Last week, I travelled back to my native county, Lincolnshire, to visit my parents. While we were there, we watched quite a lot of tv. While far from helpless, my parents are now well into their 80s and don't leave the house too much. One of the things we watched on tv was the Eddie Murphy movie, "Holy Man".
While the film has been soundly trashed by critics, the public and even Mr Murphy himself, I have quite a soft spot for it. In essence, Eddie Murphy plays 'G', an eastern-style 'Holy Man' who meets up with a couple of ad executives and agrees (for vaguely plaussible reasons) to star on their shopping channel. In doing so, he preaches his anti-materialist spiritual message across the network and helps the ad execs change their ways in the process. All in all, an enjoyable movie, with a nice message.
Anyhow, after the film concluded, I got to thinking. What would a heathen version of this kind of 'holy man' look like, and what message would he be promoting? How would his refreshingly different worldview help similarly jaded members of modern society?
I think, perhaps, the message would be multi-faceted. Personal responsibility would be a big part of it. Taking responsbility for one's own actions and the predicament we each find ourselves in. Less blaming of others for our own problems. Less of the 'where there's a blame there's a claim' compensation culture.
Facing up to our own problems and doing something about anything we don't like or disagree with. Direct, simple, honest action to solve problems or improve our own situation. When seeing someone doing something we disagree with, taking them to task about it, rather than simply watching it happen and then impotently recounting it to a third party later on.
Being honest and truthful, even to a fault if necessary. Nothing wrong with being blunt. Most important of all, of course, a heathen should keep his word. Not just vows and oaths, but if a heathen says he will attend a gathering, then he should damn well attend.
I also feel, despite my personal view that the Havamal is overused as a reference for heathen values, that a very decent set of values could be distilled from the wisdom within those verses. I am not sure I believe that they are literally 'The Sayings of the High One', but they are almost certainly contemporaneous with the Viking Age and would have been known by the Teutonic peoples in those times.
These, I feel, would be the attributes most valuable in a modern context.
