Heathens/Asatru: What are your thoughts on the "race issue"?

Question

As I'm reading more about Asatru my husband is having more questions, centering around the dreaded race issue.

Were Vikings truly racist?
Do you believe only those of Germanic heritage should be allowed to practice Asatru?
Do racist groups associate more often with Asatru than say, Christianity?

Any thoughts and opinions would be greatly appreciated. :)

Fuhrerball666 - I beg to differ. The KKK is largely Christian.

corpsmanlove1! - These are questions from my husband. Please do not assume he is automatically thinking Asatru is racist. They were honest questions. Don't get mad at people for asking questions.

Also, I was under the impression Spaniards killed off more Native Americans than the Vikings did... If you insist on making claims that Vikings tried to wipe out all of Native Americans, you might want to provide sources because it sounds farfetched to me. (Hubby's words)

Answer 1

Historically, the Vikings, hell, the Teutonic, Nordic peoples in general were among the most toperant and progressive peopls of their day (and most days since). They were genuine interested in anything foreign or exotic. It was not until WWII and the Nazi fiasco that brought racism into the equation. Even today, far FAR too many people that already have racist agendas latch on to the symbology used by Hitler and his Ilk to make it part of their work.

The majority of White racist groups, are, in fact Christian and only a very few make any effort to follow the Nordic path, mostly because when they delve deeper into it they find that Racism and Asatru don't mix.

I believe that those who are not of Germanic Heritage should look to their own ethnic background FIRST. You have to understand that religion, psychology and genetics are closely related and following a religion, ANY religion whose psychological needs you have no genetic pre-disposition can damage a person,; be it a NON-Norseman following Asatru, or a NON-Middle Easterner following Christianity.

That being said, I will say this, "The gods will call whom the Gods will call and if they see fit to call someone of a different genetic makeup, they have a good reason for it.

Answer 2

Considering that the Vikings would have had little contact with other "races" (well aside from trading, but that's different) I'd imagine that...by today's ideas of racism they would not be racist. HOWEVER, their priorities were their ethnicity, all others were different and that's just kind of how early societies work. One has to protect their own, it's the genetic imperative.

True racism is things like instituted separation, laws that divide the people, actions that are intended to cause fear and hurt.

But yeah, there is definitely many racist groups who are Asatru and are overly proud of their "heritage" to the point of being d**ks to everybody else.

It would seem to me that it's not so much people of a Germanic heritage only being "allowed" to practice Asatru, but as many Pagan beliefs revive the old ways of closed ethnic groups...why would, say someone who is mostly Greek be interested in worshiping Odin? Wouldn't Zeus be the better choice?

But then again, think about the modern world - many people, no matter the race have a bit of other people's in them. Maybe the Germanic blood is there and it has a stronger call than the Italian? If someone has an experience with a god/dess then it doesn't matter what Pantheon they come from.

It's a valid question to ask though. Which is more important, belief or genetic heritage?

Answer 3

Ok first lets clear one thing up. Cultural pride is not racist. You are refering to Folkish paths and they PROMOTE thier culture, they do NOT bash others. The vikings had trade routes as far as Africa. If they were racist, then I think that wouldn't have happened.
Are there racist Asatru? You get there is. Just like there is the damn KKK. We, as a community, do NOT TOLERATE it. Check out Heathens Against Hate. Racism is not in the lore, it is NOT in the beliefs. Most documentation shows that the Vikings actually respected cultures a great deal, honoring the visted cultures gods with no sense of conflict what so ever.
I repeat, there is a BIG difference between Folkish and Racist. Do NOT confuse the two.
For the person above me who said the Vikings tried to wipe out the Native Americans, learn a Heathens favorite workds
Cite
Your
Source

When I asked this question when I first started Heathenism a friend of mine (who IS folksih by the way) said these words to me. Many Asatru do.
"It is not whether or not you can be Asatru. It's whether or not you can be Asatru with ME."

Answer 4

The Norse weren't racist. Neither were the Germanic Tribes.

I personally don't believe only those with the heritage should be allowed to practice Asatru. Anyone can (how would I stop them?).

We have our share of racists, but I would say the larger groups are associated with Christianity... KKK, the Aryan Alliance, most Neo-Nazi's align themselves with Christianity.

I personally am not a racist. The respect I give to a person is not due to skin color or where they were born and raised. I don't like the fact that there are some out there that use Asatru as a Racist platform, but there isn't much one can do to stop that from happening. I try to make sure people know that I am not a part of that myself. I have more important things to worry about than what a person's skin color is or where they were born or who their ancestors were.

Answer 5

We do not believe that the Nordic people, aka Vikings (pronounced "veeking", which means pirate or raider), were racist, any more than anyone else was. They had settlements and trade with many cultures across the entire North Atlantic and North Sea as well into the Baltic regions and northern reaches of the Middle East.

More racists follow Christian/Islamic faiths than all of the other religions in the world, combined.

For example, you will never find a Pagan, Buddhist or Hindu in either the KKK or the white supremecy groups, but you will find a whole lot of Christians (or at least people claiming to be) within them.

The ancient Pagan religions were designed for all to follow. the only time that a race component was instituted was to provide for cultural segregation, or ethnocentrism. It may have been prevalent in ancient times, but that was mostly do to the typical cultural division between every culture of the time. Religion wasn't a tool for it, culture was a tool for keeping the religion within the culture

Christianity was the first religion to actually ingrain racism into it's social fabric and it has been the largest contributor to racism in the past 180 years.

