Pagans protest at treatment of the Norse God Thor

There is also the additional concern, as Eric Scott pointed out, that the film makers felt that they didn’t really have to worry about what people would think, unlike one of the mainstream religions such as Christianity.

Eric Scott wrote a post at Killing the Buddha that set off a big debate on “What happens when Hollywood gets a hold of your gods.”

The truth is, I looked at the toys in my hands and I saw the result of millions of dollars of development and thousands of hours of manpower, put into something bearing the name of a god, my god, and it had nothing to do with me. Their Thor was a god forgotten by all except the few quiet geeks who read his adventures in Journey into Mystery and The Mighty Thor for forty years. It wasn’t that they meant to upset or unsettle me; they simply realized that people like me were too few to matter. It’s impossible to think of a story about Jesus like this, not written to pander to or irritate Christians, but simply not considering them at all.

Eric Scott goes on to make the point that representations of mythic figures change frequently, and depict different things depending on the context:

Of course the Thor of the movie, and the comics that I grew up reading, is not the same Thor whom Snorri Sturluson wrote of in the Prose Edda, who perhaps is not the same Thor the Norsemen worshipped in the time before Christianity came to Northern Europe. The character Chris Hemsworth plays is not the deity I worship, the god whose symbol hangs around my neck. Anthony Hopkins, in his Hollywood regalia and metallic eyepatch, is not the Gallows-God I pray to. And even if the film is terrible, perhaps someone will watch it and then pick up Kevin Crossley-Holland’s The Norse Myths at the bookstore, and that will make it worthwhile.

On the plus side, many Pagans have actually been pleased with the film, saying that Thor is actually represented in a positive light, a great improvement on the demonification of Paganism that is common in everything from depictions of hag like scary witches at halloween to those who present pagans as devil worshipping.  And as Eric Scott says, if this film switches people on to the actual mythology behind Thor, this could be a good thing.

 

I haven’t seen the film yet but will definitely be checking it out.  What do you think?  Have you seen the film?  Do you think that filmmakers should be dealing with this issue in the same way as they would have had to with other deities?

(via USA Today)

 

 

Daily Mail Slanders Druids – We Protest!

Last week, Melanie Philips of the Daily Mail wrote a very unfair, bigoted and plain old ridiculous article about Druids, saying amongst other silly things, that Druids cannot be classed as part of a religion and that only the Judeo-Xtian tradition brings morals! I wont actually link to the page as don’t want to give that rag tag paper any popularity in google’s eyes!

Druid Petition Hand In
Druid Petition Hand In

(People against religious intolerance unite! If your curious, I’m the one with the red hat!)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1317490/Druids-official-religion-Stones-Praise-come.html

This right wing Jewish reported is no stranger to controversy, and I was alerted to her name twice in one week.  There’s a bomb factory in brighton (EDO) which has been illegally supplying bombs to Israel, and so several protestors got inside and smashed it up but were found not guilty of criminal damage as they were acting as decommissioners of illegal warcrimes.  Phillips decreed that this meant they were anti-semetic, erm what??

Anyway within hours of the bigoted article about druids, hundreds of scathing and offended comments were posted from Pagans and non-Pagan’s alike.  A petition was created and in a few days there were about 4500 signatures.

The horn is sounded
The horn is sounded to mark our arrival at the Daily Mail offices
King Arthur the Druid
King Arthur and James Sunbird Carrington

On Monday I met with Druids and non Druids who like me were offended at this religious intolerance, and we went to the Daily Mail offices to hand in the petition, and then to the Press Complaints Commission (and then to the pub! :o)  It was great to meet fellow Pagans and notable faces like James Sunbird Carrington and King Arthur of the Arthurian Warband were there.  Arthur is currently picketing at Stone Henge for the return of ancient bones (something which I wrote about recently, tho in a different place) taken by a university, and also for a general change in the law that gives ancient graves more protection.  It’s funny how no-one would dream of desecrating recent graves, but apparently doing it to ancient ones is ok!

Anyway the PPC (Press Complaints Commision) is currently investigating the complaint and I will update you when I have more news!

James Sunbird Carrington was the organiser of the petition – He is among other things, an author and Druid and you can check out his blog here

Find out more about the Arthurian Warband and the campaign to restore the Guardian Bones here

Arthur looking Angelic!
Arthur looking Angelic!

Have you read the infamous article? What are your thoughts?

Pagans call for reburial of ancient bones

Take a look at this video on BBC News (its about 8 mins) for the latest bit of Pagan news.

“Pagan groups are increasingly asking for human remains and grave goods from pre-Christian burials to be returned to the ground, and their voices are being taken increasingly seriously in the museum world.”

Apparently there are many human remains kept in museums that appear to have little or no historical use and Pagans are asking that they be reburied along with ceremonies which the whole town can enjoy together.  It’s an interesting video even if Pagans are being homogenised somewhat, not all Pagans care about ancient bones as the article suggests! And I had to laugh when the report started off by saying ‘Pagans are not used to be taken seriously’ ha ha.  Worth a watch tho!