Folker than thou, v2.0

I've been giving more thought to "The Folkish Thing", especially after listening to a talk by Steve McNallen of the AFA on the "Odin Lives" radio show. A lot of what Steve said made my heart glad--his vision of reintroducing the Gods to the folk and making Asatru a stronger alternative to mainstream religion, the idea of reintroducing to humanity that which has been lost to the followers of the desert god, and providing a place for descendants of the original folk to come to know their ancestral faith.

HOWEVER:

I find the denigration of "universalism" to be a little irritating, especially because it implies that--despite statements about free will and freedom of choice--if you're "not folk enough", then you aren't allowed to come to know the Gods.

That right there just isn't reaching me. If somebody who is of Hispanic extraction comes to me and tells me that he's feeling drawn to the Gods and wishes to know of them, I'm to just turn them away withand tell them to go worship gods that may not be speaking to them? I don't get it.

I can see preaching diversity. I get that. I support that. I support respecting others' cultures and belief systems (which is why I don't do as some do and put down Christianity). But that shouldn't mean that I have to turn away out of hand somebody who has a genuine desire to know the Gods, just because that person may not have "enough" of the blood of the Northern Folk in him. I'd rather tell him of the Gods, introduce him to the Lore, and let him come to his own decision through prayer and meditation.

I mean, that's pretty much what happened to me.

Folker than thou

Earlier this week, I went to lunch with a fellow heathen. One of the things we discussed was the term "folkish". I told her about when I was denied membership on a "folkish" message board, because under "ethnicity" I had "French/Italian/American Indian" listed along with "Swedish"--and that when I asked (out of curiosity) why I wasn't allowed to join the board, I was pretty flatly told that Asatru was not the religion for me because of the non-Scandinavian part of my ancestry.

Umm....excuse me? Last I checked, the Folk were all those who were called to the Gods. Not only that, but the Gods don't seem to care--I mean, they adopted giants into their number, so what the hell problem would they have with worshippers who aren't 100% Scandinavian/Germanic in origin?

Somebody please explain this to me.

Well okay then.

You can always tell a "wiccatru" poster on an asatru mailing list or discussion group, because that person is always the one who just doesn't seem to totally grasp the concept.

You don't have to form a kindred in order to be Asatru. You don't even have to be in a kindred, if there isn't one near you. The Gods don't care if you're in a group or by yourself, they'll listen to you all the same. But bringing a wiccan god or goddess into what is supposed to be a heathen setting or trying to mix Paganism and Heathenism is a pretty good way to get a heathen to look at you and say "Uhhh...you don't quite understand this, do you?"

Pagans tend to get really upset when you comment on it, too. Why? Part of the search for truth in one's life includes a hard examination of things, doesn't it? At least, it should. That's how I wound up becoming heathen, after a long and twisting spiritual journey that included forays into two "mainstream" religions.

I just don't get it.

Well, here it is.

This blog is a place for me to record my thoughts about my faith and topics pertaining thereunto. All are welcome to comment and discuss, but racists will find themselves in a heap of trouble if they attempt to spray their venom here.

Hail the Gods!