OSLO MASSACRE

In the summer of 2011, on July 22, the totally unexpected occurred. Norway, a country of some of the most peace loving people of the world suffered a travesty of immense proportions. The unthinkable happened to this small peaceful country on the North Sea. One of their own, opened fire on the nation’s young people attending a summer camp on the island, Utoya, located in Tyrifjorden, Buskerud. He showed no mercy. But instead, he killed looking them straight in the eye. And he did it for an unachievable and unchristian cause, using a method of unabashed cruelty and disregard for the lives he took. Young lives that still had their whole lives ahead of them. He was demented of course. First, he set a car bomb outside the office of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo, killing eight people, wounding even more and leaving 10 more people critically injured. Then traveling north to the summer camp of the AUF ‘s youth division of the ruling Norwegian Labour Party . He dressed in a police uniform and showed fake identification to gain access to the island and opened fire, killing 69 people, including personal friends of Jens Stoltenberg and the stepbrother of Norway’s crown princess Mette-Marit. It was considered the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II. Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year old Norwegian right-wing extremist was arrested and charged with both attacks. His mission was to stop the tide of Muslim immigration into Europe. He hated Islam, and sadly he saw himself as a knight dedicated to eradicating the Muslims who he felt were taking over his beloved country. He desired to return Europe and Scandinavia back to only Christianity. It is hard to understand why he chose to kill his fellow Christian countrymen to try to achieve this mission. An entire nation country grieved. Anyone of Norwegian ancestry grieved, no matter where they now reside. I attended a memorial church service at the Mindekirken Church in Minneapolis where 69 roses were laid in front of the altar as we grieved for those who lost their lives and their families. We said prayers of thanks for the 153 who survived with the help of God and their fellow countrymen who came to their aid. In the aftermath of this travesty, my prayer is for the Norwegian people to once again feel secure in their country. Norway is a country I plan on visiting in the near future and where I hope to once again feel the peace and security I have always felt in the past.