I was really shocked and upset over the weekend to learn about the massacre that took place in Norway. Anders Breivik killed 93 people in a bloody attack that lasted for one hour and also set off a bomb in Oslo. The man behind the attacks was said to have been planning them for years and is also said to have links with European far-right groups. Just a couple of hours before the attack, he is said to have posted a 1,500-page document online outlining his plans for a total 'revolution of Norweigan Society in which he denounced Islam and called himself an anti-Marxist.
Beyond the obvious shock and horror that such a terrible attack should take place and that all those innocent people died, it is even more worrying when we consider the killer's motives - and that there could be more people like him closer to home than you think. My feeling is that there is a group of right-wing individuals who spew out their hate (anti-anything that they don't understand) without consideration of the consequences. Most of the time, these people are associated with being uneducated and bored individuals - but as in the case of Anders Breivik, the evidence suggests that more of them are also coming from educated and so-called 'well-bred' origins.
No matter what one's beliefs, we should never allow a person (or organisation) to spur on hate towards another group (Muslim, Jewish, Christian) etc. in the form of killing. Free speech, with all its inherent complexities, protects us all, no matter where we are from. I hope this man spends a long time in a dirty jail.
Beyond the obvious shock and horror that such a terrible attack should take place and that all those innocent people died, it is even more worrying when we consider the killer's motives - and that there could be more people like him closer to home than you think. My feeling is that there is a group of right-wing individuals who spew out their hate (anti-anything that they don't understand) without consideration of the consequences. Most of the time, these people are associated with being uneducated and bored individuals - but as in the case of Anders Breivik, the evidence suggests that more of them are also coming from educated and so-called 'well-bred' origins.
No matter what one's beliefs, we should never allow a person (or organisation) to spur on hate towards another group (Muslim, Jewish, Christian) etc. in the form of killing. Free speech, with all its inherent complexities, protects us all, no matter where we are from. I hope this man spends a long time in a dirty jail.
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