"The Gospel of Insecurity: The Allies of Censorship Wage War Upon Blood Axis"

In issue 4 of NLM, we interviewed the man behind the musical unit known as Blood Axis, Michael Moynihan. Through various recorded efforts under this moniker, Moynihan has conveyed many ideas: some Satanic, some of a Euro-pagan celebration, but all through a mix of the bombastic, the aggressive, and the poetic. It's unapologetic, untrendy, un-New Age, and certainly politically incorrect.

So, when something comes down the pike like this, as did Satanism so long ago, there's going to be a reaction. A strong reaction. Sometimes, an irrational reaction. In fact, it's to be expected that the masses bleat heavily (and even louder now with the aid of a megaphone - and a milkcrate to stand on) when something challenges their complacency and sterile thinking.

Enter the nonthinkers, the protester-for-a-living types, and the ralliers against perceived bogeymen. Such types gravitate to anything un-PC for the obvious identity fix, as they did against Blood Axis this past autumn during the band's recent tour.

The first act of anti-free speech occurred in Seattle during the first leg of the tour. The cause-chasers (mentioned and named at this article's end) managed to have the show shut down due to what they believed to be a "white supremacist" band about to perform. This assumption, of course, was merely that - an assumption, but this hardly stopped a pack of misinformed people to rally against something they knew nothing about. The protesting individuals, musicians, and at least one record store employee all admitted openly that they had never heard a note or a lyric of a Blood Axis song, yet were convinced that they had a bunch of unrepentant racists in their midst.

The so-called "tip" that spurred this mobthink was gathered from a series of websites (none of which was an official Blood Axis site) where they found "incriminating" evidence. Moynihan's email address was provided at these sites, but the "activists" didn't bother to attempt contacting Moynihan to allay some fears or straighten out any disinformation. How convenient. Moynihan comments on these online interviews:

"I will not retract any of the statements made in the past, and especially not just to please some buffoon who's demanding I do so just because they don't like the content of something I said. In the same interviews where I made 'unacceptable' remarks, I also state clearly that I believe in free speech for everyone--TOTAL free speech. In a truly free country there is no such thing as a thought crime." So, Moynihan believes in free speech. Some political fascist he'd make. (As a side note, one of those diabolical websites was none other than the Not Like Most website, which was not only blacklisted by these activist groups, but was also put on an obscene number of flyers, hence giving both myself and Blood Axis lots of attention. Thanks, guys.)

So, when the stupidity of a mindless agenda escalates, these supposed activists continue to not only grasp at straws, but attempt to grab a few hay bundles of hearsay in the process. The next accusation was that the show was deliberately scheduled on the date of Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday, assumedly to mock this religion's observance. In reality, the club chose that date for the band because it was the only available night not booked. And, to top it all off, the date in question (September 29th) was the day BEFORE Yom Kippur! A small technicality, I'm sure.) The protesters could have verified this information with the club, had they bothered to actually check. Moynihan comments:

"The only people who did actually deal directly with the band in this whole affair were of course the staff of the Fenix Underground... The staff of the club were sent a number of recent interviews with the band, as well as a stack of the forthcoming Blood Axis CD. When word of the 'protest' got around I also spoke at length with the Fenix about my views and sent them additional material. Based on all of this material and information, the Fenix stated repeatedly that they had no problems with our performance or its content, and attempted to explain this to protesters, NONE OF WHOM HAD ANY IDEA WHAT THE BAND WAS EVEN LIKE. Did the activists place any credence in the response by the Fenix, who actually KNEW WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT? No, the activists were content to continually recycle the same claims and chose to outright ignore anything that would contradict or modify their assertions. And they think we're close-minded or intolerant 'fascists'."

Annabel Lee, violinist for Blood Axis, attempted over the phone to politely explain to a representative of the Freedom Socialist Party, one of the protesting organizations, that Blood Axis was not a white supremacist band. The FSP rep admitted over the phone that she had never heard Blood Axis and, in fact, that she didn't need to. "I don't have to listen to the band to know that it is Nazi music," was her small-minded reply. She stated that she had heard the band was "Nazi" from "a reliable source." Apparently not too reliable.

A similar conversation also occurred between Lee and the United Front Against Fascism, another protesting faction. "Luma," the person to whom Lee spoke, spouted similar rhetoric as the FSP, that they "will not tolerate performances by fascists." Not that shutting a band down for imaginary (or any, for that matter) political leanings is fascist.

Moynihan, in a follow-up conversation with "Luma," offered to explain his views to her or any of the other protesters in a public forum. This offer was predictably refused.

