As Romans search for alternatives to Catholicism, some have turned to Jupiter, Minerva and Juno.
Claire Giangravé
Religion News Service
February 21, 2024
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Disillusioned by their experiences in Catholicism, some Romans are turning to paganism and finding a connection to their roots through worshipping the gods of antiquity, whom they see as more welcoming than the church.
“Rome is pagan,” Pope Francis told members of the Roman clergy during a closed-door meeting Jan. 14, when he urged them to consider the city a mission territory. Asked about the pope’s surprising words a few weeks later, the head of the department for catechesis of the Diocese of Rome, the Rev. Andrea Camillini, admitted: “Rome is at the same time pagan and the city of the pope: It’s a paradoxical city.”
The number of practicing Catholics in Italy has plummeted after the COVID-19 lockdowns to an all-time low. The Italian National Institute of Statistics found that only 19% of Italians were practicing Catholics in 2022, compared with 36% in the previous 10 years. The number of people who “never practice” their faith has doubled to 31% in the historically Catholic country.
While the church grapples with the causes behind the emptying pews, some who have left their Catholic faith behind are searching for other spiritual outlets. An eclectic group of Romans who gathered near the ancient Forum on a windy morning on Feb. 10 have turned to Juno, Jupiter and Apollo to find answers.
“I was a practicing Christian Catholic for many years. I was a catechist,” Luca Fizzarotti, who recently started attending the ancient Roman rituals, told Religion News Service. “Then I had a spiritual crisis when I moved in with my wife. I had a very bad experience and had to leave my church,” he said.
A computer programmer, Fizzarotti fell in love with a woman who believes in Kemetic Orthodoxy, based on the ancient Egyptian religious faith. “In the beginning I could not really understand this, then as I slowly learned about the pagan community, I found a way to live out my spirituality,” he said.
Paganism — though sometimes used as a derogatory shorthand for anyone who does not worship the Abrahamic god of Judaism, Islam and Christianity — is an umbrella term that encompasses a number of religious traditions, many of them polytheistic. Ancient Romans worshipped a pantheon of gods, mainly Jupiter, Juno, Apollo and Minerva, through rituals and observations with activities than included animal sacrifice and temple worship.
Fizzarotti was among a dozen people who gathered for the early February ritual, organized by the Communitas Populi Romani, a community started in 2013 by a group of young enthusiasts of Roman history, culture and religion.
In the beginning, the group focused on reenactments and history, but it slowly shifted toward becoming an officially recognized religious group. There are 20 or so members, said Donatella Ertola, who joined the group in 2015 and now organizes meetings three or four times a month in the places that are closest to the original temples spread across Rome.
“We all believe in the gods, we make rituals at home, we have devotion temples at home, we have our priests and officiants,” she told RNS, adding that this is a “niche community that has been growing recently.”
Communitas is hardly the only Roman religion organization in Rome or Italy. Groups like Pietas in Rome have larger memberships and even their own temples. According to a 2017 study by the Center for Studies on New Religions in Turin, the number of neopagans in Italy has grown to more than 230,000 people, a 143% increase over 10 years. In the United States there are 1.5 million pagans, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey, a significant increase compared with 134,000 in 2001.
The draw of the Roman religion is clear for many modern-day Italians, who view it as a way to reconnect with their ancient roots. Fascination with ancient Rome has also become a worldwide phenomenon. A social media trend last year found a staggering and surprising number of people — especially men — think about the ancient Roman Empire at least once a day.
“I was looking for something that monotheism didn’t give me,” said Antony Meloni, an airport construction worker. “I found in polytheism a new strength,” he added.
There is no religious text in the Roman religion, meaning faithful today must rely on what was written by people of the time. Communitas attempts to re-create the ancient rituals, without any human or animal sacrifice, of course, using ancient texts.
The group gathered that day to celebrate Juno Sospita, or Juno the Savior, whose temple once stood a few steps away, where the Church of St. Nickolas in Chains is located today. The original columns are still visible. She is usually shown as a warrior, lance in hand, and covered with goat skins and historically celebrated in February, considered a month of purification by the Romans, as winter turned to spring.
They follow the description of a ritual offered by Cato the Elder in the “De Agricultura.” It starts off with an offering to the local “genus,” or spirit, followed by ablutions with water and incense. During the central part of the ceremony, the “Favete Linguis,” faithful are asked to “hold their tongues” and quiet their minds.
Amid the chaos of Roman traffic and the occasional bark of their mascot — the dog Poldo, who has two different-colored eyes — the group shouted prayers in Latin. Two nuns, dressed in black, looked over suspiciously. Wearing a white veil, the officiant May Rega, scoffed with annoyance.
Rega was an active member of her church in Naples and sang in the choir, but she also drifted away from Catholicism due to ruptures with the church and its congregants. As an archaeologist, she loves how specific and detailed Roman religion is, forcing one to check sources, follow the ritual precisely, with no mistakes and with the appropriate citations.
She had carefully put together the flowers, scones and almond milk — because she could not find goat’s milk — for the ceremony and was annoyed when her boyfriend and concelebrant, Daniele Pieri, interrupted the ritual, forcing them to start over.
“When I met her, she said, ‘I am pagan and vegan,’ and I thought ‘Great! I am celiac!’” said Pieri, who works as a sound technician. Pieri left the Catholic Church after the parish priest insisted he could not be harmed by receiving Communion despite being celiac. He said he still has an admiration for Jesus: “If Jesus had prayed to Jupiter, he would have been even cooler.”
For Pieri, Roman religion is a question of identity. “I love this city. I was born in this city, and I want to die in this city,” he said. “When I began to study Roman history and these cults, I found my roots. This is where I come from. This is who I am.”
Taking turns, the members of the Communitas made their personal offering to the goddess. Unlike other pagan communities in Rome, the group doesn’t have any initiation rite, and everyone is welcome to join. “The Roman religion is not about saying these are my gods, and there are no others,” Pieri explained.
Chiara Aliboni is a student of history, anthropology and religions from a “very Catholic family” in Perugia was also attending the ceremony. She said she had her conversion to Orthodox Kemetism when she learned about the ancient Egyptians. “I thought, if I am to follow any religion, it’s this one,” she said. While hesitant at first, she found in the Communitas a welcoming home for her beliefs.
Fizzarotti was also pleasantly surprised by the openness of this religion compared with his experiences in the Catholic Church. “I am drawing closer to this community. I am finding many answers that I have been searching for for years,” he said after the rite was completed, and the group reveled in wine and an improvised banquet.
“I am feeling emotional. I deeply felt today’s ritual. It was truly beautiful,” he added.
The group members gathered their things, leaving nothing behind but the lingering scent of incense. They spoke of plans for creating a temple one day just outside Rome and of upcoming gatherings with other pagan groups. Their faith, believed to have been long lost, is still very much alive, they said.
