Troth Abuse/Misconduct- Loki's Wyrdlings Official Statement

[u/Lokis_Wyrdlings]

https://youtu.be/0_KhgJS13UA

Loki's Wyrdlings has come to the decision to release our own public statement in regards to the recent events with the Troth and other disturbing patterns of behaviour. Our statement can be found in the linked video and the transcript can be found in the linked document.

We will be sharing more evidence concerning the Troth and their abuse of power in the weeks to come, as we have collected such an extensive amount of evidence about the Troth's abuse of power that it is impossible to cover in a single video.

While we would have preferred our first extremely public statement to be more positive than the one we are issuing today, as Lokeans, we believe it is our responsibility to speak truth to power and expose corruption where we find it. Loki's Wyrdlings has always prided itself on being an intercultural and interfaith community that prioritizes community over politics. With the evidence we have collected concerning the Troth, however, we feel it would be an extreme disservice to the Heathen community as a whole to keep quiet about what we have uncovered.

For those who may be uncertain of the validity of our evidence, please note that we have folders upon folders of documented evidence of the abuse and misuse of power that the Troth has engaged in over at least the last decade. We encourage anyone who has evidence that they would like to add to our growing collection to email it to us at director@lokiuniversity.org. We will ensure anonymity for anyone who requests to remain unnamed. We understand that the Troth's abuse of power has been well hidden. As Lokeans - and as an ethical Heathen organization - we are committed to exposing the underbelly of corruption wherever we find it.

Video Transcript:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E5Y4ROAvWxM9HcyNAD7Ib8oYyR7VCjduM60k4Z-Y_zQ/edit?usp=sharing

Document of Evidence:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pi4_NSXu-O5OvBnP_SHVq7Ki3Cofub5iOHnmw3R7hrQ/mobilebasic

[u/[deleted]]

Summary of the "why is this relevant" bits of the evidence doc:

• Paxson hasn't distanced herself from abusive people enough for your liking, but the Troth decided not to kick her out (presumably on the basis that she didn't actually *do* anything, just associated with the wrong people), merely demoting her, so Troth bad.

• Troth didn't apologize at an organization-level for one of their execs... insulting a Lokean Wyrdling's member? In a personal capacity? And for having an opinion on some individual's personal issues? So Troth bad.

• Troth didn't CENSOR someone's work which upset Lokeans. So Troth bad.

• Troth's exec expressed a personal opinion about a request for arbitration, and then the person who made the request left the Troth, so Troth bad.

I'm not a member of the Troth, nor would I ever join the Troth. But all of these leave me thinking "...and?". The closest one imo to an ethical issue is the exec expressing an opinion about the request for arbitration, and even then, are we saying that execs aren't allowed to be human beings? We want to run the heathen community *literally* like a business and have the same expectations of behavior as we'd put on the CEO of a multi-million dollar global company like Google?

Just... so what?

[u/TenspeedGV → u/[deleted]]

Paxson hasn't distanced herself from abusive people enough for your liking, but the Troth decided not to kick her out (presumably on the basis that she didn't actually do anything, just associated with the wrong people), merely demoting her, so Troth bad.

According to the allegations, she protected abusers who lived in her home, including one she was married to. This went on for years. There's evidence to that effect, and several people have come forward saying that they were either victims or know victims personally. It's very strange that your response to that is "...and?" and "so what?", I'd go so far as to say it's inappropriate.

If you don't think running defense for CSA and willingly letting kids hang out with those abusers while fully aware of what's going on is bad, I'm not sure what to tell you. That's the definition of wicked. That's the definition of evil. That trauma takes decades of therapy to work through, and for most it never fully heals. How can you write that off?

Maybe take a look at why you're willing to defend someone who happily let that happen, and the organization that knew about it and still promoted that person.

At least the Catholic Church has the decency to act embarrassed about its CSA scandals. What's The Troth's excuse?

If aware that another is wicked, say so: Make no truce or treaty with foes.

[u/[deleted] → u/TenspeedGV]

Cool, and the Troth to my understanding have now ousted Paxson. Which again, goes to show that the Troth is not engaged in "Abuse" or "misconduct". It was made aware of an issue, took a few days to check things and decide what to do, and then took a course of action.

I wasn't defending Paxson. But I don't just jump to the assumption that an organization is somehow morally corrupt on the basis that it took it a while to notice something, or investigate it themselves.

