Stand Together With Immigrants

We are now living in a harsh and frightening new world in which Trump is leading the way toward cruel and reckless authoritarian-Fascist-style government. This is the case not only in the USA, where Trump is now the head of the national government--or maybe co-head along with Elon Musk, who seems to have been given free reign to destroy or disable as many government agencies as possible--but also in other countries, where racist, Fascist and above all, anti-immigrant politicians and parties feel greatly emboldened by Trump's support for their Far Right causes.  It is overwhelming to even try to keep up with all the Fascistic things that Trump and his allies are doing. 

Here, I want to focus on one issue that is really key to 21st century Fascism: the relentless--and, it must sadly be conceded, to this point, very successful--demonization of immigrants. Whether it is Trump in America or Brexit in Britain or Orban in Hungary or the AfD in Germany, the immigration issue has been at the heart of their political messages, missions and successes. Due to how truly foundational this anti-immigrationism has been and remains for today's right-wing regimes, political parties and politicians, I think this is the central front on which to fight Fascism. So if you don't want Fascism coming to a country near you, support immigrants and immigration, because today's Fascist Pied Pipers believe that as long as they play the anti-immigrant tune, you will follow them right off the cliff into their Brave New Fascist World. Puncture their wildly inflated hate-dreams about immigrants, and they no longer have a leg to stand on.

Consider current public discourse and media messages. Any time an immigrant somewhere commits a violent crime, it gets HUGE media attention and supports the right-wing message that this is the #1 social problem facing societies today. The much larger number of violent crimes committed by "normal" (white) citizens is either ignored or rationalized, as are the factors of discrimination and hostility that may drive an immigrant to desperation and then violence. When a white man goes on a rampage, he is a sick person or lone wolf. No one says, "We had better deport those whites, because they are dangerous!" but if a dark-skinned or Muslim immigrant commits a violent act, many media sources and many politicians on the right side of the spectrum will say, "Enough is enough! We have to keep them out!" Every city I have lived in where there were lots of immigrants, their neighborhoods were often the most fun and interesting places in the city--great food, music, interesting goods, and kind people. So stand up for immigrants! They are not the enemy!! They enrich our world!!

This is hard, I know, because the right-wing has been building their anti-immigrant propaganda machine for decades, with the long history of anti-Semitism and anti-black racism as tried and proven models, and the voices speaking out for immigrants and immigration have all too often been too soft, too weak and too unsure of themselves. If you speak out FOR rather than AGAINST immigrants, you are going to encounter ridicule and anger. At first, many will laugh at what you saying and consider it ridiculous, but I am reminded of Mahatma Gandhi's words: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win." If you are on the liberal-progressive side of the spectrum, the #1 thing to do to help stop the rise of cruel and hateful, Fascistic political movements like MAGA is to speak out FOR immigrants and immigration.

I also see this as a Pagan issue, even though I acknowledge that many ethnic-oriented Pagans in Europe and elsewhere may in fact embrace anti-immigrant thinking because they want to protect their ethnic culture and identity. Pagans may claim to represent the core of their respective nations, defined in ethnic terms and ancient traditions, but in terms of numbers, Pagans today are very small minorities. Like other minorities from African-Americans in the USA to Roma or Muslims in Europe today to Jews across history, they may easily be targeted and demonized--just as immigrants are. So, there is a simple political and mathematical logic in standing in solidarity not only with other minorities, but for the principle of a liberal society that respects and protects minorities--including immigrants.

If we look to Pagan mythology, there are many stories of different families or tribes of gods, like the different generations of divine beings involved in establishing Ireland or the Aesir, Vanir and others in Norse mythology. There is no single "divine ethnicity." If we look to history, we find that many European peoples have had their times of migration and coming to new lands, all the way back to the Indo-Europeans. The English language would not even exist except for immigration of the Angles and the Saxons to Britain. What immigrants are doing today, moving somewhere new to seek a better life, is nothing strange or wrong--it is something that has happened many times in the past. 

People move: a basic fact. Also a basic fact: when new people come to a place, it often happens that the ones already there are suspicious or hostile to the new arrivals. Some classic examples from American history are the hatred shown to Irish and Italian immigrants back in the 19th c. Today those two ethnic groups are loved and celebrated, but remember--there was a time when "No Irish need apply" and Italians were considered dirty, disgusting, criminal "wops." Woud America be better today if the anti-immigrant forces of the 19th c. had been successful in expelling all the Irish and Italian immigrants?

Rarely is a society improved by erecting barriers and blocking the movement of people. Such societies can become sick places of hatred and suspicion. Open societies tend to be more successful. Now that Trump seems determined to cut off immigration to the USA--except for white South African land owners, apparently--and to deport many who have immigrated in recent decades to the USA, it is very likely that the US economy will suffer as the society is deprived of immigrant muscle and brains. Much of America's food is picked or processed by immigrant laborers on farms or in factories.  Many restaurants and construction firms likewise rely on immigrant workers.  Many of America's hi-tech companies are led by immigrants or children of immigrants. Research at many universities depends on foreign students who come to study and often decide to stay and live, contributing their talents and expertise to America. Without their continuing presence and without new arrivals of others like them, America is likely to become stupider and poorer and to stagnate in general.

So, those are some arguments in favor of immigrants and immigration. If you deeply hate immigrants and want your society to be free of the "scourge" or "invasion" of immigrants, I am sure my words must strike you as woefully misguided at best and outright evil at worst. So be it. We are on different sides of this issue. If you are on the anti-immigrant side, you may be feeling very confident right now that your side is winning. If you consider it a victory to have ignorant, hateful leaders like Trump in office, you are indeed winning--for now. But I believe that your victory is only temporary. I believe that over time, love and kindness will win out over hatred and hostility. Am I misguided? Time will tell.

For those who see the value of love, kindness and diversity, whether you are Pagan or Christian, Jewish or Jain, Buddhist or Baha'i, atheist or agnostic, let me suggest a few steps to take in support of immigrants.

1. When you hear people saying negative things about immigrants, intervene. If they are talking about an actual case of something where an immigrant actually committed some crime or offense, make the important point that it was one person who did that thing--not all immigrants. Remind them that many "normal" citizens are violent or criminal as well.