For Camillini, as the number of Catholics dwindles in the Eternal City, he has had to face reality. “It’s time to give up the delusion of omnipotence, of evangelizing Rome, and abandon the idea of making Rome into a Christian city. It’s no longer our objective and it never was,” he said.
https://religionnews.com/2024/02/21/ex-catholics-in-rome-reconnect-with-roots-spirituality-in-paganism/
Showing posts with label neo-pagans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neo-pagans. Show all posts
Sep 7, 2019
CultNEWS101 Articles: 9/7-8/2019
Word of Life, Anti-Vaccination, conspiracy theories, Cult-characteristics, flat-earth, Neo-Nazi, neo-pagans, Satanism, Theosophy, Radicalization, Vaccinations, Hasidic Jewish
"Oral arguments in the appeal of "People v. Sarah Ferguson" — a case that began with the 2015 fatal beating at a Chadwicks church — were held Wednesday [September 4th] morning in state appellate court in Rochester.Ferguson seeks to appeal her sentence issued in 2016 by Oneida County Court Judge Michael Dwyer after a bench trial that led to her conviction for first-degree manslaughter, two counts of first-degree assault, and two counts of first-degree gang assault.Ferguson was sentenced to 25 years in state prison for her role in the 14-hour round of beatings that killed her 19-year-old half brother Lucas Leonard and severely injured his brother Christopher Leonard, then 17, in October 2015 at Word of Life Church in Chadwicks."" ... The beatings took place during what was called a "counseling session" that included whipping of their genitals and other body parts using a power cord.The Leonard brothers had been accused by their attackers — a group of nine people including Ferguson — of allegedly watching pornography, practicing witchcraft and plotting to murder their parents. Other accusations by the attackers included sexual abuse of nieces and nephews."
American Institute for Economic Research: The Cultic Milieu and the Rise of Violent Fringe
"For economists and individualists there are several valuable insights to be gained from the sister discipline of sociology. (In a previous column I discussed one of these, the notion of a 'moral panic'). One such idea, which is both powerful and very useful in understanding many contemporary phenomena, is that of the "cultic milieu." This sociological concept is also strengthened when combined with certain economic insights. The result is a better understanding of a phenomenon that has always existed but has become much more extensive and significant recently.The concept of the cultic milieu (hereafter CM) was formulated by a British sociologist called Colin Campbell, in an article published in 1972 entitled "The Cult, the Cultic Milieu, and Secularisation". His interest was in the sociology of religion and he was particularly interested in the phenomenon of radical and heterodox religious cults. In his studies he noticed that cultic groups that were very different in other ways tended to share certain beliefs that put them radically at odds with conventional society in general but which were not overtly religious (e.g. opposition to conventional medical science). In addition some csgroups that were not at first sight religious (radical political groups for example or lifestyle movements) would often subscribe to ideas about some kind of transcendent truth that was at first sight religious. One example was the way extreme right political groups would also espouse things such as neo-paganism or occultism.The explanation for this was the idea of the cultic milieu. This is a kind of subterranean world or counterculture with a whole range of ideas that are strongly opposed to conventional beliefs and knowledge. These included highly heterodox and unusual religious systems (such as neo-paganism or Theosophy or Satanism), marginalised political ideologies such as neo-Nazism, conspiracy theories, and theories that rejected central elements of orthodox science, such as rejection of vaccination and modern medicine or flat and hollow earth theories.Campbell's insight was that these fringe beliefs did not exist in isolation from each other. They rather all mingled in a social space in which accepted and dominant ways of thinking about the world were rejected. Frequently people who started holding just one of these countercultural beliefs would come into contact with and pick up other ones with no apparent connection to the original belief – so for example a believer in the Moon landings being a hoax might also come to be a sceptic about vaccination. People who dipped into the CM through following one idea would then find themselves exposed to and becoming interested in other heterodox notions. They would also make many personal contacts and this was one way that organised groups combining several of these ideas would come into being as the cults Campbell was interested in."
"The City of Montreal announced Wednesday [September 4th] morning that it will be providing an additional $975,000 in funding to the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence."The City of Montreal is reiterating its confidence toward the Centre," said Rosannie Filato, the city's executive committee member responsible for public safety.The centre has a province-wide mandate of preventing radicalization leading to violence and reducing hate crimes and other hate-related incidents.Filato said she hopes the centre will work in a way complementary to other services, like health-care providers and the police, to prevent radicalization."
"Jacquelynn Vance-Pauls, a real-estate lawyer in upstate New York, has a 14-year-old son with autism who was recently kicked out of his private special needs school. Her 9-year-old twins and her high-school senior are also on the verge of being expelled from their public schools.The children did not do anything wrong, nor are they sick. Instead, Ms. Vance-Pauls has resisted complying with a new state law, enacted amid a measles outbreak, that ended religious exemptions to vaccinations for children in all schools and child care centers.Ms. Vance-Pauls said she believed vaccines contributed to her son's autism, despite more than a dozen peer-reviewed studiesshowing no such link. The Bible, she said, barred her as a Christian from "desecrating the body," which is what she says vaccines do."If you have a child who you gave peanut butter to and he almost died, why would you give it to your next child?" she said during an interview in August, trying to explain her fears. "How do we turn our backs against what we have believed all these years because we have a gun to our heads?"With the start of school this week, Ms. Vance-Pauls, along with the parents of about 26,000 other New York children who previously had obtained religious exemptions to vaccinations, are facing a moment of reckoning.Under the new law, all children must begin getting their vaccines within the first two weeks of classes and complete them by the end of the school year. Otherwise, their parents must home school them or move out of the state.The measles outbreak that prompted the new law is actually easing. On Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio declared an end to the measles outbreak in New York City, its epicenter. Since the start of the outbreak in October 2018, there have been 654 measles cases in the city and 414 in other parts of the state, where transmission has also slowed.The large majority of cases have involved unvaccinated children in Hasidic Jewish communities, where immunization rates were sometimes far lower than the state average of 96 percent. Wide-scale vaccination campaigns have helped lift those rates."
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Sep 6, 2019
The Cultic Milieu and the Rise of Violent Fringe
American Institute for Economic Research
AUGUST 7, 2019
For economists and individualists there are several valuable insights to be gained from the sister discipline of sociology. (In a previous column I discussed one of these, the notion of a ‘moral panic’). One such idea, which is both powerful and very useful in understanding many contemporary phenomena, is that of the “cultic milieu.” This sociological concept is also strengthened when combined with certain economic insights. The result is a better understanding of a phenomenon that has always existed but has become much more extensive and significant recently.
The concept of the cultic milieu (hereafter CM) was formulated by a British sociologist called Colin Campbell, in an article published in 1972 entitled “The Cult, the Cultic Milieu, and Secularisation”. His interest was in the sociology of religion and he was particularly interested in the phenomenon of radical and heterodox religious cults. In his studies he noticed that cultic groups that were very different in other ways tended to share certain beliefs that put them radically at odds with conventional society in general but which were not overtly religious (e.g. opposition to conventional medical science). In addition some csgroups that were not at first sight religious (radical political groups for example or lifestyle movements) would often subscribe to ideas about some kind of transcendent truth that was at first sight religious. One example was the way extreme right political groups would also espouse things such as neo-paganism or occultism.
The explanation for this was the idea of the cultic milieu. This is a kind of subterranean world or counterculture with a whole range of ideas that are strongly opposed to conventional beliefs and knowledge. These included highly heterodox and unusual religious systems (such as neo-paganism or Theosophy or Satanism), marginalised political ideologies such as neo-Nazism, conspiracy theories, and theories that rejected central elements of orthodox science, such as rejection of vaccination and modern medicine or flat and hollow earth theories.
