Asatru has been labeled as an “Extremist Group” by Department of Homeland Security

This morning a fellow heathen pointed me to a Washington Times Article that mentioned that Department of Homeland Security has a “lexicon” of potential extremist groups.

Congratulations my fellow Asatruar, we’re in it:

(U) racial Nordic mysticism  (U//FOUO) An ideology adopted by many white supremacist prison gangs who embrace a Norse mythological  religion, such as Odinism or Asatru. (also: Odinism, Asatru)

Now it is true, that if you dissect this statement, not all Asatruar are labeled as racists.  However it’s still extremely troubling that this official government document could be interpreted “against me” and result in me (or you, or any heathen) as a potential racial extremist.     There’s an email address at the end of the document for comments, but I asked myself “so if I email this address in protest, will they label me an extremist by default?

Perhaps its worth commenting to my congressman, or the president about.   Though I’m hot sure that would be terribly effective either.

It seemed to me that “we” had come a long way in not being tied to those racist organizations that most of us agree don’t hold the same beliefs as we.  Unfortunately, our government hasn’t seen that progress.

Cherry Hill Seminary course on Web Site Development

I just received notice from Cherry Hill Seminary that they’d like me to teach a course “Effective Web Site Development for Pagan Organizations” in the fall.  This course is a non-technical course focused on exploring the ideas of site design, content management systems, etc.   If you’re a leader of a pagan group and are dissaisfied with your web site, this may be a good course to take.

Free Spirit Gathering 2009

There are several heathen courses being offered at FSG in 2009, plus a blot everying morning, two Sumbels.  Plus I’ll be doing readings.  Email mohnkern@gmail.com if you want to make sure you get a reading during FSG and I’ll make sure to set aside time.

Upcoming Book

I’m hard away at work on “A Year of Viking Ritual.  I hope to have it completed and in print by  the time FSG starts, but am not sure I’ll “get it done.”  Stay tuned for details.  

Fires of Venus 2009

I’m planning on doing some non heathen related presenting at Fires of Venus in September, 2009.  If you’re going to this event, contact me at mohnkern@gmail.com if you’d like to meet up.  Perhaps a “kinky heathens” meeting would be appropriate.

Welcome to the new and improved Modern Heathen!

 The Wiki served us well for many many years.  However as we’ve grown, we’ve found there were things we just couldn’t do in the Wiki that we wanted to.

 So we’ve moved to Joomla.  We hope you’ll find it easy to navigate. All the same content is there, and we’ve organized it into various categories, so we can grow.  You’ll find the categories of articles on the left hand side.

again,  Welcome to the new Modern Heathen!

 Scott Mohnkern