I didn’t know that…
November 5, 2003 COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Home to the Vikings of yore, Denmark said Wednesday it will let a group that worships Thor, Odin and other Norse gods conduct legally-recognized marriages.
“To me, it would be wrong if the indigenous religion of this country wasn’t recognized,” Tove Fergo, the minister for Ecclesiastic Affairs and a Lutheran priest, told The Associated Press. Under Danish law, the state Evangelical Lutheran Church has sole authority to recognize other religious communities. The 240-member Forn Sidr, which worships Odin, Thor, Freya, and the other members of the Norse pantheon, sought recognition in 1999, said Tissel Jacobsen, the group’s president. Last year, an Ecclesiastic Affairs panel of scholars recommended that Forn Sidr, whose name mean “Old Custom” in old Norse, be approved, but only if their rituals were clearly detailed in its bylaws.
“At a general assembly, we added and described our four annual heathen
rituals - spring and fall equinoxes, and the summer and winter solstices, and our marriage ceremony,” Jacobsen told the AP. “We then returned our application and the panel approved it.”
Fergo said she would give her final approval “in a few days.”
About 1,000 people worship the ancient gods in Denmark, Jacobsen said. Since 1998, the panel of theology, law and history scholars have advised the government on which groups seeking to become religious communities, should be recognized.
“It was not up to me to evaluate whether they are telling the truth or the quality of their religion,” Fergo said. “Based on the commission’s evaluation and what I have read, I consider it a good religion.”
Officially recognized religious communities can marry people and exempt their members from the 1 percent income tax that is imposed on members of the state church. People born in Denmark are automatically made members of the state church, but can choose to leave it if they want. Members of other recognized religious communities, such Catholics, Muslims and Jews, are also exempt from the tax. — By Jan M.
YES!
The Old Ways are returning.
Soon Whites will start calling coloreds ’skraelings’ and take out Viking Fury on these beasts who are ruining our economy with their sub-prime loans and also targeting jewish bankers who made it possible!!
I didn’t know that either, great news for our heathen brothers and sisters, let’s hope that other countries take up the lead.
This is really interesting. I once met a young, floppy-haired Odinist at a right-wing meeting in London, and thought him quite strange. That was in the late 1990s. Today, disillusioned with Christianity and Islam and seeking something more traditional, I find myself considering the Old Ways. Where should I start? Is Alain de Benoist’s book a good beginning?
Yes, his On Being a Pagan is simply a must.
I can’t support the practice of Paganism, but the state church should have been disestablished a long time ago. No free society should have an official state religion. As for the Pagans marrying each other, that should have been approved a long time ago.
“I can’t support the practice of Paganism,”
Why not?
“Is Alain de Benoist’s book a good beginning?”
I would go out of the way and say that EVERYTHING that de Benoist has written is a must!
He is an excellent Ideologue.
I still remember the shock of recognition when I discovered the runes, followed by the rediscovery the Old Gods, albeit in a new form. This hit me like a hammer; like the Hammer of Thor! hehehe
The awakening of our Ancestral Core os the one sure way to become re-inspired, re-invigorated, and re-generated, one step at a time. It’s all about Spirit! When we reconnect with the Gods of our Folk we awaken the something deep within us. This is the way to build up a new and strong esprit de corps!
Friedrich Braun said:
“I can’t support the practice of Paganism,”
Why not?
I was raised a Christian, as such I couldn’t attend one of these services. But I believe that you should be free to engage in the religion of your choice without state interference. Freedom of religion is right up there with freedom of speech, both are fundamental freedoms.
Also, I believe that if you hold a completely naturalistic world view then you should be an atheist, not a pagan. For me it really is an either-or situation, either believe in Christ or believe only in what can be seen and measured. Europe was able to conquer the world as a Protestant and Catholic continent and it invented modern science, so as I said it is either-or.