As a reaction to all of this, Moynihan released a statement outlining the following facts:

1) Blood Axis is not a skinhead band. 2) Moynihan is not an "anti-Semite" and to label him as such is deliberately creating a falsehood. 3) While the protesters and activists believe him to be a "fascist" or "neo-Nazi," he does not think these terms are particularly meaningful in the first place, nor do they reflect his views. 4) Moynihan is also not a "white supremacist" and he clearly states this even in the "unacceptable" interviews from which the activists have culled their "evidence." 5) Contrary to the uninformed contentions of the activists, there is nothing "political" about a Blood Axis performance. As a rule the band doesn't even speak during the pauses between songs. Moynihan challenges anyone to find a single anti-Semitic or racist line in any of the Blood Axis songs.

Even after this voluntary (read: non-required) statement, the madness refused to stop in Seattle.

On October 5th at the Paradise Lounge in San Francisco, the Blood Axis show scheduled for that night was stopped by 60-75 protesters with similar gripes, using threats of violence and other forms of abuse, according to Moynihan and other showgoers.

One person in attendance was Satanic publisher, Christopher J. Turner, whose observations of the evening were printed in SF Weekly. That voice of sanity wrote:

"...The show was shut down because the band was accused of being 'Nazi fascists.' The people who did this were incredibly rude to the citizens who chose to attend the night's festivities, hurling epithets and behaving in a crass, unproductive way that belied their fear-ruled personalities... I am not going to raise the standard First Amendment argument because most of the people who claim to prize our so-called rights so highly are the first to try and have them subverted when the possibility of something scary from Out There begins to make a presence in their lives... These kinds of people, who I affectionately refer to as 'Victim Culture,' are on a constant search for something to protest--it is this way that they maintain their identity, for if left to their own creative devices, they would disappear overnight... All this in the city that prides itself on diversity. Amusing, pathetic, and quite telling... You are exactly the monsters you claim to oppose."

Unlike the Seattle protesters, the professional complainers-against-whatever weren't so focused or organized. Ill-adapted chants such as "Workers of the world - unite" and picket signs emblazoned with "Stop the Klan and Police Brutality" added to the inanity of the evening. Even the fine men and women of the San Francisco Police Department realized how asinine the hysteria was and apologized to the band for the crowd's preposterous and misguided behavior.

The local police may have sympathized with this case of mistaken identity, but the thought police never stop at state or U.S. borders as was evident when Blood Axis arrived in France.

By government order, the Blood Axis show at the L'Caveau venue in Paris was canceled, spurred by phone calls and other intrusions. Same tactics, same rhetoric, same lies. However, the powers that be didn't stop Blood Axis from playing in Paris at another venue as well as in Rennes.

The remainder of the tour's shows, spanning major and minor cities in Spain, Portugal, Austria, Germany (where the censors were unsuccessful), the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, and Belgium were, according to band sources, vastly successful and well-received, no doubt to the chagrin of their detractors.

But, still, it's startling what a little hype can do. Women are burned at the stake in 17th-century New England on mere suspicion of "witchcraft." A man accused of rape or molestation may as well be guilty, trial or no trial, according to the anti-male types. Everyone who likes Nietzsche is an automatic goose-stepper. And, even in these ostensibly "enlightened" times, the human sheep continue to perceive media-fueled hearsay as the unquestionable truth. The "popular lie" exponentiated.

Well, then, let's hold these "purveyors of accuracy" responsible for their words and actions. The following groups and organizations were the ringleaders of this moronic 3-ring circus, and I wholeheartedly suggest that you use this information in a productive and educational manner:
á the so-called "Freedom Socialist Party."
á the so-called "United Front Against Fascism."
á the so-called "Ad Hoc Committeee [sic] Against Fascist Music."
á the anonymous employee at K Records who faxed the Fenix telling them to cancel the show.
á anyone in the number of Seattle bands who volunteered to join a protest against another music group they'd never heard.
á the person behind the email address StANcE2@aol.com who emailed an employee at the Fenix with the message "kill, kill, kill" demanding the show be canceled.
á Sean McDonald (email address: a-seanmc@microsoft.com) who also emailed the Fenix Underground even though he admitted he had no idea whether the accusations were true, and had never heard the band.
á Jed Maheu (jed@speakeasy.org) who willingly disseminated messages saturated with completely inaccurate information which he never bothered to determine the factuality of, and in actuality, exaggerated to even further extremes just for effect. [End of essay]