Heathenry and Atheism

As so many of these posts begin, I had a conversation with someone the other day. This party made the statement that they used to study heathenry to some extent, and liked it.. but they ultimately became an atheist instead. "I've never much believed in 'belief.'"

I find a single quote to come up for me again and again when having this kind of conversation. My man, Socrates.

Before we can analyze a thing, we have to agree on what it means. Disbelief in "Belief" is exactly as contradictory as it sounds. A belief is, at its simplest, a statement that you accept a thing is true. Literally every assumption you make about the world around you - the very assumptions you must make in order to function in physical reality (the sun will rise, things fall down rather than up, etc) - is some form of belief. These beliefs collectively make up your world view. One can argue that we "know" certain things, but because of the way our brains work, we cannot arrive at absolute objective knowledge simply because we as fallible humans have to process that information.

What the person is actually discussing - and what atheism boils down to - is a rejection of faith. Faith is a complete trust or confidence in something apart from empirical evidence to support it. Indeed, Faith is generally glorified as being more important because of the lack of evidence to support it. The ability to believe in something that either is not known, or cannot be known is considered by many as a kind of spiritual strength.

The thing about Heathenry, which I will here and always define as the authentic, historical religion practiced in pre-christian northern Europe which is pursued by Recons, is that it doesn't actually require Faith. You absolutely can have faith, but it isn't a required part of the world-view, certainly not where the gods are concerned.

Heathenry is a votive religion. It works on the notion that one is obliged to do certain actions, and in turn, the gods / spirits / etc hold up their end of the deal. It is not a religion concerned about one's personal beliefs or relationships with the divine. Indeed, the root of the word piety is from the Roman pietas, which is literally translated not as any kind of faith, but as honor and duty. To be a pious man in the pagan sense is to fulfill one's duties to the gods - not to "have faith" in them.

I've often said I "felt at home" when I started into heathenry. It had nothing to do with gods or mythology. I've said before, I come to it from a purely philosophical angle and a love of the culture. My arrival in heathenry was almost purely secular.

Personally? I'm undecided on the literal existence of a god or gods, but I certainly don't have "faith" in them. Given how fond I am of Marcus Aurelius, I don't suspect it actually matters. It doesn't effect my day-to-day actions. Instead, Heathenry requires that I observe the proper rituals and traditions, that I make offerings, that I pay proper due to my ancestors, and so on. Heathenry is not a religion that is interested in your intentions or your faith. It isn't about what you think, it's about what you do.