The Wild Hunt » fascism

More Far-Right British Pagans

Jason — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:08:41 +0000

In November of last year I noted a story concerning a leaked membership list* for the British National Party, a whites-only far-right (some would say pseudo-fascist) political party in the UK. The list revealed some members identifying themselves as Witches, and in one instance as Pagan clergy, which prompted the Pagan Federation to issue a press release that this person is in no way affiliated with them. Since that story first ran, the BNP have had a run of good luck, exploiting a political melt-down in the Labour party to win two seats in the European Parliament, and an English county council seat for the first time. But while the BNP is trying to present a more civilized (and mainstreamed) face to the public, a recent undercover expose of last weekend’s BNP Red White and Blue festival (a “family” event full of “nice” people) showed something quite different.

“Saturday night was the climax of the festival – and when the vileness reached its peak. Firstly, around 50 skinheads took part in a PAGAN ceremony to summon occult powers for their cause. They chanted incantations as they passed around and drank from an animal horn filled with mead. Two hours later, local council candidates John Coombes, of Maidenhead, Berks, and Dick Hamilton of Marlow, Bucks, were sitting with others around a brazier. Hamilton’s ghettoblaster blared out songs supporting Hitler and attacking “ni**ers”.”

Sounds very family friendly, doesn’t it? Other highlights include throwing wet sponges at a man in an Obama mask locked in a stockade, and burning a “golliwogg” (essentially a black-face doll) for the crime of being black. The reporter goes on to list several other instances of racism and thuggery that party leadership either took part in, or turned a blind eye towards.

As for the “pagan” ceremony, since the reporter didn’t go into specifics we have no way of knowing what (if any) tradition these skinheads adhere to, or if it was simply a ritualized racist pep-rally. What is increasingly certain is that the core of the BNP is simply a political front for a motley assortment of racists, aging National Fronters, and outright Nazis, who happened to luck into chaotic political landscape (rife with economic uncertainty and tensions over immigration) and gain a small taste of power. While this sort of “blood and soil” politics may charm some Pagans who hold romantic ideas of their “British-ness”, we must remember that romanticism is often exploited by fascists, pseudo-fascists, and other authoritarians for their own political ends, often leading down violent and ugly roads. The BNP doesn’t care about the British people, it cares about the ever-shifting “other” (blacks, immigrants, Indians, Jews, etc) they can place under their boot-heel in order to feel powerful.

* Concerning the membership leak, two have been charged, and in a case of delicious irony, the BNP had to complain under the Human Rights Act, which they vehemently oppose, in order to stop the list from being published.

The Bay Area Fascists?!?

Jason — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:08:00 +0000

If I could outlaw one rhetorical and stylistic device I think it would be comparing your idealogical opponent to Hitler, Nazis, and fascists*. It cheapens the true horrors of WWII and the Holocaust, and instantly destroys any chance for a civilized debate. The political left and right both employ this “scorched earth” tactic of demonizing the other side, and some religious leaders aren’t much better. So I felt a certain amount of disappointment when I read an article about an intermittent California Bay Area ban on wood burning sent to me by a reader of this blog.

“…most Bay Area residents have been surprisingly receptive to a new rule banning wood fires on pollution-laden Spare the Air days during the winter, say officials at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District … But don’t try telling that to the neo-pagan pantheist who fired off an e-mail to district employees and members of its board of directors. ‘I will NOT be deprived of my constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of religion by bureaucrats looking for more ways to control even more aspects of our lives,’ wrote the pantheist. ‘I’m claiming an exemption because this ban violates my right to practice my religion, a right that is guaranteed by the Constitution … When the government controls everything we do, say and think, that’s fascism … Anyone who would turn in their neighbor for burning wood would be right at home in Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. Think about it, people, what have we become.’”

Who knew that the new jack-booted thugs would come in the guise of a program banning wood burning on Winter days when air pollution reaches unsafe levels.

“In the wintertime, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) becomes the pollutant with the greatest impact on air quality … When our morning forecast predicts that concentrations of PM2.5 will exceed the national health-based standard, the Air District will issue a Winter Spare the Air Alert. Winter Spare the Air Alerts will be posted on our Spare the Air home page and on the Air District’s www.baaqmd.gov home page.”

Now perhaps our anonymous Pagan pantheist had a point in asking for a religious exemption, but by comparing an initiative to improve air quality with Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia he has labeled himself an un-serious crank who will be ignored by those in power. In addition, Pagan groups who do seek to get an exemption should a holy day fall on a day when a Winter Spare the Air Alert is issued will have to combat the impressions made by this Pagan who cried “fascist”. So if you are planning to write a letter of complaint about a local ordinance, try not to compare your elected officials with regimes that have murdered millions of people, you might be surprised how much further you get in resolving your issue!

* Of course, should your idealogical opponent actually aspire to emulate Hitler, Nazis, or the principles of fascism, feel free to let those analogies, metaphors, and rhetorical flourishes fly!

Update: Far Right British Pagans

Jason — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:36:00 +0000

Since I first mentioned the leaked membership list (which included some Pagans) of the far-right British National Party, the press in England have tried to put the 12,801 names into perspective.

