43 Facts About Stephen McNallen

Stephen Anthony McNallen was born on October 15,1948 and is an American proponent of Heathenry, a modern Pagan new religious movement, and a white nationalist activist.

Stephen McNallen founded the Asatru Folk Assembly, which he led from 1994 until 2016, having previously been the founder of the Viking Brotherhood and the Asatru Free Assembly.

Stephen McNallen espoused the belief, which he named "metagenetics", that religions are connected to genetic inheritance, thus arguing that Heathenry was only suitable for those of Northern European ancestry.

Stephen McNallen brought greater attention to his group after they became involved in the debate surrounding the Kennewick Man, arguing that it constituted evidence for a European presence in prehistoric America.

Stephen McNallen is a controversial figure in the Heathen and wider Pagan community.

Stephen McNallen was born in the rural town of Breckenridge, Texas on October 15,1948, to a family of practicing Roman Catholics.

Stephen McNallen initially used the term "Norse religion" to describe the Heathen religion that he was practicing, before later adopting the term "Odinism" from the work of Danish Heathen Else Christensen.

Stephen McNallen then changed it , this time to "Asatru", which he had discovered in Magnus Magnusson's book, Hammer of the North, and subsequently popularized within the American Heathen community.

Stephen McNallen retained his interest in Heathenry while a member of the army, and circa 1974 adopted the belief that there was an intrinsic connection between the Norse gods and humans of Northern European descent.

Stephen McNallen began conducting religious ceremonies, or blots, and lectured at Pagan events across the US Stephen McNallen established groups known as guilds within the AFA to focus on particular endeavours, such as the Mead Brewing Guild and the Warrior Guild.

The latter published a quarterly, Wolf Age, in which Stephen McNallen displayed his fascination for warrior ethics.

Stephen McNallen did not share these Nazi sympathies, disapproving of the Nazi ideal of a centralized totalitarian state, which he believed was anathema to the Heathen ideal of freedom; he wanted to keep his religion apart from become an adjunct to a specifically political movement.

Stephen McNallen nevertheless remained close to Turner and his family after the division.

However, in 1987 Stephen McNallen shut down The Runestone and dissolved the AFA altogether, relocating to Northern California.

Stephen McNallen later related that this experience convinced him of the need for ethnonationalism and ethnic separatism across the world.

Stephen McNallen joined the US National Guard and was called up during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Stephen McNallen was upset by the growth of The Troth, a universalist Heathen group that welcomed members regardless of ethnic or racial background.

When in the 1990s, Christensen was arrested for drug smuggling, Stephen McNallen teamed up with Murray to form a defense fund for her.

In 1997, Stephen McNallen married Sheila Edlund at the seventeenth Althing, held in Utah; the ceremony was officiated by Murray.

In keeping with his ethnonationalist beliefs, Stephen McNallen endorsed a 1993 Declaration of War Against Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality, expressing the opinion that white people should resurrect the religions of their European ancestors rather than adopting the belief systems of Native Americans.

However, he came into conflict with Native American communities over the discovery of Kennewick Man, a prehistoric skeleton unearthed in Washington State; while local Native communities viewed the body as one of their ancestors and sought its repatriation to them, Stephen McNallen argued that it was Caucasian.

Stephen McNallen expressed the view that Native American communities wanted to prevent forensic testing of the Kennewick Man's body because they feared that it would prove that he had been Caucasian, thus establishing that there had been a Caucasian presence in the prehistoric Americas.

Stephen McNallen believed that Caucasians had entered the Americas via the Bering Strait at around the same time as the ancestors of the Native Americans did, but that the Caucasians were subsequently wiped out; he warned that "that can happen to us too" and thus steps should be taken to preserve the existence of North America's European population.

At the turn of the 21st century, Stephen McNallen decided to embark on more specifically political activity, becoming President of the European American Issues Forum, a group devoted to advancing the rights of white Americans of which he had been a longstanding member.

In 2009 Stephen McNallen was invited to the International Asatru Summer Camp, but this was opposed by many of the groups attending, who argued that he should not be invited because of what they perceived as his racist views; a number of European Heathen groups, such as Norway's Bifrost and the Swedish SAS, threatened to boycott the event as a result of Stephen McNallen's invite.

In 2011, the AFA sent a contingent to the annual conference of a Spencer's white nationalist organization, the National Policy Institute, in what some figures close to Stephen McNallen revealed was an attempt to recruit members.

In December 2012, Stephen McNallen created the Facebook page Green Asatru to promote environmental ideas within Heathenry.

In June 2013 Stephen McNallen started the non-profit organization, Forever Elephants, to combat ivory poaching in Africa, using Facebook to promote this cause.

In 2016 Stephen McNallen stood down as head of the AFA, and was replaced by Matt Flavel, Allen Turnage, and Patricia Hall.

Stephen McNallen initially announced his desire to focus on new projects as a writer and religious leader.

In March 2017, Stephen McNallen spoke out on the issue in a YouTube video; here, he claimed allegiance to the white race and to white nationalist politics, expressing allegiance to the 14 Words, a prominent slogan in white supremacist circles.

Stephen McNallen believes in an integral link connecting one's genetic or racial heritage to one's religion.

Stephen McNallen thus considers the ancient religion of the Aztecs to be inscribed on the subconscious of contemporary Mexicans, and the ancient religion of the Norse to be inscribed on the subconscious of those descended from ancient North Europeans.

Stephen McNallen has sought to provide a theoretical basis for this Folkish Heathen belief, calling it "metagenetics".

Stephen McNallen has penned articles on what he fears is the coming extinction of the white race, arguing that in the United States, white people will be largely replaced by Hispanics, with the concomitant demographic shift resulting in a decreased political influence for the country's white population.

Stephen McNallen insists that his support for racial separatism does not necessitate a "dislike, much less hatred" for other racial groups.

However, in May 2015, the magazine Vice published an article in which it accused Stephen McNallen of being a racist who manipulated ancient Norse beliefs "for his own hateful devices".

Conversely, many in the extreme racialist wing of Heathenry have accused Stephen McNallen of being a race traitor because he has not unequivocally endorsed white supremacist and neo-Nazi perspectives; they have commented negatively on his "refusal to work for the survival of the Aryan race" and accused him of promoting "cowardly PC politics".

Stephen McNallen rejects the descriptor "conservative", expressing the view that there is little in modern Western society worthy of conserving.

Stephen McNallen envisions a future stateless American confederacy based on ecologically sustainable, decentralized tribal groups.

Stephen McNallen has expressed support for all ethnic separatist movements across the world, including those of the Tibetan, Igbo, Karen, and Afrikaner people.

Calico noted that Stephen McNallen represented the "torchbearer" for Folkish Heathenry in the United States.

Stephen McNallen added that McNallen's was the "one name associated with the birth, growth, and controversy of American Asatru" more than any other.