Oslo and Decency
As of now--and this story is obviously going to mutate a thousand times in the coming weeks--it seems that as many as 90 young people were massacred in Norway by a pale, blonde, Nordic terrorist. He's being described as a member of the "far right," and said to be "anti-Muslim," although the only concrete details I've so far seen about his political enthusiasms are that he appears from his Facebook and Twitter pages to have a taste for George Orwell and John Stuart Mill.
There is in much of the commentary about this something gushy and gleeful: See, we told you so, right-wing Christian Nordic nuts can be terrorists too. Or, more charitably, there is in some of the commentary an understandable relief--whatever this is, at least it does not immediately seem to reinforce the idea that only Muslims are terrorists.
The words "far-right Islamophobe" cast exactly as much light upon darkness as "radical jihadi" and seem to give quite a number of people the same kind of pleasure in exactly the same way. So now we have two dimwitted camps standing off in what is to both sides an obviously enjoyable war of political cliches--this before these kids have even been buried.
The victims of this attack were not the world's far-right white Christians, Muslims at large, conservatives, multiculturalists, or pundits of any stripe. They were Norwegian kids.
Perhaps everyone else could refrain just for a day from expressing his or her extremely aggrieved sense of passionate victimhood. It would be decent.
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May '10
Re: Oslo and Decency
Well put, Claire. This afternoon I observed a few reactions to this murderous tragedy that took me aback. I think you've got it right.
Aug '10
Re: Oslo and Decency
Where does a Norwegian learn how to make a bomb? Where does he get the materials? I find it hard to buy the lone wolf theory.After that, who knows? And by the way, this can only be described as a tragedy if the perpetrator was in fact acting alone and insane; otherwise it was an outrage,a slaughter, a murderous rampage. I recall a spokesman for the EU describing the Beslan school massacre as a "tragedy". It was a crass use of the word then and now. (at least they didn't say"man-caused disaster").
Apr '11
Re: Oslo and Decency
I read a NYT article this morning and the word that jumped to my mind was gleeful. The author very excitedly throws words around such as blond, blue-eyed, Nordic, far-right, extremist, Christian. You have to read about 20 paragraphs into the piece to find that a connection to "Helpers of Global Jihad" has not been definitively ruled out. There are no concrete facts yet, but the narrative is already set. The article doesn't even explore that perhaps the guy was a total lunatic and this disgusting crime was not politically motivated.
May '10
Re: Oslo and Decency
Agreed, Claire. Much like the Jared Loughner rampage in Tucson, those who rushed to ascribe motive generally wound up looking foolish. These children's parents probably don't care much at this moment whether this guy was a Norweigian nationalist, a closeted Islamist, or just plain deranged. They just want their kids back. I'm with you: let's allow these folks space to digest their grief.
Jun '10
Re: Oslo and Decency
If the man's problem was his "Christianity," then Norway is, after this, on balance pretty safe. Over the years, they've conquered that "Christianity problem" pretty well. Most churches are nearly empty on Sunday.
May '11
Re: Oslo and Decency
What a horrible mess, my heart goes out the the victims and their families, the the whole nation of Norway!
The thinking I've seen so far just does not make sense, if this guy was some Muslim hating Christian nut, why did he go to a summer camp of Norwegian kids and start shooting? I doubt we will ever know the whole reason why this happened. The truth is that evil does stalk the land.
Domo
Apr '11
Re: Oslo and Decency
Decency. I choose to focus on the decency that is assuredly cradling those families now. From around this tired planet - hearts reach out.
The rest is noise.
Feb '11
Re: Oslo and Decency
Claire Berlinski, Ed.:
Perhaps everyone else could refrain just for a day from expressing his or her extremely aggrieved sense of passionate victimhood. It would be decent. ·
I agree with Claire. This time belongs to the victims and their families. It will not be long before the attention shifts from them to the one taken into custody. Police confirm they do not know the motive but that has not stopped the speculation and competing narratives being crafted. But I really wish, that half of that energy could be directed to victims' families and their communities because they will have to grapple with this tragedy for a long time. For many families a generation will have disappeared. Young students will be missing in school, and all the places that young people liked to go will be empty. This is a tremendous loss for Norway.
Apr '11
Re: Oslo and Decency
Looks like he left quite a paper trail:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/60705175/Anders-Breivik-From-Document-No
This whole story is making less and less sense, the more I read.
Jun '10
Re: Oslo and Decency
Double amen. Unlike the typical ready, fire, aim approach of the MSM, let's wait until we have real facts. In the meantime, a little prayer for the families.
Edited on Jul 23, 2011 at 7:15amRe: Oslo and Decency
Michael Patrick Tracy: Looks like he left quite a paper trail:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/60705175/Anders-Breivik-From-Document-No
This whole story is making less and less sense, the more I read. · Jul 23 at 6:51am
Wow. I'll say.
