XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, alt.politics.democrats.d, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh   
   From: athletics@vanguard.edu   
      
   When the church doors open, only white people will be allowed   
   inside.   
      
   That’s the message the Asatru Folk Assembly in Murdock,   
   Minnesota, is sending after being granted a conditional use   
   permit to open a church there and practice its pre-Christian   
   religion that originated in northern Europe.   
      
   Despite a council vote officially approving the permit this   
   month, residents are pushing back against the decision.   
      
   Opponents have collected about 50,000 signatures on an online   
   petition to stop the all-white church from making its home in   
   the farming town of 280 people.   
      
   “I think they thought they could fly under the radar in a small   
   town like this, but we’d like to keep the pressure on them,”   
   said Peter Kennedy, a longtime Murdock resident. “Racism is not   
   welcome here."   
      
   Many locals said they support the growing population of Latinos,   
   who have moved to the area in the past decade because of job   
   opportunities, over the church.   
      
   “Just because the council gave them a conditional permit does   
   not mean that the town and people in the area surrounding will   
   not be vigilant in watching and protecting our area,” Jean   
   Lesteberg, who lives in the neighboring town of De Graff, wrote   
   on the city’s Facebook page.   
      
   The Southern Poverty Law Center describes Asatru Folk Assembly   
   as a “neo-Volkisch hate group” that couches “their bigotry in   
   baseless claims of bloodlines grounding the superiority of one’s   
   white identity.”   
      
   Many residents call them a white supremacist or white separatist   
   group, but church members deny it.   
      
   “We’re not. It’s just simply not true," said Allen Turnage, a   
   folk assembly board member. "Just because we respect our own   
   culture, that doesn’t mean we are denigrating someone else’s."   
      
   The group, based in Brownsville, California, says teachings and   
   membership are for those of strictly European bloodlines.   
      
   The church was looking for a new church in the eastern North   
   Dakota region when they came across Murdock. It’s unknown how   
   many members they have worldwide or how many people will attend   
   the new church.   
      
   “We do not need salvation. All we need is freedom to face our   
   destiny with courage and honor,” the group wrote on its website   
   about their beliefs. “We honor the Gods under the names given to   
   them by our Germanic/Norse ancestors.”   
      
   Their forefathers, according to the website, were "Angels and   
   Saxons, Lombards and Heruli, Goths and Vikings, and, as sons and   
   daughters of these people, they are united by ties of blood and   
   culture undimmed by centuries."   
      
   “We respect the ways our ancestors viewed the world and   
   approached the universe a thousand years ago,” Turnage said.   
      
   A small contingent of church supporters in Murdock said the   
   community should be open-minded and respectful to all.   
      
   “I find it hypocritical, for lack of a better term, of my   
   community to show much hate towards something they don’t   
   understand. I for one don’t see a problem with it,” Jesse James,   
   who said he has lived in Murdock for 26 years, wrote on Facebook.   
      
   “I do not wish to follow in this pagan religion, however, I feel   
   it’s important to recognize and support each other’s beliefs,”   
   he said.   
      
   Murdock council members said they do not support the church but   
   were legally obligated to approve the permit, which they did in   
   a 3-1 decision.   
      
   “We were highly advised by our attorney to pass this permit for   
   legal reasons to protect the First Amendment rights," Mayor   
   Craig Kavanagh said. "We knew that if this was going to be   
   denied, we were going to have a legal battle on our hands that   
   could be pretty expensive.”   
      
   City Attorney Don Wilcox said it came down to free speech and   
   freedom of religion.   
      
   “I think there’s a great deal of sentiment in the town that they   
   don’t want that group there," he said. "You can’t just bar   
   people from practicing whatever religion they want or saying   
   anything they want as long as it doesn’t incite violence.”   
      
   Stephanie Hoff, whose council term ends this month, cast the   
   only dissenting vote.   
      
   “I know that we have the legality standpoint, and I personally   
   felt we had a chance to fight it. I think we could have fought   
   it had we went to court,” she said, basing her argument on   
   proving municipal harm. “I felt that we had a case with the   
   emotional and mental well being of the city of Murdock.”   
      
   The farming town about a 115-mile drive west of Minneapolis is   
   known for producing corn and soybeans, which are shipped across   
   the country. Latinos make up about 20 percent of Murdock's small   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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