Could Asatru take the place of Bible based religion?

THE ASATRU FOLK ASSEMBLY: ASATRU FAQ


Copyright (C) 1995 by Stephen A. McNallen


Excerpted for education purposes.


Long before Christianity came to northern Europe, the people there -


our ancestors - had their own religions. One of these was Asatru. It


was practiced in the lands that are today Scandinavia, England,


Germany, France, the Netherlands, and neighboring areas. Asatru is


the original or native religious belief for the peoples who lived in


these regions.


WHAT DOES THE WORD "ASATRU" MEAN?


It means, roughly, "belief in the Gods" in Old Norse, the language of


ancient Scandinavia in which so much of our source material was


written. Asatru is the name by which the Norsemen called their


religion.


WHEN DID ASATRU START?


Asatru is thousands of years old. Its beginnings are lost in


prehistory, but it is older than Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, or


most other religions. The spiritual impulses it expresses are as


ancient as the European peoples themselves - at least forty thousand


years, and perhaps much older.


WHY DO WE NEED ASATRU? AREN'T MOST PEOPLE WHO WANT RELIGION SATISFIED


WITH CHRISTIANITY OR ONE OF THE OTHER "ESTABLISHED" RELIGIONS?


People are attracted to the better-known religions because they have


genuine spiritual needs which must be filled. People are looking for


community and for answers to the "big questions": What life is all


about, and how we should live it. For many people today, the


so-called major faiths do not have answers that work. Asatru has


answers, but it has not been an alternative for most seekers because


they haven't known about it. Once they realize that there is another


way - a better, more natural, more honorable way - they will not be


satisfied with anything less than a return to the religion of their


ancestors.


WHY IS THE RELIGION OF OUR ANCESTORS THE BEST ONE FOR US?


Because we are more like our ancestors than we are like anyone else.


We inherited not only their general physical appearance, but also


their predominant mental, emotional, and spiritual traits. We think


and feel more like they did; our basic needs are most like theirs.


The religion which best expressed their innermost nature - Asatru - is


better suited to us than are the Middle Eastern religions which arose


among people who are essentially different from us. Christianity,


Islam, and Judaism are alien religions which do not truly speak to our


souls.

Could Asatru take the place of Bible based religion?
It has in my heart, I'm an Asatruar.
Reply:I doubt it could take the place of bible based religions. A simple moral code including tolerance, and simple obvious golden rule type laws would probally fare better (don't kill, don't sleep with another mans wife, dont steal, contribute to the good of society, etc).


Religion in general seems to be loosing a battle to science and human self reliance.
Reply:It doesn't take a whole lot beyond having a charismatic leader with time and enough needy people to get a religion going.