Campbell’s insight was that these fringe beliefs did not exist in isolation from each other. They rather all mingled in a social space in which accepted and dominant ways of thinking about the world were rejected. Frequently people who started holding just one of these countercultural beliefs would come into contact with and pick up other ones with no apparent connection to the original belief – so for example a believer in the Moon landings being a hoax might also come to be a sceptic about vaccination. People who dipped into the CM through following one idea would then find themselves exposed to and becoming interested in other heterodox notions. They would also make many personal contacts and this was one way that organised groups combining several of these ideas would come into being as the cults Campbell was interested in.
In concrete terms the CM is the people who hold the heterodox beliefs (or are interested in them) plus the physical spaces and means of communication through which they interact with each other and through which the ideas are spread and diffused. At one time that meant things like obscure small press or specialist press books, pamphlets, and magazines or journals, bookstores and other meeting places, organisations, clubs, and meetings or events (often informal). Today it means also or primarily online media such as discussion boards, video sharing sites and channels, social media, and personal or group connections through the internet.
Why though does this matter? A common explanation for the phenomenon described is that the actual people involved are simply nuts. In other words, in every society there are a number of people who are predisposed to believe and accept things that the majority regard as bizarre or even insane.
The evidence however does not support this. People who are part of the CM (i.e. people who hold the beliefs) do not have a distinctive psychological profile. Moreover, the size of the CM (in terms of the number of people who are involved in it and its geographical and institutional reach) varies considerably over time which would not be true if it reflects nothing more than a specific psychological predisposition. So we are dealing with an important and variable social phenomenon.
One reason why it matters is that the boundaries of the CM are permeable - it is not clearly distinct from the orthodox mainstream in a fixed or permanent way. Ideas, symbols, and even ways of life can move in both directions between the orthodox mainstream and the counterculture of the CM. One of Campbell’s main arguments was that although there was little formal connection, mainstream organisations such as established churches could draw upon the ideas that were being produced in the cultic milieu and make use of them or incorporate them.
Sometimes a whole body or wider system of ideas will move from fringe and countercultural status to being part of the mainstream conversation. That does not necessarily mean that they become widely accepted; they may still be intensely controversial. The point is that they are taken seriously and engaged with by others where before they were dismissed or ignored. When an idea has not made this movement across the semi-permeable barrier between the mainstream and the CM the only effective way of discovering or exploring it is to visit or move into that milieu.
Once an idea has made the transition that is no longer true – one can come across it in normal discourse. One contemporary example of this is radical theories about the nature of money. For many years these were seen as being classic cranky ideas and were often associated with other ideas of that kind such as conspiracy theories, anti-Semitism, and unorthodox politics.
Now, under the guise of Modern Monetary Theory these ideas (or an example of them) have left the CM and entered the academic and political mainstream. They are still very controversial and rejected by most but they are taken seriously and engaged with by critics. As ideas pass out of the CM and into the mainstream they shed the associations with other fringe notions that they had before so now you would not expect an advocate of MMT to also hold fringe beliefs about science or history. Another example is vegetarianism or veganism. These are now mainstream ideas held by many people. At one time though they were very much part of the CM and exponents would often believe in other ideas that have not transitioned, such as spiritualism and anti-systemic politics.
The mirror image of that process is movement in the opposite direction, from an accepted and debated idea in the main public and intellectual argument to one found only in the counterculture of the CM. The big examples of this are fascism and ideas such as racist theory and eugenics which were controversial but part of the main conversation before World War II and which became definitively part of the milieu after 1945. As this happened they came to be associated with other ideas in that milieu, such as theories about ancient alien civilisations visiting earth, flying saucers, and lost or suppressed technologies. Here we can observe an interesting process at work.
Fascism, and particularly Nazism, were to a great degree inspired by ideas that had moved out of the cultic milieu at the end of the nineteenth century (such as ariosophism and occult neo-paganism) so that set of political ideas moved from the counterculture to the mainstream and then back. Ideas such as ‘racial science’ and eugenics however had been part of the main conversation for many years before World War I and so only moved across the barrier once, after 1945.
What this means of course is that beliefs that are part of the mainstream or even widespread can gradually slip into the strange subword of the CM. How though can you tell if a set of ideas and principles that you subscribe to yourself is in danger of suffering that fate? The main warning sign is to discover that many of the people who share your views on one issue also have beliefs that are clearly outside the mainstream discourse and which you regard as bizarre or outright bonkers, such as conspiracy theories or fringe science/anti-science propositions such as opposition to vaccinations.
If you find that the number of clicks it takes to go from online sites expressing your views to ones with utterly fringe ones is never more than three then that is a bad sign. A disturbing realisation is that this process is clearly happening to parts of the contemporary libertarian movement. That is bad enough but the really alarming reality is that this phenomenon is happening elsewhere in the political spectrum as well - in many ideologies right now there is a clear movement towards a kind of subculture of radical dissent from many widely held theories and well established facts.
Right now the size and influence of the CM is growing. Ever more people subscribe to fringe beliefs and the availability of the kinds of ideas that circulate in the cultic counterculture has increased dramatically. This has happened before, notably in the period between roughly 1890 and 1930.
Colin Campbell’s original model has been used to explain contemporary phenomena, above all the persistence and growth of radical right collectivist ideas, as well as radical left ones and other movements such as Islamism. The best known example of this was a 2002 collection of essays entitled “The Cultic Milieu: Oppositional Subcultures in an Age of Globalization” edited by Jeffrey Kaplan and Helene Loow. Campbell himself was critical of this, arguing that straightforward radical politics was not itself part of the wider counterculture of cultic beliefs.
However, many of the contemporary radical right movements do in fact also subscribe to or are associated with other ideas that are clearly part of the CM, so he is being too cautious here. However as such ideas start to gain purchase in the mainstream (as they clearly are doing) we should expect them to become much less associated with things such as fringe science or ‘alternative history’ for example.
Economics can help explain why the size and influence of the cultic milieu is increasing now and grew in the earlier period. (Campbell himself thought it was a response to the ‘disenchantment of the world’ and loss of transcendent meaning brought about by modernity - hence the ‘secularisation’ in his original title).
For economists a clear factor is technological and economic developments that make it less costly to both spread ideas and information and to discover them, even when people holding those ideas do not have access to the dominant modes of communication. In the late nineteenth century cheap printing did this, along with the telegraph and telephone. By contrast the dominant communications technologies of the twentieth century (radio and television) did not because it was more difficult for proponents of non-mainstream ideas to use them.
Today social media and the internet are playing the same role as cheap printing but on an even larger scale (because the cost reductions are greater). Economic history also suggests that a growth of the cultic counterculture is a response not to secularization but to the social disruption brought about by episodes of rapid innovation (“all that is solid melts into air, all that is sacred is profane,” as Marx and Engels put it).
Such episodes lead to a feeling for many people of social disconnection and displacement and bring what are seen as serious social costs. Ideas that reject received opinion then become attractive to many people as well as more accessible.
The notion of the cultic milieu helps explain many aspects of today’s politics, such as the rise of movements like the alt-right, and the growth of fringe beliefs across the ideological spectrum. When combined with economics we also get a better understanding of why this is happening right now. History suggests that in time the process will stop and, while the cultic milieu will still exist, the membrane between it and the mainstream will become again much less permeable.
Stephen Davies
Dr Steve Davies, a Senior Fellow at AIER, is the Head of Education at the IEA. Previously he was program officer at the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) at George Mason University in Virginia. He joined IHS from the UK where he was Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and Economic History at Manchester Metropolitan University. He has also been a Visiting Scholar at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center at Bowling Green State University, Ohio.
