Tags
AFA, Afar, Heathen, Hel, hela, honor, jarl, jo, jon upsal's guarden, king, matt flavel, Pagan, priest, respect
I swear, I am not trying to beat a dead horse or dishonor the AFA and its members.
In yesterday’s post reacting to what happened to Jo from Jon Upsal’s Garden, I spoke a fair bit about honor. This isn’t just a trite, heathen thing. For our ancestors, Honor wasn’t just your reputation, it was also a social currency, earned for deeds to the people, and piety to the Gods.
Jo, to my knowledge, is a very honorable man. He certainly was respected within the AFA, was a member of their clergy, and a leader of one of their Kindreds. This seems no small to thing, as such a thing would have been a place of high honor with our ancestors.
Looking as I do at the AFA as a full blown Tribe, the best way to view what happened (to understand my perspective) is this:
McNallen was the King of the Afar. He founded them, and built the tribe up by the sweat and blood of his own effort. Certainly, many were involved and I do not wish to disregard or dishonor their work. But to me, McNallen was king. And a good and fair king he was, at least as I’ve viewed it.
Under King McNallen, Jo rose up to be both priest and Jarl of the people. He was honored and respected by those under his guidance and rule. He has comported himself well, provided no scandal that I know of, and even defended the Afar from those what would both dishonor them, and attack them. This is the mark of a good Jarl, and is too be honored.
Flavel is now King of the Afar, and his deeds must be judged as a king. Being King, I assume that he has much honor among the Afar, for he was chosen to lead them. But to be king is not enough, a King must rule his people well. Given the example set by King McNallen, I shall judge Flavel by McNallen’s deeds, to see if Flavel is as worthy a king, if he is better, or if he is worse.
The Afar are a people who speak of valuing tradition, and I see little to say that they are not doing this as they claim. Interpretations may differ between tribes, but each tribe is free to decide its traditions. This is good and right. And the Afar stand by a more “cis-normative” tradition. This too, is no grounds to complain about. It is their way, and their way it is. I also understand that Jo’s child, being transgender, does not fall within this “way.” I can even understand where that might be an issue.
But Jo is a Jarl, and he has done right by his people. Even if it cost him some influence and respect, I would think that the honor he has earned with his people would have been enough to gain him and his child an exemption. Or at least, a tolerance. Certainly, I could understanding it costing Jo some respect and honor, but to cost him all?
It seems King Flavel asks a high price. Perhaps too high a price. For Jo has not just been asked to step down, but essentially kicked out of the AFA as I understand it. To make his own Jarl, well respected and widely known as true to his people, essentially an “outlaw” does not bear the mark of a good king. Certainly, it is not a deed that King McNallen ever did to my knowledge. And certainly Jarl Jo had enough honor with King McNallen gain his positions as Jarl and Priest.
This is…not a good mark for the new King. Hel, it honestly just makes me think of how Jarl Haraldson acts in the first season of Vikings. I know, terrible example, but it just seems like a man so…insecure in his power or something. I expected better from the Afar. I certainly expected better from their “King.”
Still, a King who cannot honor his Jarls correctly soon finds himself faced with a replacement. I am wont to remember that often, to regain the favor of the Gods, a king was considered a good sacrifice. The people’s of the Afar shall have to judge their king, and see if he is still worthy. We in Helheim shall watch and see.
King Flavel can certainly come back from this deed, but to the eyes of Helheim, and perhaps even the Afar themselves, he will have to do many great, mighty, and generous deeds to regain the honor he has spent on this decree.
Still, it is my hope that Jo will be honored still by those close to him. He kept true to family, and this is indeed a thing worthy of Honor. Hela’s realms smile upon him for this, and his many great deeds that he has done in the past for his people.
Hela Bless
Son of Hel 
I think your analogy is off, and I’ll tell you why.
Everyone who has ever heard of the AFA, knows that it’s pretty darned traditional and conservative. In fact, it’s so traditional and conservative that (in this instance, at least) we can compare it to another traditional and conservative religious organization – the Catholic Church.
So instead of liking Matt to a “King,” let’s call him a Bishop. We know there are no Asa-Popes. It’s a pretty good analogy actually, Bishops are way more powerful than most people are aware, and have a lot of leeway over how things are run in their diocese. Their domain. So while you might have some Bishops who are laid back, “Pastoral” i.e, “Liberal” and others are pretty “Dogmatic” ie, “Conservative,” – they’re both, still, Catholic, and obliged to uphold Catholic doctrine. Matt’s diocese (if you will) is the AFA.
In this scenario, Joseph would be a priest in his diocese. Now, do you really think that if a Bishop had a priest that was living a gay activist, and/or transgendered lifestyle, – that the Bishop wouldn’t call him in for a “come to Jesus” meeting? Of course he would.
It’s really not that different here. I believe Joseph was in training to be clergy – I don’t think he was full clergy yet (it’s an intensive, 5 year program.) As even a clergy in training, he would be expected to teach the traditional, conservative tenets of the AFA – how could he do that, when his own household was everything – but? “Do as I say, not as I do” – would be asking him to be hypocritical. In the Catholic Church, it’s called “to cause a scandal.”
Joseph wasn’t asked to leave the AFA; he was asked to step down as clergy – he even said as much in his blog post. “step down from his leadership position.” It was HIS choice to leave it altogether
Now in MY opinion, he shouldn’t have put Matt or Allen (who is lawspeaker) in this position in the first place, but realized what was going on in his household was in direct conflict with the AFA, and offer to resign himself.
THAT would have been the honorable thing to do, and this whole mess could have been avoided had he done so.
LikeLike
There is a HUGE difference between what we are in terms of birth, which cannot be changed, and the expression of our behaviour. {Even though I am not Norse/Germanic, I do honour a pantheon of Gods.} As you so DID NOT point out in your comment, a vowed priest in most Roman Catholic traditions MUST maintain bodily purity, ie. NO SEX. However, instead you fan the fires of ignorance concerning sexuality as though it is somehow a choice. If someone is biologically dissimilar to the cisgendered, there are sacred oaths that can be taken. I would personally admire such an individual because they put ancestors and Gods ahead of themselves. It seems to me that the AFA is 3M’d (meagre military minded) and cannot see the obvious.
LikeLike
I’m pretty sure most people in today’s society are aware that RC priests are celibate. Those that aren’t married, that is, and there are a few who are – mostly converts from the Anglican church. The analogy was simply to make a point – this is a religion, and a religious organization, NOT a governmental one.
We’re talking about a teenager here, and she wasn’t even a teenager when this started. (which, btw, he also failed to let the leadership know he was no longer raising a “gay daughter” but that he was now raising her as a “son.” BIG difference here.)
Anybody who has ever raised a teenager is well aware that teenagers “try on” different things – hair color, personalities, even sexualities. This is the “work” of a teenager, to “find themselves.” When you “lock” them in one way or the other, you fail to give them an “out” if they change their minds.Sexuality is pretty fluid actually and not written in stone, and it’s dependent on many factors. There have been studies, for instance, that show that up to 70% of male inmates will experiment with same-sex relationships – while they are in prison. When they come out, and have access to females, they show no interest in men. This would imply that in some cases, sexuality is, indeed, “a choice.”
What a person chooses as an adult, no parent can control. Up until that time, it is up to parents to provide a healthy an environment as possible. Considering the suicide rates of transgendered people (and no, it’s not from “Stress” or “discrimination” as people of color do not have the same high rates) – raising a child as transgender is risky and dangerous.
Now that, to me, is pretty obvious, and you don’t have to be “meagre military minded” to figure that out.
LikeLike