The Infidel Bloggers Alliance yesterday contained this post by Rolf Krake on the growth of Asatru in Denmark, and its implications for the Danish Army. The writer, an atheist and a Dane, expressed an admiration for this belief system, stating that if he were to have a religion this would be it.

Outside Scandinavia most people do not know what Asatru is or their values so a quick explanation is needed to know what an Asatru believer is - He is one who believes in the old Norse deities as did the Vikings, Asatru is not a religion in the sense as we know it from monotheistic religions but a way of life and spirit and a set of values of some can be found in the Havamal.

Moral virtues inculcated by this religious system include courage, honor, and independence. With these values, many Asatru believers join the Danish Army.

"They want to be soldiers and some of them have got a romantic dream about dying in battle. Then you are assured to go to Valhalla" Says the asatru society Forn Sidr's secondary chairman about his young male co-believers who are deployed in the Danish Army. . . .
"They want to be soldiers and some maybe have got a romantic dream about dying in battle. Then you are assured to go to Valhalla. The Asatru-believe is right up the alley because it emphasizes on masculine values. You are persuaded to show courage and to protect the community, all are values which also belongs in being at war" he explains to Kristelight Dagblad.

According to Army priest Christian Madsen who have been on mission in Kosovo and Iraq the Asatru believers are so visible that the latest camp in Iraq, Camp Einherjer, was named after einherjerne, who in the Norse mythology were the Viking warriors who felt in battle with honor and found worthy to live in Valhalla.
Christian Madsen do not know how many Asatru believers there is in the army. But he underscores that they are very visible both in the military at home and on the international missions.

"There is a great deal of Asatru believing soldiers there have got a romantic dream of the community solidarity one experienced in the old North. The Norse mythology is heavily influenced by war and probably also one of the reasons they want to be soldiers. You notice them because they have got Thor's hammer as a necklace and tattoos of the Midgard serpent or other Viking tattoos on their arms" Says Christian Madsen to Kristeligt Dagblad.


Asatru seems to be growing worldwide, and even has an internet presence, such as this site. In the United States, Asatru has an appeal to White Supremacists who prosyletize in prisons.

The last link is to an article from today's (October 31) CBS website, here is a portion:

A man who murdered a fellow inmate during a pagan religious ceremony was executed Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his appeals and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine denied his request for clemency.

Michael Lenz, 42, received a lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional Center and was pronounced dead at 9:07 p.m.

When asked if he had any final words, Lenz gave a slight shake of his head, indicating no.

Lenz and another inmate, Jeffrey Remington, were sentenced to death in 2000 for stabbing 41-year-old Brent Parker a combined 68 times with makeshift knives at the Augusta Correctional Center. Lenz had been serving a 29-year sentence after being convicted in Prince William County of burglary and weapon possession.

The three inmates were followers of the Nordic pagan religion Asatru, and belonged to a group known as the Ironwood Kindred. The kindred was gathered for a ceremony when Lenz and Remington attacked Parker at the foot of a makeshift altar.

Asatru has been gaining popularity among inmates, say religious leaders and prison experts who believe its roots in Viking mythology attract prisoners seeking power, protection and unity.


Asatru belongs to the much larger category of Neopaganism, which means a revival of beliefs and rituals from European paganism. There are a wide variety of groups and practices, and most are not violent or particularly martial. For example Wicca, which focuses on the Earth Mother. And Druidism, reviving ancient Celtic beliefs. Neopagans can be found in most Western cultures, and are working for greater recognition and respect.

So, why the revival of the Old Gods and Goddesses? Perhaps a search for community, prison inmates are not the only ones who feel a need to belong to a group for protection and identity. In Eastern and Central Europe neopaganism has been linked to a search for national identity. And,some feminists and environmentalists are drawn to the idea of an Earth Mother and a sacred earth.

But, in the main, I think Neopaganism can be understood as a replacement religion for Christianity. Most of Western Europe secularized in the nineteenth century, and the decades since WW 2 have seen this trend accelerate. But, since scientific secularism is so basically unsatisfying to people, and postmodern anomie even less satisfying, Religion will be found. With Christianity seemingly discredited, paganism once again had an appeal. And with Christianity associated in people's minds with the modern dominant industrial culture, those who cared for the environment and those who despised patriarchy felt the appeal of the old gods and goddesses.

The more martial paganisms, such as Asatru, with its strong appeal to men, also reflects a Christian failure, I believe. In much of Western Christianity, especially in Protestantism, the nineteenth century witnessed what is called "the feminization of Christianity." Not only were most worshippers women, but the role of the mother as the keeper of the family's religion was stressed. The softer virtures such as humility received more attention than fortitude. And the believer's relationship to Jesus Christ was presented in femine terms; even Jesus became feminized. Compare these two Victorian Era hymns with earlier hymnody.

1. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
calling for you and for me;
see, on the portals he's waiting and watching,
watching for you and for me.
Refrain:
Come home, come home;
ye who are weary come home;
earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
calling, O sinner, come home!

2. Why should we tary when Jesus is pleading,
pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not his mercies,
mercies for you and for me?
(Refrain)

3. Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
passing from you and from me;
shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
coming for you and for me.
(Refrain)

4. O for the wonderful love he has promised,
promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, he has mercy and pardon,
pardon for you and for me.
(Refrain)


and

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

I'd stay in the garden with Him
'Tho the night around me be falling
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known


These two hymns are Victorian feminine sentimentality. No wonder some men have trouble relating to Jesus as portrayed in many churches. Compare them with two from an earlier century

1. Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Does His successive journeys run;
His kingdom spread from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

2. To Him shall endless prayer be made,
And endless praises crown His head;
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
With ev'ry morning sacrifice.

3. People and realms of ev'ry tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on His name.

4. Let ev'ry creature rise and bring
His grateful honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud "Amen!"


and

1. Lo, he comes with clouds descending,
once for favored sinners slain;
thousand, thousand saints attending
swell the triumph of his train.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
God appears on earth to reign.

2. Every eye shall now behold him,
robed in dreadful majesty;
those who set at naught and sold him,
pierced and nailed him to the tree,
deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
shall the true Messiah see.

3. The dear tokens of his passion
still his dazzling body bears;
cause of endless exultation
to his ransomed worshipers;
with what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture,
gaze we on those glorious scars!

4. Yea, Amen! Let all adore thee,
high on thy eternal throne;
Savior, take the power and glory,
claim the kingdom for thine own.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Everlasting God, come down!


These last two, from an earlier era, present a masculine Jesus.

Of course, the old paganisms never really went away. As I write this on Halloween, I have been interupted by costumed children seeking candy on the date of an old pagan festival. And, in less than a month I'll put an evergreen tree up in my house. At my first teaching job, the elementary children of the school had a May Day celebration with a Maypole. The pagan religions were simply domesticated and Christianized. But now that Christianity is weakened in the West, they are slipping the leash and growling at their handlers.