A historian, he graduated from St Andrews University in Scotland in 1976 and gained his PhD from the same institution in 1984. He has authored several books, including Empiricism and History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) and was co-editor with Nigel Ashford of The Dictionary of Conservative and Libertarian Thought (Routledge, 1991).
https://www.aier.org/article/cultic-milieu-and-rise-violent-fringe
Feb 19, 2017
Deconstructing Pagan religions
DEBORAH GREY
DNA
February 18, 2017
Considered a derogatory term until the early 20th century, many aspects of paganism shared similarities with most traditional Indian religions that were later brought under Hinduism. Here’s list of some modern Pagan movements.
Before the birth of Abrahamic religions and other monotheistic cultures, most parts of the world followed a variety of Pagan religions. These were mostly polytheistic religious practices with deities representing forces of nature as that is what man feared most. In what is commonly referred to as classical antiquity, and later in the middle-ages, Paganism, was widespread among Nordic, Celtic, Slavic and Germanic tribes.
Pagan cultures existed across the world. In fact, most traditional Indian religions that were brought under the umbrella of the common Hindu way of life shared many similarities with Pagan religions from regions as far as Greece and Central Asia. In fact, the Greek and Roman pantheon is identical, just the names are different.
Meanwhile, Indian goddess Saraswati has Greco-Roman counterparts in Athena/Minerva. Pagans also worshiped goddesses associated with rivers and water for their ability to create and sustain life. These include Anahita (Zoroastrian), Ganga (Indian), Tethys (Greek), Chalchiuhtclicue (Aztec) and Dewi Danu (Balinese).
The word ‘Pagan’ comes from the Latin word ‘Paganus’ which meant ‘related to the country side’ or ‘village dweller’. It came to mean a person with little or no knowledge or what is popularly called ‘village bumpkin’. But the word Pagan wasn’t used until the early Christian Church began using it to describe people from distant rural places who were considered backward because they did not practice monotheism.
‘Pagan’ was therefore considered a derogatory term until the early 20th century when Wiccans made Paganism ‘cool’ and acceptable again and re-branded it as neo-Paganism. Neo-Paganism is a group of new religious movements inspired by historical Pagan beliefs of pre-Christian Europe. Polytheism and animism is common among all these movements, however, they do not share any common text and maintain separate identities. Let’s take a look at some modern Pagan movements:
Goddess Movement
It is a worship of the ‘sacred feminine’, something that was lost to patriarchal religions. Here the female form, sexuality and maternity are celebrated. The followers of this movement see matriarchy as natural, egalitarian and pacifistic as opposed to destructive and aggressive patriarchal cultures. Goddesses worshipped vary from region to region and include Diana, Hecate, Isis, Ishtar, Saraswati and Kali.
Heathenry
This is also a neo-Pagan movement which aims at reviving the cultural beliefs and religions of Germanic people from the Iron Age and Early Medieval Europe. Heathen communities rely on historical records, archeological evidence as well as folklore for information about lifestyles in pre-Christian Europe. Scandinavian and Icelanding Old Norse mythological texts and old Anglo-Saxon folk tales are popular in this regard. Heathen communities are known as kindred’s or hearths, who gather together in specially constructed buildings to conduct their rituals which always involve raising a ceremonial toast of an alcoholic beverage to their deities. Some Heathens have however, unfortunately become rather racist and started associating with white supremacist movements.
Neo-Druidism
Druidry originated in England in the 18th century mainly as a cultural movement aimed at increasing appreciation for nature and how people are connected with it. The movement subsequently became spiritual and developed religious undertones with an increasing emphasis on nature worship and environmental protection. The neo-Druids adhere to no dogma and there is no central authority, it is just a form of nature-centred spirituality. Almost all Druids are animists, but some have elaborate ancestor worship rituals. Their festivals include celebrating the Autumn and Spring Equinoxes and Winter and Summer Solstice. Most rituals are carried out in day light outdoors. Neo-Druidry is popular in Britain and North America.
Wicca
It is the fastest growing religion in the world. It was developed in England in the early twentieth century by Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente. While Wicca has no central authority, its core values are similar across various traditions (sects and denominations). Wicca is duotheistic, i.e., it has two deities, the Moon Goddess and the Horned God. You have probably seen the five point star or pentacle associated with witchcraft. It is just a harmless image depicting the five elements: Earth, Fire, Air, Water and Spirit. While Wicca talks about magic as a part of its rituals, it is actually defined as channelising one’s will to achieve a goal. An important Wiccan rule is that a follower of Wicca can never do any harm to another person. There is also the concept of Threefold Return, according to which if you do good or bad, it will ultimately come back to you with thrice its original intensity. This is a bit like the Indian concept of Karma. Though often used interchangeably with witchcraft, Wicca is distinct from Satanism and Luciferianism, whose followers also call themselves witches and wizards.
DNA
February 18, 2017
Considered a derogatory term until the early 20th century, many aspects of paganism shared similarities with most traditional Indian religions that were later brought under Hinduism. Here’s list of some modern Pagan movements.
Before the birth of Abrahamic religions and other monotheistic cultures, most parts of the world followed a variety of Pagan religions. These were mostly polytheistic religious practices with deities representing forces of nature as that is what man feared most. In what is commonly referred to as classical antiquity, and later in the middle-ages, Paganism, was widespread among Nordic, Celtic, Slavic and Germanic tribes.
Pagan cultures existed across the world. In fact, most traditional Indian religions that were brought under the umbrella of the common Hindu way of life shared many similarities with Pagan religions from regions as far as Greece and Central Asia. In fact, the Greek and Roman pantheon is identical, just the names are different.
Meanwhile, Indian goddess Saraswati has Greco-Roman counterparts in Athena/Minerva. Pagans also worshiped goddesses associated with rivers and water for their ability to create and sustain life. These include Anahita (Zoroastrian), Ganga (Indian), Tethys (Greek), Chalchiuhtclicue (Aztec) and Dewi Danu (Balinese).
The word ‘Pagan’ comes from the Latin word ‘Paganus’ which meant ‘related to the country side’ or ‘village dweller’. It came to mean a person with little or no knowledge or what is popularly called ‘village bumpkin’. But the word Pagan wasn’t used until the early Christian Church began using it to describe people from distant rural places who were considered backward because they did not practice monotheism.
‘Pagan’ was therefore considered a derogatory term until the early 20th century when Wiccans made Paganism ‘cool’ and acceptable again and re-branded it as neo-Paganism. Neo-Paganism is a group of new religious movements inspired by historical Pagan beliefs of pre-Christian Europe. Polytheism and animism is common among all these movements, however, they do not share any common text and maintain separate identities. Let’s take a look at some modern Pagan movements:
Goddess Movement
It is a worship of the ‘sacred feminine’, something that was lost to patriarchal religions. Here the female form, sexuality and maternity are celebrated. The followers of this movement see matriarchy as natural, egalitarian and pacifistic as opposed to destructive and aggressive patriarchal cultures. Goddesses worshipped vary from region to region and include Diana, Hecate, Isis, Ishtar, Saraswati and Kali.
