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The Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA) is a
white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...
international
Ásatrú Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th cent ...
organization, founded by Stephen A. McNallen in 1994. Many of the assembly's doctrines, heavily criticized by most heathens, are based on
ethnicity An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
, an approach it calls " folkish". Once headquartered in
Grass Valley, California Grass Valley is a city in Nevada County, California, United States. Situated at roughly in elevation in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, this northern Gold Country city is by car from Sacramento, from Sacramento ...
,Gardell 261 with chapters worldwide, the AFA is recognized as a
501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of ...
non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
religious organization.


History

The AFA's roots are in the Viking Brotherhood, founded by McNallen in 1972. McNallen was one of the earliest advocates in the United States of reconstructing
Germanic Paganism Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the traditional, culturally significant religion of the Germanic peoples. With a chronological range of at least one thousand years in an area covering Scandinavia, the British Isles, modern Germ ...
. The Viking Brotherhood evolved into the Asatru Free Assembly in 1974, and was disbanded in 1986, splitting into two successor organizations, the "folkish" Ásatrú Alliance, and the " universalist" Troth. In 1986, the Asatru Free Assembly ceased operations, due to burnout and disputes about polygamous relationships within the membership. According to accounts by McNallen, it was not due to racial politics, but because administration was time-consuming and the membership rejected a request seeking pay for religious work. McNallen founded the Asatru Folk Assembly in 1995 as the successor organization to the Asatru Free Assembly. The defunct Asatru Free Assembly and Asatru Folk Assembly are sometimes called the "old AFA" and "new AFA", respectively. From 1997 to 2002, the AFA was a member of the International Asatru-Odinic Alliance. McNallen believes in an "integral link between ancestry and religion, between biology and spirituality"; according to Jeffrey Kaplan, the organization was founded in part to counteract rumored "universalist" tendencies he discerned in Ring of Troth. In 1999, the AFA almost acquired land in
northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
, aiming to base a communal project with room for agriculture and religious worship. But it never held legal title to the land. Upon promises that the land would be donated, some AFA members built a simple hof there, after which the land's owner chose not to donate it. In the late 1990s, the AFA got involved in a protracted fight over the remains of the
Kennewick Man Kennewick Man and Ancient One are the names generally given to the skeletal remains of a prehistoric Paleoamerican man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, on July 28, 1996. It is one of the most complete ancient ske ...
: members claimed that these were the remains of a European ancestor; they were allowed to approach, but not touch, the coffin holding the Kennewick Man. Later testing showed that Kennewick Man is "very closely related to the Colville" tribe in northeast Washington. In May 2017, Facebook deleted the AFA's primary social media outlet, citing
hate speech Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...
as the reason. In 2018, the
Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...
added the AFA to its list of hate groups as part of a new category called "neo- Völkisch".SPLC. "Neo-Völkisch". Online. Accessed 6 August 2018
/ref> The
Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...
lists the AFA as an "extremist group". In December 2019, two members of the
Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG), in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is an organized militia force and a federal military reserve force of the United States Army. They are simultaneously part of two different organizations: the Army N ...
received a general discharge after their involvement as leaders of "Ravensblood Kindred," an extremist group that shared ties with the AFA, were revealed. Both had previously attended a rally by Richard B. Spencer. One was on active duty in Afghanistan and one worked as a jailer for the Haralson County Sheriff's Office until the broadcast of their involvement, at which point the employment was terminated.


Activity

Since 2013, the AFA has owned rights to many of the books of "Edred Thorsson" (a pen name of
Stephen Flowers Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...
). In August 2015, the AFA acquired a former Grange Hall in Challenge–Brownsville, California, about 40 miles from Grass Valley where the group was founded. The hall was built in 1938, and was purchased to be used as a hof and community center under the name Newgrange Hall Asatru Hof. It was previously the Youth Center of the Mountaintop Christian Academy of California, and at another time the Marge Moore Youth Center. In April 2020, the AFA acquired a former church in
Linden, North Carolina Linden is a town in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 130 at the 2010 census, the mayor is Frances Collier. History Ellerslie, Ivy Burne, and the Dr. Wayman C. Melvin House are listed on the National Register ...
, which has been turned into a heathen hof serving AFA members in the
Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the south ...
. This second hof is named Thorshof, in dedication to the god
Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, ...
. In June 2020, the AFA purchased a former Lutheran church in
Murdock, Minnesota Murdock is a rural town in Swift County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 306 at the 2020 census. The city is part of the Kerhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (KMS) school district. Murdock has Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Elementary School which i ...
, to be used as gathering place for AFA members of the Northern Great Plains. In December 2020, the Murdock City Council gave the AFA conditional approval to use the church. More than 120,000 Minnesotans have signed a petition to stop the group's use of the building.


Opposition

As a result of the perceived discriminatory activities of the AFA, numerous Heathen and neo-pagan organizations sought to produce a document refuting these beliefs and the characterization that they represented these faiths. The product was Declaration 127, which specifically condemned the AFA. This declaration has been criticized for its specific focus on the AFA, and efforts taken to expand it. One alternative to Declaration 127 is the "Declaration of Deeds," a much wider-ranging statement against discrimination and hate in Heathenism.


See also

*
Far-right politics Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
* List of white nationalist organizations * Neo-Völkisch movements


References


Notes


Bibliography

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External links

* {{Authority control 1994 establishments in California 501(c)(3) organizations Alt-right organizations Ásatrú in the United States Germanic neopagan organisations European American culture in California Non-profit organizations based in California Religion in California Modern pagan organizations established in 1994 Modern pagan organizations based in the United States White nationalism in California