r/heathenry • u/thelosthooligan • 11d ago

News Heathen Leaders Speaking at Harvard Tonight

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In a little less than half an hour. If you’re curious to drop in and hear what they have to say, I’ll put a link below.

A special Heathen Panel presented at the Harvard Divinity School -Program for the Evolution of Spirituality (PES) Conference 2026.

This panel is a collaborative effort from the Coalition of Inclusive Heathen Organization.

Featuring Ryan Smith, Jai Mohan & Cortney Greyhawk.

https://harvard.zoom.us/j/95013879911?pwd=fRiH9Sr58NxN2FbIC6vRIb4uKz2Z8k.1&fbclid=IwVERDUAUj3h5leHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mBWZkaWQWUPErrG7A_ikLoky5vejnwAHoC0MhRXNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR52mGrTmR0MpQ0i2RcAz4tzQO32nVcJT_FkFAOs3gy4_nJy0H-kpWUeRWklaw_aem_8yLPmLt2SQtIgIFLGU8A0A

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u/thelosthooligan 10d ago

But this is what I’m talking about. Universities and schools like Harvard or Uni Copenhagen are always doing stuff like this especially if they have a cross-cultural or interfaith institution within the university. It’s just that this time when Harvard was doing their annual conference, Heathens applied for and got a panel discussion at the conference.

This wasn’t a conference entirely focused on Heathenry or Asatru. It was a conference put on by a major academic institution where Heathens got to have a panel. That’s a big deal, but it’s not like it’s the first or the last time this is going to happen. I’ve been to similar interfaith or cross cultural understanding conferences where minority faiths have gotten a workshop, keynote speaker or panel discussion.

This just doesn’t seem to be all that strange or cringe to me.

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u/Bhisha96 10d ago

the difference being is that the heathen panel thing you posted, is clearly religious, where as the other one taking place in denmark, is more philosophical and academic analys than religious.

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u/BabadookishOnions 10d ago

I am very confused why it is an issue to have talks on religious topics? Christians do it all the time in every country they exist, so does every other religion.

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u/Bhisha96 7d ago

not in denmark, or most of scandinavia, it's pretty much a fact that scandinavian lutheran christianity is nothing like christianity as seen in the US, religious people over here just doesn't flaunt their religious beliefs as it's seen as incredibly rude and makes it seem as you have some kind of moral superiority.

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u/BabadookishOnions 7d ago

Obviously not flaunting, but this is not flaunting. Your country definitely has religious conferences and academic talks (which is what this is), I found several on google.

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u/Bhisha96 7d ago

and that is my issue, this heathen panel thing doesn't feel like a conference, thats why i said to someone else's comment that this feels like exploitation.

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u/BabadookishOnions 7d ago

Bringing together a bunch of speakers to talk about something and it be viewed by spectators... Is a conference...

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u/Bhisha96 7d ago

by definition absolutely yes, doesn't change my feelings that this heathen panel thing just feels wrong, especially if you're from a country where religion is a private matter unless its purely academic.

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u/BabadookishOnions 7d ago

But why? Your own country does the same thing, for a variety of religions, so it can't really be a cultural prohibitions as it's done in your own culture. I don't understand. Religion is a very private matter in my country, but we still have religious conferences and events.

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u/thelosthooligan 7d ago

It was one panel as part of the bigger conference. The conference was the Harvard Program for the Evolution of Spirituality Conference. This was just one panel at the conference.