Oslo and Utøya

I apologize for the rash thoughts of Friday. I too am a bigot, it seems. I had totally pegged the Oslo and Utøya attacks as the result of some liberal anti-religious Norwegian drawing an incendiary anti-Islamic cartoon to which the radical Islamists retorted with an incendiary of their own. I never would have guessed Norway had the wherewithal to breed and harbor such an hate-filled extremist. Spain? Sure. There's plenty of historical anger there. Germany? Duh. France? Definitely. There's plenty of current events that would bring about violent anti-Islamic feelings. But the frigidly placid Kingdom of Norway? Are there even that many Muslims to be mad about in Norway? (Evidently about 100,000 or about 2% of the population, answers Wikipedia.)

In the end, it is this general extremism that is most troubling. It is unconscionable to open fire on children at a summer camp, no matter what their political bent. Railing against the government's policies is best done by voice and votes rather than guns and bombs. I could understand, somewhat, if Norway were the last bastion of totalitarianism (which evidently the deluded Mr. Breivik may indeed have thought), and the summer camp were some sort of paramilitary Hitler Youth-esque training facility. But allowing this loophole opens the door to nutjobs like Mr. Breivik and their distorted reality.

It is attacks like these that keep me up at night. As a member of a marginal group comprising less than 2% of the population of the United States, I always feel but one armed person's delusion away from harm and terror.