All images in this article courtesy of the infamous Peter Beste.
These days, the word “outlaw” gets thrown around a lot. It has been used to market everything from car tires to Crossfit, and is in danger of losing all meaning as it is co-opted by those who want to appeal to the normal person’s desire to feel “edgy” and special.
The true meaning of the word is, of course, “one who has broken the law,” but synonyms include less often used definitions- exile. Pariah. Fugitive. The root of the word comes from the Old Norse “utlagi” which translates as “outlawed, banished.” In the culture that the word stems from, an outlaw was banished from normal society and cast out into the wild, at the mercy of any who found him, as killing one who had been branded outlaw was not an illegal act- they were truly on their own.
To be an outlaw in the modern age is a different reality, but comes with many of the same consequences. It is not a pleasant fashion accessory, or “someone quirky,” who does things “their own way.” Nor is it any longer the mark of an outlaw to simply be someone who has broken the law or been incarcerated, as our bloated and corrupt “justice system” will jail individuals for offenses ranging from a few stems and seeds of marijuana to a fistfight outside a local bar.
Our definition must now become more strict.
The outlaw is now an individual who has scorned the world and its golden calves, who has cast down the idols of political correctness, notions of equality, blind acceptance, willful ignorance, and replaced them with his own allegiances and concepts. He adheres to the abundant explanations of natural law to inform his weltanschaung, and is unswayed by the unwholesome propaganda of media or government, knowing that they are merely two fangs of the same serpent.
He refuses to be told what to do or to submit to the rules of those he knows are unfit and too corrupt to have his actual benefit in mind- therefore, he keeps his own counsel, and that of the few who have proven themselves through action- not words- to be his trusted brothers.
He knows that in order to discover who is protected by this society and who is not, all one must ascertain is who can be criticized publicly without subjecting oneself to the tirades of the mob, self-styled as “revolutionaries” and “anarchists” as they spew forth the same disgusting drivel as the overlords they claim to be at war with.
The kind of scorn the outlaw holds in his heart is dangerous in our time- any who express opinions that go against the status quo and current narrative will, indeed, be pariah, cast out and reviled by those who continue to uphold the popular fairy tales and bland lies of society. But the outlaw is fully aware of this and prepared- he does not piss down his leg any time some bleating sheep accuses his him of some new “-ism” or “-phobia.” He knows that slander and defamation are the only weapons they have against him, but because he no longer cares about his reputation in their filthy world, he is immune to the barbed darts of “character assassination.”
Regardless of accusation and slanderous word, he is true to himself, and does not relent in his personal code- he is proud, strong, scornful and merciless in his quest to uphold the truth, and to eradicate weakness from himself and his chosen tribe. He weathers the storms created by the servants and slaves of Empire, and becomes ever stronger, ever growing in power as theirs diminishes.
Often, leadership of these aging organizations and governments will seek out a “devil” to vilify once again, in order to bring their own ranks and supporters closer together and perpetuate their side’s way of thinking- lest it become stale and those who have subscribed to it begin to drift away to seek out something more vital.
They re-label this “other” with vile by-words, ban its adherents from their cobwebbed courts and crumbling kingdoms, and warn all citizens of their Empire of Nothing: these are Bad Men, Villains, Outlaws, Wolves among the fold, to be attacked on sight, or shunned- relegated to outer darkness.
But the Outlaw has grown in darkness, and he is accustomed to its embrace, and he only becomes more hardened in his resolve to see their Empires crumble.
Because in his burning heart, he knows they are right to fear the Devil.