2. Be kind to the immigrants in your community. They are under pressure and worried about hostility from "normal" people like you, never knowing when they will have to deal with expressions of hatred or the threat of violence--even mob violence. Patronize their businesses, chat with them and smile. 

3. Cultivate deeper awareness and greater compassion. I think if you reach inside yourself, you will find memories of a time when you were the outsider, the minority, the weird one that people laughed at,  were suspicious of, undervalued--or worse. Remember how hard it was to be in that position. Remember that when people are under stress, as immigrants, like other minorities often are, they do not always behave perfectly, but may crack under stress and become unpleasant or even antisocial. When you see someone like that, it may seem that they are crazy or dangerous, but remember--it was a long process that led them to that point. They may be reflecting back what they have been told to believe about themselves by those who hate them without even knowing them. Show them some kindness and respect, and they may again be able to let down their guard and relax a little. Being shown a little kindness can be like finding an oasis in the desert for those living in a hostile world where it feels like everyone is looking at them with suspicion.

Keep your mind clear, keep your heart open and make an effort to tune out the siren song of hate, so loud and so omnipresent in our world today.  

Remember, remember, remember: We all suffer, and we are all connected. Awaken your compassion and find the hidden strength there. You will feel better about yourself and better about others: these two things are connected. The diversity of human beings is the design of nature. Love diversity, love nature, for as you nurture others, you will be nurtured in turn. 

Stand UP for immigrants! Stand TOGETHER with immigrants! They are not the enemy!! They enrich our world!!

 

 

Facing the Gathering Darkness

As we face the new era in America, I want to urge everyone who understands the danger of Trumpism to make an effort to communicate with others about what Trump does and offer perspective on why and how it is bad or wrong. Do not let others think this is all "normal" or "just the way it is." If our worst fears are realized to even a small extent, this will be a new situation in America that will be very depressing and harmful for many people, not to mention the environment that we all depend on. Maybe there is no way , right now, to oppose or resist, but remember that the Trump movement depends on ignorance, misinformation, misplaced anger and blame. Anything you can do to offer a counter-narrative is worthwhile. It may not have any great effect right now or bear any immediate fruit, but think of the future--plant seeds, build awareness, advocate for humane values, and above all, support compassion for the suffering and concern for our shared environment. This is the foundation for a better tomorrow.

Remarks to the ECER 2023 in Riga Latvia

 On June 29-30, the European Congress of Ethnic Religions (ECER) met in Riga, Latvia. Here is the speech I gave at this gathering.

Hello.  I am very pleased to be with you today.  As most of you know, before the ECER there was the WCER (World Congress of Ethnic Religions).  I was at the first WCER  meeting in Vilnius in 1998 when it was initially called the WPC—the World Pagan Congress. I attended several meetings after that, in Athens in 2004 and Antwerp in 2005.  I am not a member of any ethnic religion or Pagan group, officially, but am a scholar with training in the history of Indian and Pagan European religions, who has had close relationships with the Asatru religion in Iceland, Romuva in Lithuania and Dievturi in Latvia, the last of which makes me especially happy to be here today.

In that first conference in 1998, we debated what name to use for the kind of religion we were involved with. The word “Pagan” was advanced as a way to indicate that we represent what came before Christianity in Europe and that we continue to suffer disrespect and suppression from Christian authorities. It was also mentioned that in modern times, Pagan often means a nature-oriented religion that allows for the worship of ancient gods. Others preferred “ethnic” as a way of indicating that the religious traditions under discussion were connected with particular places and peoples. Finally, the decision was made to accept the Ethnic Religion label as our official designation. I continue to prefer the term Pagan, so I ask you to forgive me if use this term today.

Today, as one of the only people here who was at the first meeting and who has what is now a long history of studying and supporting European Pagan or ethnic religions, I want to offer some thoughts on the future development of Paganism or ethnic religion in the years ahead.

Paganism reaches into the past to find spiritual meaning that can still be valid today.  We are thus all very concerned with preserving and protecting traditions from the past. However, all human life, all human culture, including religion, needs to evolve and develop.  If we look at any of the major world religions whether Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam or others we can see that these religions change over time, often involving a lot of debate and discussion about what to keep from the past, what to put aside as no longer useful or meaningful, and whether to develop new things.  Early Hinduism practiced animal sacrifice, but this was later abandoned, and now we often associate Hinduism with strict vegetarianism. The Buddha told his followers that he was not a god and not to worship him, but over the centuries, the Buddha has been worshipped like a god. Therefore, we who are Pagans or follow ethnic traditions grounded in the past should not feel constrained to only repeat what has been done in the past, especially considering the difficulty in actually knowing and recreating what exactly people did and believed a thousand or ten thousand years ago.  We have to be humble about the past, because we have never been there. We have never met our ancient ancestors. We only have limited information about the religion of the past. We can and should take inspiration from the past, but not be trapped by it. It is great to visit the museum, but who really wants to live there?

This actually opens great possibilities for development of European Pagan religions. From the beautiful fragments of the past that we find in archaeology, in folklore, and other sources, we can create new visions and practices, taking inspiration from the past, but also recognizing that we live in a changing world with many sources of information that were not available a thousand years ago. If someone wants to create new religious music that is computer-based and electronic, not played on a kokles or kankles, we should not reject this just because it is not a thousand years old or even a hundred. We should see if it has spiritual meaning that connects to people today, and if it helps the tradition speak to modern times and not only ancient.