You're right: This makes no sense.
Jul '11
Re: Oslo and Decency
Well in an hour I'll be at the funeral of a mid 20's woman killed in an accident a week ago. I've been a part of the parents life for a long time and it is just gut wrenching to them. It will be impossible for me not to reflect on the hundreds of parents and thousands of family/friends who are forever heart broken by the acts of some mentally ill person. God has never been nor ever will be a fair arbiter for life on earth. One can only cling to His promise that life's difficulties will be meaningless in the next world.
Aug '10
Re: Oslo and Decency
Michael Patrick Tracy: Looks like he left quite a paper trail:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/60705175/Anders-Breivik-From-Document-No
This whole story is making less and less sense, the more I read. · Jul 23 at 6:51am
I've read most of the stuff. The guy clearly has issues with Muslim immigrants and "Marxists" and is a Protestant with admiration for the Catholic Church. I see nothing that would classify him as a " Christian Fundamentalist", whatever that is ( my best guess is it's anyone who is Pro-Life, anti Gay Marriage and Church-going). That is how he is smugly described on Irish news reports today. Funny thing, I heard Michelle Bachmann described the same way several times in the last few weeks.My initial assumption that this was an Islamist attack may have been wrong, but I'm still fairly sure that Christianity had little or nothing to do with this outrage.
Jul '11
Re: Oslo and Decency
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Michael Patrick Tracy: Looks like he left quite a paper trail:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/60705175/Anders-Breivik-From-Document-No
This whole story is making less and less sense, the more I read. · Jul 23 at 6:51am
Wow. I'll say.
You're right: This makes no sense. · Jul 23 at 9:06am
Just read that. He seems to lash out at those who do not equate Muslim and Marxist ideologies with "extreme" Nazi beliefs and supports the concept of "moderate " Nazi's(whatever that is). Somehow he posts the death count of the Nazi's as 6-20 million(and contrasts it to the higher death tolls of Marxism and Muslim ideologies) which seems extremely small compared to the actual number of civilian and military casualties resulting from that sick time in history. So while he does not come out and say he is a Nazi, he tries to minimize the impact of their actions and create a sub category of moderate Nazi. Only some mentally ill person would spend time mitigating the historical impact of such evil.
Feb '11
Re: Oslo and Decency
DocJay
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Michael Patrick Tracy: Looks like he left quite a paper trail:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/60705175/Anders-Breivik-From-Document-No
This whole story is making less and less sense, the more I read. · Jul 23 at 6:51am
Wow. I'll say.
You're right: This makes no sense. · Jul 23 at 9:06am
Just read that. He seems to lash out at those who do not equate Muslim and Marxist ideologies with "extreme" Nazi beliefs and supports the concept of "moderate " Nazi's(whatever that is). ...
I wondered about that linking of moderate Muslims and a moderate Nazi.
Jan '11
Re: Oslo and Decency
I always assume the first reports are wrong ... or at least, reality is much more complicated than first reported. This looks to be another case study.
First question: why would a Norwegian's Christianity be relevant?
Only someone who associates all terrorism with religion would find Christianity relevant here.
May '10
Re: Oslo and Decency
DocJay
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Michael Patrick Tracy: Looks like he left quite a paper trail:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/60705175/Anders-Breivik-From-Document-No
This whole story is making less and less sense, the more I read. · Jul 23 at 6:51am
Wow. I'll say.
You're right: This makes no sense. · Jul 23 at 9:06am
...of civilian and military casualties resulting from that sick time in history. So while he does not come out and say he is a Nazi, he tries to minimize the impact of their actions and create a sub category of moderate Nazi.
Only some mentally ill person would spend time mitigating the historical impact of such evil. · Jul 23 at 9:22am
Or someone profoundly evil, as this man. Sometimes people can be evil, and there is no reason to it, but that it still exists cannot be denied.
Jun '10
Re: Oslo and Decency
Beautiful restatement of the tragic view of life. I believe we all hope for peace to eventually come to parents and other loved ones of the victims of this travesty.
On another point: gird your loins, conservatives. Maher/Olbermann/Maddow and their ilk are going to be equating us, the tea party, and anyone to the right of Ben Nelson as the new Nazis like the evil/insane Norwegian shooter and bomber. It's not fair, not accurate, but it will happen.
Sep '10
Re: Oslo and Decency
and they'll do it all the while claiming to be objective and beyond partisanship.
hopefully if and when the Norwegians build a memorial for these children, they won't include the murderer's name too.
Apr '11
Re: Oslo and Decency
Who Added "Christian" and "Conservative" to Norway Shooter's Facebook Page Yesterday?
"who altered the murderer's Facebook page? Yesterday, at the time that his name was released, his Facebook page looked like this (hat tip Vivien for the screenshot):"
Pamela Geller
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/07/who-added-christian-and-conservative-to-norway-shooters-facebook-page-yesterday.html