American Heathen®

(Editorial Comment from  host RJ Evans on his American Heathen® radio show – Air Date 07/29/11)

Weeds.  We all have them.  In many cases even the most beautiful lawn isn’t immune to the inevitable invasion of opportunistic weed seeds as they blow from one yard to another.  Only the most diligent of yard men and women are capable of battling each invasion.  Spending hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of hours carefully trying to manage the onslaught, these landscape warriors still find themselves overwhelmed from time to time.  But, somehow they manage to win most of the battles against their ever evolving foe.  Weeds evolve.  They adapt.  And, so the battle to keep them under control must continue unabated.  This past week, a weed seed found fertile ground in a yard overseas. It rooted in a beautiful green pasture of grass, kept tightly cropped, well fed, watered, and cared for.  For the most part, this yard was weed free. But, this new weed’s seed had been laying dormant, slowly adapting to its environment, waiting for the right opportunity to blossom and then destroy the lawn in which it lay.  When this weed sprouted this past week, it quickly sowed more of its seeds far and wide, carried on the wind to wherever fertile ground was ready to receive it. Could our yard be this weed seed’s next destination?

The weed seed I’m talking about tonight is the most heinous of species.  But, it’s really just a tiny variation of an indigenous species here in the United States.  Unfortunately, this particular invasive species has the potential to be far more destructive, and it comes from a place where the lawn was thought to be untouched by weedy tentacles.  Norway has given birth to a weed that truly has the ability to destroy our lawn.  While we have our own variations of this weed, this new variation will easily cross pollinate and assimilate into our existing species.  The name of this weed?  Christianus Fundamentalus Extremis Ji-hadis.  Or, in layman’s terms… With us or against us… or simply, you’re fucked.

His name is Anders Behring Breivik, 32 years old from Oslo, Norway.  Described by people who knew him as a modest person that seldom engaged himself in political discussions.  Breivik mercilessly blew up a building and then shot and killed scores of people at a youth camp.  In the end, more than 70 human beings were dispatched with ruthless abandon and all in the name of cultural conservatism and a right wing revolutionary movement.  Breivik openly and unabashedly called himself a christian anti-jihadist.  Some officials have claimed that Breivik committed the crimes to call attention to his manifesto, a document that lays out his ideology and reasons for the attacks.  And, indeed, the document does give ample information to that end.  But, what’s striking to me about Breivik’s manifesto is that it echos throughout, almost word for word, the sentiments of many CNP (Christian Nationalist Party – aka Republicans) members, and 2012 candidates for president.  Anti-multiculturalism, anti-Muslim, anti-immigration and pro-free market.  What’s more, Breivik describes how he became involved in the right wing movement of Norway in a couple of very telling paragraphs from his manifesto:

“When I was around 16-17 years old, I joined the Progressive Party’s youth organization (FPU), which was anti-immigration and pro-free market. Every journalist in the country considered the party’s members to be racist because of their anti-immigration platform. The Progress Party was under constant attack from every media organization, from NGOs and all other political parties. They were called racists and Nazis, and were generally labeled “fascist pigs.” The Progress Party appealed to me because I had seen the hypocrisy in society, and I knew even then that they were the only party that opposed multiculturalism.

Around 2000, I realized that the democratic struggle against the Islamization of Europe, and European multiculturalism, was lost. It is simply not possible to compete with democratic regimes that import millions of voters. 40 years of dialogue with the cultural Marxists / multiculturalists had ended up as a disaster. It would now only take 50-70 years before we, Europeans, were the minority. So I decided to explore alternative forms of opposition. But the biggest problem then was that there were no options for me at all. There was no known armed culturally conservative, or Christian, anti-Jihad movement.”

Notice any similarities to the rhetoric coming from the Right here in the United States?  Well, Breivic was heavily influenced by American anti-Muslim bigots like Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, two people among many who are on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s hate watch list.  Of course, we know the anti-Muslim mentality is part of the ideology that drives the CNP.  And, most, if not all of it, is echoed in Breivik’s words.  Anti-immigration, anti-Muslim (even though in both Breivik’s words AND the words of CNP’ers here in the States, it’s “nothing personal”), anti-multiculturalism, the use of words like “Marxism” and “Marxist”.  More than that, Breivik openly wanted to be an armed conservative christian, anti-Jihadist.  Can you say Tea Bagger, CNP, “kill’em all and let god sort them out”?  But, there’s so much more that Breivik revealed about himself, and his political and religious affiliation, that run almost perfectly parallel to the CNP’s political platform and aspirations.  First and foremost is Nationalism.  The CNP’s version of Nationalism and Breivik’s are the same.  In this context the word is easily defined as “you’re either with us or against us”.  The CNP thinks in terms of black and white and so does Breivik. If anyone doesn’t support the CNP worldview, they are deemed “socialist”, “liberal”, “marxist”, “communist”, and “unpatriotic”.  Outsiders are considered to be threats.  To quote Breivik, “The operation was not to kill as many people as possible but to give a strong signal that could not be misunderstood that as long as the Labor Party keeps driving its ideological lie and keeps deconstructing Norwegian culture and mass importing Muslims then they must assume responsibility for this treason.”  Now, let’s replace a few words. “The operation was not to kill as many people as possible but to give a strong signal that could not be misunderstood that as long as the Democratic Party keeps driving its ideological lie and keeps deconstructing American culture and mass importing Muslims then they must assume responsibility for this treason.”  Frightening huh? And, how many times have we also heard the word “treason” used against anyone who disagrees with the CNP?

