On one level, the life of Blaine K. Qualls, Gothar Coordinator of the Asatru Folk Assembly, sounds like a familiar American story. A troubled young man falls into bad company, runs afoul of the law, goes to prison, and while incarcerated, renews his religious faith and when his time is served, contributes to his family, his faith and his community.
But for Qualls, his road to redemption isn't related to the common Christian script, but rather to finding "the native, pre-Christian spirituality of Europe . . .the great Aryan religiosity."
As we noted in Saturday's post, Baldurshof: Third Hof of the Asatru Folk Assembly setting up in Murdock, Minnesota, many observers of the Neo-Volkisch movement categorize the AFA as a hate group. Indeed, researching the group, we found a reference in which the writer claimed Qualls had been a Skinhead when he was shot by Louisville, Kentucky, police in 1994.
Friends in Louisville were able to supply photocopies of two newspaper articles that confirmed that the incident happened, though the Louisville Courier news briefs didn't label Qualls as a Skinhead.
There's this October 10, 1994 account of the shoot-out:
And this March 2, 1995 account of a guilty plea:
We were able to ascertain that the Gothar Coordinator and the young gun man shared the same birthday and middle name. A paid criminal records search established that the young man received a Criminal Attempted Murder sentence and served time in the Kentucky state prison system. He was convicted on April 13, 1995 and paroled on March 17, 2004.
We contacted Qualls via the email for him on the AFA website in order to confirm that he was indeed the same person in the newspaper articles.
In a phone interview, Qualls admitted that it was indeed him, but that the latter characterization of him as a skinhead was not true. We have yet to obtain police records of the arrest and the prosecuting attorney's office on the case.
"I was not a skinhead," Qualls said.
Nor did he find Asatru in prison. "I was into pagan religion--mostly Wiccan--as a teen. But I married young and the marriage fell apart. Going through the divorce, I was in a bad place. I fell in with bad company."
After being shot by the Louisville police officers he'd fired upon, Qualls was in a coma in a Louisville hospital for a month. "I was arraigned in the hospital," he said. He went from the hospital to a jail cell to court, then prison.
"I made very poor choices and paid the price for them," Qualls said. While in prison, he was able to reconnect with his pagan foundation, he told Bluestem, but it wasn't a prison conversion.
After being released from prison, Qualls joined his father, whom he characterizes as a staunch Christian, in southwestern North Dakota.
As for the AFA hof being set up in Murdock, Qualls stressed that people in the community have nothing to fear and denied claims that the AFA is a hate group. "We just seek to worship the European gods," he said. Those who will come from across the state and region to use the former Calvary Lutheran Church--now zoned as a single-family residence--"have families, have jobs, and own homes....We're not political. We ask members to avoid joining white supremacist groups."
The Southern Poverty Law Center's Neo-Volkisch hate group article and other groups' assessments note similar disclaimers.
"As we have in our hof in California, we'll try to work to help the community," he said, citing the example of AFA food drives that help all comers with food security.
Nor are members of the congregation likely to move to Murdock, given their established school and property ties in the communities where they are currently living. The building in Murdock was chosen in part because it's in a central location for Asatru believers in Minnesota.
Qualls said that hes willing to talk to anyone in Murdock about the project, while working on the building or after services, which are ordinarily held every other weekend in AFA congregations. While weekends aren't holy days in the faith, they are convenient for the adherents, given the scheduling of jobs and their kids' schooling.
However, when asked whether Murdock residents were welcome to join the services, Qualls noted that AFA meetings are closed to all except members and invited guests.
The Hof's Facebook page lists Saturday, November 21 at 9:00 a.m. as the Baldurshof Dedication. No word on the event page that the dedication is closed to the public.
Photo: Blaine Q Qualls, via the AFA's webpage.
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