A letter in the West Central Tribune and a feature article in the New York Times continue the saga of the establishment of the Asatru Folk Assembly in Murdock, Minnesota.
The group is classified as a white supremacist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and other pagan groups in American aren't too fond of it either.
In Hrafnarfjall stands with Murdock, Crystal resident Laura Bainbridge, Co-founder of Hrafnarfjall, speaks out as one of those pagans:
I am co-founder of a Norse Pagan group in Minnesota called Hrafnarfjall.
Hrafnarfjall has been around since 2016, and it was founded on principles of inclusivity.
All followers of the Old Norse ways, whether called Ásatrú, Norse Pagan, or Heathenry, should share a common concern right now: The Ásatrú Folk Assembly.
With the purchase of a church in Murdock, the Ásatrú Folk Assembly have gained some mention of late.
Please let me be clear: They are NOT us.
Hrafnarfjall denounces their ideology. We stand with Murdock in opposing the dangerous ideals they espouse.
On their website, the Ásatrú Folk Assembly state that their ethics include supporting "strong, healthy, white family relationships," define "our people" as white people, the ideology known as Folkish.
Folkish practitioners believe that, in order to be accepted and welcomed in practice, one must be able to trace bloodlines back to Old Norse regions.
This ideology has earned the Ásatrú Folk Assembly a spot on the Southern Poverty Law Center's list of hate groups. They join the ranks of the United Skinhead Nation, and the Vinlanders Social Club with this designation.
This ideology has NO place in following the Old Norse ways. It was not of the old ways, has no basis historically, and even the Gods themselves interacted with others.
This ideology should concern all of us — it has given all of us, Norse Pagans, Heathens and Ásatrúar the wrong sort of notoriety.
It's up to us to change that. Who are we to tell the Gods who they may and may not call?
Hrafnarfjall is proud to stand against the Ásatrú Folk Assembly and all those whose ideology is exclusionary, bigoted and biased.
If you wish to know more about Hrafnarfjall and its ideals, please see http://www.kohrafnarfjall.org.
For the Sunday New York Times, Maria Cramer reports in Fear Spreads in Minnesota Town as ‘Extremist Group’ Moves to Open Church:
Maria Barron came to rural Minnesota 10 years ago from Mexico so her husband could work in a nearby dairy farm.
They quickly grew to love the pastoral fields in Murdock, a town of fewer than 300 people. They joined a Roman Catholic church and felt safe when their children, 12 and 14, played outside with children of Mexican and Central American families that settled nearby.
But in December, that feeling of security crumbled when Murdock’s mayor and City Council gave an organization for “ethnic European folk,” known for excluding anyone who is not white, a permit to open a church on Main Avenue, about four blocks from Ms. Barron’s church.
The group, the Asatru Folk Assembly, which describes itself as centered around a “native, pre-Christian spirituality,” has been identified as a white supremacist hate group by other Pagan believers and organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The 3-1 vote in December to approve a permit for the group has made Murdock, which was mostly known for soybeans, corn and its proximity to enormous dairy farms, the subject of intense national attention.
The decision alarmed many residents, particularly residents of color who until recently lived comfortably in the majority-white town. Ms. Barron said she and other mothers had discussed taking turns to watch their children when they play outside. When the elementary school asked Latino families to participate in a video production, Ms. Barron said, many declined.
“I don’t feel threatened right now. But I feel worried,” she said. “What worries me is losing our sense of peace.”
Many residents fear that similar groups will try “to get some sort of toehold here because they feel this is some refuge where they can come and foment this hate,” said Pete Kennedy, 59, an engineer who has lived in the town for about 50 years.
Town leaders have insisted they had no choice but to grant a conditional-use permit, or CUP, because of legal protections that forbid governments from using land-use regulations to impose a substantial burden on people trying to practice their religion. . . .
Read the rest in the New York Times.
Related posts:
- Tales of Murdock: AFA’s newest MN Apprentice Folkbuilder has an interesting personal history
- Murdock Area Alliance Against Hate launches Green Ribbon campaign against white supremacy
- Creator of "Stop the Asatru Folk Assembly" Change.org petition adds a note about donations
- West Central Tribune: city leaders & Murdock Area Alliance Against Hate to criticism of town
- Arrival of Asatru Folk Assembly in Murdock prompts Swift Co Sheriff office patrol contract
- From Willmar to Washington: more on Murdock's approval of Asatru Folk Assembly hof permit
- Star Tribune: Murdock council anonymous vote on Asatru Folk Assembly permit may have violated Minnesota's open meeting law
- Murdock city council approves permit for whites-only Asatru Folk Assembly to re-purpose church
- Baldurshof: Third Hof of the Asatru Folk Assembly setting up in Murdock, Minnesota
- AFA gothar coordinator's life changed from police shoot-out & prison to serving old Gods
- Bluestem in the news: Strib & the Intercept
- Quiet protest is start of anti-hate movement in Murdock (West Central Tribune)
- WC Trib: "Murdock City Council, on advice of city attorney, not commenting" on whites-only group
- Resident: "We really don’t want to be known in Murdock as the center of hate in Minnesota"
Photo: "Victoria Guillemard, left, and Ben Kowalskygrahek stand Wednesday, Dec. 9, outside the Murdock building of the Asatru Folk Assembly, a whites-only organization, in protest of the group's presence in the small Minnesota town. Kowalskygrahek said his sign reads, in Old Norse, "Where you see evil declare it evil and give your enemies no peace." Mark Wasson / West Central Tribune.
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