It was here in America during the era of slavery, where many were arguing against slavery.
At that time, some southern Christians placed it into church doctrine by claiming "natural, God-given superiority" over blacks, in order to justify the continuation of slavery.

The strongest justifications for prejudice and war against a particular group has always been "God is on our side". That kind of thing has always been a strong tool for prejudice.

Answer 6

There are Indo-Europeans who believe they are Indian-which really pisses off the Indians - (who steal the culture and symbols of the true Indians )- there are also those who think that they are African even though their pasty flesh and blue eyes say different- and they are laughed at by those who are African- those who try to claim to be heathen and are not of our ancestors lineage act the fool for their people(s) -
Asatru also deals with OUR ANCESTORS!!! This is not racist or a hate filled thought IT IS FACT!! More often than not- some hippy dippy "norse wiccan" likes to think that the whole world is one , it is NOT our differences should be celibrated not shunned those who are African-Mexican-Arabic and so on ,SHOULD ALL be proud of who they are and especially of their OWN lineage.

Have any of you ever shut the Hel up - and thought- that maybe the person is being called upon by their own blood -don't confuse these people - their heritages are just as rich as ours- let them find the paths back to their kith and kin.

Answer 7

FuhrerB: the MAJORITY of racists profess to be Christian, from Hitler to W.A.R. to Christian Identity Movement.

Vikings weren't racist at all - even Thor's children are known to be "mixed" (he had a giantess for a wife in addition to Sif). Vikings loved to travel, to learn new things and to settle where they landed and intermarry with the locals. The town of Belfast in Ireland was founded by the Vikings.

2) No. There's a saying among Tribalist and Universalist Asatru - If you say you're Tru, you're Tru until you prove dishonorable. Who are we to say who the gods call?

3) No but they do get a LOT of press when they do. Unfortunately, the Aryan Brotherhood (the prison gang) has adopted Viking symbols and our gods to justify their racism. So have groups around the world. Hitler was the first to do this - look at the swastika - it predates Hitler but it'll be tainted for probably another two generations.

Hope that helps - any more questions or details - email me.

Corps... : No, the Vikings did NOT attempt to wipe out Native Americans. They settled in New Foundland and Greenland - check out the archaeological record - there were no slaughters of natives. There were attacks by American Indians on the Vikings - no one likes to give up their land without a fight, naturally. Once they realized the Vikings weren't evil spirits and not out to destroy them, they ignored each other. The Vikings failed to thrive because they didn't adapt to the area - a mistake the pilgrims made as well only the Indians to the south saved the Christian a**es

Answer 8

As far as i know Vikings weren't racist. anyone should be able to practice Asatru. those racist hate groups do the same things that the Nazi's did. They take something beautiful and twist it until it meets their own evil needs. There is much more racism in many Christian sects than in any of the pagan religions. It's not followers of Asatru who are going around in white robes with their heads covered or burning black or mixed race churches, that would be other Christians. Sorry didn't mean to get up on my soap box, but when people take something beautiful and twist it for evil, thereby making people think that all people who follow this path are evil it really really gets me.

Answer 9

I'm starring this for my Asatru/Heathen contacts

But as far as I know.....

The Vikings were not truly racist as they had a lot of trade and other social intercourse with other cultures historically

My Asatru contacts generally have expressed that only allowing those of Germanic heritage to practice that religion is too limiting in that it denies that the Gods can choose whom THEY will

Unfortunately, several racist groups have latched onto Hitler's Germano-centric racist claptrap and grafted it onto a religion that has little to no relationship with it otherwise

Answer 10

Well Woden himself said in the Havamal in his usual round about way that racism is simply wrong, in particular when dealing with guests in your home/town/country in the same way as discriminating against a blind man or a poor man is also wrong.

As many of the others here have pointed out the Norse people were travellers and traders and as such it wouldn't have been logical for them to hate the people they traded with or visited. It wasn't until recently converted Christians began refusing to trade with heathen men that any sense of hostility on an international scale began and the north men became synonymous with acts of violence and terror in Europe.

Connecting Ásatrú with nazism is something I could never really understand, after all Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf that he felt modern day believers in the Aesir were weak cowards, although he did use certain runic symbols to bolster nationalism in his men he most certainly didn't believe in the Aesir and Vanir. (In fact he was quoted as believing that the Teutonic people had extra terrestrial DNA making them superior!).

It is true however that Ásatrú does have a strong focus on ancestral roots and connections that gives us with the land and each other as well as the Aesir and Vanir but it's in no way exclusive, after all virtually all of us have ancestors who were Christian or Hellenic, Celtic and if you go back far enough African tribesmen, it is also said that 1 in 5 men worldwide have Ghengis Kahn's Y chromasome, so ANY notion of racial purity is frankly laughable to begin with. Personally the Aesir and Vanir came to me because of WHERE I live, this land was devoted to them by both the Saxons and the Danes and while my blood contains some remnants of them it also contains remnants of the earlier Britons who were not followers of the Aesir and Vanir. There isn't a pure blooded decendant of the Vikings anywhere on Earth so for Ásatrúar to discriminate against a person who wishes to follow the Aesir and Vanir because of their origins is hypocritical in the extreme and a long way from what Woden teaches.