loreleideer

[loreleideer]

The reason Nazis, white supremacists, and other far-right groups have to resort to revisionism (often including the appropriation of pagan symbols, myths, and practices) to provide “historical support” for their ideals is because those ideals have no actual ancient counterparts. Fascism is a product of the modern era. There were no fascists in the ancient world, and there has never been a religion that genuinely supported fascist values. 

For the most part, humans have always cared about each other. We have always had a strong sense of community, and we have always been willing to go out of our way to help other people. These are fundamental parts of human nature, and they are reflected in our religions. They are also, incidentally, totally incompatible with a fascist worldview, because fascism goes against human nature. 

Fascists want you to believe that fascism is in your best interest. They want you to believe that the world is inherently cruel, that people have always been at each others’ throats, and that hatred is natural – because if you don’t believe these things, then fascism is of no use to you. They know that the easiest way to convince you to adopt fascist values is to infiltrate your religious community, to convince you that fascism is what the gods intend for us. To do that, they have to make you believe that your religion is inherently fascist – even though we know, based on copious written and archaeological evidence, that this is not true. 

This is how we get Nazi revisions of Norse myths. This is how we get domestic terrorists storming government buildings while wearing Norse iconography. This is how we get the image in pop culture of the white, blond, blue-eyed, hyper-masculine Viking, a figure that did not exist in actual Old Norse society.

This isn’t just me talking out of my ass. This isn’t speculation. This is a documented tactic used by fascists to give their movements the appearance of legitimacy. Nazi Germany is largely responsible for our modern idea of the Vikings as a hyper-masculine, hyper-militant group of white dudes. Fascist Italy is a large part of why Ancient Rome is remembered for their military might rather than for their incredible infrastructure or their populist government. (Even the word “fascism” comes from an appropriation of Roman political symbols.) Irish American white nationalists are responsible for perpetuating the “Irish slave” myth (which is used to devalue the impact of the transatlantic slave trade and its effect on Black people), and for the popularity of Irish and Celtic symbols among modern fascists. 

What all of these fascist revisionist histories have in common is that they are almost entirely baseless and have little-to-no connection to any genuine historic sources. There is no evidence for them beyond “because I say so” arguments from fascist authors. These histories are false, and their falsehood is very easily provable. The ONLY reason they are as widely accepted as they are is because fascist sources are very good at being louder and more aggressive than legitimate, objective historians. 

If we want to reclaim paganism from fascists, the first step MUST be to set the historical record straight. Read good sources. Share resources with your community. Correct people who are unknowingly spreading fascist propaganda. Tell people who the ancient pagans really were, and what they really stood for.

Fascism is a weed. It is an invasive species that has forced its way into our religious spaces and is choking out the warm, loving communities the gods intended for us. Pull it up, burn the roots, salt the earth if you have to – if it is left unchecked, it will kill every other interpretation of our myths, until the truth is forever lost to the void.

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Desire for trans people

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dunmeshi dump hehe

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Untitled painting by ABeardedArtist

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Beautiful autistic girl hands you a j wyd

Ref. Under the cut P:

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me impatiently to the little french cat boiling me in a stew: chat am I cooked

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cassidy rae marietta

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Tolkien writing kingdoms' moral decay and eventual decline: they exploited nature, destroyed forests and cut down trees

Tolkien writing male characters' moral decay and eventual decline: he stopped listening to his wife

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Childhood friends au

I just really like the idea of kid Jayce being shorter than kid Viktor

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Snufkin doing whatever the fuck he does during the winter

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Genshin Impact | The Steambird Special Report: On the Scene of Escoffier's Home Kitchen Revolution

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We are so back

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