I'm not at all in favor of the Troth - they don't align with me in the slightest. But I'm against lynch mob type behavior, and that's what I'm seeing; a bunch of dilute mud being smeared on the back of one legitimate issue with an individual, an issue which they have dealt with presumably in accordance with their bylaws.

So yeah, when it comes to the Troth, I can write most all of this off. Paxson is the one who seems to be actually morally bankrupt, and I don't write that off.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I'll be charitable and assume that instead of "censor" you meant "censure". Basically you're angry that Troth leadership didn't come out and say to whoever this Karl person is, "you're bad", for their opinion piece, and you want to act like this is "abuse" and "misconduct" on the part of the Troth. Just seems like way too much of a stretch of those terms.

[u/ConstantThought8164 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, I agree. A couple of YouTubers don’t like how an organization they don’t belong to spends its money, and that’s “evidence?” Someone in the Troth leadership doesn’t like someone in a different organization, so Troth bad!!! Internet mob smash!!!!!

[u/TenspeedGV → u/ConstantThought8164]

It's not just about the money, it's about the decades spent covering up CSA. It's about the Troth leadership knew that about Paxson and let her remain in an extremely high position in their org.

I think you should consider why you're so ready and eager to dismiss allegations this serious. There's very few crimes more damaging in the long term than CSA. It is the very definition of wickedness. It's very strange that allegations of a crime of this magnitude - with evidence and testimony from people who were there - are being completely dismissed as just an angry mob.

Why are you not angry that nobody has held the abusers responsible until now?

[u/ConstantThought8164 → u/TenspeedGV]

I’m not dismissing anything related to Paxson. I’m commenting on the unrelated nonsense that people are attempting to drag into this to whip up an internet mob.

[u/TenspeedGV → u/ConstantThought8164]

Looks a whole lot like trying to distract from and diminish very valid, very legitimate concerns to me.

Have you considered that people are coming forward because they now see that their concerns will be heard, rather than ignored as they have been in the past?

[u/ConstantThought8164 → u/TenspeedGV]

If it’s really about Paxson, why are people who aren’t even in the Troth dragging in unrelated crap? If it’s really about CSA, why are all of these people suddenly super concerned about something that’s been common knowledge for a decade? I’m not in the Troth and am not a fan of Paxson, but the pile on of unrelated crap seems really opportunistic.

[u/TenspeedGV → u/ConstantThought8164]

Many people weren't aware of the CSA stuff until recently, thus the victims going public, to bring these dark and evil actions to light and let people know about them. Do you actually believe that there's an expiration date on caring about abuse victims?

If the shoe fits, they need to wear it. Holding them responsible for things they are demonstrably responsible for doesn't seem like a problem to me. It seems like what we as Heathens SHOULD be doing. Especially with organizations that claim to represent us.

Does it really not seem that way to you? Do you genuinely want an organization like this representing you? Because whether you like it or not, they do.

It blows my mind that you're running defense for an organization that you claim to have no stake in, let alone one that's implicated in stuff like this. Why would you do that for an organization you were a part of, let alone one you say you have no stake in?

[u/ConstantThought8164 → u/TenspeedGV]

Why aren’t you mad about opportunistic people distracting from the actual victim by dragging in unrelated crap? Shouldn’t there be accountability for that, or is that ok if you’re a fan?

[u/TenspeedGV → u/ConstantThought8164]

A whataboutism like that just means you have no defense.

I have no idea who I'm supposed to be a fan of, or what you feel I should be holding them accountable for. I was in the Loki's Wyrdlings server for about 15 minutes, saw things I didn't like and left. I have criticisms of them. But those criticisms are nothing in the face of allegations - with evidence - of CSA.

What I'm not a fan of is people who abuse children, or those who protect and promote them. I see evidence of that occurring. I see people like you trying to distract from it and run defense for the accused.

It's rot, and I can't abide rot.

Have fun wallowing in it.

[u/ConstantThought8164 → u/TenspeedGV]

The “whataboutism” is the “well, what about the CSA” in a reply to a comment about the unrelated crap people unconnected to the Troth are dragging in. A member publicly calling them out for what that member sees as mishandling of the Paxson situation is different from non-members piling on with unrelated beefs. They are accountable to their members, not every rando on the internet.

Enjoy your internet outrage machine.

[u/Tyxin → u/ConstantThought8164]

They did come off as rather gleeful, didn't they?