One particular challenge we have today is that we live in societies of increasing diversity. This creates questions for Pagan or ethnic religions about who should be allowed to participate in our religious activities or to obtain membership in our organizations. Some would say this should only be people with the exact same ethnic identity as the original creators of the religious traditions that we honor. I think this is wrong on several levels. First of all, historians and archaeologists can tell us that people in the past were actually more diverse than we might think. Tribal identities were fluid and changeable, and people migrated, moved, and mixed a great deal. So, the people of the past may not fall into the kind of neat ethnic categories that some like to imagine. Second, to survive today, our religions must reflect the societies we live in, unless we want our religions to be hostile fortresses where we keep out outsiders and live in a mental world of paranoia and resentment., which can easily degenerate into outright racism and white power fantasies.  I think there is a better way, which is to focus on maintaining and developing sacred traditions, not obsessing over who is involved in the traditions. If a black person, an Asian or a Roma feels a sincere interest in becoming a Czech or a Greek or a Norwegian Pagan, why not let them in?  If they are willing to learn the traditions and practice them with deep sincerity, are they not at least equally deserving as some white person with the right kind of ethnic surname who may be of poor moral character, limited intelligence and not care at all about the tradition?  Pagan or ethnic religions do not have huge membership. They need to grow.  And accepting people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds is one way to do that.

Finally, I want to call on all of you to consider that in ancient Pagan or ethnic religions, nature is sacred.  I believe that one of the best ways for our religions to unify and to also have positive relations with other religions in the world is to dedicate ourselves to only worshipping nature, but protecting it. I believe it would be a very good thing for Pagans to be at the forefront of environmental action, to fight against pollution, climate change and the other severe problems affecting our earth. In this way, we show the world that we do not live in a museum. We live in the world and just as we honor and protect our ancient traditions and ancestors, we honor and protect the earth that is the mother of us all.

Thank you.

 

Good Riddance, Donald Trump

Good riddance, Donald Trump. You have been one of the most destructive presidents in American history, devoting yourself to dominating the news cycle with outrageous statements and behavior, catering to racist currents in American society by constantly demonizing minorities and immigrants, telling lies and distorting reality on a regular basis, damaging relations with countries that were formerly America's closest allies like Canada, France and Germany, while expressing admiration for authoritarian leaders from Vladimir Putin of Russia to Viktor Orban of Hungary to Narendra Modi of India to Kim Jung-un of North Korea to Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil. 

From a Pagan point of view, your greatest single crime was to enact policies that threaten the natural order of our world. You dedicated your administration to shredding as many environmental regulations as you could, to denying the truly existential threat of climate change, and to treating the earth as no more than a resource to be ravaged for short-term profit for a few with no thought for the future for us all. You showed no regard for the sacred earth, but offered a warm embrace to those who would defile it. 

Your second greatest crime was to demonstrate no concern whatsoever for truth or integrity, but to instead lie profusely and shamelessly, obfuscating reality for many of your followers, building up delusions of victimhood and a desire for revenge. Your cultivation and incitement of the angry mob that attacked the US Capitol will place you in history next to Mussolini, with his 1922 march on Rome, and Adolf Hitler, with his 1923 "beer hall putsch" in Munich. Welcome to the club. You have earned your place at this table.

False Idols Falling: Hope for the Future?

Dear Fellow Humans,

Over the last six or so months, we have seen our world turned upside down twice.  First came Covid-9 and the sudden shutdown of practically  all societies on earth and a new lifestyle of fear and social distancing that  it brought  in its wake. Then came the worldwide anti-racism, anti-police brutality, pro-social justice protests sparked by George Floyd's cruel, tragic death in Minnesota. Both crises have exposed underlying weaknesses, contradictions and , I have constantly wondered where these twin global crises will take us in terms of how we regard society, the economy, the environment--really, EVERYTHING. Because everything seems up for grabs right now. We are at one of those rare times in history where difficult, indeed deadly events have stripped away all the superfluous fluff of daily life and focused worldwide attention on injustices and inadequacies that have been tolerated for too long by populations too beaten down, too depressed and dispirited, too apathetic, too self-absorbed or too distracted to actually consider the proposal that "just the way things are" is NOT the way things have to be. All the great rivers of the world occasionally change their courses over time, and it is the same with societies. The waters are rising.  The current is accelerating. The shores are losing their old definitions. Trees are being uprooted. The river of life is shifting. Things that seemed impossible six months ago are now regular topics of conversation.

I do not think that the outcry over police brutality and racism that resounded all around the world last summer, with continuing echoes still,  would have happened if not for the Covid-19 pandemic. The profound shock of seeing normal patterns of life abruptly halted and vast numbers of people sealed off in their homes for self-protection while other worked and sickened and died, with  rates of sickness and mortality replacing stock market averages and sport team results as the statistics of greatest popular interest, has given people time to think, reflect and feel deep things, troubling things, things they might have preferred to avoid in pleasanter times, but now can relate to much more easily than before, because we are ALL facing the firing squad of Covid-19. However, some get to lock themselves away in comfortable homes with plenty of space and comfort, but others do not, particular poor people, African-Americans, and other racial minorities. Others have to walk out into that viral hurricane every day to earn their daily bread and have to worry they when they come home to their families at the end of very long days at very hard jobs, they may be putting virus on the table along with that daily bread, with their loved ones partaking of both. Others are trapped in institutions for the elderly and the disadvantaged with totally inadequate staff and resources to effectively protect the most vulnerable among us. The spectacle of mass suffering, unjust suffering, unequal suffering has penetrated the popular consciousness and raised awareness that our social order is sick, unstable, and cruel.

Another spectacle, that of ignorant, incompetent leaders like American President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Belarusian Alexander Lukashenko, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro,  blustering away on television, brushing aside the advice of medical scientists and the health professionals for us all to practice social distancing, ramp up our hand-washing and general hygiene, and keep coverings on our face to reduce viral transmission, has caused at least some supporters of  the aforesaid leaders to lose their faith in these men. When your country's people are dying in large numbers, and the head of your government proves to care much more about protecting corporate profits than  the population, you just might lose your faith in the man who you previously thought was so "entertaining," so "different," and so refreshingly "honest" with his free-flowing hostility toward minorities, elites and others and his seeming sympathy for "forgotten people" like you imagined yourself to be. Now  you can see that your Dear Leader may not quite be all that you thought he was and that all he has to offer you is more animosity toward this or that group, no real solutions, no real plan.