“Your first instinct, naturally, is to check if you know anyone. I didn’t, as far as I could see: no one in the small Middlesex village where I grew up (though four in Pinner, where I was born), and only three in the district of west London where I now live. Colleagues have pored in amazement over the records for their home towns.”

Jon Henley’s editorial for The Guardian also touches on the fact that Pagans were/are a part of the whites-only extremist party. He first notices that BNP leaders (much like mainstream political leaders) were worried that Pagan membership would make them look bad (“Member describes himself as witch: potential embarrassment if active”), and that an alleged “Pagan prison chaplain” was among their number. This has, in turn, sparked an immediate press release from the Pagan Federation stating that none of their chaplains are BNP members.

“We are not aware of any British National Party members serving in the Pagan Federation Prison Ministry. All Pagan chaplains are subject to counter-terrorist clearance (CTC) by the Home Office. This includes in-depth checks about associations and memberships or affiliations with activist groups. The British National Party is one group that no Prison Service worker is allowed to be a member of … Should it subsequently come to light that any potential or current Pagan prison chaplain has made a false statement about such memberships, I would take immediate action in removing that individual from the Pagan Federation Prison Ministry … The claim being made on a widely circulating list that an individual named on that list is a Pagan prison chaplain is false.”

For more Pagan reactions to the BNP leak check out the Pagan Network message boards. I find it interesting how prison chaplaincy for Pagans is so centralized within the Pagan Federation. It certainly allowed for a quick response to allegations of BNP Pagan chaplains. I can only imagine the havoc that would ensue among the Pagan community in America should a similar list surface here.

Quick Note: Far Right British Pagans

Jason — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:34:00 +0000

While some harbor the notion that Pagans are all leftist anarchists, modern Paganism is actually quite politically flexible, as a story about a BNP member-list leak proves.

“Police, teachers, paratroopers, guards, royal marines, district nurses, librarians and clergymen are among the 12,000 or so members of the British National Party whose details have been revealed in an internet blog by a disgruntled former employee of the party. And it is to the police that the BNP has turned to carry out a full investigation into the matter … The list, which included home addresses, telephone numbers, employment details and hobbies (including steam railways, line-dancing, paganism and witchcraft), has been removed from the original blog but is available on other websites.”

The reason the British National Party is so upset is that members of this whites-only, far-right political party are considered little better than Union Jack wearing fascists (a position held by both the mainstream right and left in England). In fact, they are so notoriously racist that police, prison workers, and other civil service staff aren’t allowed to be members. So for those worried about a leftist hegemony in modern Paganism, fear not! Anyone can be a Pagan, even psuedo-fascist morons.

Italy’s Object Lesson

Jason — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:32:00 +0000

If you were looking for an object lesson on why the separation of church and state is a good idea, look no further than Italy, where a satirist is being prosecuted for insulting Pope Benedict XVI.

Sabina Guzzanti: Pope insulter.

“Italy’s Ministry of Justice has given prosecutors in Rome permission to proceed under the Lateran Treaty against comedienne and satirist Sabina Guzzanti. She is charged with “offending the honour of the sacred and inviolable person” of Pope Benedict XVI. During a comedy routine Guzzanti criticized the Vatican’s interference in issues such as gay rights, saying: ‘Within twenty years the Pope will be where he ought to be, in Hell, tormented by great big poofter devils…’”

All hyperbole aside, Guzzanti is literally being charged under a fascist law. The Lateran Treaty of 1929 was the great solution to the “Roman Question”, a political dispute between the Italian Government and the Papacy. This treaty recognized the sovereignty of the Holy See, and established a concordat giving the Catholic Church certain privileges within Italian society (including the punishment of insults against the Pope). The whole thing was approved by arch-fascist Benito Mussolini, a fact that hasn’t escaped critics of this prosecution.

“Nobel prize-winning playwright Dario Fo said of the decision to take action against a comedian: “This is Fascism pure and simple.” Ms Guzzanti’s father, a centre Right MP, was shocked by the prosecution. According to The Times Paolo Guzzanti branded it: ‘a return to the Middle Ages. Perhaps my daughter should be be submitted to the judgement of God by being made to walk on hot coals.’”

What are Catholics saying? So far, very little. After a few searches I could only find one Catholic blog commenting on the story, and while he isn’t for the comic being jailed for five years (that would make her a martyr to free speech you see), he is for a good public shaming!

“I think these individuals should, however, be firmly answered in the public forum, not along the lines of “oh my, we’re so offended” but rather with an argument such as “think about what you are saying” … and then listing the qualities of this Pope that make her comments so mindless in comparison. In other words, shame these people, don’t jail them. Sending them to jail makes them look like a sort of brave martyr for free speech, shaming them with the truth makes them look exactly like what they are – idiots.”

As you can see, the quality of mercy is not strained. You can have free speech, so long as you endure a lecture from the powers that be on how you’re wrong. As for the Vatican, no official statement has been released. They are too busy distancing themselves from Catholic attacks on resurgent fascist tendencies in Italian society, and urging secular France to remember a more religious past.

One can only hope this farce of justice is stopped. Meanwhile, those of us in countries where that church-state separation is a bit more clear should be grateful that the Bill Donohues of this world can’t have comedians and artists sent to trial and locked up.