A Double Tragedy for Norway

As a Bible - believing Christian who places all hope of salvation in Jesus Christ and on the sufficiency of the atonement He purchased upon the cross, I utterly condemn the murders by this warped man. If his victims were innocent Muslims going about the normal business of a peaceful society, I would condemn these killings just as much.

I hope millions of Christians around the world will condemn this act of terror just as I wish Muslims by the millions would rise up against the barbarity of those who massacre in Mohammed's name. The Tunnel Dweller

Bruce Bawer:  

Not only has it lost almost one hundred people to a senseless rampage, but legitimate criticism of Islam has been profoundly discredited by association with a murderous lunatic.

"Norway calls itself “the peace country.” For years, the Norwegian government and cultural establishment have striven to communicate to even the most extreme elements of international Islam that they want to be friends. They’ve shown their good faith in a number of ways:"....

Anders Behring Breivik poses
 in a wetsuit with military gear
for an online video.

"I assumed that after this attack, Norwegians would vote in a Progress Party-led government in the next elections. Now it appears that the man who committed all these murders is a former member of the Progress Party and is, indeed, a right-wing extremist xenophobe who harbors (according to Dagbladet) a “violent hatred for Muslims” and multiculturalism, and who targeted the Labor Party youth camp because he blames the ruling Labor Party for the Islamization of Norway. Norway’s political future looks very different now, in short, than it did 24 hours ago.:....

"It is chilling to read my own name in postings by this mass murderer. And it is deeply depressing to see this evil, twisted creature become the face of Islam criticism in Norway. Norwegian television journalists who in the first hours of the crisis were palpably uncomfortable about the prospect of having to talk about Islamic terrorism are now eagerly discussing the dangers of “Islamophobia” and “conservative ideology”."

Can the Left Resist the Temptation to Exploit the Norway Attacks?  "Right-wing fundamentalist Christian. It’s a slam-dunk for the liberal-left; the ultimate caricature of conservative extremism; the bogeyman that had until now existed largely in their imaginations made real.

"As I argued in this piece for Pajamas, two years ago almost to the day, the very term ‘far-right’ is an invention of the liberal-left, employed to discredit the opinions of anyone holding conservative views – just now I actually heard a BBC newsreader describe Breivik as ‘right-wing’ and ‘conservative’ in the same breath."

"Think about it: when was the last time you heard or saw a reference in the mainstream media to the *‘far-left’?"

* Known also as "Obama's base."

Photo of shooter taken from police chopper, victims obscured.  WHAS 11.com photo

You just KNEW this was coming, didn't you? 

"Disturbed Oslo mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik was known to be a fan of Winston Churchill so the media is having a heyday.

"In their article on the massacre Reuters used the terms “right-wing” or “far-right” 25 times.

"And the far left is already linking the killer to Sarah Palin and tea party."

Norway terrorist attacks: July 24 as it happened