Behring Breivik asked for an open trial and for a permission to wear a uniform in front of the judge. Fortunately he was denied all publicity. Part of the reason was that they didn´t want to give the man a chance to bring his sick ideas to light in public. In my opinion, a person who blindly kills innocent people and then tries to rise his voice to explain his point should be hit to his mouth with a rifle back.

Societies like those in Scandinavia are vulnerable against this kind of attacks. The Internet gives people a possibility to be in contact in a way never seen before. Unfortunately it unites maniacs, too. We had two school shootings in Finland within two years, and these boys are said to have found their inspiration in violence and misanthropy related sites.

What is worrying is the change of atmosphere which has happened in Europen countries. A few years ago racist talk was a sure way to show one´s lack of culture. Nowadays these "immigration critics" are considered respectable citizens and even educated people are accompanying them at least silently. Maybe what happened in Norway will open some eyes. If it was an al-Qaida attack there would be a hell loose here.

Norway: Justifying terrorism

Following the recent terror attack in Norway, there´s been a few different responses from the right-wing side, both politicians and pundits. Though the left-wing/media reaction to them all is the same (´you´re supporting terrorism´ ), I think there´s a big difference between them:


1. Agreeing with Breivik´s ideas

For example, Mario Borghezio, MEP for the Italian Northern League, said he agreed with Breivik´s "opposition to Islam and his explicit accusation that Europe has surrendered before putting up a fight against its Islamisation". Geert Wilders said he couldn´t be held responsible for ´an isolated idiot who abuses freedom-loving anti-Islam ideals in a violent way, even though others might like to see it that way´.

As Daniel Cohn-Bendit, co-president of the Green bloc in the European Parliament, says: "So much of what he wrote could have been said by any right-wing politician."

Breivik´s terrorist act doesn´t mean by extension that everything he believed in wrong. There´s a big difference between thinking there´s a problem with multiculturalism or Islam or the EU, and thinking all Muslims are animals (as per Breivik´s manifesto). Sadly enough, at this point in time, nobody´s making that distinction. If you hold right-wing ideas, you´re by extension justifying terrorism.

2. Justifying Breivik´s attack

This line of reasoning is used by people who say terrorism is wrong, but they understand why Breivik got to that point where he felt obligated to commit terrorism. For example, Erik Hellsborn (Sweden Democrats), who wrote that the attacks were the fault of mass immigration and Islamization. "The ultimate responsibility is with the perpetrator, but if you are to discuss the underlying reasons which motivated him then it was caused by multiculturalism."

It´s a fine line between agreeing with some of Breivik´s ideas and seeing why they would bring him to commit mass murder. Supposedly, those people are not supporting terrorism. But the minute you use the word ´but´ - there´s no way around it. The difference between this line of reasoning and that which understands why a cartoon would send Muslims over the edge is not substantive. Both blame the victim for thinking differently and therefore forcing their killers to act.

3. Supporting Breivik´s attack

For example, Jacques Coutela (Front National) who described Breivik as an ´icon´ and ´defender of the West´ and wrote that "the reason for the Norway terror attacks: fighting the Muslim invasion, that´s what people don´t want you to know."

I understand your point alameda, but I can not agree.  The individuals who committed these crimes where by in large mentally ill.  As far as nobody being pure evil, I strongly disagree.  Hitler was responsible for millions of deaths (including the deaths of the German soldiers he sacrificed for his own ambitions).  Any kindness he showed was to further the facade and to mask his desire for ultimate power.  He was a sociopath...not capable of REAL genuine kindness unless it suited his purpose.  He did not play video games either.  In fact, most of the most prolific and horrifying people in history did not.  I am not advocating violent games but I think they are a much smaller factor in these cases than is made out.  

Elisabeth, if it were so easy to know evil. All of us have evil in us, some more, some less. I think it develops one way or another during our lives. We choose with our tiny "free will" which way to go, and in doing so, we lend strength to different parts of our selves. 

In thinking of things as pure evil, we miss the insidious nature of evil. There are, of course, psychopathic personalities, which in most opinions are pretty evil, certainly, they are not compassionate people. It´s all about themselves and what they desire. 

Hitler was a very sick man, He was reputed to have syphllis, parkinsons, aspergers, schitzophrenia, amphetime addict and a whole litany of health and personality problems, but I don´t think he was actually a psychopath. He is not responsible for all that is attributed to him, rather it was a collective of social & economic issues that were the cause of all those horrors. It never is just one person or cause, it´s always like several streams running into a river and the matter of opportunity. 

