Q. Does the Norwegian Mass Murder by a Christian Terrorist not warn us against going overboard on our commitment to Christ?
A. ‘Christian Terrorist’ is a contradiction. Relationship with Jesus always leads to repentance and away from hate and murder. 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik confessed to the horrific bombing and shooting that left 76 dead and 96 wounded, but seems unrepentant.
Breivik is cast in the mass media as a ‘Christian Fundamentalist’, but he is neither Christian nor fundamentalist. Of course the media are only too happy to use this tragedy to smear Christianity. Their double standards are only too glaring, compared with the walking on eggshells when Islamists commit murder.
Minimal research reveals that Breivik, in addition to loving the TV series Dexter that portrays a serial killer favourably, likes the anti-Christian 19th-century philosopher John Stuart Mill, and does not list the Bible among his reading material. He specifically denies that he is a religious Christian, caring nothing for God and Christ: “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 have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God. We believe in Christianity as a cultural, social, identity and moral platform. This makes us Christian.”
We don’t agree that Breivik’s stance makes him a Christian at all. We sincerely pray for God’s mercy upon him, and all like him. For our part, let us draw nearer than ever to the Lord and “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven,” as Jesus directs in Matt 5:16.