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Is 'Christian fundamentalist' label correct for Norway terror suspect? – CNN
Article Source: CNN
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Given initial suspicions that Friday's bombing and mass shooting in Norway were carried out by Islamic militants linked to al Qaeda, the way police ended up describing the suspect behind the attacks came as a big surprise even to many security experts: The alleged attacker was called a "Christian fundamentalist."
But experts on European politics and religion say that the Christian fundamentalist label could overstate the extent to which the suspect, Anders Behring Breivik - who has told authorities that he carried out the attacks - was motivated by religion, and the extent to which he is tied to a broader religious movement.
"It is true that he sees himself as a crusader and some sort of Templar knight," said Marcus Buck, a political science professor at Norway's University of Tromso, referring to an online manifesto that Breivik appears to have authored and which draws inspiration from medieval Christian crusaders.
- 2 votes
#1 - Mon Jul 25, 2011 4:34 PM EDTIs 'Christian fundamentalist' label correct for Norway terror suspect?
Yes!
It should be no surprise why the Christian community takes absolutely no responsibility for the actions of one of their own. Scape-goating responsibility is what Christianity is based on.
"He is not a real Christian."
"That Biblical quote is taken out of context."
"I know what it says, but this is what it means."
"The call to slaughter in the Bible was from a different time."
And that is the end of the conversation.
- 4 votes
#2 - Mon Jul 25, 2011 4:41 PM EDTYea, I think you've pretty much summed up what I was going to say. There will be excuses. There will (and has been, from what I've seen) attempts to turn this back on to Islam, but they're just excuses.
And in the same way that I don't tend to blame Islam itself for most of the terrorist attacks, I don't feel like you need to blame Christianity itself for this particular attack. But the guy is definitely a fundamentalist Christian. People take pieces of ideas, twist them to fit their own model of reality, and act according to what they want those ideas to mean to them. This guy clearly believed he was being a good Christian. He IS a Christian. You don't get to distance yourself from him based on the old cliché, "He's not a REAL Christian". What a REAL Christian is is as subjective to the person using the phrase as what this guy did was perceived by himself as doing the right thing.
All religion is a set of completely personal beliefs. No two people have the same exact beliefs. No one. When you base your life and actions as much on your PERSONAL beliefs as Muslims and Christians as these terrorists do, you're a terrorist, and you're trying to impose your own beliefs, which cannot, by definition, be supported by fact, you've become a fundamentalist.
This man was a fundamentalist Christian. It doesn't mean that all Christians are bad, but he surely doesn't do the name of Christianity any good.
- 1 vote
Of course it's correct. He came right out and stated that he is a Christian, hates Muslims and wants to start a crusade against Islam.
It can't be any clearer than that. In fact, his terrorism was more religiously inspired than even the 9/11 terrorists'! If anything, there's was a bit more political. There's just no mistaking this guy's intentions, right down to the name - Knights Templar.
- 4 votes
He may be Christian, but he is not a "fundamentalist". Fundamentalists most often believe that Catholics aren't really Christian.
I agree.
When Muslim extremists commit an atrocious terrorist act, the "fundamentalist" stereotype gets glued onto the forehead of just about every Muslim in the world. Sure, some other moderate or even liberal Muslims may protest and say that these *radicals* aren't actually representatives of the Islamic faith but they tend to be largely ignored by the West.
Now that a "Christian fundamentalist" has committed an equally atrocious terrorist act, you got people coming out of the woodwork claiming that he is not a Christian at all! Excuses excuses. It's the same sort of rhetorical crap used by the Roman Catholic Church after some of their Bishops were exposed as Nazi collaborators in genocide during WWII.
There is one fundamental characteristic that is shared by all organized religions across the world. They are all capable of producing fanatics such as this "Christian fundamentalist. Denial and hypocrisy won't change this fact.
- 4 votes
excellent point Gordon
my question is when will moderate religion ( all of them ) stand up and take responsibility for the nutters they create ?
- 2 votes
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