![\"a](\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Georg_von_Rosen_-_Oden_som_vandringsman,_1886_%28Odin,_the_Wanderer%29.jpg\")
<\/a>It doesn\u2019t take much digging to find examples of followers of a given religion who use their religious beliefs as justification for some of the most heinous events in history. When pressed, the perpetrators point out a religious passage or verse which they say defends their position: \u201cI beat my wife because the Bible says that men are in charge of the family and my wife was being insubordinate.\u201d \u201cI blew up that airport (and myself) because in the Koran, God commands us to kill unbelievers.\u201d \u201cI shot up the Jewish Community Center because Odin (as interpreted by Hitler) wants the White Race to be pure.\u201d (Really. Odin told you to kill a bunch of unarmed Jewish civilians in a peaceful public place. Way<\/em> to earn your place in Valh\u00f6ll, buddy. Not.<\/strong>)<\/p>\n To be fair, usually these positions are taken by the most conservative or fundamentalist sects or individuals in a given religious tradition, and even within those groups, there can be a wide range of interpretation of \u201cGod\u2019s (s) will\u201d which doesn\u2019t necessarily endorse abusive. However, it is not just one or two \u201ccrazy people\u201d who have these beliefs. There may be only one or two people who pull the trigger, but the shooter or abuser\u2019s entire community supports the underlying interpretation that led to their action.<\/p>\n How does this all relate to modern Heathenry? Despite it being a modern movement, there are still some segments of the Heathen community that cling to the same kind of conservative attitudes that sound more they would be more at home within fundamentalist Christian groups than a\u00a0the Viking Age village. Misogyny, racism\u2014none of these are endemic to Viking Age religion or culture. In fact, women in the Germanic areas in the Viking Age had many more rights than the rest of their European counterparts. Also, the concept of \u201crace\u201d, much less\u00a0the prejudices or hate behavior based on a person\u2019s race, was not a part of their worldview.<\/p>\n Given the right motivation, however, a modern Heathen can look to the Lore and come up with something to support either racist or misogynist actions. Their actions, in their eyes, would then be seen as being \u201cethical\u201d, because The Gods Said So\u2122. It\u2019s ludicrous, but it\u2019s not any different that what fundamentalist Christians or Muslims have been doing for centuries.<\/p>\n Heathenry does have a moral code, though, as many Heathens will tell you. We call this code the Nine Noble Virtues (NNV). The NNV are a modern invention that Edred Thorsson (or Stephen McNallen, or one of their contemporaries in the modern Heathen movement \u2014 it depends on who you ask) came up with that distills the basic \u201cthemes\u201d from the myths, sagas, and legends of the Viking age and puts them into a kind of a warrior code for Heathens to follow. The version of the NNV that I am most familiar with is as follows:<\/p>\n Now, as concepts by themselves, I can\u2019t really argue with any of these. They seem like useful, worthy ideals to strive for in one\u2019s life. I have many friends who value the NNV highly and use them to guide their lives, and it seems to be working very well for them. However, not unlike Christianity\u2019s Ten Commandments, the NNV can also be \u201creinterpreted\u201d (read: warped) so as to justify otherwise reprehensible behavior.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, despite it being a useful guide for many Heathens, the NNV can be turned into a stick to beat other Heathens with just as much as people use Christianity\u2019s Ten Commandments or Islam\u2019s Five Pillars. It\u2019s good to be aware of this. Ever see Heathens throw each other under the bus using the NNV as the primary weapon of choice? Think of any flame war you may have seen on a Heathen mailing list or FB group in which a person is attacked for not being \u201chonorable\u201d enough, or not living up to his or her oaths; or of being \u201cuntruthful\u201d when in reality, there are often several equally valid points of view in a situation. Someone calls someone else out on a public forum, and soon words like \u201cnithing\u201d and \u201coutcast\u201d are being thrown around,\u00a0and someone demands \u201cweregild\u201d (as if we were actually living back in the Viking Age and didn\u2019t have a complex legal system to rely on). Communities turn on each other, kindreds break up, and Ragnarok begins! Mwahaha!<\/p>\n (Yeah. I\u2019m being a tad melodramatic; but then, so are these flame wars.)<\/p>\n Let\u2019s be realistic, people. Sometimes people willfully break sacred oaths or disrupt the peace\u2013yes. This is true. However, sometimes people just make mistakes<\/em>. We can misunderstand or disagree or be in a bad mood or even just forget relevant information. It\u2019s called being human. Smacking someone upside the head with the NNV does not actually help to rectify the situation. And the mob-mentality and verbal abuse (and worse) that results from this are the\u00a0problems<\/em>, not the solution.<\/p>\n Which brings me back to my original point. Why must morals and ethics come from religious beliefs? I think that unnecessarily complicates things. I find it easier to call out the good and bad behaviors I come across when I don\u2019t have to cut through the layers of religious justification and BS that people often use to defend their actions. If you beat your wife, I don\u2019t\u00a0care<\/em> how your religion justifies it; it\u2019s still wrong. If you blow up public places because you\u2019re \u201ccleansing the population\u201d, I don\u2019t care<\/em> that Odin told you to do it\u2014it\u2019s still morally wrong, and you should be punished. (You can argue with Him about in Valh\u00f6ll, if you ever get there.)<\/p>\n Granted, many belief systems help their adherents act honorably and give them a model of good behavior to strive for. Many (if not most) Heathens, Christians, Muslims, and Pagans are just good people trying to do the best they can to live in an honorable way. If so, great! This article is not aimed at them. If the NNV (or another set of similar guidelines) helps you to live a good life, wonderful! However, if you find yourself using them as a justification for abuse, then it\u2019s time to stop and question whether you are following them, or just using them as an excuse.<\/p>\n Happily Heathen <\/em>is posted on alternate Fridays here at the Agora.\u00a0 Subscribe by RSS<\/a> or e-mail<\/a>!<\/p>\n Please use the links to the right to keep on top of activities here on the Agora<\/em><\/a> as well as across the entire Patheos Pagan<\/a> channel.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Heathens turn ideals into a weapon to tear down other Heathens, we\u2019re being just as bad as the fundamentalist Christians. Do we even need to base our ethics on religion?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2325,"featured_media":12060,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[330,606,1654,187],"tags":[1789,746,792,820,25,26],"class_list":["post-12048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-pagan-community","category-happily-heathen","category-theology-ethics","tag-american-heathens","tag-ethics","tag-heathen","tag-heathenry","tag-pagan","tag-paganism"],"yoast_head":"\nModern Heathen Ethics<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Heathens who beat each other with the NNV Stick<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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