Heathenry
This is also a neo-Pagan movement which aims at reviving the cultural beliefs and religions of Germanic people from the Iron Age and Early Medieval Europe. Heathen communities rely on historical records, archeological evidence as well as folklore for information about lifestyles in pre-Christian Europe. Scandinavian and Icelanding Old Norse mythological texts and old Anglo-Saxon folk tales are popular in this regard. Heathen communities are known as kindred’s or hearths, who gather together in specially constructed buildings to conduct their rituals which always involve raising a ceremonial toast of an alcoholic beverage to their deities. Some Heathens have however, unfortunately become rather racist and started associating with white supremacist movements.
Neo-Druidism
Druidry originated in England in the 18th century mainly as a cultural movement aimed at increasing appreciation for nature and how people are connected with it. The movement subsequently became spiritual and developed religious undertones with an increasing emphasis on nature worship and environmental protection. The neo-Druids adhere to no dogma and there is no central authority, it is just a form of nature-centred spirituality. Almost all Druids are animists, but some have elaborate ancestor worship rituals. Their festivals include celebrating the Autumn and Spring Equinoxes and Winter and Summer Solstice. Most rituals are carried out in day light outdoors. Neo-Druidry is popular in Britain and North America.
Wicca
It is the fastest growing religion in the world. It was developed in England in the early twentieth century by Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente. While Wicca has no central authority, its core values are similar across various traditions (sects and denominations). Wicca is duotheistic, i.e., it has two deities, the Moon Goddess and the Horned God. You have probably seen the five point star or pentacle associated with witchcraft. It is just a harmless image depicting the five elements: Earth, Fire, Air, Water and Spirit. While Wicca talks about magic as a part of its rituals, it is actually defined as channelising one’s will to achieve a goal. An important Wiccan rule is that a follower of Wicca can never do any harm to another person. There is also the concept of Threefold Return, according to which if you do good or bad, it will ultimately come back to you with thrice its original intensity. This is a bit like the Indian concept of Karma. Though often used interchangeably with witchcraft, Wicca is distinct from Satanism and Luciferianism, whose followers also call themselves witches and wizards.
Jan 21, 2017
Pagans, Wiccans, Satanists can now practice religion in Ohio prisons
By Alan Johnson
The Columbus DispatchJanuary 20, 2017
Inmates in state prisons have a new choice to practice their religious convictions: Paganism.
The Appalachian Pagan Ministry, a small volunteer group based in Huntington, West Virginia, has held services at two Ohio prisons and plans to expand to three others.
The Rev. Donna Donovan, ordained as a Druid priestess and an interfaith minister through Universal Life Church, is the leader of the group working with inmates she describes as "pan pagan," referring to religious that are "non-Abrahamaic," which excludes Christians, Jews and Muslims. Her meetings have included believers in Asatru, Odinism, Heathenism, Wicca and Satanism.
"The only way to eradicate hate and intolerance is through education," Donovan said. "I don't personally care what your higher power is as long as you believe there's a higher power than yourself."
Donovan's group is visiting prisons in Ohio and West Virginia. She has been to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville and the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima. Her group will soon begin visiting prisons in Chillicothe and Lebanon.
Inmates must request visits by outside religious organizations rather than groups deciding to visit and hold services on their own.
JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, has an approved list of about 50 religious groups that have permission to visit prisons, including a wide variety of Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups, plus Buddhists, Hindus, Jehovah's Witness, Mormons, Native Americans, Sabbatarians and Wiccans.
The organizations must submit applications, pass background checks and undergo training about prison procedures before visiting inmates.
State records show Baptists (4,739), Roman Catholic (3,420) and Muslims (1,563) are among the highest religions self-identified by inmates. There are also Rastafarians (755), Amish (36) and Druids (21).
Donovan said there is widespread public misunderstanding about Pagans and related non-Christian groups. Inmates, too, usually don't know about the religion, she said.
"I've seen huge changes in behavior by inmates," she said. "It's helping. Instead of just just sitting there and stewing, they can be taking time to better themselves."
She said she meets with 30 to 40 inmates at each Ohio prison. She funds the ministry out of her own pocket and through public donations.
"These inmates, male and female alike, know the mistakes they have made in their lives. They are paying for those mistakes. Yet instead of wallowing in self-pity or continuing to blame outside sources for their current situation, they are holding themselves accountable and doing what they can to grow in body, mind and spirit to ensure they do not make those same mistakes again."
Ohio prisons opened the door to the expansion of religious groups because of a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court, ruled which found that state could not deny religious services to prisoners. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wrote the decision, said federal law "protects institutionalized persons who are unable freely to attend to their religious needs and are therefore dependent on the government's permission and accommodation for exercise of their religion,
@ohioaj
http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170120/pagans-wiccans-satanists-can-now-practice-religion-in-ohio-prisons
The Columbus DispatchJanuary 20, 2017
Inmates in state prisons have a new choice to practice their religious convictions: Paganism.
The Appalachian Pagan Ministry, a small volunteer group based in Huntington, West Virginia, has held services at two Ohio prisons and plans to expand to three others.
The Rev. Donna Donovan, ordained as a Druid priestess and an interfaith minister through Universal Life Church, is the leader of the group working with inmates she describes as "pan pagan," referring to religious that are "non-Abrahamaic," which excludes Christians, Jews and Muslims. Her meetings have included believers in Asatru, Odinism, Heathenism, Wicca and Satanism.
"The only way to eradicate hate and intolerance is through education," Donovan said. "I don't personally care what your higher power is as long as you believe there's a higher power than yourself."
Donovan's group is visiting prisons in Ohio and West Virginia. She has been to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville and the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima. Her group will soon begin visiting prisons in Chillicothe and Lebanon.
Inmates must request visits by outside religious organizations rather than groups deciding to visit and hold services on their own.
JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, has an approved list of about 50 religious groups that have permission to visit prisons, including a wide variety of Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups, plus Buddhists, Hindus, Jehovah's Witness, Mormons, Native Americans, Sabbatarians and Wiccans.
The organizations must submit applications, pass background checks and undergo training about prison procedures before visiting inmates.
State records show Baptists (4,739), Roman Catholic (3,420) and Muslims (1,563) are among the highest religions self-identified by inmates. There are also Rastafarians (755), Amish (36) and Druids (21).
Donovan said there is widespread public misunderstanding about Pagans and related non-Christian groups. Inmates, too, usually don't know about the religion, she said.
"I've seen huge changes in behavior by inmates," she said. "It's helping. Instead of just just sitting there and stewing, they can be taking time to better themselves."
She said she meets with 30 to 40 inmates at each Ohio prison. She funds the ministry out of her own pocket and through public donations.
"These inmates, male and female alike, know the mistakes they have made in their lives. They are paying for those mistakes. Yet instead of wallowing in self-pity or continuing to blame outside sources for their current situation, they are holding themselves accountable and doing what they can to grow in body, mind and spirit to ensure they do not make those same mistakes again."
Ohio prisons opened the door to the expansion of religious groups because of a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court, ruled which found that state could not deny religious services to prisoners. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wrote the decision, said federal law "protects institutionalized persons who are unable freely to attend to their religious needs and are therefore dependent on the government's permission and accommodation for exercise of their religion,
@ohioaj
http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170120/pagans-wiccans-satanists-can-now-practice-religion-in-ohio-prisons
Dec 18, 2016
Pagan priest wins right to wear goat horns in license photo, saying they are 'religious attire'
By Peter Holley
Washington Post
December 17, 2016
It doesn’t matter how many articles of clothing Phelan Moonsong puts on before walking out the door each day: If he’s not wearing his favorite pair of goat horns, the Pagan priest might as well be naked.
