On Being A Pagan by Alain de Benoist (review)

Relying heavily on the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, Alain de Benoist spends more time deconstructing Judaism and Christianity than presenting a coherent defense of paganism. When the author does discuss paganism, he turns either to its classical manifestations in antiquity and late antiquity or its expression in Scandinavian and Germanic ideas of family and lineage. He rejects the notion that paganism is a "nature religion" (179), seeing that as a Christian slander. Rather, paganism is altogether more rational, tolerant, and liberative than any type of monotheism.

De Benoist's ideology reflects the paganism embraced by some members of the alt-right. Founder of the Nouvelle Droit in the late 1960s—an extreme right-wing movement in France with parallels to neofascist movements throughout Europe at that time—De Benoist has influenced white nationalists in Europe and in the United States, including Richard Spencer and Greg Johnson, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. This most recent English translation of On Being a Pagan, first published in French in 1981, is from Arcana Europa Media, a small publisher featuring works by Stephen Edred Flowers and Stephen A. McNallen, popular writers among alt-right readers. Michael Moynihan, the book's editor, calls this "the definitive version of a seminal intellectual and spiritual inquiry, masterfully executed by a leading French thinker" (n.p.). So much for the correspondent for Vice News merely being a libertarian.

Just as it is worth knowing about William Pierce and The Turner Diaries, it is worth taking a second look at Alain de Benoist and his influence today.