Norway's Nightmare & The Christian Fundamentalist
Bill Berkowitz printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Sat Jul 23, 2011 at 07:10:33 PM EST
Friday, July 22 was an unimaginable dark day for the people of Norway. A horrible bombing in Oslo was followed later in the day by a murderous shooting spree at a Labor Party youth camp on the island of Utoya.  All told, the death toll may reach as high as 100. The bombing was an apparent attempt on the life of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Initially, few dared speculate who might be responsible for the attacks, but there is no doubt that many thought it was the work of Al Qaeda or an Al Qaeda-related organization. Apparently, according to Benjamin Doherty writing at The Electronic Intifada, such respected news outlets as BBC, the New York Times, The Guardian and The Washington Post were using information supplied to them by so-called terrorism expert Will McCants, whose posts early on insisted that there very well could be an Islamist connection to the atrocities (http://electronicintifada.net/blog/benjamin-doherty/how-clueless- terrorism-expert-set-media-suspicion-muslims-after-oslo-horror).

As more information rolled in, however, it soon became apparent that the terrorist appeared to be a homegrown right-wing extremist.

This didn't stop Ryan Mauro, the founder of WorldThreats.com, the national security director for the decidedly homophobic Christian Action Network and a leading figure in the Islamophobic community (http://blog.buzzflash.com/contributor/3601), from posting a piece on David Horowitz's frontpagemag.com saying that while "It is unclear if Islamists were involved in the attacks, ... Norway now undoubtedly knows the horrors that terrorism can bring." No matter who was responsible, Mauro concluded, Norway should be vigilant against the threat of Islamic extremists.

Shortly before midnight, police arrested a man identified as Anders Behring Breivik, who is described by Time magazine as "a handsome 32-yuear-old Norwegian with blue eyes and a short crop of blond hair." According to a Reuters report, "The gunman gave up without a fight with police after a massacre near Oslo that lasted almost 1.5 hours, acting police chief Sveinung Sponheim told a news conference." The Reuters report pointed out that "Deputy Police Chief Roger Andresen would not speculate on the motives for what was believed to be the deadliest attack by a lone gunman anywhere in modern times.

'He describes himself as a Christian, leaning toward right-wing Christianity, on his Facebook page,' Mr. Andresen said."

Sources in Norway told the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights (IREHR), "that Breivik has been known to write posts in right-wing internet forums in Norway, where he has described himself as a 'nationalist' and has also written numerous screeds critical of Muslims."

IREHR reported late Friday evening that "New evidence has surfaced indicating that Breivik appears to be a fan of the Tea Party's favorite Islamophobe, Pamela Geller. The website Little Green Footballs reports that he's been posting links to Geller's website Atlas Shrugged since at least 2009."

Reuters noted that Breivik's "Facebook page was blocked, but a cached version describes a conservative Christian from Oslo who owned his own organic farming company, called Breivik Geofarm.

"The profile veers between references to lofty political philosophers and gory popular films, television shows and video games. The Facebook account appears to have been set up on 17 July. The site lists no 'friends' or social connections."

According to Reuters, "Breivik had also set up a Twitter account recently, with a single post on July 17, a citation from 19th century thinker John Stuart Mill: 'One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests.'"

Time magazine reported that "Norwegian police describe Breivik as a conservative, right-wing extremist and a Christian fundamentalist. Norwegian media have reported that he attended the Oslo Commerce School and describe him as a conservative and nationalist. His views are hard to characterize. He appears to hate communists and Muslims and harbors right-wing views. But he is not a neo-Nazi. Breivik was a regular reader of right-wing Web sites and blogs such as the Gates of Vienna, and a follower of the blogger Fjordman. On a Facebook page that Breivik set up days before the attacks, he cites an eclectic group of heroes that include Winston Churchill, Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders, and Norwegian anti-Nazi resistance fighter Max Manus. Breivik appears to see himself as a mercenary in a war against the spread of Islam in Europe as well as against Socialism and foreign domination of Norway. Like the contributors to Gates of Vienna, Breivik appears to be an adherent of the right-wing conspiracy theories about Eurabia, the idea that Muslims are infiltrating European society with the goal of domination. The Gates of Vienna website, for example, carries a picture of old Vienna with the caption: 'At the siege of Vienna in 1683 Islam seemed poised to overrun Christian Europe. We are now in a new phase of a very old war'" (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2084835-2,00.html).

Writing at Talk2Action (http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/7/23/8287/32273/), Chip Berlet, a senior analyst at Political Research Associates, pointed out that Breivik "opposed multiculturalism and Muslim immigrants in Norway" and that he "championed opposition to 'Cultural Marxism,' a right-wing antisemitic concept developed primarily by William Lind of the US-based Free Congress Foundation, but also the Lyndon LaRouche network." (For more on "cultural Marxism," see "Reframing the enemy" http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse- all-issues/2003/summer/reframing-the-enemy.)