Unless the 56-year-old Millinocket, Maine, man is sleeping or bathing, his beloved horns are rarely far from his scalp.
It’s been that way since he first laid eyes on the horns at a Pagan men’s group gathering in 2009. A friend whose goat had recently died offered the horns to group members. Nobody else wanted the dead goat’s hardware; Moonsong couldn’t believe his luck
So he took the horns home, drilled small holes in each one and attached them to his forehead using stretchy, 50-pound fishing line that he wrapped around his head like an invisible skull cap.
His life was never the same.
“As a practicing Pagan minister and a priest of Pan, I’ve come to feel very attached to the horns, and they’ve become a part of me and part of my spirituality,” Moonsong said, noting that he periodically soaks the horns in patchouli and cedar oil to keep them fresh and leathery. “The horns are part of my religious attire.”
Moonsong feels so attached to his horns that he refuses to take them off for anyone — including the state of Maine. In August, Moonsong said, officials at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles in Bangor told him that he would need to remove the horns to receive a state-issued ID.
When he tried to explain to bureau employees that he is a “Priest of Pan” — one who considers the horns his “spiritual antenna” — they were not moved. They told that the horns would have to be approved by Maine’s secretary of state.
“She told me that I had to send in some documentation or religious text to show why it was required for me to have my horns on,” Moonsong said. “I said, ‘Okay, I’ll go ahead and do that,’ but it seemed like an onerous requirement.”
Moonsong said he sent the state a personal essay explaining the importance of his horns, along with four scholarly works, including one titled “Pagan Religions: A Handbook for Diversity Training.”
Though he didn’t realize it at the time, Moonsong had joined a religious freedom battle that is being fought in DMV offices around the country.
At least 30 states offer residents high levels of constitutional protection for religious expression, some of them even higher than the protection offered by the Constitution’s First Amendment, according to Charles Haynes, the founding director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute.
“Generally speaking, even in states without a high level of protection, officials have to have a pretty good reason for saying no to a religious accommodation for a driver’s license photo,” Haynes said. “How strong that reason needs to be depends on where you live.”
But it also depends on the quality of the citizen’s case, Haynes said. When people argue for the right to cover their faces in a driver’s license photo — such as a Muslim woman who believes it’s immodest to uncover her face — states often have the upper hand because it’s in the interest of the state to assist police in being able to identify people.
“However,” Haynes added, “if the person’s religious garb doesn’t cover the face or obstruct law enforcement, those folks are likely to win.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a Christian woman who accuses DMV officials of discriminating against her by refusing to make a religious accommodation. Yvonne Allen says she was forced to remove her headscarf — which she wears for religious reasons — to have a photo taken for her driver’s license, according to the complaint.
“When Ms. Allen explained her religious beliefs,” the complaint states, “the county officials responded with a remarkable claim: They admitted that there was a religious accommodation available for head coverings, but contended that it applied only to Muslims.”
“They also ridiculed Ms. Allen’s sincerely held religious beliefs, with the Chief Clerk informing her that she was herself a Christian and did not cover her head,” the complaint adds. “Left with no choice if she wished to renew her license, Ms. Allen — with tears in her eyes and feeling sick to her stomach over the violation of her religious beliefs — removed her head covering.”
Heather L. Weaver, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, said DMV offices sometimes rule in favor of one faith and against another not because of bigotry so much as ignorance.
“Sometimes it comes down to them not understanding certain faiths,” Weaver said. “That’s when we come in to educate DMV officials about particular religious headgear and explain that something is a legitimate religious belief that should be accommodated in the same way you might accommodate a Jewish yarmulke.”
Allen’s case is ongoing, but Moonsong said he managed to avoid hiring a lawyer and filing a lawsuit.
After several months of waiting to hear from the state’s motor vehicle office following his initial visit, he says he informed the bureau that he was in touch with the ACLU. His ID arrived in the mail days later, he says.
A spokeswoman for the Maine secretary of state told the Bangor Daily News that Moonsong had not mentioned that the horns were religious in nature during his initial BMV visit.
“He did not cite religious reasons,” said the spokeswoman, Kristen Muszynski. “There are exceptions for religious headdress.”
The newspaper reported that the state of Maine follows American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators guidelines, which state that license photos “may only show the cardholder with headgear, if the cardholder is a member of a religion requiring the wearing thereof and provided that the headgear does not present as an obstruction or present a shadow and render the portrait inadequate for the identification of the cardholder.”
Moonsong, who changed his name earlier this year, said he was “elated” with the result of his BMV battle — not only for himself but for others who quietly share some of his beliefs.
“A lot of Pagans are in the closet and — as with the LGBT crowd — there’s a lot of misconceptions and discrimination that they face,” he said.
“Many practicing Pagans are afraid of being public,” Moonsong added, “but when they see my horns it reminds them it’s okay to be yourself.”
There are personal benefits to having an ID as well, he noted. Though he doesn’t drive, Moonsong will finally be able to use his ID to board a plane to California, where some of the best Pagan festivals are found.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/12/17/maine-man-wins-right-to-wear-goat-horns-in-license-photo-saying-they-are-religious-attire/?utm_term=.768c69dc7f2b&wpisrc=nl_most-draw8&wpmm=1
Washington Post
December 17, 2016
It doesn’t matter how many articles of clothing Phelan Moonsong puts on before walking out the door each day: If he’s not wearing his favorite pair of goat horns, the Pagan priest might as well be naked.
Unless the 56-year-old Millinocket, Maine, man is sleeping or bathing, his beloved horns are rarely far from his scalp.
It’s been that way since he first laid eyes on the horns at a Pagan men’s group gathering in 2009. A friend whose goat had recently died offered the horns to group members. Nobody else wanted the dead goat’s hardware; Moonsong couldn’t believe his luck
So he took the horns home, drilled small holes in each one and attached them to his forehead using stretchy, 50-pound fishing line that he wrapped around his head like an invisible skull cap.
His life was never the same.
“As a practicing Pagan minister and a priest of Pan, I’ve come to feel very attached to the horns, and they’ve become a part of me and part of my spirituality,” Moonsong said, noting that he periodically soaks the horns in patchouli and cedar oil to keep them fresh and leathery. “The horns are part of my religious attire.”
Moonsong feels so attached to his horns that he refuses to take them off for anyone — including the state of Maine. In August, Moonsong said, officials at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles in Bangor told him that he would need to remove the horns to receive a state-issued ID.
When he tried to explain to bureau employees that he is a “Priest of Pan” — one who considers the horns his “spiritual antenna” — they were not moved. They told that the horns would have to be approved by Maine’s secretary of state.
“She told me that I had to send in some documentation or religious text to show why it was required for me to have my horns on,” Moonsong said. “I said, ‘Okay, I’ll go ahead and do that,’ but it seemed like an onerous requirement.”
Moonsong said he sent the state a personal essay explaining the importance of his horns, along with four scholarly works, including one titled “Pagan Religions: A Handbook for Diversity Training.”
Though he didn’t realize it at the time, Moonsong had joined a religious freedom battle that is being fought in DMV offices around the country.
At least 30 states offer residents high levels of constitutional protection for religious expression, some of them even higher than the protection offered by the Constitution’s First Amendment, according to Charles Haynes, the founding director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute.
