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Date: 30 May 1998
For: Immediate Release
Leaders of American neo-Pagan organizations sent a letter in May to the
editor of "Intelligence Report," published by the Southern Poverty
Law Center of Alabama. The letter was in response to an article in IR's
Winter issue which discussed the exploitation of Asatrú by neo-Nazis
and other racists. Neo-Pagan leaders described Asatrú as a neo-Pagan
religion based on the traditions of northern European polytheistic faiths.
Asatrú's Nine Noble Virtues were listed: courage, truth, honor,
fidelity, discipline, hospitality, industriousness, self-reliance, and
perseverance. The letter then stated strongly the neo-Pagan movement's
rejection of racism and anti-Semitism in any form, and our resentment
of those who try to twist neo-Pagan beliefs to support such views. The
letter ended by commending the SPLC's work in exposing racism in all its
forms.
This effort, coordinated by the Pagan Educational Network, Inc., was supported
by columnist Elizabeth Barrette; publisher Anne Newkirk Niven; syndicated
columnist Jane Raeburn; editor Mark Roblee; Norse Pagan Claire Tyrsdottir;
and members and representatives of Ar nDraíocht Féin, Inc.;
the Celtic Traditionalist Order of Druids; the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist
Pagans, Inc.; Crescent Ritual Works; IMBAS; Ozark Avalon; the Order of
the White Oak; the Pagan Awareness League; Thalia Clan Eclectic Wiccan
Community; United Pagan Ministries; the Witches' Anti-Discrimination League;
and WyrdWeavers Collective
Our Freedom: A Pagan Civil Rights Coalition
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