Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain Wisdom.

There is no doubt, or rather there ought not to be doubt, that the events that took place in Norway one week ago are a terrible and tragic example of the inhumanity and brutality man is capable of. Nigh on a hundred innocent people were callously and remorselessly slaughtered in defense of bigotry and hate. How any person can believe it acceptable to take so many lives, to sacrifice so many innocent people, just for the sole purpose of spreading such a hateful message and to preach a vile and vitriolic manifesto is vastly beyond my own comprehension. My heart aches for Norway.

Sadly, these tragic events are demonstrative of the sheer ignorance inherent in Western cultures, especially as embodied by the mainstream attitude toward terrorism. When news of these attacks first broke, many news stations speculated that the destruction was carried out by the hands of Islamic fundamentalists. Even as eyewitness reports identifying the culprit as a tall, blond Nordic male, even after it was officially confirmed that the terrorist was a tall, blond Nordic male, media outlets such as the New York Times, still held to the speculation about Islamic fundamentalist backing; their suppositions were displayed prominently on the homepages of their websites. Most appallingly, however, was the media’s abrupt about- face when it was officially confirmed that a tall, blond Nordic male, Anders Behring Breivik, was the man behind the devestation. No longer was the attack a stunning and evil terrorist plot. No, what had formerly been branded terrorism was no longer such, because its author had been revealed to be a white, Christian male --- a madman, said the media, to be sure, but not a terrorist. Because terrorists cannot be white, and nor can they be Christian. Of course not. The members of the IRA weren’t terrorists, they were mad men. Well- organised mad men with a heavy political message, and agenda, and a heavy-handed method of implementing said agenda.

Never mind that Breivik did indeed have a heavy political agenda, as illustrated by his anti-Islamic, anti-immigrant, Right-wing extremist manifesto. With the War on Terror still raging onward, the mainstream media, especially in the United States, is afraid to admit that terrorism does not have a single identifiable face. But it doesn’t. It clearly doesn’t. Breivik proves this now, just as Timothy McVeigh proved it in 1995. Just because it is their own country they attack, this does not make them a disgruntled citizen. They have evoked terror, just as Al Qaeda evoked terror on 9/11. They are terrorists.

Transnational terrorism happens far less frequently than internal terrorism. In fact, between 1998 and 2005, terrorism has claimed 26, 445 victims. Of that number, only 6, 447 were taken by transnational terror attacks, half of which were claimed by 9/11 deaths. There are far more Breiviks out there than there are Al Qaedas.

Let me make something clear: Extremism in any direction is a dangerous beast. Extremism to the Right, such as the Tea Party, produces a bigoted, closed-minded society inundated with ignorance, hate, and fear, which gives birth to dangerous, overly- ambitious characters such as Breivik. Extremism to the Left is just as dangerous because it creates exclusionism under the facade of inclusionism--your opinion will not be tolerated, because you disagree. In blunt terms, if everyone else is shitting rainbows and riding unicorns and you're saying “you can't do that!” they shut you up. This runs the risk of creating a society of assimilation; while it seems utopian in its ideals, it's almost full-circle to the right wing. Cultural, religious, ethnic, regional, and even national differences are supposed to just fall away in the face of humanitarianism. It isn’t just political extremism that creates this environment. Cultural and religious extremism also exists. We have to recognise exactly how multi-faceted extremism can be and by extension, how ambiguous terrorism can be.

This is not meant to be a condemnation of American security tactics, although their encroachment upon civil liberties admittedly scares me, nor is it meant as a set up to offer advice to Norway on how to handle the aftermath of this tragedy. Actually, this has been more a set up to praise Norway. In the face of extremism, terrorism, fear, and uncertainty, the country and its people have shown why it tops so many lists and indexes cataloguing and ranking human development, equality, development, and happiness.

The terrible and shocking events in Oslo stunned not only the country, but also the world. Yet surprisingly, out of the ashes of tragedy and fear, this Scandianavian country has stood strong and noble. In the face of terrorism, Norway hasn’t buckled; it has not fought fear with fear-mongoring, terrorism with terror-tactics. Instead, Norway has responded with dignity, with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg telling the world, “Evil can kill a person, but it cannot kill a people. We will punish the guilty. The punishment will be more generosity, more tolerance, more democracy.” These amazing sentiments have been further echoed by Fabian Stang, Oslo’s mayor, who told CNN that the country will “punish [Breivik] with democracy and love.”

Instead of instigating tighter security measures, racial profiling, or its own Patriot Act, Norway’s prime minister has called for an independent investigation into the emergency response that took place, not to point fingers and lay blame, but to learn from what happened. Stang said in his public address that he doesn’t “think security can solve problems. We need to teach respect.”

It would have, could have, been so easy for Norway to retreat into a shell of fear and paranoia after the events of July 22. The United States did just that after 9/11, the United Kingdom did it after the 7/7 Underground bombings in London. No one would have batted an eye if Norway did the same. Instead, Norway has fought hatred with love, bigotry with tolerance, and ignorance with understanding. In talking with CBC, Stoltenberg summed up Norway’s laudable response to this tragedy, in saying, “I think what happened on Friday has increased the tolerance for Norway being a country consisting of people of different religion, different ethnic background, […] It was a very strong message, when you see all the people in the streets, the big demonstrations that we would like to have an open, tolerant society.”

While it is not my place to dole out advice or scrutiny in the aftermath of Norway’s terrorist attacks, we ought to stand back in awe, scribble down some notes and pointers, and walk away from these events with even just a modicum of enlightenment and understanding in regards to how terrorism can be handled with respect and dignity.