The collapse in the popularity of the aforesaid "leaders"--that word does seem a bit ironic in this context, doesn't it?-- is just one part of a much bigger domino effect, of false idols of many sorts crashing to the ground after bring struck with the twin thunderbolts of the coronavirus and what seems a new consensus about how sadly warped our societies are by racism ,and how poorly served we are by militaristic police who seem all too eager to use lethal force. We can also see crashing and crumbling the long-standing assumptions that businessmen and entrepreneurs are the real heroes of society, that the "magic of the market"  so much more efficient and reliable than government (see Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Milton Friedman for past advocates in this point of view); that  government is in fact a menace to "freedom;" that the government should never intervene in the economy; that the anti-government rhetoric of leaders like Reagan was just a bit of political sloganeering that would do no harm; that if people are poor or poorly paid, it is their own fault, and not something that should trouble the rest of society; that it is perfectly fine if many people have no health care or health insurance; that having large numbers of people homeless and in prison is acceptable; that even the most extreme inequality is part of  the proper functioning of the economy; that faraway peoples in other countries have nothing to do with us in our own home countries; that the needs of businessmen are more important than the needs of ordinary people; that public health and the natural world are less important than the health of the stock market and corporate profits.  Let's break this down a little more.

False Idol #1: Government bad, business good. When the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March 2020, governments worldwide struggled to respond, because in many cases health services had been stripped down and cut back in tandem with tax-cutting for the benefit of the business sector. Hospitals run like businesses failed to maintain stocks of personal protective equipment and medical devices like ventilators, because keeping large quantities of such stuff around when it was not immediately needed was anathema to the business mindset of keeping operations lean and relying on "just in time" supply chains. Well guess what, pandemics don't care about corporate business fads. People who really knew something about the threat of pandemics knew that it was important to have lots of supplies on hand, but the corporate types chose to cut things back. When the economy went into free-fall due to the need for shutdown of travel, guess who had to be rescued by the government? The very same businesses often so hostile to government. Not a few people have begun to see that the business sector is extremely selfish, expecting support for itself that it would be happy to deny to poor and struggling masses around the world

False Idol #2: If people suffer or are poor, it is their own fault, and no one should have to help them.  This pandemic has taken its most horrific toll on the poor and disadvantaged of the world. They did not ask to be poor any more than they asked to be exposed to the pandemic. With the fear of death that the pandemic makes universal, and the fear of extended poverty and unemployment that is now possible for large swathes of the population, including the formerly affluent, employed and comfortable, suddenly many who previously rejected the idea of government public assistance to the poor and needy are very interested in this very thing!  Fear of death and fear of poverty certainly do broaden the mind, don't they?

False Idol #3: Educated people, scientists and "elites" are suspicious people who cannot be trusted.  Donald Trump's coronavirus-update press conferences were a huge embarrassment, not only due to his verbal diarrhea of inconsistent, factually incorrect and self-contradictory statements, but also because he obviously did not like ceding the stage to more knowledgeable people like Anthony Fauci, who was studying infectious diseases back when Trump was still learning how to run a business empire based on bankruptcy  I think by now, most people realize that we need more people like Fauci in government, and far fewer like Trump.

False Idol #4: All that really matters is money. The Milton Friedman-Reagan-Thatcher-Trump neoliberal logic that the world is just an economic enterprise and that we all should just get with the program and seek to monetize everything and reduce all reality to numbers on the computer screens of financial analysts has certainly been blown to bits by the deep and limitless unfairness and suffering now on display for all to see. We need each other, we need a more caring and just society, not just a fat bank account. We need a world to live in, not a luxury mansion with walls a mile high. You can't hide from our common reality anymore. It could be a commonwealth, our common health, or a common hell.... We have to decide. It is up to all of us.

I  hope a brighter future is coming, despite the grim shadows all around us.  

May you all have hope and heart and strength for the time we are in now, and for going into the future. 

Remember to help each other. We are all each other's keepers. We always were, but maybe we forgot. Let us remember that now, and for the future and for always.

Muslims and Pagans

Dear Readers,

It is hard to believe that it has been more than a year since I set virtual pen to virtual paper on this blog.  Life has just been too busy and exhausting, and the gruesome reality show that is the Trump presidency has so alarmed, aggravated and depressed me that at times I have not been sure what to talk about here, as there is such a constant cavalcade of erratic and destructive actions and ignorant and hateful rhetoric exploding from the House of Tweet that I find myself at times too overwhelmed to respond. Add to that the rising tide of Trumpian right-wing nationalist politicians and parties around the world from India to Hungary to Britain to Brazil and the dispiriting effect is only magnified  a hundredfold, and I fall into anguished silence contemplating how the world that I once knew, in which Fascism had been vanquished in a World War and there was a general understanding that Nazism was an evil thing, seems to be falling apart and past hatreds and cruelties rising up again, with delighted mobs deliriously cheering blood-lust.

What brings me to write today is the very sad realization that someone who I have worked with for a long time in the academic world, someone I have respected for his work in Pagan Studies and thought I knew, someone who I considered a kindred spirit, seems to have been fully converted to the hateful outlook of the new global right wing. I noticed him making very characteristically far-right  Islamophobic statements on a blog that he writes, seizing on the extreme rhetoric of one particularly aggressive and offensive Muslim cleric and seeming to trumpet this as proof of the overall vileness of Islam, the religion of some 1.3 billion human beings on this earth. I contacted my friend and pointed out that it is neither accurate nor intellectually honest nor morally defensible to lambaste all the members of a group or religion for the actions or statements of a single person or small minority within that group. He backed off a little bit, but only a little, acknowledging that not all Muslims were bad people but adding that overall, he still finds Islam a malevolent force in the world. He observed that while some academics and intellectuals might feel it important to respect Islam out of their dedication to religious tolerance, this  was, in his opinion, a misguided "ivory  tower" view that overlooked the true reality of the world in which Islam was a  threat to the tolerant lifestyle of Western societies, a threat that had to be defended against.

