Norway: Oslo, the Island of Utoya, Dead Bodies, Bad Motives

Anders Behring Breivik killed people with a car bomb in downtown Oslo two days ago. He also killed dozens of people - mostly teenagers and young adults - at a Norwegian youth camp on the island of Utoya.

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 think killing people who don't look like me, or act like me, is a bad idea. Really bad.

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
  • "Islamist," "Islamic," and Unintended Consequences
  • Unpleasant Realities - are Still Realities
• " '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)

News and views:

• "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)

¹ Excerpt from today's news:

"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...."

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"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...."

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"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...."

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Academia Listens to All Sides, and Brooklyn Bridge is For Sale

I wish that the brightest stars in the academic firmament didn't make it so hard to believe that "academic freedom" is not a joke, or some sort of doublethink.

President Ahmadinejad of Iran is scheduled to address the students at New York's Columbia University and speak at the United Nations next week. One of his goals seems to be to proved the "correct information," which has been lacking up to this point.

Before leaving Iran, Ahmadinejad gave a rousing speech as part of an Iranian parade that included "missile trucks were painted with the slogans 'Down with the U.S.' and 'Down with Israel.'" I assume that those are translations, but the news article didn't say.

Columbia invited Ahmadinejad as part of its World Leaders Forum.

I think that it is important for colleges and universities to give a hearing to diverse views.

Too bad that Jim Gilchrist's invitation to speak at Columbia October 4 was taken away. Gilchrist founded the Minutemen: a group claiming that people coming into this country should obey the law while doing so. He was shouted down at Columbia last year, due to his (extremist?) views.

Despite his being purged from Columbia's free speech card, Gilchrist supports Columbia's hosting President Ahmadinejad. "I'm defending his appearance," Gilchrist said. "I think he should speak. To say no, he cannot speak, is to support exactly the same thing that happened to me."

This sort of academic freedom, and a passionate support for free speech seems to be typical of colleges and universities. For example, the Colorado University student newspaper published a thoughtful, profound, editorial on the current American administration. The editorial, in its entirety, read "Taser this… F--- BUSH," with the expletive spelled out. According to "The Printed profanity draws Collegian complaints," in the Fort Collins Coloradoan.

Yep. Academic freedom. Free speech. Providing, of course, that the ideas conform to a correct view of the world.

Related posts, on censorship, propaganda, and freedom of speech.