Stealing a faith

Debate and discussion on racism and related issues

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Athetotheist
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Stealing a faith

Post #1

Post by Athetotheist »

https://www.theatlantic.com/internation ... sm/543864/

If this happens to your religion, can you afford to ignore it?

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Re: Stealing a faith

Post #2

Post by PolytheistWitch »

I realize this is an old post but. I'm not sure why the gentleman in Iceland was asked to comment on a Heathen problem in the US. Mr. Hilmarsson also believes the gods are expressions of human personality so he is not a polytheist he is actually an atheist. That said it is a serious issue in the Heathen community. You have to be diligent when researching groups or sites that they're not folkish. And there is a group that actively fights this called Heathens Against Hate. https://www.heathensagainst.org/.

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Re: Stealing a faith

Post #3

Post by Athetotheist »

PolytheistWitch wrote: Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:51 pm I realize this is an old post but. I'm not sure why the gentleman in Iceland was asked to comment on a Heathen problem in the US. Mr. Hilmarsson also believes the gods are expressions of human personality so he is not a polytheist he is actually an atheist. That said it is a serious issue in the Heathen community. You have to be diligent when researching groups or sites that they're not folkish. And there is a group that actively fights this called Heathens Against Hate. https://www.heathensagainst.org/.
I'm familiar with HAH. One issue I have is that I don't think the media give groups like HAH the attention or the respect they deserve.

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Re: Stealing a faith

Post #4

Post by PolytheistWitch »

[Replying to Athetotheist in post #3]
I'm familiar with HAH. One issue I have is that I don't think the media give groups like HAH the attention or the respect they deserve.
Well most Americans don't even know what a Heathen is. They just assume it's another word for atheist. Most don't really know what runes are, they just know that some of them are used by white supremacist groups as symbols, they have no idea they were once an alphabet. Like any other non Abrahamic religion nobody really gives it much attention until somebody carrying around a flag with an othala rune on it does something racist. Like I said they didn't even interview any American groups about American racist in Heathenry.

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Re: Stealing a faith

Post #5

Post by Athetotheist »

PolytheistWitch wrote: Thu Jan 05, 2023 10:12 pm [Replying to Athetotheist in post #3]
I'm familiar with HAH. One issue I have is that I don't think the media give groups like HAH the attention or the respect they deserve.
Well most Americans don't even know what a Heathen is. They just assume it's another word for atheist. Most don't really know what runes are, they just know that some of them are used by white supremacist groups as symbols, they have no idea they were once an alphabet. Like any other non Abrahamic religion nobody really gives it much attention until somebody carrying around a flag with an othala rune on it does something racist. Like I said they didn't even interview any American groups about American racist in Heathenry.
That's my point. The media routinely drop the ball.

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Re: Stealing a faith

Post #6

Post by Tcg »

Athetotheist wrote: Fri Jan 06, 2023 8:37 am That's my point. The media routinely drop the ball.
The media is driven by readership or viewership numbers or in some cases simply the number of clicks a topic receives. I found one estimate for the number of Heathens in the U.S. as 20,000. The number of Christians are around 210,000,000. Even the third most popular religion in the U.S., Islam, has only around 3,500,000 adherents. It's a simple game of numbers. In most cases the media is not going to focus on anything that would only generate the interest of a small audience.


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Re: Stealing a faith

Post #7

Post by Athetotheist »

Tcg wrote: Fri Jan 06, 2023 10:43 am
Athetotheist wrote: Fri Jan 06, 2023 8:37 am That's my point. The media routinely drop the ball.
The media is driven by readership or viewership numbers or in some cases simply the number of clicks a topic receives. I found one estimate for the number of Heathens in the U.S. as 20,000. The number of Christians are around 210,000,000. Even the third most popular religion in the U.S., Islam, has only around 3,500,000 adherents. It's a simple game of numbers. In most cases the media is not going to focus on anything that would only generate the interest of a small audience.
It's not as simple as that.
https://religionnews.com/2021/06/14/am- ... edia-bias/

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Re: Stealing a faith

Post #8

Post by PolytheistWitch »

Witchcraft isn't even a religion. It's a practice. As a metaphysical shop owner I can tell you people do walk by and make Satan comments like Satan is something non-Christian. It's easy to take something people know little about and make it scary. Unfortunately Heathenism appeals to racists just as the klan is Christian based. Religions can't keep morons out. You can lable yourself what you like. The media is more of a problem. They need a sensational element to sell news. They don't think about the consequences.

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Re: Stealing a faith

Post #9

Post by Tcg »

PolytheistWitch wrote: Sat Jan 07, 2023 10:47 am You can lable yourself what you like.
I didn't lable myself as anything.


Tcg
To be clear: Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods.

- American Atheists


Not believing isn't the same as believing not.

- wiploc


I must assume that knowing is better than not knowing, venturing than not venturing; and that magic and illusion, however rich, however alluring, ultimately weaken the human spirit.

- Irvin D. Yalom

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Re: Stealing a faith

Post #10

Post by Miles »

Athetotheist wrote: Fri Feb 11, 2022 9:35 pm https://www.theatlantic.com/internation ... sm/543864/

If this happens to your religion, can you afford to ignore it?
From your linked page:

"White supremacists are coopting Norse heathen symbols. Should the heathens ignore them? Protest them? Create a new theology?"

So, why can't they share 'their" Norse heathen symbols? Unless they're copyrighted they're up for grabs, and by anyone.

.

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