“Generally speaking, even in states without a high level of protection, officials have to have a pretty good reason for saying no to a religious accommodation for a driver’s license photo,” Haynes said. “How strong that reason needs to be depends on where you live.”
But it also depends on the quality of the citizen’s case, Haynes said. When people argue for the right to cover their faces in a driver’s license photo — such as a Muslim woman who believes it’s immodest to uncover her face — states often have the upper hand because it’s in the interest of the state to assist police in being able to identify people.
“However,” Haynes added, “if the person’s religious garb doesn’t cover the face or obstruct law enforcement, those folks are likely to win.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a Christian woman who accuses DMV officials of discriminating against her by refusing to make a religious accommodation. Yvonne Allen says she was forced to remove her headscarf — which she wears for religious reasons — to have a photo taken for her driver’s license, according to the complaint.
“When Ms. Allen explained her religious beliefs,” the complaint states, “the county officials responded with a remarkable claim: They admitted that there was a religious accommodation available for head coverings, but contended that it applied only to Muslims.”
“They also ridiculed Ms. Allen’s sincerely held religious beliefs, with the Chief Clerk informing her that she was herself a Christian and did not cover her head,” the complaint adds. “Left with no choice if she wished to renew her license, Ms. Allen — with tears in her eyes and feeling sick to her stomach over the violation of her religious beliefs — removed her head covering.”
Heather L. Weaver, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, said DMV offices sometimes rule in favor of one faith and against another not because of bigotry so much as ignorance.
“Sometimes it comes down to them not understanding certain faiths,” Weaver said. “That’s when we come in to educate DMV officials about particular religious headgear and explain that something is a legitimate religious belief that should be accommodated in the same way you might accommodate a Jewish yarmulke.”
Allen’s case is ongoing, but Moonsong said he managed to avoid hiring a lawyer and filing a lawsuit.
After several months of waiting to hear from the state’s motor vehicle office following his initial visit, he says he informed the bureau that he was in touch with the ACLU. His ID arrived in the mail days later, he says.
A spokeswoman for the Maine secretary of state told the Bangor Daily News that Moonsong had not mentioned that the horns were religious in nature during his initial BMV visit.
“He did not cite religious reasons,” said the spokeswoman, Kristen Muszynski. “There are exceptions for religious headdress.”
The newspaper reported that the state of Maine follows American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators guidelines, which state that license photos “may only show the cardholder with headgear, if the cardholder is a member of a religion requiring the wearing thereof and provided that the headgear does not present as an obstruction or present a shadow and render the portrait inadequate for the identification of the cardholder.”
Moonsong, who changed his name earlier this year, said he was “elated” with the result of his BMV battle — not only for himself but for others who quietly share some of his beliefs.
“A lot of Pagans are in the closet and — as with the LGBT crowd — there’s a lot of misconceptions and discrimination that they face,” he said.
“Many practicing Pagans are afraid of being public,” Moonsong added, “but when they see my horns it reminds them it’s okay to be yourself.”
There are personal benefits to having an ID as well, he noted. Though he doesn’t drive, Moonsong will finally be able to use his ID to board a plane to California, where some of the best Pagan festivals are found.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/12/17/maine-man-wins-right-to-wear-goat-horns-in-license-photo-saying-they-are-religious-attire/?utm_term=.768c69dc7f2b&wpisrc=nl_most-draw8&wpmm=1
Nov 12, 2015
Asatru: Is that true? Were terrorist wannabes pagans? Do news media care?
Jim Davis
November 12, 2015
FBI cracks a plot to kill blacks and Jews, allegedly planned by members of a little-known religion. How do you cover the story?
If you're like many mainstream media, you ignore or downplay the religion.
The guys in question are Virginians who allegedly wanted to buy guns and bombs, then attack synagogues and black churches. Unfortunately for them, their contacts were undercover FBI agents, who then arrested them.
Oh yeah, FBI also said they were Norse neo-pagans.
How did the media handle all this? We'll start our survey with the typically spare hard-news story from the Associated Press:
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Two men described by authorities as white supremacists have been charged in Virginia with trying to illegally buy weapons and explosives to use in attacks on synagogues and black churches.
Robert C. Doyle and Ronald Beasley Chaney III tried to buy an automatic weapon, explosives and a pistol with a silencer from three undercover agents posing as illegal firearms dealers, FBI agent James R. Rudisill wrote in an affidavit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Richmond.
If the FBI is right, they're clearly racist anti-Semites. What about their spiritual leanings? AP doesn't tell us until more than halfway down, and only very little:
According to Rudisill's affidavit, Doyle and the younger Chaney "ascribe to a white supremacy extremist version of the Asatru faith," a pagan sect that emphasizes Norse gods and traditions. The affidavit says the FBI learned that Doyle planned to host a meeting at his home in late September to discuss "shooting or bombing the occupants of black churches and Jewish synagogues, conducting acts of violence against persons of Jewish faith, and doing harm to a gun store owner in the state of Oklahoma."
The AP report is based partly on one by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. That story says pretty much the same phrases about Asatru and bombing black and Jewish congregations. It unhelpfully adds that "Asatru is a pagan religion."
CNN heavy hitters Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown mention only the men's membership in a "white supremacist group." They reference the case of Dylann Roof, the church bomber in Charleston, S.C., but only because he and the new defendants both talked about starting a race war.
Even a local CBS affiliate that boasted of having broken the story, merely added that police and FBI agents raided two other homes, including that of Chaney's father.
Ah, but the Washington Post was on the job. They'd help us understand, right? Well, kinda:
A man who identified himself as Chaney’s brother noted that Chaney was not charged explicitly with trying to harm people at places of worship for their race or religion.
“I do not believe that my brother would harm anyone for their race or religion in or around a place of worship,” said the man, who declined to give his name. “I have not heard him espouse any of those views; however, I’ve had very limited contact with him.”
Did WaPo check this with a religion professor or perhaps an Asaturar? Nope, didn’t. Which is odd, given the 1,000-word indepth on Asatru by the Religion News Service, which the Post ran Oct. 16. That article has leader Stephen McNallen saying his members focus more on their culture than hating others:
When asked about the relationship between Asatru and racism, McNallen said: “We view Asatru as a native religion with a special appeal to native Europeans. But just because you love your own family you don’t also hate the family next door.”
Ironically, we get some details in RT, aka Russia Today:
Sometimes known as “Odinism,” Asatru is a neo-pagan religious movement worshiping Old Norse gods (Aesir) that arose in the US during the 1960s. The exact number of its adherents has been estimated by anywhere from 7,000 to 20,000.
In 2013, the US Department of Veterans Affairs officially approved the use of the Asatru symbol, the “Hammer of Thor,” on grave markers of US service personnel who practiced the faith.
The Christian Science Monitor goes much deeper into Norse beliefs:
According to criminal complaints, the three were affiliated with Asatru, a neo-pagan religious movement. One branch, Odinism, has gained a white supremacist following in the United States, in part due to its growing popularity in prison gangs.
Followers "claim they are opposed to racism," Joshua Rood, a religion professor at the University of Iceland, told Vice last spring. "But they define racism very differently from the average person. They say, 'We're not racist. We just believe in keeping ethnicity separate.' "
My main complaint with the Monitor is when it speaks broadly about "horrific acts of violence committed by a wide array of conservative extremists, who range from white supremacists and Neo-Nazis … to Christian Identity adherents and anti-government militias." What? Those nutjobs are "conservative extremists"? Granted, the newspaper is mainly quoting someone with the Anti-Defamation League; but why not ask some critical questions – like, "Is there any difference between those groups and most conservatives?"