Having spent some serious time in the last several years researching right-wing nationalism and extremism, particularly anti-Muslimism, also known as Islamophobia, its close relation, anti-Gypsyism, and their older sibling anti-Semitism, I was very sad to see how almost every word my friend had to say about Islam was right out of the hackneyed, hateful hymn book of the modern  far right. Islam as threat to the west has been the mother's milk trope of right-wing Islamophobia for decades, going into overdrive after the 9/11 attacks and asserted with renewed vitality after the horrific Charlie Hebdo incident in France. This is not to say that the homicidal brutality of Muslim persons in those incidents was justified or forgivable. Those responsible should be prosecuted and punished for such crimes. However,  the vast majority of Muslims worldwide who live peaceful lives of daily toil and experience the same range of human triumphs and travails as others, should not be blamed or vilified, demonized or disadvantaged due to the actions of a few within their community. To do that is to begin following the old playbook of racial and religious prejudice that cherry-picks the most unpleasant and offensive behaviors, beliefs or customs to be found among the members of any group, whether defined in ethnic, religious, or other terms,  holds this up as the essence of the group, and proclaims the need to suppress, segregate, deport or exterminate said group. That way lies Pogroms and Final Solutions.

We all have our quirks and shortcomings, and I wish I could just write off my friend's anti-Muslim bias as a quirk of his personality, something I could simply agree to disagree with him about and then put behind us. The problem is, I am bound to this person in an academic enterprise in the field of Religious Studies. Though my friend's particular expertise and interest is in regards to modern Paganism, it is axiomatic in modern Religious Studies to accept the basic validity of all religions on their own terms,  practicing religious tolerance and respect for diversity. I now have reason to believe that my friend has either never really believed in religious tolerance and diversity, or has turned a corner in his mind where in the case of Islam, the principles of tolerance and diversity do not apply.

I find his stance not only offensive to my own sense of ethics and my own commitment to respecting religious diversity, but extremely puzzling and ironic in someone who is a long-time supporter of modern Paganism. It is the principles of religious tolerance and respect for diversity that have made it possible for Pagans to practice their religion in many countries today without fear of persecution or violence. If we start saying that Islam is not to be tolerated because of certain behaviors or beliefs of a small minority of its members, do we not begin to dismantle the structures that uphold the edifices of tolerance and diversity that we Pagans shelter under? Does that not lay the groundwork for persecution of minority religions  including forms of Paganism such as Wicca, Druidism and Heathenry, that many Christians find offensive and Satanic?

I would welcome comments from readers about their own viewpoints on Pagans and Muslims. Do you agree with me that  upholding respect for all religions is the best protection for minority religions like Paganism, or do you feel like my friend that in America and other Western societies, Islam cannot be tolerated and Muslims are not welcome? Do you think we should "Build the Wall" against Islam? Or should we be looking to build bridges and find common ground? I will be curious to hear your voices.

The Revenge of Love: Two Films That Made Me Cry

Dear Readers,

I do find myself at a loss for words at times in this awful era of the Trump presidency. Not that there is nothing to say, but rather that so many bad things are happening so fast that I often cannot decide where to begin to respond or comment. The separation of families at the border.... the weird coziness of Trump with Putin in Helsinki, treating him like the best person in the world, right after insulting America's allies at the NATO summit, and always, grinding away in the background, the nonstop destruction  of programs, policies and regulations that protect the environment, help the poor, and uphold human decency...It is too much, and I fall dumb. This is either evil genius or brutally effective instinct on the part of Trump and his team: to so bombard us with crazy, cruel and contradictory things that we are shocked into silence and inaction. I must confess that at times, I fall right into this trap, which means the bastards win that day. I wish I were stronger.

Two films that I saw recently, both dealing with childhood, brought me to tears. One was a film that I remember first seeing in my early teens, the animated Beatles film "Yellow Submarine" that was first released in 1968, The other was "Won't You Be My Neighbor,?" the new documentary about Fred Rogers, the late host of the long-running, public broadcasting children's program "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood." Both films, in their different ways, are eloquent statements of the importance of  love as the glue that holds humanity together. "Love and peace," in the 1960s phrase. This is not merely romantic, sexual love of boy meets girl or girl beckons boy, or boy desires boy or girl goes for girl, but love in the deeper sense of universal brotherhood, the "peace on earth and good will toward men" trumpeted in Christmas carols but known in all or nearly all religions and worldviews as a very important thing indeed.

In "Yellow Submarine," the world is brought to a frozen, deathly state enforced by brutal, fascistic forces known as the "Blue Meanies."  The cartoon Beatles save the world by reviving the frozen, lifeless band, which is an alternate form of the Beatles, that is, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, who then overpower the fascistic Meanies by singing the song, "All You Need is Love."  Now I must admit, there were times when I was younger when I found this song sophomoric, so utterly simplistic in the face of all the complex problems that beset humanity. "Sure, if you have enough to eat and a roof over your head and some measure of security, great to sing about love. How about the poor and the homeless?" But now, in this grim and fearful time when Trump is empowering the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency  as well as local police and sheriffs and others to be true "blue meanies" in ripping apart families and causing irreparable psychological damage not only to young children but to the rest of their families as well, creating trans-generational trauma that will create future problems for these families and others, all for what? For the "sacred," racist purpose of discouraging brown-skinned Latinos from thinking that American society might in any way be open to them. In this time, when Trump continues peddling misleading stereotypes and ranting about how America must be cleansed of unwanted foreigners and immigrants, the Beatles song rings very, VERY true as a very potent response to the sadistic policies and the apparent delight in cruelty of the Trump regime.

We do NOT have to be hateful and cruel toward immigrants, foreigners and refugees. We do NOT have to build walls and imprison people in institutional settings that are just modern versions of concentration camps. We could instead be loving and welcoming to the vast majority of immigrants and refugees who only wish to live in peace with us, to make a new life, to be part of this society.  In this spirit, I applaud all those who are taking up slogans like "Nation of Immigrants" and "Welcome Refugees" and reminding us of the words on the Statue of Liberty. We need that. We need.... love. That is the ultimate weapon against Trump and his minions, to declare that we want to get along, get together, stand together, work together, live together, co-exist and seek the best in one another and in others... and build bridges of common purpose, not walls of fear and hate and menace.