I think all the hideous games of murder and mayhem that are taken so lightly pattern our minds to be more accepting of things. In a personality that is more susceptible, (like they encourage and promote them to do awful things. They feel they have some acceptance, they are doing what others would have liked to do.

When and if something is seen as so unacceptable as to be unthinkable, if they are considered "uncool" and they would be totally socially ostracized, there is less chance they will act on the impulses. 

He was sick in the head and that´s why he did it, not because he played a video game. Talking about his crime, he wasn´t delusioned, he didn´t claim not to know the difference between fiction and reality. He knew he had to kill these innocent people because he entertained the silly idea his was the right way of life and those supporting oppossing ideas had to be put to death to make his case loud and clear. This monster wanted fame and chose the sick one.

The absurd thing is western world invaded muslim countries by its culture, technology, life style, literature, science, tourism, etc.. but some people dont want Muslims to invade their countries too. You cant escape from it. Because you showed western world as a heaven for your purposes and now everybody wants to immigrate there for a better future. I have never believed western world is a some kind of heaven, it is impossible for me to feel safe there.

Is it possible for anyone to feel completely safe anywhere?  I personally don´t think so but I still have faith that the majority of people in the world are good and that most of us are appalled by these things no matter what religion the perpetrator is/was.  The saddest part of all of this is that these people have forced so many of us to mistrust our fellow human beings.  

Just in case:

Norwegian retail chain removes violent games and toys following massacre

Coop Norway, one of the largest retailing stores in the Nordic country, has taken 51 games and weapon-like toys off its shelves in the wake a twin massacre committed July 22.

The retail chain will remove a number of high-profile violent games, including Sniper Ghost Warrior, Homefront, Counter-Strike, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, according to a report from daily Rogalands Avis.

Anders Behring Breivik, who has confessed to killing at least 76 people in a bomb attack in Oslo and a mass shooting at a youth camp on island close to the capital, wrote in a manifesto published shortly before the attacks that he played the games.

Source: here

You see, at least some people are waking up to the reality... I wish the same happened in Turkey. I don´t think there is any sort of control regarding foreign video game titles. Nobody understands, nobody cares...

When you look around, you can see young people who have become obsessed to video games. I know a teenager who spends all his mornings trying to make virtual money to afford weapons to kill online opponents in the evening. The session continues until he falls asleep just before the dawn. All his life is virtual. He has the tell-tale signs of a looming obsessive compulsive personality disorder. Experts say, once the brain gets into this cycle, it becomes unable to learn anything that requires concentration. Affected individuals must let their brain rest for at least two months before getting ready for complex and long hauled learning activities. If this is not substantial harm, what is it then?

What about movies? What about books? What about songs? What about those dramatic Turkish love songs where people cry and sing about how they will die without the other person, how they have no life now that they are alone. How many suicides and murders have these caused? Come on... It is NOT a good thing that video games with violence have been banned. Let´s go back to the real killer...a lack of socialisation and raging racism.

Oh they removed the game? Glad to hear the problem is sorted now. Surely shops is the only way of obtaining a copy and nobody uses the Internet to go against the law...It amuses me how much people want to show they´re actually improving things by doing something that does not matter at all.

BM has a fair point: what´s next? Censorship of films and books? Increased security measures? Funny how people claiming to love their personal freedom cheer for censorship...The problem is not the game, but not educating children to showing them an alternative. Just like it´s not McDonald´s that is responsible for overweight children, eating habits are. You cannot treat all people like idiots unable to make informed choices only because somebody loses it. Can you say without doubt that if it hadn´t been for the game, he wouldn´t have done it? Yeah, I thought so.

Gokuyum, I agree people are attracted to places offering them better life, I am an immigrant myself and I do not regret it even a wee bit. The problem is when immigrants bring along the crap that made them leave their homeland first of all. When you make a decision about moving to a foreign country, you must realise you´re the one who will have to adapt as, apparently, the country functions better than yours. I am in a way glad the recent wave of riots went through Muslim countries. Maybe it´s the ease of access to information, the, as you indirectly call it, propaganda of success of the western countries, but it´s good to see people standing up for themselves against their rulers. Maybe, after all, I will live to see a major cultural shift in the Middle East and abolition of the barbaric Islamic tradition.

Si++ the right-wing politicians are doing what they can to save their face, a terrorist with right-wing tendencies may stop people from voting for right-wing politicians because of pejorative connotations. I, for one, would be happy to see a decline in the support of right-wingers, especially those extreme right ones