Charlottesville Archives — The Rational Heathen

Freedom of Speech Versus Dealing with Nazis

August 30, 2017 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

Freedom of Speech versus dealing with the Nazi asshats:
I have a moral dilemma. The situation isn’t cut and dried or black and white. Like most things in a Heathen’s life, there are many shades of gray.

Let me explain.

Nazis and Antifa

I hate the Nazis. I really do. I’m against them 100 percent. As a writer, I am pro First Amendment. That means that I am all for freedom of speech. I believe that freedom of speech is necessary for a free society. So, when the Nazis hold a rally or are met with the Antifa forces, I go into cognitive dissonance. I really don’t know what to think.

The First Amendment

As a champion of the First Amendment, I believe that everyone has their right to say or write whatever they want. (I don’t have to read it or listen to it, mind you. And I sure don’t have to agree with it.) Now, obviously freedom of speech has even been limited in America, but for the most part, you can spout the most absurd rhetoric and no one from the Government is going to visit you in the dead of night and drag you from your home (yet). There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. Threats made against the president, for example. But overall, you can be as stupid as you care to on the Internet, in a paper, or out on the street corner.

Suppression of Freedom of Speech

This brings up Antifa. I agree that one needs to be anti-fascist. But I think they’re doing it wrong. Antifa is aimed at suppressing the Nazis’ freedom of speech with violence. They are a leftist group who are also anti-capitalist and socially leftist. Yes, they are pro-LGBT and anti-racist, but their leftist affiliations makes me wonder what their end game might be. Suppressing freedom of speech, even from Nazis–and you have NO IDEA how much this pains me to say it–is wrong, if the Nazis leave it to only speech and rhetoric. When someone eliminates freedom of speech, one eliminates it for all people.

When Do They Whittle Away Our Rights as Heathens?

Think of it this way: yes, we can ban fascist statements, but when does what you believe start disappearing as well because the prevailing view shifts? Right now, our right to worship our gods are tied to the First Amendment in the United States. That means we have the right to honor Thor, Odin, Freyja, Tyr, and even Loki, if we wish. We can also choose to worship nothing, worship the Christian god, or worship a snake in a bathtub. This is a basic right guaranteed by the First Amendment. What’s also guaranteed in the First Amendment is that the government will not prevent you from expressing your beliefs, AKA, the Freedom of Speech. It doesn’t stop individuals or corporations from trying to stop you from stating your beliefs. Other laws that deal with physical violence are supposed to prevent that.

While Antifa isn’t the government, I’m truly wondering what their intentions are. I’m as anti-Nazi as they come, but even I recognize the implications if we don’t uphold the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, even for Nazi assholes.

Are the Nazis a Clear Threat Yet?

Obviously the Nazis can’t handle peaceful demonstrations–are we all that surprised?–but the question of whether it’s right to attack Nazis shouting their bullshit is the question I’m going to ask. I mean, it’s one thing to claim you’re a Nazi, believe their propaganda, and demonstrate; it’s another when you start beating people.

You could claim that every single Nazi gathering has been violent. I haven’t paid that much attention to the Nazis until recently, but I’d imagine that is probably true. In which case, yes, cancel them on the grounds of violence. But our Constitution and its Amendments guarantee that they are entitled to their opinions and beliefs, however awful they are.

I’m not sure if they’re a clear threat yet, but they could be. As a Heathen, I recognize violence against evil as being sometimes necessary. For example, during war or when one is attacked. But to instigate violence against a violent group seems to just incite them further. I learned this training animals. You don’t punish the dog when it does something bad. You ignore it. Eventually the behavior stops if you reinforce the behaviors you want. It’s basic training techniques, and one that work exceptionally well, even with human animals. If we enforce the right behavior, i.e. tolerance, and ignore the bullshit rallies (and have an armed police presence that keeps them in their own little spot where they can’t harm civilians), fewer and fewer people are going to want to join up.

Han Shot First

We all know the argument in Star Wars that Han shot first in the original version. Lucas edited later editions to have Greedo shoot first and miss. In the first Star Wars, Han shot Greedo before he could shoot because we all knew what was going to happen if he didn’t. We cheered over it, because not only Greedo was a debt collector, but he also was an assassin. Han acted in self defense over a clear threat.

I’m not saying that we should shoot first when it comes to Nazis, but there is such a thing as self defense given that someone is armed the same as you (or better) and makes a credible threat. Still many states don’t recognize this as defense and consider it murder. Also, there’s a matter of showing up ready to fight. Legally, one could, I suppose, say you were there to incite more trouble. (We Heathens are great at that, by the way.)

So, What Should We Do?

The violence is Charlottesville ended in a death of a woman and the Nazi is being tried for murder and attempted murder. (As he should be.) I am saddened by the woman’s death and the injuries of people who were protesting these evil people. I saw the video of the attack and was appalled, because it was apparent the injured and killed people weren’t doing anything violent. That woman should not have died, nor should the people who were protesting peacefully been injured.

