Pagan in the Pews

[Intro – Spoken Narrative] Yeah… Bible belt air thick as July heat, Church bells ringing every street. They got a cross on the door, a verse on the wall— But they got a lot to say when you don’t kneel at all. ⸻ [Verse 1 – Double Time Rap] Walking through a town where the steeple’s a crown and the scripture’s the law, Every porch got a preacher or a neighbor who’s eager to tell me my flaws, Got a Thor on my neck and a hammer on deck when I step in the store, Hear a whisper behind me like “heathen’s among us,” they clutching the Lord. But I grew up reading the sagas of sea roads and shield walls and storms, Blood of the north in the bones of a soul that was never conformed, I believe in the earth and the thunder and honor the oaths that we keep, While they gossip on Sundays then stab you in silence all week. Got a smile and a Bible and quoting revival like that makes ‘em pure, But the venom is dripping when difference is living right outside their door, Talking “love thy neighbor,” but hatred is papered in scripture they twist, If your faith ain’t the flavor they savor they treat you like something’s amiss. I ain’t kneeling to please ‘em or praying to be what they want me to be, I’m just walking my path like my ancestors did when they crossed the North Sea, And I’m calm with the storms ‘cause the thunder reminds me that truth’s in the sky— Not the loudest man yelling salvation with judgment disguised. ⸻ [Verse 2 – Double Time Rap] Got a dozen good Christians who drink on a Friday then preach on a Sunday, Say forgiveness is holy but gossip is flowing the moment you run away, Got a cross on the bumper and verses in cursive but fury inside, When a pagan is walking the block they start talking like wolves in the pines. They be telling me “son you should pray for redemption and kneel at the cross,” But the way that they treat people different is something their scripture forgot, If the faith that you carry is mercy then where is the mercy you claim? ‘Cause the louder you scream about heaven the smaller your kindness became. I ain’t saying your God isn’t real, I’m just saying the path ain’t the same, I got thunder in spirit and runes in the rhythm of breath in my veins, When I walk through the woods I can hear the old world in the wind through the leaves, While you shouting damnation at strangers who simply believe what they believe. So I laugh at the whispers and shrug at the stares when they glare at the chain, Mjölnir resting on chest like a storm cloud refusing to fade, And if faith is a fire then mine isn’t needing permission to burn— Just a pagan in Dixie reminding the righteous that judgment returns. ⸻ [Verse 3 – Double Time Rap] Bible belt buzzing with sermons and murmurs about how I’m damned, But the louder they shout about hell the more hollow the echo will sound, ‘Cause belief ain’t a weapon to swing at a stranger who walks a new road, It’s a lantern you carry for lighting the path that your spirit was owed. Got respect for the peaceful who practice their faith without pushing a blade, But the ones who be wielding religion like swords are the ones that degrade, If your savior preached love then the lesson was clearly misunderstood— When you weaponize scripture you bury the message that once said you should. I’m a child of the thunder, a student of seasons and soil and the sky, Where the gods are the wind and the wolves and the waves when the cold waters rise, And I’ll stand in the storm with a grin while the choir of critics complain— ‘Cause a pagan in Dixie still walks with the strength of the north in his veins. ⸻ [Outro – Spoken] You keep your pews. I’ll keep the thunder. Faith shouldn’t need a crowd… Just a spine.