Entries by Andrew Joyce, Ph.D.

Varg Vikernes — Persecution of a Nordic Patriot

Musician Kristian ‘Varg’ (Wolf) Vikernes, who recently went on trial in France for ‘inciting racial hatred and glorifying war crimes,’ isn’t a household name. Even within the extreme heavy metal scene he helped create back in the early 90s his name is slowly diminishing if not into oblivion, then into ignominy. He is, however, an […]

Tales of Blood and Gods: Some Thoughts on Religion and Race

“How strangely things grow, and die, and do not die! There are twigs of that great world-tree of Norse belief still curiously traceable.” Thomas Carlyle, Lectures on Heroes, 1841.  I come from a long line of atheists, heretics, and breakers of convention. I’m sceptical about anything related to what’s considered the paranormal or supernatural. I […]

Reflections on Some Aspects of Jewish Self-Deception: Part 5. Self-Deception in Jewish Participation in Politics

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5: Self-Deception in Jewish Participation in Politics Like Jewish participation in secular culture, since the Enlightenment Jewish participation in politics has been a prime context for self-deception. Scholar Eleanor Sterling argues that since the Enlightenment the spotlight of the modern state fell on the Jews, demanding […]

Reflections on Some Aspects of Jewish Self-Deception: Part 4. Self-Deception in Jewish Participation in Secular Culture

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 4. Self-Deception in Jewish Participation in Secular Culture “Germany Jewry was a community invisible to itself.” David Sorkin[1] That the mass media and entertainment industry has long been dominated by Jews is a matter of fact and not one of belief. Nor is it empirically debatable that while a […]

Reflections on Some Aspects of Jewish Self-Deception: Part 3. Self-Deception in Jewish Historiography (continued)

Part 1 Part 2 Self-Deception in Jewish Historiography (continued). As Wistrich turns his attention to the early medieval period, further examples of self-deception become evident. Language euphemisms and lies of omission remain prevalent. For example, Wistrich describes as “humiliating” the canonical restriction on Jews entering Churches without asking himself whether any Jew would in fact […]

Reflections on Some Aspects of Jewish Self-Deception: Part 2. Self-Deception in Jewish Historiography

Part 1: Introduction. Part 2: Self-Deception in Jewish Historiography In the introduction to this essay it was argued that Jewish historiography plays host to a number of key features of self-deception, particularly errors in perceptual causation brought about by neglect of contexts or ‘systems,’ self-interest in the attribution of blame, lies of omission, and exaggerated […]

Reflections on Some Aspects of Jewish Self-Deception: Part 1. Introduction

‘Reality denied comes back to haunt.’ Philip K. Dick, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said Introduction A persistent theme at TOO, and in the works of anyone objectively dealing with Jewish historiography, culture and politics, is that of self-deception. A couple of hours spent reviewing the TOO archive reveals more than thirty articles which deal […]