The Norway Massacre – Who is Anders Behring Breivik?
Is anyone surprised that the media has jumped all over the tragedy in Norway to force feed their own agenda down our throats. Before they could even spell his last name correctly they were declaring him to be a white supremacist. He may be a White Supremacist but if white supremacy were his primary motive why did he kill scores of white people.
He was quickly tagged a fanatical Muslim hater. He may hate Muslims but if this hatred was his primary motive why did he kill Norwegians instead of Muslims? I’m sure he was probably a member of the NRA, also a member of a conservative fundamentalist church and he likely loved to watch Fox News and read World Net Daily.
Most troubling of all is the media’s portrayal of Breivik as a “fundamentalist Christian.” The assumption is that because he called himself a Christian therefore all conservative Christians are gun-toting, off-the-deep end nut cases ready to plug a bullet in anyone who opposes them or disagrees with them. The insanity of this assumption so undeserving of the time it is taking me to type these words. Would you start trembling in your sneakers if you saw a Norwegian walking toward you in the mall? I would think every reader to have sense enough to realize that just because Breivik was a Norwegian all Norwegians are not mass killers. So too, just because he claimed to be Christian doesn’t make all Christians mass murderers.
His claim to be Christian is troubling on many fronts. First of all, for those who are truly Christian this is an oxymoron. Those who use weapons to murder scores of innocent people are not inspired to do so by Christ. Christ is a giver and lover of life. Those who steal away the lives of others and snuff out the lives of innocents are Satanic, not Christian. A self-proclaiming Christian does this in Norway and gets 21 years in prison. An abortionist who builds his fortune killing the unborn does so legally in the United States and is rewarded with multiple mansions, yachts, exotic vacations, etc.
It is likely Mr. Breivik was using the word ‘Christian’ in a typical European way. It is a convenient word that is used to identify someone who is non-Islamic. The word is used in a political sense rather than a religious sense.
Breivik wrote in his manifesto: "I'm not going to pretend I'm a very religious person, as that would be a lie". He indicates a belief that religion is a crutch for the weak minded who need a source from which to draw strength. He prefers to identify himself as a “cultural Christian." (1) This moniker is used to promote the preservation of European culture. For those who are interested in joining his movement he says "It is enough that you are a Christian-agnostic or a Christian atheist (an atheist who wants to preserve at least the basics of the European Christian cultural legacy...") (2) A Christian atheist! I’m sure Christian everywhere are guffawing at the insanity of such a statement.
The Norwegian killer proclaims that he does not “necessarily have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God.” (3) His ‘Christianity’ has no Christ, no cross, no empty tomb and no true repentance or salvation. Indeed, his mind is so warped he declared that he was going to pray to God to help him in his murderous scheme.
It is a horrendous wave of shock that has swept over the peace loving Norwegians. Norway, like the rest of Europe, is but a shadow of the religious country it used to be. The great cathedrals and churches are cavernous and empty on Sunday mornings. The people of Norway seek in vain to explain what happened because most of them no longer have an accurate concept of the true nature of man. They think man is essentially good. Men are no longer responsible for their own actions. A man who does something unlawful was unduly influenced by his environment or some sort of dysfunctional family situation.
True Christians realize that man is essentially evil and what happened in Norway was a result of the evil of sin lodged in the heart of an evil man.
Breivik may be a white supremacist, he may be anti-democratic, he may certainly be a stark-raving lunatic. But let us not be so shallow as to think him a true Christian. Jesus said we can know a true Christian by his fruit. The way of Christ is to preserve and build up life not destroy it.
1. Juergensmeyer, Mark (24 July 2011). "Is Anders Breivik a 'Christian' terrorist?". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
2. Schmalz, Matthew N., Anders Behring Breivik: Christian terrorist? Right-wing extremist? Madman? Washington Post, On Religion, July 25, 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment