Our hearts go out to the many dozens of victims of the recent terror attacks in Norway. These cowardly and unconscionable acts are utterly despicable and are to be unequivocally condemned. Anders Breivik ought to be executed for his crimes, but he won’t. There are reports he will only be eligible for twenty one years in prison, less than 90 days per murdered victim. This is infuriatingly ironic because the apparent reason for the attacks was the liberal extremes of Norway. Now the depraved assassin is going to benefit from the very laws he allegedly hated.
The disturbed murderer is apparently a self-deceived “Christian crusader,” whose weird Darwinian-Catholic nationalistic ramblings are contained in a 1,500 page manifesto. Breivik thought he could start a revolution with his unspeakable acts of brutality. He is not only wrong, but he has disgraced himself and very the cause he thought he was helping.
For those looking to bash the right, especially the Christian right, the predictable “tar and feathering” is on its way. But, is it logical to blame the right for the acts of a deranged man? It is no more justifiable to blame the right as it is to blame the left for all the carnage of it’s mad men, like the Tucson Arizona left wing lunatic, Jared Lee Loughner, who killed six and wounded fourteen, including Democratic Congresswoman Gifford.
Muslim Jihadists will try to make the argument that Christianity is dangerous and violent. Muslims will insist that no one dare condemn them for their acts of “holy war.” This is the moral equivalency fallacy. Of course, there is one simple distinction we must make. Anders Breivik acted in contradiction to the Christian faith. Jihadists are merely following the violent example of Mohammad and are acting consistent with their faith. According to Jihad Watch, there have been over 14,000 acts of violent Islamic Jihad since September 11, 2001.
Watch out for the political opportunists who will try to leverage this tragedy into laws that restrict speech, like hate speech laws, or even seek to infringe on the right to own guns. The problem is Norway is one of the most liberal countries in Europe and its hate speech laws couldn’t stop this act of terror. The sad truth is that the Norwegian police were reduced to the Keystone Cops in their inability to respond effectively. We can only imagine what the outcome might have been if others at the camp had the ability to defend themselves and others with their own guns? Norway does not allow people to carry concealed weapons.
The lesson we must all learn is that the mystery of inequity is at work in the world and always will be. You can’t change human nature with well-intended liberalism. Disarming people in a world of lunatics and fanatics is utterly insane. Some good will eventually come out of this for God’s people, that is promised (Romans 8:28). In the mean time, we must grieve the deaths of innocent people, pray for justice and make sure that we don’t allow our fears to be exploited or our rights compromised.