Breivik also alluded to two other “cells” of his religio-political network — which he imagines as a new Knights Templar, the medieval crusaders who protected Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land. At one point, his manifesto briefly referred to an intention to contact two other cells, but no details were given.  Christian soldiers?  Where have we heard this before?  Now, add to all this a very damning piece of evidence that further supports my point. Breivik said his acts were intended to start a revolution to inspire Norwegians to retake their country from Muslims and other immigrants. He blames liberals for championing multiculturalism over Norway’s “indigenous” culture.  He blames liberals?  The CNP has been using this exact rhetoric for quite some time.  And, in fact, has ramped up this type of rhetoric to the point of obstructing and evading compromise on any legislation the Obama administration brings to the table.  The “liberal agenda” must be cleansed. And, we don’t need to get them started on the “indigenous” culture thing!  They’re already screaming “Christian Nation”!!

Fear and intimidation.  Breivik used an extreme form of fear and intimidation to maximum effectiveness.  Not surprisingly, similar methods are the hallmarks of the so-called “conservative” CNP mentality.  Scare the fuck out of everyone until they crumble into Stockholm Syndrome.  And violence has been used by members of the CNP from time to time to accomplish the task. Once their mission is accomplished, however they choose to execute it, the CNP can claim a need for “purity” in our national identity to counter the forces of “evil”.  They can convince everyone that our nation is threatened by multiculturalism, liberalism, secularism, and Separation of Church and State.  Our melting pot of diverse cultures, the richness of our national identity, our openness, our very freedoms and liberties, in the eyes of the CNP, are threats to the manifest destiny of our nation.  And, we can’t have that can we? No!  America’s destiny is to lead the world to jesus, to be ruled by a fictional god that they have created and control.

Our political soil is rich, ready, and more than fertile for a dangerous weed.  Need I call attention to the historical parallels here?  While I firmly support the freedom of speech and the Right Lug Nuts have the right to spew their hate filled filth far and wide,  I must draw the line at incitement to violence.  But, can we question the idea of incitement?  Reluctantly, I have to agree with a paragraph from a blog commentary on Bold Faith Type:

“It would violate basic American understandings of the First Amendment to suggest that Spencer and Geller be held legally responsible for the way violent individuals act on their writings, but that doesn’t mean they should get a free pass. Their rhetoric is still false, incendiary and oriented towards a dangerous ‘clash of civilizations’ paradigm. Just because they have a right to hate speech doesn’t mean their voices should be endorsed or amplified by more ‘mainstream’ actors. These attacks are a good reminder that the political organizations and media outlets who continue to give these extremists platforms deserve more scrutiny. The bigotry they promote isn’t just hateful, it’s dangerous.”

It’s far too early to nail down any real and tangible reason for this tragedy.  Political and religious ideologies have a way of intermingling to such a degree that they are inseparable at times. What is clear is that innocent people died, again,  at the hands of radical, extremist ideology. Innocent people are dead because someone believed that humans should be separate and not equal. Not surprisingly, quite a few CNP lug nuts here in the United States have been quick to defend themselves against criticisms of the ideological similarities they share with Breivik. The whole idea of taking responsibility for the bullshit they spew is unthinkable to them.  But, the fact remains that they can’t distance themselves from the reality of violence inspired by the rhetoric they spew every day.  Facts speak louder than bullshit.  And facts dictate that when the seeds of extreme ideological weeds are left unchecked, bad things happen to the lawn of freedom and liberty for all.  And, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see the weed seeds of Norway blow in on the wind and flourish in American soil, right alongside our own native freedom choking species called the CNP.  Fact is, the ground is fertile for such a weed.

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For those who wish to argue that Breivik’s “not a real christian”, I refer you to the following blog posts…

1. What’s The Harm?  (They thought they were real christians!)

2. Christianity vs. Islam: Peace & Dignity?  (And, don’t forget to read the scriptures that are taken directly from the New Testament)

3. Things Change: That’s Not Christian!  (After reading the ENTIRE post, be sure to visit the link in the last paragraph.  God sure loves murder!)

4. The Same Fuckin’ Poison  (A beautiful, comprehensive look at the immense diversity of christian belief! So, who’s really a christian?)

Breivik isn’t a christian when someone provides tangible, verifiable evidence for their version of the christian god.  Oop’s!  There is NONE!