It is a sad but true fact that any religion, culture, or for that matter, any group of more than three humans is likely to fall victim to disinformation. Often this is mere accident, other times it is deliberate. Such is the case in modern Heathenry with the Foklish/Tribalist/Universialist views. Folkish Asatru is not innately racist. There are racist individuals that are part of the Folkish Asatru community, just as there are members of AIM and the NAACP that are racist. This does not make those organizations racist however, and nor do a few racist Folkish Asatruar make the Asatru Alliance (AA), Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA), and Odinic Rite (OR) racist. I do not personally agree with the beliefs of these organizations on the need for Nordic ancestry. At the same time however, I have never found solid evidence that these organizations are racist. Indeed, I have found the opposite to be true, that they are open to individuals not of Northern European descent if they marry into or are legally adopted into a Folkish Asatru family.
Yet, there are several folks within the greater Heathen community that would mislead folks to believe Folkish Asatru is a racist branch of the religion, and attempt to place the AA, AFA, OR, and smaller Folkish Asatru organizations alongside obviously racist or racialist organizations such as Wotansvolk. I am not going to discuss why they do this. I have no insight into what motivates these folks outside of a suspicion it is some form of religious intolerance (read "Religious Bigotry for insights into this mentality)". However, I will point out some of the methods used in disinformation, and how not to be taken in by such disinformation.
The disinformant has at his or her means many tools with which to disinform people. Innuendo, character assassination, and a general failure to provide solid evidence are all tools used by the disinformant. Briefly, when looking for attempts to disinform the general community look for the following:
1) False accusations without solid evidence. Often you will see someone claim "It is clear such and such is linked to such and such a racist organization." And then they will proceed NOT to give you the solid evidence you need to make a connection. When this happens, ask, "Where's the hard copy?" "Do you have video tapes, tapes, signed statements to the effect this is true?" Never accept ANYONE's word on someone else's associations, reputation, or activities. Unless you can confirm something first hand, IT IS NOT FACT.
2) Innuendo. An innuendo is "an indirect or subtle, usually derogatory implication." Disinformants love innuendo. By making insulting remarks hinting that certain members of the Folkish Asatru community are racist, they believe they can make it true. In truth however, all innuendoes serve to do is further emotionalize the debate. Disinformants do not operate on hard facts; they try to appeal to the emotions with all sorts of bad rhetoric. Innuendoes are just one tool they can use to rouse an emotional response in someone, and shut down the logical thinking processes.
3) Taking statements out of context. Another favoured tool of the disinformant. Taking a statement out of context is when someone misquotes or attempts to portray a statement by someone else as meaning something other than it does. For example, were I to state "Wotansvolk is the only racist organization to rank in the top 20 on Google search for the term Asatru," and someone says "Swain says Wotansvolk is the only racist organization," they have taken my statement out of context.
Often researchers are cited as evidence to back claims of racism in folkish Asatru. An example of this is the recent (4-21-2001) interview by the SPLC with Mattias Gardell called the "New Romantics." Many have attempted to show that Folkish Asatru is racist using this interview. Yet it is clear from Professor Gardell's clarification, that he does not include ethnic (Folkish) Asatru in with the militant racist organizations. Indeed he makes a clear distinction. Below is his clarification of the matter:
Clarification concerning the article THE NEW ROMANTICS in the spring 2001 issue of Intelligence Report.
1. I was NOT talking about the whole neo-pagan community in the United States. The interview focused on the racist interpretation of Asatrú often referred to as Odinism. I also tried to make clear the distinction between the racist and ethnic positions as these two very different interpretations of Norse traditions often are confused. (The wider non-racial non-folkish pan-pagan milieu was hardly mentioned at all. There is a growing body of studies concerning the wider pagan revival but that was not the topic of the interview and will neither be the focus of my forthcoming study. However, I do will make the distinctions clear)
2. The line 'everybody supports the Unabomber' is somewhat taken out of context. It should have been made much clearer that I here talked about the radical environmentalist subsection of racist Odinism where one does find considerable support for the Unabomber. The word 'everybody' was a casual metaphor that I would never use in writing. It came in the course of a 4 hours something transatlantic interview over the phone and I am sorry for having made that slip.
