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Jason Pitzl-Waters on Nov 19th 2008 at 4:34 pm Uncategorized

Quick Note: Far Right British Pagans

While some harbor the notion that Pagans are all leftist anarchists, modern Paganism is actually quite politically flexible, as a story about a BNP member-list leak proves.

“Police, teachers, paratroopers, guards, royal marines, district nurses, librarians and clergymen are among the 12,000 or so members of the British National Party whose details have been revealed in an internet blog by a disgruntled former employee of the party. And it is to the police that the BNP has turned to carry out a full investigation into the matter … The list, which included home addresses, telephone numbers, employment details and hobbies (including steam railways, line-dancing, paganism and witchcraft), has been removed from the original blog but is available on other websites.”

The reason the British National Party is so upset is that members of this whites-only, far-right political party are considered little better than Union Jack wearing fascists (a position held by both the mainstream right and left in England). In fact, they are so notoriously racist that police, prison workers, and other civil service staff aren’t allowed to be members. So for those worried about a leftist hegemony in modern Paganism, fear not! Anyone can be a Pagan, even psuedo-fascist morons.

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6 responses so far

  • Carol Maltby

    Some of our own white racists in the US have begun to explore Anglo-Celtic Pagan practice, as a way of embracing their ethnic heritage. It’s quite disturbing to read, seeing this twisted and ugly bigotry inserted into what might otherwise be a normal exploration of Pagan practice, lore and history.

  • Morning Angel

    There has been (and remains) a white supremacist element within Heathenry (Asatru, Odinism). Fortunately, the overwhelming trend now is to shun association with people self-described as national socialists. Any informed Reconstructionist can vouch for the fact that early Heathens were a tolerant lot of folks, who would look with contempt on racially-based hate.But it goes to show that Pagan does not equal Liberal. We are as diverse in our political views as in our values and beliefs. We should remember that diversity when we try to lump Christians together as extreme fundamentalists. There are moderate and liberal Christians, as well, also Christians with thoughtful and informed beliefs.Unfortunately, knee-jerk Christians tend to be the loudest, but so it is with any extremists. Just as we should demand that thoughtful Christians speak out against extremists who shout slogans of hatred, Pagans must be wary of groups who disseminate racism, sexism, general violence and hate.[end of rant]

  • Shadowhawk

    That racist element Years ago was most widely found in the Asatru Free Assembly..Its sad to see in a path holds virtue in esteem seeing as racism to me isnt a Virtue

  • Robin Edgar

    Is not racism a form of excessive esteem in and of itself? Not surprising then that a tradition that places an emphasis on esteem might degenerate into racism. The reappropriation and revival of pagan traditions by White Supremacists goes as least as far back as Nazi Germany.

  • Anonymous

    Indeed, in Germany paganism is still widely asociated with fascism (even though historically most Nazis, like most Germans at the time, were Catholics or protestants), both by the general public and by the fascists themselves. A common tactic among pagan fascists is the “we’re all (German)pagans so let us not be divided by trifles like political views. Unfortunately, this works quite well, especially in Norse and Asatruar circles.

  • http://patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2009/08/more-far-right-british-pagans.html The Wild Hunt » More Far-Right British Pagans

    [...] November of last year I noted a story concerning a leaked membership list* for the British National Party, a whites-only far-right (some would say pseudo-fascist) political [...]