Alas, ill news in Pagandom.

To judge from his social media presence, it would seem that Holden Matthews—the domestic terrorist who recently torched three predominantly-black churches in Louisiana—is pagan, apparently of some folkish heathen variety.

If that doesn't make you angry, it should.

If that doesn't make you feel ashamed, it should.

Here are some entirely inadequate responses:

He's not a pagan/heathen.

That's not real paganism/heathenism.

[It doesn't involve me because] I'm pagan, not heathen.

[It doesn't involve me because] I'm heathen, but not folkish.

[It doesn't involve me because] I'm folkish, but not racist.

Who Matthews is in his own heart, we do not know. But we can be certain that refusal to take ownership of problems in our own community achieves nothing.

Some better responses:

As pagans/heathens, we condemn the actions of Holden Matthews.

The actions of Holden Matthews falsify paganism/heathenism.

The actions of Holden Matthews do not represent our ways.

The actions of Holden Matthews do not represent the ways of the ancestors.

The actions of Holden Matthews shame all pagans/heathens.

The actions of Holden Matthews shame the ancestors.

The actions of Holden Matthews dishonor all pagans/heathens.

The actions of Holden Matthews dishonor the ancestors and their ways.

Our public response needs to be: This is not paganism as we understand it, and this is not the paganism of the ancestors. This is a misuse of paganism.

Whether or not pagan worldviews can support a racist outlook is a matter for internal debate within the New Paganisms, but to wash our hands in public of the issue, as if it had nothing to do with us, is both cowardly and dishonorable.

As it happens, Matthews' father, a parish sheriff, was one of those who, in the line of duty, arrested his own son.

Now that's acting with both honor and courage.