I’m tired of racism.  I really am.  I’m tired of the white supremacists claiming our beliefs.  As I’ve said: there is no such thing as race. Whether your skin color is white, black, brown, yellow, purple, or green — if you’re human, you’re human.  Science has a theory that is pretty much proves that we came out of Africa.  And for those of you theory deniers, here’s my quote (so you understand what a theory is):in a previous post, I’ll state it again:

The word “theory” in science used to describe an explanation of why and how things happen. For gravity, we use Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity to explain why things fall. “Theory” is not synonymous with “unproven.”  “Theory” means that the statement is consistent with everything we know, including facts. However, if a new fact were to arrive that changes our understanding of the world, it may change the Theory. For example, depending on how you use gravity varies the terminology. If you’re using it in mathematics, it’s a Law. But if you’re talking about gravity and how it interacts with things, it’s a Theory.

My Dad Kicked Nazi Butts

I hope my Christian dad is in Folkvangr because, by the gods, he did the right thing. He arrived in Germany just after the war and told me he had been stationed at one of Hitler’s concentration camps that still held Jews.  You see, with that many people displaced, the Americans had no choice but to keep these poor people in the same nightmare they had been in.  Only they took care of these people.  Don’t you dare try to tell me the Holocaust was fake.  It most certainly was not.  My dad was there.  He saw.  He knew.

My dad did a lot of searching for Nazi sympathizers and throwing them in prison. He never told me all he did, but I do know he was in Germany during the Berlin Airlift, too.  Yeah, my dad was one of those who lived history.

He and I used to sit and watch WWII movies and documentaries all the time.  He had nothing good to say about any of the Nazis.  He felt that the Holocaust was terrible.  And it was.  Anyone who thinks the Holocaust or other “final solutions” needs to have their head examined.  There is no excuse for it.

And I’m pretty sure that those who had a hand in the Holocaust have gone Náströnd for this.  It is our equivalent of the Christian hell for those guilty of murder, adultery, and oath-breaking. 6 million people murdered.  Hitler is dragon fodder. And good riddance.

There is No Place for White Supremacists in Heathenism

I grew up hating bigots who oppressed people because of their religion, ethnicity, or skin color.  I hate skinheads, and if you use my religion to further your white supremacist beliefs, you need to go back to whatever religion you came from.  I don’t want you here, nor do many people who believe in our gods, whether they be Asatru, Heathen, or Pagan. It’s bad enough that our runes like Othala, Sowelu, and even Teiwas had been stolen by your kind.

Our gods are not racist. They can’t be.  The reason is obvious: our religion came from one source at one time.  Eventually it branched out into the religions we know today.  Why?  Because humans more than once nearly went extinct.  (I cover this in the links above).  We’re all related, with some minor variation of Neanderthals and Denisovian genes thrown in.  We’re all one race.  You and I have the same mitochondria from one woman who lived long ago.  And guess what?  So does every human on this planet including people of African descent, Jewish people, and your particular tribe.

To Those Who Tolerate White Supremacists

Being silent is consent.  If you’re not against these evil people, then you are for them.  Plain and simple.  Even if you don’t care/don’t think it’s wrong/don’t have a stand/think I’m exaggerating and being emotional, let’s look at the whole racism thing without the emotion attached.  If you are Asatruar or Heathen who still puts up with racism and bigotry, even though you may say you’re against it, ask yourself do you really want this to be a religion where the first things people think of is racism?  Because guess what?  That’s what makes headlines.  And what makes headlines is exactly what will attract more of the same white supremacists.  Do you really want Asatru to be the religion of hate?

You might argue the No True Scotman defense, which is patently bullshit.  Asatru and Heathenism by its northern roots often attracts those who are looking for something folkish.  These miscreants twist the meaning of our religion and culture for their own use.  And the press, knowing no different, paints us all with a broad brush.

I get exceedingly frustrated because most of them are Odinists.  And I don’t have a problem with Odin being someone’s main god as long as they understand Odin doesn’t condone bigotry, even if he can be wonky at times. Most white supremacists are Christian, and yet no one points to Christianity as a religion of hate.  The difference is that Christianity is pervasive.  Asatruar and Heathenism is not. Is the press making the same misguided mistakes people do when they paint us all with a broad brush?  Yes.  It doesn’t matter what you think.  You have already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion if you don’t speak up.      

Why are We Still Dealing with Racism and Bigotry?

Call me a Jew lover.  You betcha.  I’ll wear that proudly and Tyr will back me up one hundred percent. While I don’t agree with the Abrahamic religions, I don’t believe in persecuting anyone on account of being a Jew or Christian or Muslim.  My roommate in college was Muslim and was the nicest kid I ever knew.  I have had friends of different religions and no religions.

This is why it has shocked me it has become fashionable lately to be bigoted toward Jews again.  I see more and more outright aggression toward a group of people who have suffered so much.  These are humans.  They are people who have different beliefs that were forced into certain cultural roles due to intolerance and persecution.  I’ve seen this bigotry among college graduates and people who claim to be liberal, but are clearly motivated by their own forms of hatred. My dad, who was conservative, was less bigoted than they are.

As for race, remember: there is no such thing as race, although there is ethnicity.  (Again you can read the posts I cited above to understand the difference.)  If you want to be proud of your ethnicity, fine.  But don’t think that another group is inferior.  We’re all the same people with minor genetic differences. 

Ask Yourself Why You Hate a Particular Ethnicity

I’m asking you now why you hate a particular group of people?  Is it because you remember someone of that ethnicity was mean to you?  I remember being treated badly by a black kid when I was growing up — I didn’t think that kid was bad because she was black.  I thought that kid is mean because she was mean.  She was just one mean kid in a group of bullies, who, incidentally, were mostly white.  I didn’t think in terms of color.  Color was just another thing.

If you’ve been treated badly by someone not of your ethnicity, maybe it’s time to look at the person and not the color of their skin. There are bad people of all ethnicity. Hel, there are bad people of different tribes that are looking to harm us, but those are their ideologies and not their actual genetic makeup. If you’re looking for bogeymen or scapegoats to blame because of your circumstance and think hating and blaming others is okay, think again.  It’s easy to demonize the other, especially when you put yourself into one tribe versus another mode. 

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Martin Luther King, Jr.