In "Won't You Be My Neighbor," we see that Fred Rogers was not just a simple TV personality, but a moral visionary deeply concerned with the healthy emotional development of children... and society in general. He was an ordained minister, the world was his flock, and he used the medium of television not for fame or profit but as  a form of ministry. He did not make a point of treating children with love and respect and telling them they were special in order to raise little self-centered narcissists, as has sometimes been charged, but because he wanted all people to feel safe and loved that they might grow up to seek a community of love and peace, not aggression and suspicion, one group against another, one race against another, one religion against another. Fred Rogers was rightly appalled by all the mass entertainment that glorifies guns, violence, speed and death, when what human beings really need... is love. Corny? Perhaps. Trite? You could say so. Simplistic? In a way, of course. But as we now live in a time where our country's president and government are enforcing policies reveling in cruelty, discord and aggression, totally lacking in love, except for the narcissistic cult of King Donald, an orange meanie in place of the blue ones prophesied in the Beatles film, Mr. Rogers' invitation to us all to be good neighbors is a very good thing indeed. This is not sappy. This is not a cliche. This is your life raft and survival manual.

We are struggling to stand upright against a disgusting, fecal barrage of hateful misinformation and confusing propaganda dished out daily by the Trump-Putin-Fox News axis that wants nothing more than to foment division and anger so that authoritarian forces can impose  "law and order" with guns and brutality. We should remember John Lennon's advice to never forget to "imagine" a better world, and to play positive "mind games" that can keep us sane and stable even if the world seems to be turning into a sewer. There have been terrible times in the world before, let us not forget, and one of the best things we can possibly do to survive this time and hopefully reach toward a better one in a near or distant future, is to try our best to love each other.

May the spirit of peace and love be with you. May you walk in agape, karuna, ahimsa and frith.

Happy Fascist Fourth of July

Dear Friends,

In the last year I have written fewer entries in this blog than in any previous year. The reason is the depression and despair that I feel living in America today and watching with horrified eyes how the ignorant, cruel, pathological bully president Donald Trump is bit by bit succeeding in tearing down and torching so much of what I have always believed in, what I have always hoped could be possible for America, while constructing a new America built on hate, fear, racism, anger, division and confusion. The last week has been especially hard to bear. The recent decisions of the Supreme Court whitewashing his latest version of the Muslim Travel Ban, diminishing the power of labor unions and further restricting Affirmative Action are undoubtedly going to embolden Trump and his hard right cohorts. Did I say "hard right?" I misspoke. The correct term is Fascist. The president is creating Fascism in America, a style of politics and governance that relies on brute force, intimidation, a cult of personality around a charismatic leader, a constant scapegoating of ethnic and religious minorities that is becoming more and more overtly cruel and aggressive, all under the banner of  purported patriotism, which is actually just 1930s style Fascist nationalism wrapped in an American flag.

It would be restful to my downtrodden soul if I could look abroad and find hope in what is happening in other countries, but this is not the case. Though in years past I vigorously opposed German Chancellor Merkel's part in the EU's cruel austerity policies toward Greece, I have come to respect her for standing up for the decent treatment of Muslim migrants entering Europe from Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and elsewhere. I now note with great sadness that she too is now buckling to the anti-immigrant hysteria being generated by right-wing politicians in one European country after another. Hungary... Poland... Czech Republic...Austria...Italy.... one by one they are falling to  right-wing, anti-immigrant, pro-authoritarian leaders and political movements that seem increasingly Fascistic in their priorities and programs. On top of this, Trump's trade wars and obvious hatred of international cooperation are beginning to take a toll on the post-WW II world order. Imperfect as such structures as NATO, the WTO and the EU are, it is hard to imagine that throwing them away will lead to anything more than chaos and mischief. The same leaders who rise to power scapegoating vulnerable minorities in their countries may very well find it tempting to blame the problems of their closed, shrinking and increasingly xenophobic societies on other countries, and then go to war against them as the next act in the hackneyed drama of Fascism. After all, leaders like Trump, who love to glorify the military and strike patriotic poses, and who clearly have little regard for human life, would probably find going to war an attractive means of galvanizing support for their own regimes, should their popularity begin slipping in the polls.

A further fear of mine is that Russia will find it increasingly tempting to interfere in the Baltic States, what with Trump continuing to express scorn for the EU and NATO and to seek warmer relations with Russia. Trump was recently asked about the issue of Crimea, and the president refused to condemn the Russian occupation. So, while calling for a nonsensical, expensive wall on America's border with Mexico, to defend America against a nonexistent, truly "Trumped-up" threat from Mexicans and others, Trump is showing indifference, if not acceptance, of an actual, non-imaginary threat on the borders of Ukraine and Europe.  This once again exposes Trump's intellectual dishonesty, his geopolitical inconsistency and his moral bankruptcy for all to see, but the frightening thing is, some 30-40% of Americans seem willing to follow Trump off any cliff he desires to take them over. It terrifies me that some definite portion of the American population seems to truly enjoy Trump's circus of cruelty. It is like we are back 100 years ago when racist mobs would turn out to watch lynchings as entertainment.

I am 58 years old and this is the darkest time I have seen for America and the world in my lifetime. Until three years ago, I could never have imagined that I would live to see my country and much of the world marching toward a Fascist future. I mus t confess I am finding it hard to summon hope or the will to fight. On this Fourth of July evening, when many Americans are watching patriotic fireworks, I feel only dread at how all the parts of America that seemed worthwhile to me when I was younger now seem to be going the way of those fireworks, being blown up one by one.

As a Pagan, it especially pains me to see how Trump's environmental polices are actually anti-environmental policies, which will only make our world more ugly, more industrialized, more polluted, more unhealthy and more unlivable. Can't his followers see that making our country and the earth more polluted and poisoned will be bad for all of us, regardless of political affiliation? Apparently not. In Trumpian circles, environmentalists are seen as The Enemy just like journalists, civil rights activists, feminists and intellectuals. Ironically, the military establishment in America is well aware that global warming and rising sea levels will have a very negative impact on America's military capability, and that droughts, floods and famines will generate tension and conflict around the world. Yet we hear not a peep from our supposedly patriotic military leaders about the dangers to our nation, our world and our military forces of Trumpian anti-environmentalism. I hope that they will gain some courage to engage in public discussion, but courage seems in short supply these days.

