The Atrocities in Norway….some of my musings…

This morning I’ve been reading about what happened in Norway…looking at pictures of the small Island where a bunch of young adults (kids as young as 15) were having youth camp. Their parents were members of the ruling party in Norway….the Labor Party and they were young party activists. The shooter, not an Islamic terrorist as originally suspected, but a home grown, disgruntled, angry Norwegian.  Pissed off about Muslims taking over Europe, immigration policies, political Marxists. 

He uploaded a 4 part You Tube video shortly before the attacks..and a 1500 page manifesto…outlining his beefs, his beliefs and political opinions…and even included his trial and error bomb making escapades (because before the shooting rampage, he also bombed the Oslo political district) The manifesto covered a two year period…he had planned this for a long, long time.  

And just an FYI for all those who downplay the very real, very dangerous influence of the hate rhetoric of zealous anti-Islamist bloggers….

Breivik’s manifesto, entitled “2083: A European Declaration of Independence” was filled with comments from the cyber pages of their blogs.  Notably, Atlas Shrugs, JihadWatch, The Gates of Vienna.

The title was chosen because of his target date for the triumph of Christian forces in the European civil war he called for in order to drive out Islamic influence.  Oh…yes….Breivik was a Christian.  According to his comments on a very conservative (radical ) anti Islamic website called Document.no…..

I myself am a Protestant and baptized / confirmed by my own free will when I was 15.

I visited a site this morning named  “Islam Versus Europe – Where Islam Spreads, Freedom Dies" (catchy little tag line, no?) Obviously an anti Islamic website with comments from other anti Islamists…including one by 1389AD….associated with another charming blog called 1389 Blog – Counterjihad!.  And in keeping with the line of reasoning that even a broken watch is right two times a day, he/she does say something dripping with truth….

Whoever shot up the youth camp wasn't a Christian despite what he (or others) might claim.  That isn't something that a Christian would do.  

The “whoever” reference alludes to the most recent post on the 1389 blog which was rambling on about the possibility that Breivik might not be the actual perp….even though he claimed responsibility (but added he was not guilty) and that he posted the You Tube thing…and the manifesto he’d labored away at for over two years.  I can only spend so long on a site like that before I have to come up for a breath of fresh air.  I’ve included the link to both sites if you want to take a look see. 

Oh…and he also used quotes from the Unabomber’s writings.


But anyway….. 


All three of my kids are in the same age group as the victims on the island. It evokes a horrified disbelief, an empathetic sadness….sorrow for the victims whose lives stretched before them like an unopened book.  Lives, snuffed out, stolen from them. Their bodies littered the shore of the Island…and the water.  Like the victims in the Twin Towers…escape by whatever means seemed the only option. Many of the victims tried to swim to the mainland.  Some of them drowned, others, he shot.  

He dressed as a policeman and for 90 minutes he meticulously picked off the teenagers….shooting and killing at least 85 of them…and wounding 97 others.  At last count.  Some are still missing. These were teenagers!  Kids as young as 15. It was reported that he laughed and joked as he searched them out…cajoling…come out, don’t be afraid, I’m a cop.  Don’t be shy. 
He said his acts were atrocious but necessary. 

"Once you decide to strike, it is better to kill too many than not enough, or you risk reducing the desired ideological impact of the strike."

According to Wiki:

It is also reported that the shooter used hollow-point bullets or frangible bullets to cause as much damage as possible. The gunshot wounds are hard to treat, as there is only an entry-wound and no exit-wound, nor any large fragments inside the body.

And Breivik was a frequent poster on another anti Islamist/conservative/anti internationalist website called Document.no.  I read through a lot of comments (thanks to Google Translate) he wrote….from 2009 to as late as October of 2010.  
He echoes many of the same anti Islamic comments I have read all over the internet, mirror copies of comments made by American bloggers, commentators and commenters, e-list members etc. etc. etc. 

They are taking over. You are not safe.  Your children are not safe. Your country is not safe. 

Just google it…the websites with transcripts of his ramblings abound.  A few of the comments that I took note of below …

  The truth is so ugly that it has the potential to scare many moderate cultural conservatives back into apathy.

We were honest once but Marx and Mohammed have forced us to become more like them, unfortunately.

He comments on the November 2009 terrorist train attack in Russia that left 39 dead….  

I do not understand why CNN mentions the extreme right and the national Socialists. I have never ever heard of a right extreme or national Socialist terrorist attack of importance on European soil. This sounds like wishful thinking.

And finally this…again proving that even a broken watch is right twice a day….

 For me it is very hypocritical to treat Muslims, Nazis and Marxists different. They are all supporters of hate-ideologies.

    Islam (ism) has historically led to 300 million deaths
  Communism has historically led to 100 million deaths
  Nazism has historically led to 6-20 million deaths

Not sure where he gets his figures…or some of the other figures he uses in his comments.  Some seem skewed and inflated….purposely misleading (or was HE misled?) But he sums it up by saying….

    ALL hate ideologies should be treated equally.

Who can argue with that? 


Whether the hate ideology resides in the minds of Islamic terrorists who vow jihad against western culture (and yes, I freely acknowledge they exist) or from the pages of history…in Nazi Germany and the atrocities executed against the Jews….or the Christian Crusades….or the witch hunts…the dark ages….the genocide in the Old Testament….and yes….even now…on the cyberpages of the far right wing bloggers who espouse sweeping prejudice and hatred against any group of people. 


All hate ideologies should be treated equally.  Let’s call a spade a spade….hate mongering is hate mongering….whether the target group is a different religion, a different race, a different political persuasion or a different sexual orientation. 


And now…. few quotes on hate….thrown in “free of charge”  :)

Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater.
George Washington Carver


I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.
Booker T. Washington


Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that,

 I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hate crimes are the scariest thing in the world because these people really believe what they're doing is right.
Cher

If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.
Hermann Hesse


Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.
Charles de Gaulle


We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.
Jonathan Swift

PS....The formatting is off on this post.  Not sure why...copying and pasting etc. and I've dinked around with it for a while this morning trying to correct the gaping holes...and places where the margins are erratic....and where the paragraphs are all scrunched up together....to no avail.  So....I am leaving it as is and getting ready for work.....even though it bugs the hell out of me.