One Pagan's Perspective on the European Migration Crisis

Dear Readers,

This will be my first blog post composed in the Czech Republic, where I am living for the fall, teaching at Masaryk University in the charming Moravian capital city of Brno. Even as I enjoy strolling the picturesque, Old European streets, sampling Czech beer and cuisine and falling in love with a very stylish cafe in Dominikánské náměstí called Skøg Urban Hub, where I now sit writing this, I am aware of gathering storm clouds looming over not only the Czech Republic but all of Europe. This is the migration crisis occasioned by the flight of tens, soon to be hundreds, of thousands of refugees seeking to escape the very real threats of devastation and death that they face in war-torn, economically and socially collapsing countries of the Middle East and North Africa, particularly but not only Syria. The four-year old Syrian civil war that grew out of Arab Spring protests and then spawned the violent, fanatical ISIS movement has now reached a stage where more and more people are simply giving up and leaving. Similarly unbearable situations are drawing people out of North Africa, Yemen and as far east as Afghanistan.

As these desperate masses stream into Europe, hoping for a better life in more prosperous and stable countries like Germany and Sweden, they encounter varying responses from the governments and peoples of Europe. Some Europeans are moved by empathy and compassion for these traumatized refugees, and are bringing them donations of food, water and clothing, while others resent the arrival of foreigners with different customs and complexions, and fear that their societies will be overwhelmed by these ethnic and religious Others. Leaders like the Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán are playing to this sentiment with actions like erecting barbed-wire fences, herding migrants into barely livable camps, some into the main Budapest train station, encouraging or at the very least not denouncing harsh police and border guard treatment of migrants including beatings and tear gas dispersal and so on. Still more extreme right-wing anti-immigrant groups are seeking to intimidate and terrorize these migrants by various methods from chanting anti-foreigner slogans outside refugee camps to firebombing places of asylum. The leaders of Germany and Sweden have distinguished themselves as standard-bearers for conscience and compassion by standing by their open-door policies toward refugees and migrants, while other countries and governments, not only Hungary but others as well even supposedly ultra-progressive Denmark, have taken delight in turning a cold, hard shoulder toward the new arrivals.

In a nutshell, Europe as a whole is split down the middle about whether to welcome and offer assistance to the incoming foreigners, or to resist their movement into their lands and seek to expel them by any means necessary.

As an American Pagan who has spent a fair amount of time researching European Pagan groups, I would expect that European Pagans share the same range of reactions to this migration crisis as do other Europeans. It is the same in the USA where the general population as well as the much smaller but still quite diverse Pagan population display a range of attitudes about incoming immigrants from Latin America and elsewhere. In the following, I will attempt to make a case for why European Pagans should welcome the migrants, not oppose or vilify them. I am sure that some, perhaps many European Pagans will disagree with what I have to say, but I believe I am standing on firm and principled ground, ground we can build on for the future.

First, a historical argument. Europe has a long history of receiving migrants from other regions, who added elements to each country's character and traditions without which each recipient society would have been poorer, economically, culturally, spiritually and otherwise. Without the migrations of the Anglo-Saxons (more specifically the Angles and the Saxons), there would be no England and no English language. Without the migrations of the Magyars from the Ural Mountains region into Central Europe, there would be no Hungary and no Hungarian language. Without Celts migrating from Central Europe to the British Isles, there would be nothing Celtic about Ireland, Wales or Scotland. Without Viking migrations, Ireland and Britain would not be what they are today, and Iceland would have neither Elves, nor sheep, nor people, and precious little Scandinavian mythology would have been written down and preserved, as most of this happened in medieval Iceland. Classical Greece and Rome were formed by migrants as well. That is to say, without a very long list of migrants and migrations that flowed into Europe at different points in time, Europe as we know it today would never have come into existence. To those who say, "we must protect our European traditions against foreign intrusion," I would answer with two points worth pondering: (1) European traditions were often formed by foreign intrusions, leading to this seemingly paradoxical, but historically supportable conclusion that (2) foreign intrusion is itself a very old European tradition.

