A time ago Varg’s ideas were pretty popular amongst new pagans but I feel like we look at his theology in a joking manner now. Sure there’s some but most think Placenta worship is dumb. That battle is done and I feel like the same will happen with the Platonists. Nothing can top sincere belief in a religion lol
A no brainer, but yes I bet many will look back at it like wow, that was dumb.

So, what would be next to stamp out? Bad actors within our sphere?

It’s so simple, if you have to psyop yourself with mental gymnastics in order to believe in something, do you actually believe in it? Obviously no.
I’m a Pagan because I believe in the existence of the Gods.

All I'll say about the recent debates around literalism vs allegory regarding mythology is this- there is something about the Germanic spirit that demands things be true to their word, straight forward, and to the point. This is a trait repeated historically through collective action, most notably the reformation. It was Germanic peoples who demanded the the Christian gospel be made accessible and practiced to the word.

Make of that what you will.

It’s funny, even normies are more accurate in their immediate perceptions of Paganism.
“Wow, you actually think Thor is real and worship him?”
Well the Pagan should say yes, but the Platonist/Metaphorical pagan would say “No no, I think they are esoteric personified forces of big chungus!”
& then pat themselves on the back for having such a nuanced view of theology that normies couldn’t possibly grasp.

The REAL pagan moral outlook source (for Germanic pagans at least) would be the Hávamál, “Sayings of the High One” it’s various examples of suggested actions in situations by Odin.

I’ve engaged with Platonists and they say the myths are humorous plays meant to be played on a stage. This is what we are dealing with here, they think the religion is a joke and they psyop themselves into following it in a weird way even though they are atheists because they have no actual belief in it. It really is a mental illness because what is the point of that. We observed in history strong piety amongst the Polytheistic people, the Celts were fearless warriors due to their belief in reincarnation; dying now is of no consequence to them. What sort of strong convictions does someone who has to twist their own mind to follow something have? That’s mental asylum talk.