For the first time., I fear that the Ragnarok scenario in Norse myth, which I always took to be a cautionary tale, may indeed be prophetic. We have leaders fomenting ever-greater division and conflict, and a rising risk of environmental collapse in the not very far off future. I dearly hope we will see some sign of hope, some sign that the winds are turning soon. Perhaps the 2018 elections? Perhaps...or perhaps not. I feel like a Nazi-rejecting German in the 1930s, hoping that this Hitler thing will pass, while fearing in my bones that it will not.

A New Dawn for Ásatrú: New Clarity Against Racism

As someone who has for many years been sounding the alarm about the dangers of right-wing, white supremacist and racist elements in Paganism, particularly American versions of Norse Paganism, and who has continually called on Pagans to completely reject any and all expressions of racism and white supremacy, I am happy to devote this first blog post of the New Year to praising the major American Ásatrú (aka Heathen or Norse Pagan) organization, the Troth, for its increasingly brave stance in these matters. The Troth has always been the most open and tolerant, and to that extent, left-wing Norse Pagan organization  in America, but in its intention to serve as an umbrella for as broad a range of American Heathens as possible, it has not always taken the racism issue head-on, not wanting to alienate more right-wing and ethnically-oriented Norse Pagans. However, as the anti-immigrant and white supremacist views of prominent right-wing American Norse Pagans like Stephen McNallen have become increasingly evident, the Troth has been more firmly and directly rejecting and denouncing racist sentiment and white supremacist identity construction, and declaring that racism has no place in the Troth. If one goes to the main Troth web page to see its mission statement, this is what they will find:

"...We welcome all people, whatever their religious, cultural, or ancestral background, gender or sexual orientation, who have developed or wish to develop a relationship with our Gods and Goddesses, and would like to know more about Asatru or other forms of Heathenry." (updated as of February 1, 2016).

Note, too, that the Troth  also takes a firm stand of inclusiveness toward the LBGT population and gender diversity.

In many way, in many places, the Troth has taken steps to stamp out the lingering, smoldering embers of white supremacy and racism that are an unfortunate legacy of the past history of Norse Paganism, with  respect to the continuing efforts by Nazis, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists and racists to appropriate Norse Pagan heritage and symbols for their own use. Events like the "Unite the Right"  march Charlottesville in August of 2017 have demonstrated that there continue to be disturbing links between white supremacy and a certain segment of the American Heathen population. Therefore, while I salute the Troth for more and more openly and firmly denouncing racism and white supremacy, the battle is not yet won and perhaps can never be, considering how deeply rooted racism and white supremacy are in American society and history. Indeed, when the right-wingers at Charlottesville declared that they simply wanted to preserve American heritage by protecting statues of Confederate soldiers, they had a point: racism, racial segregation and white supremacy are indeed American traditions of very long standing. Of course, so was slavery, and just because something had a long duration, that does not mean it deserved to exist for the time that it did or that it should continue now. Applying this to Norse Paganism, we might also say that just because it existed in the past, that does not mean that it should exist or be revived now, unless it has something positive to contribute to the world today. If all it has to contribute is a Viking justification for racism, than it does not deserve any respect or support, and we should seeks its demise and disappearance as quickly as possible. The many very spiritual, profound and creative non-racist Norse Pagans I know in Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the USA have reassured me again and again that Norse Paganism can be a worthwhile experiment in blending ancient and modern cultural and religious elements, and I am happy to be in their company, while I reserve the right to walk away from racists and white supremacists.

The thorny issue around which all these discussions revolve is the complex status of modern Norse Paganism, whether we call it Heatheny, Ásatrú, Forn Sið/Sed or by some other term, as a religion rooted in the past history of one particular place and people, that is, the ancient Norse and Germanic peoples of Northern Europe and Iceland, that has now been revived in a world of constantly mixing identities and cultural diversity. It is rather like the English language: it developed among Anglo-Saxons in England but has not become a language spoken worldwide. If tomorrow, the queen of England were to declare that only those residing in England or possessing Angl-Saxon genes wlll henceforth be permitted to speak English, the world would laugh.  The gods, myths, texts and traditions of Norse Paganism are no longer exclusively Scandinavian (or Icelandic, or German, or Northern European, etc.) possessions.They have become the common property of mankind across the globe. There may always be those who will take the view that the whole point of Norse Paganism is to block out the diversity and complexity of modern life and take refuge in an imagined "pure" white, Northern European identity. For the rest of us, Norse Paganism is an interesting and inspiring religious and cultural tradition that was, yes, born in the North but now faces in all directions, much like Yggdrasil, the WORLD tree that is so central in Norse mythology.

The Wolf is Loose and Howling: Racism on Parade in Charlottesville

In Norse mythology, one of the first calamities that presages the total destruction of the world in the cataclysm of Ragnarok is the breaking free of the monstrous dog Garm, who is, I suspect, most likely an alternate form of the destructive wolf Fenrir. Well, I would not want to suggest that we are now on the edge of the total ruin of the world, but I think what we just saw in Charlottesville, represents the breaking loose of our own beast of destruction, namely, the racism, neo-Nazism and White Supremacy that were proudly on parade in an American city on August 11 and 12, marching in military formation, bearing semiautomatic rifles, and chanting Nazi slogans like "Blood and Soil!" We have seen insult added to injury with the spectacle of the American president being either unable or unwilling to issue a clear, consistent condemnation of racism and neo-Nazism, even when the Charlottesville situation turned tragically violent. Heather Heyer, a young woman who came to express opposition to racism and Fascism, was slain by a young white male Nazi enthusiast who ran her down with a car, putting 19 other people in the hospital as well.

We have seen Donald Trump making disconcerting expressions of equivocation, first condemning "hatred and bigotry," as per the prepared statement that he was reading from  on Saturday the 12th, rather robotically, but then veering off and adding, in a much more animated voice, "on many sides... on MANY sides." He made a second attempt at a condemnation on Monday, reading prepared remarks that were indeed fairly clear and straightforward in denouncing hatred and bigotry. However, in a press conference on Tuesday, he again either went off-track or let his mask drop to show his true feelings, saying that "there's blame on both sides." Trump appeared to be drawing a moral equivalency between the racists and neo-Nazis  and those who had turned out to protest against them,  the bulk of them peaceful, some of them willing to use force, the second group being members and supporters of the "Antifa," anti-Fascist movement.