But, some Pagans would say, these migrants today are different. They bring nothing positive, only an alternate form of Abrahamic monotheism that Pagans reject completely. But wait... might we be having this argument in a cafe over a couple of cappucinos? Ah, European coffeehouses, such a fine old tradition... but is coffee really European? It has been a popular beverage for many centuries, quite so, but it did not actually originate in Europe. The custom of drinking coffee and the social institution of the coffeehouse were creations of the Muslim world, transmitted to Europe via the Ottoman Empire. If you struggled as a child to learn mathematics, know that algebra was first created by Arabs. If you go to a hospital for surgery, be aware that the first hospitals were Muslim institutions, and that Arab-Muslim anatomy textbooks were a major part of European medical training up to the modern period. And take your foot off that Ottoman and stop watching TV lying on that sofa! And stop eating those kebabs and that hummus!

So, as these examples illustrate in a hopefully light-hearted way, Muslims and Arabs of the past contributed quite a lot to European civilization. Welcomed into Europe today, who knows what peoples from Syria and Yemen and Afghanistan and other such lands might contribute today that would eventually become well-loved "European traditions." The fear, of course, is that they will contribute Islamic militancy and terrorism. I would answer to that fear that how a people respond to a new social environment depends greatly on how they are received. That is to say, if xenophobic, right-wing Europeans do all that they can to make 21st century Muslim migrants feel unwelcome, distrusted, excluded,and even hated, then you can expect that some such immigrants may well be attracted to radical movements that offer them some measure of pride and dignity, even if in a suicidal, destructive form. On the other hand, if Muslims are sincerely welcomed and treated with respect for their traditions, beliefs and customs, and not shunted into ghettos devoid of economic and social opportunity, many will be able to adjust to life in Europe quite happily, as millions of Muslims have already done.

When non-Muslim Europeans engage in overheated fantasies about the supposed "menace" of Muslim immigration, they often fail to note that Many Muslims are already living in Europe so quietly and successfully that their presence often goes unnoticed, while the incidents of violence and terrorism perpetrated by Muslim-Europeans are unusual, sensational events committed by a very small percentage of European Muslims. If the same out-of-proportion standard of judgment were applied against violent incidents perpetrated by white Europeans, might not the argument be made that Europe is facing a "white menace" that requires urgent action, such as deporting all white Europeans to the Caucasus mountain region?

Let us not fail to note that similar arguments about the "Jewish menace" and the need to expel European Jews from Europe were once quite popular among non-Jewish Europeans, and that the application of this prejudiced viewpoint to political life led to one of the most shameful episodes in European history. Let us also keep in mind that the Roma (gypsies) were another target of persecution of the Nazis, and that, proportionately speaking, as many Roma as Jews died in the Holocaust. This is poignantly described in Brno's Museum of Romany Culture (http://www.rommuz.cz/en, the only Museum of Roma culture and history in all of Europe). Sadly for the Roma, their days of persecution are not yet over, but I will leave this topic for another day. It will suffice to say that the mass persecution of Jews and Roma did nothing to improve European life or preserve "European traditions and identity," but only led to untold suffering and everlasting shame. Shall the Muslim migrants be treated as were the Jews and Roma, or have we really learned nothing from Nazism and the Holocaust?

Apart from the basic humanitarian consideration of helping fellow human beings find safety and succor, there are other reasons too why Pagans should endeavor to receive these Muslim migrants kindly. Modern Paganism is only possible because of a general respect for the principle of diversity. Whatever can strengthen the rule of diversity in European--and other--societies will be good for Pagans and for the continuing development of the different forms of Paganism now arising or reviving in Europe; whatever weakens the rule of diversity will open the door to persecution and disadvantagement not only for Muslims--but also for Pagans among other religious "Others." It should sound alarm bells for European Pagans that some of the loudest voices opposing the current wave of Muslim migration are characterizing the situation as a defense of "Christian Europe" against the invasion of Muslims from the East, as if this were the 1683 Siege of Vienna all over again. See http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/09/11/world/europe/ap-eu-eastern-europe-migrants.html .

