An Observation: Heathen Communities (American vs. Other Countries)

Being someone who has been drawn to the Norse Gods and trying to find a group I can learn from, I've come across an interesting, and sometimes disturbing, mix of people in the Heathen communities. Most of those who I've come across have been pretty great, they don't support racism, they don't focus too much on politics or which version of worshiping the Gods is right. They support each other, and are very open and welcoming. I've found that warmth and welcome both inside and outside of the US.

But, like anywhere else you look, the Heathen communities have their hate filled zealot people as well, more so in the US rather than out. These minority groups in the US are very vocal of racism and nationalism (again, not saying they aren't found anywhere else, I've just seen more here in the US).

I think half of the reason we find this hatred here is because it is the US. We are a melting pot of people, cultures, and heritages, and as I've looked about, while it is an amazing sight to see so many people from so many different backgrounds being able to work together, it has also caused a very negative backlash. The loss of our heritages, our cultures, the memory of our ancestors and where we've come from and who we are. We've become a country with no real culture, the only exception to that is the native indigenous who are working hard to keep their languages, their cultures, alive.

This is just a theory from what I've seen of human nature, but the only reason I can see as to why there is so much of this kind of hatred in the Heathen community, and in other religious/cultural communities, in the US is because of fear. Fear that if they don't cling to their heritage, to their ancestral culture, that they lose any identity they feel they have gained. That somehow, someone who doesn't look like them or believe the same way they do, will take away that identity.

While you still find racism and nationalism in other countries and other communities, they have to be careful about how they say things due to hate speech and discrimination being illegal. While in the US, discrimination isn't fully illegal, and hate speech is being disguised as "Freedom of Speech". Some may be wondering what hate speech entails. Hate Speech is any kind of speech that focuses on a specific group or multiple groups of people/organizations, to insight hatred and violence towards those groups. So, as an example, if Westboro was in the UK, they would be charged for Hate Speech crimes because they are promoting violence, hatred, and discrimination towards others. (Also, those laws in place don't prevent protesting, if you are against something in the UK you are free to protest it, so long as it doesn't promote violence or hatred).

Here in the US, because people want to include hate speech under "Freedom of Speech", Westboro and a number of other racist and nationalist groups can flourish, so long as they don't take any physical action. That's why here in the US we see more vocal minority hate groups in the Heathen communities, and its because they are more vocal we see come across them more often and it makes it look like they are the majority.

Apparently this turned into a slight rant and I do apologize about that. My main point to all of this is that I've found it interesting, but yet not surprising that the Icelandic Asatru Association receives hate mail from groups in the US.

But remember, there are also groups against Hatred and Racism such as Heathens United Against Racism, Heathens Against Hate, and a number of other groups out there.