Disinformants have also tried to use the information of Kaplan and others against Folkish Asatru. Yet it is clear each time the information is checked that the findings were taken out of context deliberately. This particular tool is VERY dangerous since a skilled writer can even use someone else's words against them, and thus lend some credibility to their own statements.
As with #1, always go to the source. If someone quotes someone or paraphrases them, go to the person quoted or paraphrased and ask them what they meant. If you cannot do that try to lay your hands on the original piece of work.
4) Use of Fear and Confusion. The disinformant preys on the fears of the general Heathen of being accused of being racist or associated with racists. Many Heathens as sensible modern people have this fear, its real, and as such can be used to motivate them not to associate with folkish kindred's or individuals. If used well enough, this fear can even be used to motivate individuals to make accusations, spread rumours, and do things they usually would not do. On top of this they may attempt to confuse in peoples' minds the differences between Folkish or ethnic Asatru and extreme racist organizations. As long as they can keep folks in fear and confused about what is going on and who is who, they can exercise control over them. Hitler used similar methods of fear and confusion to motivate many ordinary Germans to persecute the Jews. If you find someone trying to motivate you due to your fear of something, and not appealing to your mind, you can probably bet they are attempting to control you in some way. An honest Heathen always appeals to one's logic, or at least to the more sensible emotions using fact.
5) Exaggeration. The misinformant will often take an isolated event, and try to portray it as a major happening, or indicative of a group as a whole. An example would be the following statement: "At Althing 7, an 'Asatru Folkish Samfelag' member was insistent on using the term Nigger. I told him I did not like the term, but he continued. If the AFS is going to tolerate this type of behaviour...." The disinformant attempts to use the exaggeration of acts of isolated individuals to reflect badly on entire organizations. Sometimes, they will use such exaggerations in connection with totally unrelated events or organizations. When you hear of isolated racist acts in Folkish Asatru, try to get the whole story. Was this a known Folkish leader involved in the racism or an isolated nutcase? Was this the act of one kindred or the stand of the entire organization? It is difficult for any organization to control the acts of its members. In the 1960s, many members of the NAACP were also members of the Black Panthers. Did that mean the NAACP endorsed racism or terrorist acts? No, it did not.
Similar to exaggeration is hyperbole. A hyperbole is figure of speech in which an action is exaggerated for affect, sometimes adding details to misrepresent what happened. An example would be the following statement, "the AFS contains millions of racists," when in reality not only may there be only a handful of racists, but the AFS membership numbers under a 1000.
6) Misattribution. Misattribution is when someone attributes someone else's words or deeds to someone else. It is another attempt to create confusion. An example of misattribution might be attributing the views of Wotansvolk to a Folkish kindred with a similar name. This can be extremely useful to the misinforming where identities are easily confused. Again the easiest way around this is direct confirmation by yourself. "Do they mean Wotansvolk or Woden's Folk or for that matter Freya's Folk?"
7) Reading emotions or thoughts into actions. There really is not a good term for this, but the following example, "When such and such saw that black guy drink from the blot horn, his eyes lighted up with hatred," is perfect. How does anyone know what anyone else is thinking? How do they know if it was hatred the guy was feeling? Human beings are not mind readers, and if we were, I have yet to see a court of law accept such as evidence. Take20 people and let them witness an action, even an innocent one, and you will have 20 different interpretations of what the person doing the action was thinking or feeling. And none of those will be correct. I have had this happen in my personal life.
8) Hearsay. Hearsay is defined in courts of law as 'Evidence based on the reports of others rather than the personal knowledge of a witness and therefore generally not admissible as testimony." Basically hearsay amounts to unproven rumour. People love to talk, but in such discussions, the stories told always get changed a bit. The old telephone game is a perfect example of this, to such a degree that the last version told in the last phone call will no way resemble the one in the first. Misinformants love hearsay, they use it to their advantage, and since rumors are hard to trace, it is an ideal way for them to smear someone's reputation. Again however, hearsay is easily disproven if the rumours turn out to be lies. Always check the source of such tales.
