Yeah like 99.9% of American"pagans" are just acting out an offensively cobbled together frankenstein of long dead European folk religions, with no actual belief system attached or connection to the tradition.
I mean, some of the prime commandments of Christianity are “don’t kill anyone”, “don’t steal” and “love your neighbour as you would yourself”.
It sure hasn’t stopped them.
Are buddhists necessarily ascetic? I’m not super familiar with buddhism, but I have read stuff written by buddhists and I’m pretty sure I remember one specifically speaking against the idea of asceticism, framing it as something of a needlessly “extreme” approach.