[orionblamblam]

> . I found that most who had a passing interest were into it because it was a vent for their failures in life

This is generally true for *anyone* with a "passing interest" in *any* religion.

> hate for anyone 'not of aryan stock' whatever.

I've yet to see anybody come up with a really good explanation for the attraction of Odinism to the skinheads. The sagas and lore, as I said, have none of that, and quite the contrary. The best explanation is that it's linked to Germany, and the skinheads seem to be of the same stock that gave the world the Nazis. The old Norse would *not* have flipped out at the presense of a Jew or a "blauman" ("blue-man," what they called black sub-Saharan Africans). They would, instead, have been intrigued, and probably would have wanted to make the Viking-with-two-backs with any exotic hotties the visitors had with 'em.*

What's really funny are skinhead Odinists. Being shaved bald was a sign, back in the day, that you were a slave. Freemen had hair. Those who were doing well were able to take care of their hair better'n most, so they tended to have longer hair. So a skinhead Odinist is telling you that he is a loser who can't even groom himself.

*Note: the Vikings would have sailed for months and beaten the crap out of each other for the chance to court the IDF babes...

[cyborg]

I've never heard a good explanation myself and I can't come up with one either :-)

[dragonhammer]

Actually, the (admittedly small) group of Asatruar I know personally, including myself, view the Israelis with respect. Israelis are a warrior people used to fighting long odds, and generally hard working. I find the practice of specifically targetting inmates for conversion generally repulsive, as most are in there for acts that would get them exiled or killed traditionally (i.e. violence within the tribe or nation and outside of accepted law.) typically conflict is to be directed at declared enemies in open war or duels. I know there are those with antisemetic, racist, or even anarchist viewpoints that claim to be Asatruar. I don't like them, don't aid them, and would support removal of that viewpoint forcibly.