The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/category/perspectives/opinion)
Over the course of the 2010s, it felt as though Heathens in the U.S. military made steady, if slow, progress on their religious rights. Pete Hegseth claims to have reversed all those gains in a matter of weeks. Karl E.H. Seigfried considers where Heathens go from here.
“When contemporary commentators describe authoritarian politics as ‘pagan,'” writes Manny Moreno, “they risk reinforcing an exclusionary narrative: that Christianity civilized power, while paganism represented brute force. That binary not only oversimplifies history; it marginalizes living religious minorities.”
“I urge you to remember our history, our shared history as a nation, our family histories, our cultural history, and our religious history,” writes Clio Ajana. “Look to our ancients for guidance, wisdom and tips on how to survive.”
“When we choose to honor a lineage,” writes Rev. Ron Padrón, “we cannot cherry pick only what makes our ancestor – and by extension, us – look good. We take on the responsibility of sitting in the totality of the legacy they have passed down to us.”
Karl E.H. Seigfried looks at the last month’s escalating resistance to ICE and CBP’s Operation Metro Blitz in Minneapolis and calls on Heathens to embrace the Hávamál’s call to give evil no peace.
Weekend Editor Eric O. Scott comments on the ongoing federal siege of Minneapolis and St. Paul and the efforts of ordinary people to protect their neighbors, even in the face of death.