8) Hearsay. Hearsay is defined in courts of law as 'Evidence based on the reports of others rather than the personal knowledge of a witness and therefore generally not admissible as testimony." Basically hearsay amounts to unproven rumour. People love to talk, but in such discussions, the stories told always get changed a bit. The old telephone game is a perfect example of this, to such a degree that the last version told in the last phone call will no way resemble the one in the first. Misinformants love hearsay, they use it to their advantage, and since rumors are hard to trace, it is an ideal way for them to smear someone's reputation. Again however, hearsay is easily disproven if the rumours turn out to be lies. Always check the source of such tales.
9) Ridicule. When cornered the disinformant may attempt to ridicule detractors. Examples of such statements are "Such and such is out of touch with..." or responding to statements backed up with facts as "that is a load of BS." Such statements are a further attempt to emotionalize and sensationalize and issue. They have no place in rational, fact based debate.
The enemy of such misinformation is of course in your own hands. The tools of the Good Heathen at finding the truth are easy to use and easier to hone:
1) Logic. Rational thought is perhaps the best way to see through a misinformants statements. For example, if they try to tell me "Edweard Sweardfreond is a racist," but I have bloted with Edweard Sweardfreond and watched as he bloted and symbeled with non-Northern Europeans, I KNOW using logical thought the misinformant is lying. Another example, "Wotansvolkis a racist Asatru organization that feels blacks, Jews, and other non-whites are inferior. The 'Asatru Folkish Samfelag' was founded in 1972 and based on the ancient Nordic, white religion." Here the misinformant is trying to use sensationalist rhetoric to lead you to identify Wotansvolk with the AFS without ever saying the AS is racist. Logic dictates however that the AFS and Wotansvolk are not the same organization and may not hold the same views.
2) An Open Mind. This is the most important thing to Heathens. If you have decided based on rumours and hearsay that such and such is a racist, you as a human being, are naturally going to read racist actions into anything they do or say. If however, you remain indifferent, and do not base your opinions on anything BUT solid evidence, you will not be reading anything into their actions. Instead you will be seeking the truth, trying to see for yourself whether or not someone is racist. If indeed they are not, and you are using your mind and logic instead of emotions, you will find that to be so. A general rule is, if you do not know someone, or have not experienced an event personally, remain different to it. If in doubt, simply have nothing to do with them. For example, if I suspect that Forn Sed is racist, but have no solid evidence (direct quotes, videotapes of racist acts, and so forth); while I would say nothing against them, I would not associate with them either. This way if they are racist, I am not helping them or in fear of being tagged racist for associating with them. On the other hand, if they are not, I have done or said nothing to besmirch their reputation.
3) Be a skeptic. Always doubt, question, or disagree with assertions someone is racist until you have solid evidence. By being a skeptic you do not open yourself up to the abuse of misinformants. Indeed, you may wind up exposing one.
Modern Asatru is a very complex religion. There are many views on who should or should not practice the religion. This is to be expected. It is an ethnic religion that is being reconstructed. In a sense, the Universalist, Folkish, and Tribalist views are all right. It all depends on semantics. One thing is clear however, unless a group deliberately encourages racial hatred of other races, total exclusion of other races from the entire religion, they are not racist. Most Folkish Asatruar state anyone is free to practice Asatru as kith. They are not against bloting with members of non-Folkish kindred's when invited to non-Folkish events. These are not views a racist would hold or practice. So while I feel anyone can be Heathen, as long as they worship our Gods, practice our ways, and are not flat out outlawed from every single Heathen organization, I cannot stand by and see accusations flung at the Folkish Asatruar. After all if they are racist, so are the Lakota and numerous other Native Americans, as well as the practitioners of Shinto and other ethnic religions. Note: The 'Asatru Folkish Samfelag' is a fictious organization made up just for demonstration purposes.
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