The probable motive for that mass killing/terrorist attack in Norway started coming out yesterday. Basically, Breivik didn't like Muslims; didn't want Muslims in Norway; didn't like the idea of folks who weren't old-school Europeans in Europe: and wanted to start a war against Islam.
To 'cleanse' Europe - although I haven't noticed that phrase in the news.1
Saving Norway by Killing Norwegians?!
So he blew up a building in Oslo, Norway - killing Norwegians. Then he went to a Norwegian youth camp and killed dozens of Norwegians there.It makes sense, in a twisted way. Breivik seems to think that by killing lots of people who look like him, he'll encourage other people who look sort of like him to kill folks who don't look like him.
A World Where Everyone Looks Like Me?!
I also think it's a bad idea, when someone decides that the world should consist of folks they approve of - and nobody else.
Screwball politics and ham-handed 'fairness' rules have given the idea of 'diversity' a beating. But I still think the world would be a dull - or monotonous, at any rate - place if everybody fit like some ethnic ideal. Or if we all had to stay in our little territories - for the sake of racial purity. Or whatever.
'My End of the Boat's Not Sinking?'
Why be concerned about what happened in Norway? I'm half Norwegian, for one thing: so this is a little more personal than some news. I also value freedom: and think that Niemöller made a good point. I've posted about that before.'My end of the boat isn't sinking' is not a good attitude to take. And I've written about that before.
Related posts:
- "The Threat of People Who Aren't Just Like Us?"
A Catholic Citizen in America (July 23, 2011) - "Chauvinism Knows No Borders"
A Catholic Citizen in America (July 23, 2011) - "A Blast, Bullets, Bodies, Norway, and Getting a Grip"
Another War-on-Terror Blog (July 22, 2011)
Particularly - " 'Towelhead,' 'Retard,' and Talking Sense in a Global Society"
(February 24, 2009) - "The Subway Project and 'Why Islam?' - Terrorists in the Subways! Or, Not"
(July 23, 2008)
- "Norway suspect wanted European anti-Muslim crusade"
Joern Amland, Sarah DiLorenzo, The Associated Press, via The Salt Lake Tribune (July 24, 2011) - "Norway Killing Suspect's Postings Offer Clues to Personality"
SFGate, The San Francisco Chronicle (July 24, 2011) - "WCC general secretary shocked by unleashing of violence in his homeland"
Vatican Radio, via News.va (July 23, 2011) - "Pope: May All Norwegians Reject Hatred"
Associated Press, via FoxNews.com (July 23, 2011)
"Norway suspect wanted European anti-Muslim crusade"
Joern Amland, Sarah DiLorenzo, The Associated Press, via The Salt Lake Tribune (July 24, 2011)
"The man blamed for the terrorist attacks on Norway's government headquarters and an island retreat for young people that left at least 93 dead was motivated by a desire to bring about a revolution in Norwegian society, his lawyer said Sunday.
"A manifesto he published online — which police are poring over and said was posted the day of the attack — ranted against Muslim immigration to Europe and vowed revenge on 'indigenous Europeans,' whom he accused of betraying their heritage. It said that they would be punished for their 'treasonous acts.'
"The lawyer for the 32-year-old Norwegian suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, said Sunday that his client wrote the document alone. While police said they were investigating reports of a second assailant on the island, the lawyer said Breivik also claims no one helped him...."
"Norway Killing Suspect's Postings Offer Clues to Personality"
SFGate, The San Francisco Chronicle (July 24, 2011)
"Online postings from Anders Behring Breivik, detained by Norwegian police for killing 93 people in a shooting rampage and bombing, offer a portrait of a man obsessed with what he views as the threat of multiculturalism and Islam.
"In a 1,500-page English manifesto posted hours before the killings, Breivik, 32, describes nine years of planning the attacks and his vision for revolution in Europe led by the Knights Templar. Breivik has a picture posted of himself in a Freemason outfit on the Facebook page bearing his name.
"In the document entitled '2083 - A European Declaration of Independence,' which Breivik began writing while he was still a member of Norway's opposition Progress Party, he describes how the attacks would form part of a crusade against 'cultural Marxism' and the rising 'Islamization' of Europe. He writes that the massacre would serve as a tool to market the manifesto...."
"WCC general secretary shocked by unleashing of violence in his homeland"
Vatican Radio, via News.va (July 23, 2011)
" 'Norway has today experienced an unprecedented and horrible level of violence against innocent people,' said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, a Norwegian Lutheran pastor and General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).
"Tveit, who is currently in Norway, had just left Oslo when he learned of the first attack, the bombing of a government building that left several injured and seven dead.In a statement, Rev. Tveit said that 'Attacking the core institutions of a democratic society and innocent youth gathered for a workshop to discuss political issues, leaves me shocked. Being close to these events, I am deeply saddened, realizing that this has happened in my beloved country, with its people, its leaders, and its institutions.' 'In times like this the Norwegian people and government need the solidarity of international society and the prayers of the worldwide church,' he said...."
"Pope: May All Norwegians Reject Hatred"
Associated Press, via FoxNews.com (July 23, 2011)
"Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday he is praying for the victims of Norway's terror attacks and urging Norwegians to unite in a resolve to reject hatred.
"The Vatican released the text of a condolence message the pope sent Saturday to Norway's King Harald V. In it, Benedict said he was 'profoundly saddened' by the great loss of life caused by the 'senseless violence' in the Oslo bombing and the following massacre at a youth camp on a nearby island that police say have left at least 92 dead.
"The pope invoked God's peace on the dead and offered 'fervent' prayers for the victims and their families...."
4 comments:
John,
I see your point. I'm not so sure that the big-bad here is globalization and multiculturalism, as your post says.
We're living in a time of rapid change - and a time when people who were isolated from each other are able to communicate. And influence each other, whether they want to or not.
It's not a placid, comfortable, or tranquil time - but on the whole I'd rather live in a big world, than in a tiny village.
The choice is not between a big world and a tiny village, it is between a big world with nations and cultures that respect each other and a big world in which there is one global culture and eventually one political union.
It is the choice between federation and union: I prefer federation. The unlimited free movement of labour and the prevention of nations regulating their trading relations is a bad idea.
John,
I'm glad you clarified that.
Folks I've run into who don't like multiculturalism and/or globalization - also tend to have a very parochial attitude toward the world. In America, it's the sort of person who seems to believe that the universe ends at this country's borders: or that it should.
Mutual respect would be nice. So would people preserving their local and regional cultures - without hating the guts of everybody who wasn't them.
Maybe someday.
We are indeed living in a time of rapid change but the direction of the change can be moderated and diverted. The Colonists could have come to terms with the British but they opted to fight even when the odds were overwhelming and the British were becoming globally dominant. The British could have turned on the fledgling US in 1815 and brought a vast army battle hardened in a world war and a globally invincible navy down on the new republic but voices of reason prevailed despite the tide of change. Change is inevitable but its direction is not.
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