Some ethnically-oriented Pagans may initially feel they can happily whistle along with right-wing European nationalist leaders when they sing of protecting and upholding European ethnic heritage by blocking Muslim immigration, but they may start to find this cheerful political tune less joyful and melodious when they realize that right-wing leaders like our dear friend Mr. Orbán equate European heritage and identity with Christianity, that is, European = Christian, meaning there is "no space at the inn," to use a suitable Christian turn of phrase, for Pagans in a Europe so defined. As non-Christians, Pagans therefore have very practical, self-interested reasons to make common cause with Muslims in standing up for religious diversity in Europe, a diversity that embraces Christians, Jews, Muslims, AND Pagans (along with Buddhists and Hindus and Sufis and Krishnaites and Cthulu-followers and many others). When any non-Christian is threatened, Pagans are threatened too, and so by protecting the rights of Muslims to live in Europe and freely practice their religion, Pagans protect their own rights too.

Though these words are perhaps overused, and though I know I risk descending into cliché by quoting them, I do find the warning of the German Protestant minister Martin Niemöller very pertinent in this regard:

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

Shall we update and adapt Herr Niemöller's message to suit our current situation?

"First they came for the terrorists, and I did not speak out--
because I am not a terrorist.

Then they came for the immigrants, and I did not speak out--
because I am not a immigrant.

Then they came for the Muslims, and I did not speak out--
because I am not a Muslim.

Then they came for the cultists, and I did not speak out--
because I do not consider my religion a "cult."

Then they came for the Pagans--and there was no one left to speak for me."

Protect your religious rights. Defend religious freedom for all!

Pagan-Jewish Parallels

I have been researching Eastern European Jewish history this summer, and this has led me to reflect on some possible Pagan-Jewish parallels. No, I am not making a claim that the ancient Pagans of this or that region of Europe were one of the legendary lost tribes of Israel that made a wrong turn in the Mediterranean and ended up in Stonehenge or Uppsala. Nothing like that! Instead, what I have been contemplating is how the complicated status of Judaism and Jewishness as both religion and ethnic identity provides an interesting mirror to the status of Ethnic Reconstructionist Paganism as both a form of religion or spirituality AND an adaptation of particular ethnic traditions of particular European regions. Let me take you through some of the areas of correspondence that I have been considering between Paganism and Judaism, and also demonstrate that some of the areas of absolute difference between Paganism and Judaism may not quite be so absolute as is often believed.

1. Both Jews and Pagans follow religious traditions rooted in a particular place or "holy land." Even when followers of these traditions find themselves very far away, the original place of their religion's development remains sacred and meaningful. All the long centuries after the Roman Empire's crushing of the original Jewish kingdom in ancient times, Jews continued to regard Palestine as their sacred homeland, up to the development of a modern Jewish state, Israel. The Pagan parallel involves Pagans living outside of Europe in such places as the United States and Australia continuing to regard the area in Europe in which their religious tradition first developed, such as Lithuania for Romuva believers, Ireland for Celtic Pagans, Scandinavia for Norse Pagans, and so on. Travel to the homeland is a powerful spiritual experience for Pagans, as is visiting Israel for Jews.

2. The corollary of the love of a spiritual homeland is the sense of exile and loss, which is again common to both Jews and Pagans.

3. The language of the original homeland is likewise valued as sacred,with Hebrew for the Jews; European languages related to particular European regions for Pagans. Both Jews outside of Israel and Pagans living outside of Europe struggle to acquire and maintain knowledge of these languages.

4. In both Jewish mysticism and some forms of European Paganism, the ancient script,indeed the very letters and symbols of the sacred language is seen as possessing magical, divinely inspired powers. Compare the Kabbalistic view of the magical powers of Hebrew letters with the significance that Norse Pagans invest in the ancient Germanic runes. Other Pagans such as Celts, Balts and Slavs also tend to regard their earliest forms of writing as possessing sacredness and possibly magical power.

