July 25~31, 2011
Editorial
Editorial: Multiculturalism and openness cannot be quenched by fear
Translated by Lydia Ma
Many people are calling July 22, 2011, the darkest day in recent Scandinavian history when neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik shattered the peace in the pristine country of Norway by first bombing a government building in Oslo before embarking on a shooting rampage in the nearby island of Utoeya, where many youths were attending a Labor Party summer camp.
Norwegians are still in shock, unable to grasp that such an horrendous act could be carried out by one of their own in a country known for peace. Anders Behring Breivik’s actions claimed the lives of 76 people on that day, most of whom were passionate youths with aspirations to change the world through political participation.
From 2001 to 2006, Norway was deemed the best country in the world to live in by U.N. standards. The UN also gave Norway first place in its human development index in 2009 and 2010. Norway’s conviction about peace as an ideal in which the world should aspire toward couldn’t be more evident than by hosting the Nobel Peace Prize every year in Oslo. One BBC commentator said this shooting shocked Norwegians because it openly challenged their belief about living in an open, free, and safe country – three core ideals valued by the whole nation.
By now, much has been learned about Breivik’s background and beliefs, including that he opposes multiculturalism and Muslim immigrants. His conservative and self-righteous claims made in his manifesto demonstrate that he is a neo-Nazist advocating for a purely “White” and “Christian” Europe.
This massacre has prompted us to ask ourselves whether our own deepest held values can withstand similar tests. Soon after the shooting, Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said, “We are a small but proud country. No one can force us into silence, either by bombing or shooting us. No threat can force us to change our minds.” Pope Benedict XVI also issued a statement urging people not to hold grudges or seek revenge, lest greater tragedies occur.
We in Taiwan have much to learn from this incident and Norway’s reaction to it. We live in a country where self-righteous and judgmental people like to label those who are different from them as their enemies. The way Taiwanese have responded to gay rights and abolishing the death penalty are just a few examples. Many in Taiwan are quick to label those who think differently from them as enemies that must be exterminated, and that’s where hatred and discord are sown and reaped.
But Norway offers a better alternative to this. In face of international concern and attention, Jens Stoltenberg said that the massacre wasn’t going to make Norwegians abandon these democratic and multicultural ideals . “We must prove that our country can pass this test and that there are better ways to respond. The answer to violence is more democracy, more humanity – but such response isn’t the same as being naive. We owe it to those who lost a loved one.”
His words echoed BBC’s response to this tragedy – we cannot allow fear to paralyze our minds and impair our discernment. It’s time to be open-minded in getting to know people who are different. It’s time to replace prejudice with acceptance and condemnation with dialogue. These are the only means for society to become more peaceful and more like heaven on this side of eternity.