Right now, I know that it isn’t in human nature to belittle and ignore Nazi rallies. It’s in our DNA to want to fight the injustice and insanity. I can’t tell you what to do, but by giving these Nazi morons someone to fight against, it validates their threat. Let me ask you one question: which is more insulting to an aggressor: acting like they’re not worth your time or fighting them on their terms? Yes, you will get bigger noise, and even more outrageous behavior, because they want to call attention to themselves, but eventually, they’ll find it not worth their while if they aren’t given center stage all the time.

Just a thought. Your mileage may vary.

Should We Tear Down Confederate Statues?

August 18, 2017 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

As usual, the Rational Heathen goes right at controversy head-on. Which will probably get
someone’s panties in a wad. My opinions may surprise you. Furthermore, the reasons for my opinions probably aren’t what you would expect. So, let’s get to the post and see how many hate letters I get, huh?

Nazis and Charlottesville

The Alt-Right, AKA the Nazis, KKK, and white supremacists, are evil. Period. If you’ve read any of my posts, this statement comes as no surprise to you. I abhor that we’ve attracted those elements in Heathenry and I really wish they would go back to their Christian roots and have those people deal with them (instead of us). My dad helped liberate Jews right after WWII — he saw the concentration camps. I don’t mince words about what I think about Nazis. They are horrendous.

Charlottesville was a terrible tragedy because three people died, including one civilian who was protesting the evil when an Alt-Right drove his car into a crowd of protesters. The other two were police officers whose helicopter crashed. Nineteen people were injured when that car ran through the crowd. The sad part is that none of this should have happened. All this was allegedly over a damn statue. A hunk of metal.

Over a Damn Statue

Of course, it wasn’t just the statue that people were protesting. It’s the ideology behind what the statue is. Robert E. Lee was a famous southern general, which makes his statue a natural lightning rod for those who want to make him the poster boy for the Alt-Right bigots. (As an aside, Lee wasn’t pro-slavery, but he wasn’t outspoken against it. He turned down serving in the Union against the South because of his loyalty to Virginia. I think he would probably be horrified over his legacy as an Alt-Right poster boy. Furthermore, he was against Civil War statues.) The statue in question is still to be removed, just as there have been other statues removed. The descendants of Lee, Davis, and Jackson have already said they want them removed.

Oddly enough, I don’t think removing the statues are a good idea. Let me explain…

The Problem with Removing the Statues

It seems like a great idea to remove signs of hatred from public viewing. The problem is that you don’t get at the root cause of the problem: the hatred, itself. Instead, you remove a piece of history that could be used as an object lesson for those generations that follow. It’s rather Soviet-esque to remove the existence of statues because you don’t like the person or ideology it represented. After all, if no one talks about it openly, surely it goes away, doesn’t it? (That was sarcasm, for those who don’t get it.) That really worked for the Balkan states (sarcasm, again). When the threat of the Soviet fist was lifted, fighting resumed. Gee, I guess that’s one for the USSR, huh? Never mind all the oppression there. (Sarcasm, folks)

Imagine, if you would, that everything anyone found offensive were to be removed. We would have few historical monuments. People, both past and present, are incredibly flawed. What would happen if Auschwitz and all the other concentration camps were destroyed instead of preserved? We already have holocaust deniers–how many more would we have? What about Nazi buildings? What about the Custard memorial at Little Big Horn? What about the Battle of Culloden? What about the Trail of Tears? What about Columbus? Should we remove those statues and memorials because they’re incredibly painful to someone?

Most of the founding fathers of our country owned slaves. Our Viking ancestors owned slaves. Europeans owned slaves. Africans owned slaves. It has been a blight on humanity since the beginning of agriculture–and possibly before. Do we censor Mark Twain because he used the N-word (when he was incredibly anti-racist)? Do we tear down those things that symbolize slavery? Just because we remove something, doesn’t mean it no longer existed, or exists now.

I believe they need to be there. Not as a place for the Alt-Right to congregate, but one that we can use as a way to educate people as to the atrocities of the past.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. — George Santayana

Where the Problem Lies

The problem isn’t the statues. They’re chunks of metal and stone. The problem is the underlying hatred and bigotry that exists. Destroying monuments won’t eliminate the issue–in fact, as we’ve seen in Charlottesville, it actually adds fuel to the fire. The problem is the way that our society treats minorities to this day. Somehow because of genetic variations, some people are convinced that they’re better or superior to those without those variations. Those in the Alt-Right are convinced that they’re “pure,” when in fact, they just aren’t. Genetics do not lie. History and archaeology has further demonstrated that there have been incursions into Europe since humans first arrived. Our ancient ancestors didn’t care about “racial purity” — they only cared about whether or not the invaders were going to kill them. And the invaders were more into acquisition of wealth: land, gold, food, and slaves.

Somehow, as a society we’ve become fucked up to the point where statues mean more than human beings. (And Christians accuse Heathens of idolatry?) I believe we’re at a turning point in history where we can either stand up for the equality of all humans regardless of their ethnicity or skin color, or we can let the thugs take over. I do not advocate violence while there is still some shred of the rule of law. Right now we need to work on fixing the inequity and protecting our fellow human beings, Because, we’re all in this together now.