Norway’s Sorrow: Why Is It So Hard For The Religious Right To Denounce Evil?

[Adsos Letter]

Source: The Wall of Separation
The official blog of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
July 28th, 2011
By Kurt Ostrow


Last Friday, as you know, Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo. He followed this explosion with gunfire at a Labor Party youth camp on Norway’s Utoya Island, which left at least 68 dead.

Breivik claimed sole responsibility for the attacks and handed over a 1,500-page manifesto that details his motives for the massacre. He wanted to signal to Europe that he and the rest of his resistance would not stand for the “annihilation” of “European Christian” culture at the hands of multiculturalism – especially Muslim immigration.

Stateside, as soon as we got word of what was happening, the media’s line was one of anti-violence. Writers – leftist, rightist, wherever – scrambled to be the first to condemn it all as a terrible atrocity.

But then things took a turn. Newsrooms were quick to finger the blame on Muslim extremists. Take five minutes and watch Stephen Colbert’s tongue-in-cheek coverage of just how fast the media jumped the gun, or check out this recap from Media Matters. Without much to go on, the New York Times even reported that an Islamist group called Friends of Global Jihad was taking responsibility for the coordinated attacks, confirming most of our not-so-unspoken suspicions and assumptions.

http://blog.au.org/2011/07/28/norway%E2%80%99s-sorrow-why-is-it-so-hard-for-the-religious-right-to-denounce-evil/
_______________________________________

[SpiralHawk]

1. Hard to look in the mirror if know you won't like what you see

[Warpy]

2. They had better learn how to do it

or they're going to follow the pattern worldwide that is beginning in the US: younger believers are loath to self identify as Christian because of the hideous reputation the far right bunch have given the whole spectrum.

The false Christian solidarity with these people has got to go if Christianity is to survive long term as a dominant religion anywhere.

[atreides1]

5. Who want's it to.

Personally I'd prefer it if all three of the major religions lost some of their dominance...seeing as how all three have proven unable to control the fanatics within!!!

[The Magistrate]

3. Because, Sir, They Are Evil, And Spend Their Time Wishing Evil On Others

This man simply lived out the dream of most Christians of the 'God, guns and guts made America great!' sort.

[markpkessinger]

4. It'll be interesting to see what they have to say about ...

...the Molotov cocktail thrown at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas.

[izquierdista]

6. Because they admire it?

There was a lot of fawning over Hitler before his plans didn't work out so well for a lot of people. Only when the Berlin was in ruins and 60 million people were dead did they finally shut up in their admiration for him, and then only for a while. But they have enough cognitive dissonance to bounce right back -- just look at who's Pope.

[LiberalEsto]

7. Because they're not religious

at least not in the sense of truly following Christ

[arbusto_baboso]

8. How can they denounce the things that are the fondest desires of their hearts?

They're just jealous they couldn't do what Breivik did. It's what they really want.

[gratuitous]

9. The media's line is most definitely not anti-violence

They were rightly condemnatory of the wanton killing spree, that's true. But the line adopted surely was not one of anti-violence. When the popular media received subsequent word from Norway that their political leaders' response to Mr. Breivik and his ilk was "more diversity, more tolerance, more democracy," they all suddenly found something else to report on. Sure, they have lots of pictures of the flowers at the blast site in Oslo, but nary a peep about the non-violent response from most Norwegians.

The popular media don't know how to cover a non-violent reaction to an episode of violence. Compare the coverage in the aftermath of the Nickel Mines killings (and the simple fact that you'll have to Google it says more than this post does) to the media frenzy after Casey Anthony's acquittal on murder charges. In the case of the former, there was some cursory coverage of the community's response; in the latter case, there was lurid, wall-to-wall coverage of every frothing utterance of a public cheated of its spectacle.

[CarmanK]

10. The US population is hardened to suffering!

the tparty and right wing media have so inundated our society with hatred, bigotry and fear, that the american people are just hardened in their hearts and numb to the suffering of others. Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck they are all purveyors of hate. And we know that bearing hatred is exhausting both physically and mentally. There is so much media, so much guilt, so much hate that if we keep absorbing all the buts and but,ifs we would all be drained and unable to function. The purpose of the right wing is to create the zombie absorption of selective information, that can be recalled later to action. I would be a whole lot, that the tparty ole folks wearing those hats with hanging tbags are wretched with buyers remorse. Look at Super thief in Chief Rick Scott in FL. He got his business prowess from stealing from the american people and the TPARTY approved of his conduct. Now, that the TPARTY has clearly demonstrated that it wants to privatize SS, gut Medicare and Kill Medicaid, there are many who regret their votes. That is why the repukes are trying to suppress voter turn out. The OLD FOLKS did not tend to vote democratic. They were a big part of the repuke base in the past especially in FL where they hate taxes of any kind.