder for vulnerable groups to find safe religious spaces. When you complain about people trying to vet you and make sure you’re not a neo-nazi when you say you’re Norse pagan, then you’re telling vulnerable groups that they’re wrong to try and stay away from dangerous people.
This isn’t an unwarranted assumption, and it’s not being made to bully you, it’s being made so that people can stay away from actual literal neo-nazis. You need to understand that. You need to understand that this isn’t about you, it’s about the need to stay away from people who might hurt us.
If you’re upset about this assumption then the proper response is to be actively anti-nazi in your worship. It’s to create and support Norse pagan space that are safe for poc, queer folks, and disabled people. Make the Norse pagan community safe and loving and anti-fascist. That is how your break this assumption, not by complaining about the assumption being made in the first place.
Tag: paganism
“The Roman religion consisted of worshippers holding disunified polythetic sets of beliefs. The overlap of these sets of beliefs might produce some beliefs that were more common than others, but the lack of an orthodox mandate for uniformity meant that the beliefs of an individual need not be affected by the variant beliefs held by another Roman. A man who believed that di manes had powers to preserve life in their own right and a man who thought they preserved life by posthumously invoking the help of other supernatural beings could both believe, on a practical basis, that honoring the manes could help preserve their lives. A Roman who thought the lares were another form of the deified dead and one who thought they were the children of a nymph could both believe that the lares were important guardians of the home who needed to be worshipped. Worshippers could disagree about the nature of the god Mars or the god of the Lupercalia while all agreeing that these gods existed and had powers that could benefit the lives or worshippers. Rather than searching for orthodox doctrines in the Roman religion (or seeing their absence as a weakness) it is better to study clusters of beliefs in the understanding that each individual variation could be important to the belief holder’s understanding of how to obtain the benefits that Rome’s pantheon of gods could offer the individual.”
— Charles W. King, “The Organization of Roman Religious Beliefs” (2003)
Important to remember how much doctrinal infighting amongst reconstructuonist pagans is very much a biproduct of Christianized culture and not actual paganism.
Racists Are Threatening to Take Over Paganism
This is not news, but it is an important read, especially for people who were previously unaware of the trend of neo-Nazis stealing pagan symbols for their own.
If you are an anti-racist, anti-fascist pagan, keep doing what you are doing, you are keeping the fight alive
If you are an anti-racist, anti-fascist person who is not a pagan, help us spread the word of this, stand in solidarity with us as we kick the fascists out of our communities
If you are a fascist pagan, fuck off, this faith is a peaceful one
No platforms for fascists.
~ Max
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