Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Politics of Death

Spring Snow.  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

Remind the people to respect the government and be
law-abiding, always ready to lend a helping hand.
No insults.  No fights.
God's people should be bighearted and courteous.
Titus 3:1 [The Message]

Anders Behring Breivik is a Norwegian who became infamous in July of last year when he gunned down 69 people - mostly teenagers - at a Labor Party Youth Camp after setting off a bomb in the capitol of Oslo, killing eight others.  Mr. Breivik is now on trial for the 77 murders, and yesterday proclaimed to the world that he would joyfully do it all again, because he had acted "...out of goodness, not evil."  He is an anti-Muslim extremist who is against immigration and multiculturalism, and because his way is the correct one, anyone who does not hold the same beliefs is a threat to his country and his way of life.  He claims that the attacks on July 22 were a "preventative strike" in self-defense on behalf of "my people, my city, my country."  He demanded to be found innocent of the charges against him.


Mr. Breivik admitted that he would rather have opened fire on a group of journalists than on the youth camp; however, because that attack was not possible, he fired on the young people instead.  He has absolutely no problem with taking a life in order to preserve his political ideal.  Daily he enters court smirking and flashing a clenched-fist salute.  He is inspired by al-Qaida's success and praised all extremist attacks.  He is maneuvering to position himself as a political operative, but is, in fact, simply a mass murderer.  Breivik's lawyers are attempting to have him claimed insane.  The prosecuters [and families of the victims] are fighting to prove that he knew exactly what he was doing.


In the complex social and political culture in which we live, it is often difficult to know exactly where, when and how to take a stand.  Christians are not called to be doormats nor to hide from controversy, but they are called to function within the boundaries of  God's law which specifically states, Thou shalt not murder.  Taking the lives of innocent, unsuspecting teenagers because you are angry with government and societal practices is simply wrong.  And no matter how hard one might try, two wrongs never, ever make a right.  

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