One of the aspects of Friday's brutal terror attacks in Norway is this. The fact that while police and emergency personnel were diverted by the government building bombing, those nearby the main thrust of the attack were essentially begging for arms before launching an assault of Utoya Island.
According to the article in The New York Times, rank-and-file police do not carry weapons of any kind.
In fact, it is against the law for an officer to carry a weapon. Rank-and-file officers need to ask permission of the police chief to access any gun.
Imagine if there is a situation in which an officer needs to have a weapon and does not and there is a loss of life.
That is exactly what may have happened here.
Had police officer Trond Berntsen had a gun, he may have been able to stop the carnage of Anders Behring Breivak. Again, he may have but ended up being one of the first to die on Utoya Island.
But the aspect that is troubling is the fact that crime, especially violent crime, is on the rise in Norway.
And there are still those that want to bury their heads in the sand.
Take this from Johannes Knutsson, a professor of police research at the Norwegian Police University College:
“I would prefer to live in a society where police normally work unarmed. It is a very forceful and symbolic sign to the citizens that this is a peaceful society.”
And to the next Anders Behring Breivak, or an Islamic terror group, it is a sign of weakness.
While Prof. Knuttsson has a sentiment that fits more 1950s America than a 2011 much smaller world, it may be the prevailing view among many still in Norway.
Does that mean more of this kind of terror is on the rise? That is hard to say.
But one thing may change.
And that is the police will end up being armed. And with bullets in their guns.
It is the reality of this world. It is sad, but true. Norway will be part of a world that is no longer the same. And that is the tragedy of this event.
And on the flip side of that is this crazy gal, Susan Brooks Thiselthwaite.
Suzie thinks, wait for it, that Anders Behring Breivak was driven to his evil deed by. . .eeeeevvviiiiilllll right-wing Christianity!
Oh, for background, Suzie is an ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ. Hmm, who else is in the UCC? Oh yeah, the "Rev." Jeremiah Wright. The former head pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. And the one-time home church of the Dear Leader, President Obama.
Read what Suzie writes. She does not refer to herself as a Christian. Its they or them. And she uses the information provided by a member of the Norwegian police force calling Mr. Breivak a "right-wing fundamentalist Christian". Never mind that he has no church, does not cite his own Christian belief anywhere in a 1,500 plus page tome on why he did what he did. If Suzie was not so busy indicting many fellow Christians, she would have noted this from the manifesto:
A majority of so called agnostics and atheists in Europe are cultural conservative Christians without even knowing it. So what is the difference between cultural Christians and religious Christians?
If you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God then you are a religious Christian. Myself and many more like me do not necessarily have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God. We do however believe in Christianity as a cultural, social, identity and moral platform. This makes us Christian (p. 1307).
Yeah, some blogger seemed to find this out from the manifesto. Why did Suzie not find this out?
Because Suzie wants you to know that so-called right-wing Christians are pure eeeeevvviiiiilllll! Facts be damned.
While many of us are condemned for thinking that Islamic terrorists may have been behind the attack, so should Susan Brooks Thiselthwaite for using tragedy to score in her mind points against her own fellows and their relationship with Jesus Christ.
Hopefully, some lessons will be learned and followed by all sides.
Police should be armed in Norway. We should not be quick to jump to the conclusion that an act of terror is the work of Islamic terrorists. And we should not use tragedy to score brownie points for their own prejudices.
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