Rebuttal to Article: Loki in the White House

For the last couple of days, the Lokean community has been rocked by an article by Karl Seigfried, Loki in the White House in which he compares Loki’s behavior in the Eddas to that of Donald Trump. Others in the Lokean community have already rebutted this specious article quite handily: Dude, I Call Lokiphobia! Check Your Bully Pulpit, and Analysis of Seigfried’s Comparison of Loki and Trump, so I will add just a few thoughts. The article is offensive on its face, comparing a complex god to an ignorant narcissistic grifter who has no business being President. I’m not an apologist for Loki. I know my god works both weal and woe as the Eddas show us (though the weal Loki does outweighs the woe, no matter what His intent). I also know that he is fiercely loyal to His followers, those of us who see Loki as the ancient Trickster who brings a little chaos into our ‘orderly’ lives so that we can think outside the box and make our lives better.

Does Seigfried have a right to his opinion on Loki? Of course he does, but he doesn’t have the right to demonized Lokeans and suggest that we might seek revenge over his article, in which he states, “Finally, I would like to make the simple request that… lovers of Loki and partisans of the president refrain from making death threats against me. I know that these are two figures who inspire passionate devotion, but I think it is possible to have differences of opinion without threatening lives and livelihood. Thank you for rejecting fundamentalism.”

I still have my chin on the floor from that quote.

To equate Lokeans with Trump supporters is not only insulting, but ridiculous. Our god forces us to think about why we do the destructive things we do to ourselves and how we can turn it around. From what I’ve seen from the president’s followers and his unending rallies, Trump supporters are encouraged not to think or question any lie that comes out of Trump’s mouth. Yes, Donald Trump is a liar; Loki is not, He is the god of Uncomfortable Truths. Trump incites his followers to violence; Loki does not. Lokeans are among the most thoughtful, inclusive and tolerant group of people you’re likely to meet.

It’s clear to me that Seigfried wrote the article to bait us into a fight, but should we take the bait? I say, yes, as long as we ‘go high’ when they ‘go low’, as Michelle Obama so eloquently put it. It is time for Lokeans to speak up and call BS when we are attacked, but to do it in such a way that reflects well on us and Loki and poorly on the Lokiphobes.