Members of the Asatru Folk Assembly from the small farming town of Murdock, Minnesota want everyone to know that they’re not racist despite applying for a permit to deny entry to anyone who isn’t white into their new church building.
Amazingly, the group was just granted permission by the Murdock city council to open its “whites only” church, where they plan to practice their ancient pre-Christian religion, which they claim originated in northern Europe.
“We were highly advised by our attorney to pass this permit for legal reasons to protect the First Amendment rights,” Mayor Craig Kavanagh tells NBC News. “We knew that if this was going to be denied, we were going to have a legal battle on our hands that could be pretty expensive.”
The Asatru Folk Assembly was added to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of hate groups in 2018 and is considered by many to be a white supremacist organization, though its members vehemently deny this.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“We’re not. It’s just simply not true,” Allen Turnage, a folk assembly board member, insists. “Just because we respect our own culture, that doesn’t mean we are denigrating someone else’s.”
In addition to discriminating against anyone who isn’t white, the organization also considers LGBTQ people “heathens” and forbids them from their tradition, meaning it is an equal opportunity hate group.
Murdock City Attorney Don Wilcox says the whole thing boiled down to freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
“You can’t just bar people from practicing whatever religion they want or saying anything they want as long as it doesn’t incite violence,” he says.
Murdock, which is located about 115 miles outside of Minneapolis, has a population of roughly 300, with Latinos making up about 20 percent of its citizens.
Related: Priest busted for filming himself having gay sex on church altar goes into hiding
ChrisGMN
What these racist idiots forget is that early Europeans were NOT white skinned people. They had dark skin and blue eyes.
Jason
BS
MacAdvisor
However, the IRS can revoke their 501(c)(3) status for actively practicing racial discrimination. See: Bob Jones Univ. v. United States, 461 U.S. 574 (1983).
Openminded
I believe that university got in trouble because they were taking fed money for tuitions. Assuming this church survives only on their own donations, I don’t think this will affect them. This church is an example of the bad side of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. I say let them be and let God sort it out come judgement day. Thank goodness that groups like this are on the endangered species list and no outsiders care to help them survive.
MacAdvisor
Bob Jones University was not taking Federal funds. In fact, they specifically refused to do so because they were worried the Federal government would go after them for their blatant racist policies. The University completely excluded black applicants until 1971, and from 1971 until 1975, admitted black students only if they were married. After 1975, the University began to admit unmarried black applicants, but continued to deny “admission to applicants engaged in an interracial marriage or known to advocate interracial marriage or dating.” In 1970, the IRS changed their rules and prohibited tax-exempt charities from participating in racial discrimination. The IRS challenged the University’s status in the 1975 and the Supreme upheld the decision. Bob Jones didn’t regain their tax-exempt status until 2000 when they dropped their ban on inter-racial dating and marriages.
RiotGirl
I am a Heathen Queer Woman. The A.F.A. are what the rest of us, refer to as Nazitru. How arrogant and ignorant is it to assume who the Gods call too based upon race, gender, nationality? My Gods are not racist, the AFA, however is. Our ancestors sailed all over the world and integrated into other civilizations. They don’t speak for us, P.O.C., Queer folk, and anyone for that matter who carry honor may drink from my horn, but certainly not an AFA member.
AzLights
I was going to say that none of the Asatru I’ve ever known were like this group. One of my Asatru friends was black and others were fairly diverse group nationality-wise. The guys are just a bunch of racist jerks. Nazitru fits them well.
I am Celtic in my practices but I respect you and your faith. I cannot think that your gods andf /goddesses would ever consider this appropriate or decent.
missvamp
they’re a weird pagan church. a former roommate practiced this stuff. it’s downright weird- borderline cult like stuff. not shocked it’s racist. he was very much a nutbag & turned into a stalker after i kicked his butt out.
TomG
Wow, our nation has gone backwards 100 years at this point, and we have Trump to blame for that.
MacAdvisor
Not to disagree, but Trump is a symptom, not the cause.
Jason
Obama started the current racial division. Not Trump.
Mack
They can say what they want. But in the end, they’re racists.
Jason
Apparently anyone who disagrees with the leftist mob is. Odd.
Jason
I find it strikingly odd how only white people are labeled racists for this type of stuff. You see minorities, blacks mostly, create blacks only things routinely (ie Black only college graduations). Affirmative Action routinely discriminates against white males. But that is ok. Funny how that works.