The President was correct that there was violence on both sides, but he conveniently overlooks a number of important facts:  (a) most of the counter-protesters were peaceful, unarmed and unthreatening; (b)  many of the right-wing forces were dressed in military-style clothing and were bearing semi-automatic rifles and other military-style weapons, which were extremely threatening; (c) the Antifa were equipped with only the most simple of weapons, sticks and stones and cans of mace, some with bottles that they hurled; (d) a cursory examination of American history reveals that we went to war to oppose Nazism and Fascism in WW II, which means that the counter-protesters were on the side generally understood as standing for good, whereas those who came out supporting neo-Nazism and White Supremacy were on the side generally condemned as morally reprehensible by most people--but not Trump. He seemed to be suggesting that those who were marching to  promote Fascism, neo-Nazism, White Supremacy and racism, and those who came out to oppose them, were equally to blame for unhappy times in Charlottesville. If the racists and neo-Nazis had been allowed to march in peace, everything would have been fine.

Would it really? No problem to have hate-chanting, weapon-wielding, torch-bearing Nazis marching in our streets,intimidating and terrorizing other Americans?

The presence of the racists and Nazis in Charlottesville was bad enough, and the president's response a further assault on decency, but there is a specifically Pagan angle to this that I am very sorry to have to report. Some of the White Supremacists in Charlottesville were bearing Pagan symbols, associating themselves with Norse-Germanic Paganism. This is the very kind of thing that led me to create this blog in the first place, and here it is again, an ugly distortion of Paganism to serve far-right, fascist ends, twisted into the service of racism and White Supremacy. This is a call to battle for all of us who believe in a liberal, tolerant Paganism. We must stand up for diversity and tolerance and against those who wish to define  Paganism in racial and militaristic terms, the combination of which produces such toxic brews as Nazism and White Supremacy. This is deadly serious business. Stand up, speak out, as peacefully and firmly as you can, avoiding conflict when you can, but engaging when you must.

May the Gods give us strength.

President Loki

Any rich religious tradition supplies us with many mirrors and windows through which to gaze at both our world and ourselves, the outer and the inner. Certainly the Norse Pagan tradition, which was already old before the Vikings ever set sail upon the ocean, is such a prism of imaginative possibilities. Today, as my outer eye was reading the New York Times and reflecting on the latest tweets and tantrums of President Trump, my other eye was looking into the mirror of Norse mythology and seeing the god Loki, and it occurred to me that there is a lot of Loki in our president. Both are born troublemakers who are good at stirring up strife and slinging insults and who seem to glory in creating chaos and discord. Trump clawed his way to the top of the Republican pack while slamming his competitors with pejorative nick-names like "Little Marco," "Lyin' Ted" and "Low-Energy Jeb." Then when he had the nomination in his pocket he turned his attention to the Democratic candidate on whom he bestowed the belittling title of "Crooked Hillary." How much this childish name-calling succeeded in damaging his opponents is unclear, but it may well have helped sour voters on these other possibilities as well as subconsciously charmed wavering voters to incline towards Trump as an entertaining rascal whose mockery and aggressiveness they found endearing. There are, after all, many people who do not follow politics closely, and may have voted for entirely superficial reasons or simply wanted to express displeasure with the status quo, for which purpose Trump, with his hateful, insulting rhetoric and disregard for any norms or decorum, was ideally suited.

This is much like how Loki unloads buckets of scorn and gossip on the other gods in the banquet described in the Eddic poem Lokasenna. Loki eventually gets so caught up in the joy of mockery that he cannot resist confessing that he was involved in the murder of Odin's son, Baldur. The gods' patience runs out when they hear this, and they seize Loki and bind and imprison him for the duration of history, until the apocalypse of Ragnarok when he breaks free to become the champion of the giants, the demons and the dead, who he commands in the final battle that destroys the world. One could imagine Trump's career taking a somewhat similar course. If the other Republicans in Congress get worn out by Trump's endless drama, bottomless vindictiveness and unceasing ad hominem attacks on anyone who displeases or opposes him, and if Trump's capacity for careless talk leads him to confess to serious crimes beyond the questionable actions he has already acknowledged in his diarrhea-like Twitter feed, the Republicans may decide to team up with their sworn enemies, the Democrats, in impeaching this reckless ogre and getting him out of office, and if not into prison, at least out of the political system. However, Trump's "forgotten man" supporters, who see him as their standard-bearer and messiah and seem impervious to any criticism of their savior, may well rally to him when he leaves office and give him new power to shape public opinion, promote conspiracy theories, and stir up angry trouble from a position as the head of a media outlet like Breitbart or FOX News.

Loki is also the father of some rather unpleasant and troublesome children, and the conflict-of-interest controversies swirling around Trump's daughter Ivanka and son Donald Jr., not to mention Ivanka's husband Jared Kushner provide interesting parallels. Trump's affection for authoritarian, dictatorial leaders like Putin of Russia, Duterte of the Phillpines, and El-Sisi of Egypt, not to mention his love of fossil fuel products and companies regardless of the damage they cause to the environment, also brings to mind Loki's warm relations with monsters who are bent on the destruction of the world as we know it. In my previous posting, I spoke of the Midgard Serpent as an analogy for fossil fuel structures like pipelines that encircle our planet and weave in and out of the earth. Well, in Norse tradition, the Serpent is the son of none other than Loki. If Trump is Loki or like Loki, it stands to reason he would have great affection for a monstrous entity that has the entire planet in its grip and no love for humanity.

So, readers, what do you think? Is Trump America's Loki? Is he a destructive force than can be restrained, but not eliminated from our world? Who will be our Thor to rid us of this menace?  Or will we never be rid of him, because many find his poisonous words and chaotic, maddening maneuvering clever and entertaining, and in sync with their own wishes for aggression, revenge  and destruction?

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Addendum:  Since writing this entry, I have discovered that I am not the only person to perceive a similarity between Loki and Trump. See https://thebaffler.com/latest/donald-trump-trickster-god   and http://screenrant.com/marvel-vote-loki-comic-trump-president/