On Moralizing among Heathens and Other Folk
This is going to be a somewhat disjointed thought but I felt like I needed to write it down anyway.
It isn't new that I am frustrated with the presence of exactly two groupthink circlejerks on the internet (basically there are wokies and there are rightoids), but this tends to exhibit itself in a somewhat unique way among heathens and neopagans. It exhibits in interesting ways in any group it permeates, I suppose. I've mused on the microcosm this divide can create in other subcultures before, especially ethical/consensual non-monogamy (more on this shortly).
Among heathens and neo-pagans there seem to be two dominant paradigms: those who believe in strict reconstructionism through a very specific lens (which conveniently lines up with a lot of right-wing rhetoric) and those who treat it as a pop culture fandom to be consumed with no regard to things like ancestry or tradition. In my view the rightoids put far too much stock in Tacitus' Germania and the wokies put too much stock in the "History" Channel's Vikings.
These people of course try to impress their post-modern ideologies on ancient peoples in ways that turns them into puppets of their preferred groupthink's circlejerk. (As a sidenote, the right-wingers' ideologies are just as post-modern as the neoliberal ideologies that dominate politics and culture today, though they would never admit this.)
Frankly, it's exhausting. I've been looking for a kindred to practice with in my local area and this issue couldn't be more visible. Generally, I find only wokies who completely misunderstand heathendom (and spirituality in general) or you find moralizing right-wing idiots with usernames like "panzerfrau1488." I follow some right-wing voices in heathen spaces because it does seem like they understand spirituality better than the wokies, but their constant almost-Freudian obsession with "degenerates" and "cucks" is exhausting. Frankly, I think they are all pornsick weirdoes who are deeply ashamed of it and therefore project this pornsickness on everyone else. I'm not entirely sure, but there is a sociology or anthropology paper here to be written. In my opinion both of these groups deeply misunderstand native European spiritualities.
Heathen morality is less about cardinal sins and more about the effect one's actions have on both the self and the people around us. I heard it put once that an action's effect must be considered in varying "garths" or concentric circles of proximity around the individual. Firstly, you must consider if it's good for you or if you even want it. Then you must consider how it effects the people around you, then your community, then your folk, or your largest community of which you are a part. This jives well with my pre-standing idea of morality: people who live up to their responsibilities and take care of those who depend upon them (especially their families) can basically do whatever they want, but those who fail to do this are in the wrong, regardless of the reason (though perhaps there can be some excusing circumstances).
For example, if you are a healthy well-rounded individual who lives up to your responsibilities and takes good care of your family, I don't care what you do in your free time. It could be weird sex parties - I do not care as long as you are taking care of what is expected of you. Likewise, if you neglect your self, your family and your responsibilities, I don't care if the reason is golf or church, you're fucking up. Get your shit together. I've previously described myself as "libertine" and this is true, but I do not condone hedonism, complete abandon, laziness, addiction, loss of self-control, denial of reality or anything of this sort. I believe in the spooky right-wing Nine Noble Virtues, even.
To summarize: a rather weird poly family who homeschools their kids on their weed farm is fine if everyone's needs are being met and people are living up to their responsibilities. Likewise, your straight-laced monogamous nuclear family next door is an abomination if the parents are neglecting their kids, lying to each other, and chemically compensating for their shitty lives. The funny thing is that attitudes like this used to be a rather common phenomenon, but now everyone wants to moralize everything. Wokies actively witch-hunt for people they call "nazis" (read: anyone to the right of Pol Pot) and rightoids witch-hunt for anyone they deem a "degenerate" (read: anyone with a sex life).
It's exhausting. Supremely exhausting.