The Vice article, BTW, differs with the RNS story. Published last May, the 1,700-word that indepth says the "folk" emphasis of American Asatru resembles that of Odinism, the parent religion from Europe.
"[Odinists] claim they are opposed to racism, but they define racism very differently from the average person," Joshua Rood, that Icelandic prof, tells Vice. "They say, 'We're not racist. We just believe in keeping ethnicity separate.' Which ... it's racist."
But why not let pagans speak for themselves? People like Alyxander Folmer, a blogger on the Patheos Pagan Channel. About a year and a half ago, he posted this anti-racism rant:
Like it or not, there is a small segment of the modern Heathen community that not only buys into this kind of blatant racism, but co-opts our faith and uses our religion as an excuse to do so without having to admit that they ARE racist. These people twist the idea of ancestor veneration and cultural pride as a way to justify and mask their hate, as if using religious reasoning for their behavior somehow exempts them from the consequences of their actions. I refuse to allow them to abuse and dishonor our faith, our community, and our gods. We have the power to speak up and strip away that religious mask they wear.
I'll bet Folmer would have gladly talked to the media.
Now, I'm not calling for some witch hunt, or Norse hunt in this case. If bigotry is not basic for most Asaturars and/or Odinists, fine. But so many media ask so little about a central question in this case. Here we have a story about members of a religion who are charged with wanting to shoot and blow up members of two other religions (and of another race). And journalists aren't curious about that?
http://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2015/11/11/asatru-is-that-true-were-terrorist-wannabes-pagans-do-media-care
November 12, 2015
FBI cracks a plot to kill blacks and Jews, allegedly planned by members of a little-known religion. How do you cover the story?
If you're like many mainstream media, you ignore or downplay the religion.
The guys in question are Virginians who allegedly wanted to buy guns and bombs, then attack synagogues and black churches. Unfortunately for them, their contacts were undercover FBI agents, who then arrested them.
Oh yeah, FBI also said they were Norse neo-pagans.
How did the media handle all this? We'll start our survey with the typically spare hard-news story from the Associated Press:
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Two men described by authorities as white supremacists have been charged in Virginia with trying to illegally buy weapons and explosives to use in attacks on synagogues and black churches.
Robert C. Doyle and Ronald Beasley Chaney III tried to buy an automatic weapon, explosives and a pistol with a silencer from three undercover agents posing as illegal firearms dealers, FBI agent James R. Rudisill wrote in an affidavit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Richmond.
If the FBI is right, they're clearly racist anti-Semites. What about their spiritual leanings? AP doesn't tell us until more than halfway down, and only very little:
According to Rudisill's affidavit, Doyle and the younger Chaney "ascribe to a white supremacy extremist version of the Asatru faith," a pagan sect that emphasizes Norse gods and traditions. The affidavit says the FBI learned that Doyle planned to host a meeting at his home in late September to discuss "shooting or bombing the occupants of black churches and Jewish synagogues, conducting acts of violence against persons of Jewish faith, and doing harm to a gun store owner in the state of Oklahoma."
The AP report is based partly on one by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. That story says pretty much the same phrases about Asatru and bombing black and Jewish congregations. It unhelpfully adds that "Asatru is a pagan religion."
CNN heavy hitters Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown mention only the men's membership in a "white supremacist group." They reference the case of Dylann Roof, the church bomber in Charleston, S.C., but only because he and the new defendants both talked about starting a race war.
Even a local CBS affiliate that boasted of having broken the story, merely added that police and FBI agents raided two other homes, including that of Chaney's father.
Ah, but the Washington Post was on the job. They'd help us understand, right? Well, kinda:
A man who identified himself as Chaney’s brother noted that Chaney was not charged explicitly with trying to harm people at places of worship for their race or religion.
“I do not believe that my brother would harm anyone for their race or religion in or around a place of worship,” said the man, who declined to give his name. “I have not heard him espouse any of those views; however, I’ve had very limited contact with him.”
Did WaPo check this with a religion professor or perhaps an Asaturar? Nope, didn’t. Which is odd, given the 1,000-word indepth on Asatru by the Religion News Service, which the Post ran Oct. 16. That article has leader Stephen McNallen saying his members focus more on their culture than hating others:
When asked about the relationship between Asatru and racism, McNallen said: “We view Asatru as a native religion with a special appeal to native Europeans. But just because you love your own family you don’t also hate the family next door.”
Ironically, we get some details in RT, aka Russia Today:
Sometimes known as “Odinism,” Asatru is a neo-pagan religious movement worshiping Old Norse gods (Aesir) that arose in the US during the 1960s. The exact number of its adherents has been estimated by anywhere from 7,000 to 20,000.
In 2013, the US Department of Veterans Affairs officially approved the use of the Asatru symbol, the “Hammer of Thor,” on grave markers of US service personnel who practiced the faith.
The Christian Science Monitor goes much deeper into Norse beliefs:
According to criminal complaints, the three were affiliated with Asatru, a neo-pagan religious movement. One branch, Odinism, has gained a white supremacist following in the United States, in part due to its growing popularity in prison gangs.
Followers "claim they are opposed to racism," Joshua Rood, a religion professor at the University of Iceland, told Vice last spring. "But they define racism very differently from the average person. They say, 'We're not racist. We just believe in keeping ethnicity separate.' "
My main complaint with the Monitor is when it speaks broadly about "horrific acts of violence committed by a wide array of conservative extremists, who range from white supremacists and Neo-Nazis … to Christian Identity adherents and anti-government militias." What? Those nutjobs are "conservative extremists"? Granted, the newspaper is mainly quoting someone with the Anti-Defamation League; but why not ask some critical questions – like, "Is there any difference between those groups and most conservatives?"
The Vice article, BTW, differs with the RNS story. Published last May, the 1,700-word that indepth says the "folk" emphasis of American Asatru resembles that of Odinism, the parent religion from Europe.
"[Odinists] claim they are opposed to racism, but they define racism very differently from the average person," Joshua Rood, that Icelandic prof, tells Vice. "They say, 'We're not racist. We just believe in keeping ethnicity separate.' Which ... it's racist."
But why not let pagans speak for themselves? People like Alyxander Folmer, a blogger on the Patheos Pagan Channel. About a year and a half ago, he posted this anti-racism rant:
Like it or not, there is a small segment of the modern Heathen community that not only buys into this kind of blatant racism, but co-opts our faith and uses our religion as an excuse to do so without having to admit that they ARE racist. These people twist the idea of ancestor veneration and cultural pride as a way to justify and mask their hate, as if using religious reasoning for their behavior somehow exempts them from the consequences of their actions. I refuse to allow them to abuse and dishonor our faith, our community, and our gods. We have the power to speak up and strip away that religious mask they wear.
I'll bet Folmer would have gladly talked to the media.
Now, I'm not calling for some witch hunt, or Norse hunt in this case. If bigotry is not basic for most Asaturars and/or Odinists, fine. But so many media ask so little about a central question in this case. Here we have a story about members of a religion who are charged with wanting to shoot and blow up members of two other religions (and of another race). And journalists aren't curious about that?
http://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2015/11/11/asatru-is-that-true-were-terrorist-wannabes-pagans-do-media-care
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