5. Both Jews and Pagans have a range of views about who is qualified to claim identity as a member of these religions. All Jewish denominations see birth from Jewish parents, with priority on a Jewish mother, as a legitimate qualification for Jewish identity. Some sects see having a Jewish father as sufficient. Most Jewish sects allow conversion to Judaism by people not born Jewish, with different rules as to how conversion is to be carried out. Among European ethnic Pagans, there is an ongoing discussion about whether and to what extent a family ancestral link to the European spiritual homeland is an important qualification for membership in a Pagan community. Most forms of ethnic Paganism allow those without an ancestral link to participate in their religious activities, but there is often a preference and privileging of those with ancestral links, though this is not always explicitly stated. There are also some ethnic Pagans who insist on ancestry as a necessary factor for inclusion in the community. Just as Jews have long debated and disagreed about these issues, Pagans are likely to do the same. I myself would advocate for totally open conversion without preference to, or prejudice against, ethnic background, but I am well aware that others have quite different and even opposite opinions!

6. Jewish communities in Eastern European history were often segregated to greater or lesser extent, though this was rarely a total sealing off of Jews from contact with non-Jews. It can be argued that this segregation helped to maintain Jewish identity and foster the development of distinct Eastern European traditions such as Hasidism. Though most if not all Pagans today live in mixed, pluralistic societies, I have on a number of occasions met Pagans who would like to live in a more segregated manner, in tight-knit Pagan communities that would be distinct and separate, though not totally sealed off, from mainstream, Christian-dominant society. Some Pagans create temporary communities in the summer months, whether camping out together at festivals, or constructing an intentionally archaic, folkloric village, as the leaders of Romuva have done in Lithuania. I wonder, will we see Pagan versions of shtetls and ghettos in the future?

7. The sacredness of nature is common to both Paganism and Judaism. While this may be more obvious and central in Pagan traditions, Judaism is replete with nature symbolism. Jewish festivals such as Sukkoth and Shavuot are essentially agricultural festivals, celebrating the fertility of the earth. The Old Testament and the Kabbalah both utilize trees as sacred symbols. To take up the contrary view, one that has become rather conventional among Pagans, the argument is sometimes made that Judaism is un-natural and anti-natural insofar as it involves the desire of God that mankind will subjugate and dominate all other creatures, whereas Paganism supposedly involves a more reverent attitude of harmony with nature. I think this difference is overstated. Most Pagan traditions are grounded in an agricultural lifestyle which also involves a domination and subjugation of animals and the natural world. Even if the natural world is highly respected and honored as sacred, it is still subjugated and dominated by mankind in any form of European-derived Paganism I know of. Judaism is also sometimes criticized by Pagans as a religion of the desert, but let us not forget that the Holy, Promised Land of the Bible is the "land of milk and honey," not a wasteland but a fertile land conducive to animal breeding and agriculture, much like Old World Europe.

8. But what about the fundamental difference between Judaism as a monotheistic faith and Paganism as a polytheistic worldview? I would not deny that this is a real difference, but I would also note that there are some monotheistic tendencies in Paganism just as there are polytheistic ones in Judaism. Greek Pagan philosophy moved toward a conception of the One behind the Many, and Norse mythology describes Odin as the All-father, and speaks of some sort of One greater than the gods arising after the world-destruction of Ragnarok. Judaism contains angels, which are arguably divine beings, certainly greater-than-mortal, and the Kabbalah has multiple powers and beings that are also greater-than-human, notably the Shekhinah, a female personification of the Jewish nation that looks a lot like a Jewish goddess. There are also the rejected goddess (or demoness) figures like Lilith in the Old Testament.

I would therefore argue that there are a good many parallels between Paganism and Judaism that are well worth pondering. I believe that open-minded Jews and Pagans can find a certain amount of common ground, if they wish to.