At frontpage.com, despite contrary information, Ryan Mauro pointed out that while the attacker "is a Norwegian ... the overall plot may have an international component." He wrote: "Simultaneous attacks like these are the staple of the Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, but the arrest of Breivik is leading authorities to downplay an Islamist connection. One anonymous police official told the Associated Press that 'it seems like that this is not linked to any international terrorist organizations at all' and 'is probably more Norway's Oklahoma City than it is Norway's World Trade Center.'"

According to Mauro, "The fact that Breivik did not choose to become a 'martyr' does indicate a non-Islamist motivation. A key question will be how Breivik obtained the expertise and materials for the attacks, and whether Islamic extremists played some role despite their ideological differences."

Perhaps the most measured response to the senseless crime came from Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg who said at a press conference that those responsible for the atrocities would be brought to justice and that would bring "more openness and more democracy" to the country. "No one will bomb us to silence. No one will shoot us to silence. No one will ever scare us away from being Norway," Stoltenberg said.

"You will not destroy us. You will not destroy our democracy or our ideals for a better world," he added.

Judging from past responses to these kinds of rampages by right-wing extremists, you can expect conservative politicians, columnists, bloggers, pundits and the Ryan Mauros' of the world to respond to these horrendous crimes by claiming that it was the work of a lone mentally ill gunman.

Whether Breivik was connected to any neo-Nazi or right-wing group remains to be seen. "There is an Oklahoma comparison," Hagai M. Segal, a terrorism expert with New York University in London, told TIME.com. "That could be an incredibly serious development. I am skeptical that there is a larger right-wing group connected to this, but it wouldn't surprise me if you had a small cell. It is extremely hard to do something like this by yourself."




Display:
Although Ryan Mauro and other right wing commentators do get it right on how Islamofascists are running amok, they are so blind to see the fascists running amok in right wing aligned Christendom. (Muslims at http://www.islamicpluralism.org and http://www.quilliamfoundation.org agree). They don't understand how the NAR and Dominionists are using exactly the same tactics as the Wahhabist Islamofascists to literally steeplejack Christianity. The Council for National Policy is the right wing Christian Fascist version of the Muslim Brotherhood. In fact, the GOP has been holding hands with the Islamofascists [see http://spitfirelist.com/news/grover-norquists-gop-jihadists/] and [http://spitfirelist.com/for-the-record/ftr-722-the-911-mosque-te a-party-and-its-multiple-mad-hatters/] . While Ms. Geller tells the truth about the Islamofascists, she herself has been hanging out with English fascists [http://spitfirelist.com/news/conjunction-of-u-s-tea-partiers-and -british-fascists/] . Both the Islamofascist Muslim Brotherhood and American neofascist activities are two different sides of the same coin, and sometimes the same coin funds both of them. Conservative Christians need to wake up and understand that just someone speaks their lingo and is conservative in theology does not mean that they stand for freedom. They are every bit in danger from these fascists as the Left and Center. Islam is not the enemy, Islamofascism is. Christianity is not the enemy, Dominionist Christianity is. The motto of the Muslim Brotherhood: Allah is our objective. - The Prophet is our leader. - Qur'an is our law. - Jihad is our way. The motto of Christian Dominionists- Literal Kingdom of God on Earth [ Control of the 7 Mountains] is our objective - Jesus Christ is our leader - the Bible is our law- and war is our way [just ask Mikey Weinstein at http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org] . Same mentality, same line of thinking, different religion. All that is different is one group uses the Qur'an and the other the Bible.

by zowie on Sun Jul 24, 2011 at 03:51:37 PM EST

Once again, we see the results of inward-looking, us vs them-style hate-mongers. The US is a ticking time bomb for another of these types of attacks. Unfortunately, our president is determined that no rights-violation is too extreme if it keeps him from looking "weak". And the next president will build on the powers that Obama has grabbed from Bush, who built from the excesses of Clinton, who learned from the CIA leader, Bush,...

by trog69 on Sat Jul 23, 2011 at 09:53:21 PM EST

Norway is the most safest place for living. And people of Oslo are also very peace living. The horrible bombing on Oslo was just an incident. The person was mentally sick. So we blame him. Our team member was also there to show the table cover and bath towels to the clients.

by julietmassia on Tue Jun 05, 2012 at 01:21:31 PM EST


WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (375 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (203 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (111 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (251 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (65 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (177 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (109 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (164 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (180 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (331 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (149 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.