Norway and the dark side

The nightmarish events in Norway remind us all that horror is sometimes just a heartbeat away. As I discussed with others why this human being would intentionally kill fellow human beings, someone said, "no offense, but this was a radical right-wing fundamentalist."

I took no offense, because this "fundamentalist" is as far from my way of thinking as Mercury is from Pluto. There's no difference between this "right-wing nut" and a "left-wing nut" when they decide to lay aside their humanity and dance with the devil. The outcome is the same; people get killed, innocents are slaughtered, all for the good of some ideal that is outside the bounds of sanity. I am deeply angry at this man who calls himself "Christian;" he can call himself whatever he wants, but his actions proved that he is no follower of Christ.

When we talk about left-wing or right-wing, we get the idea that there's some kind of line, stretching from the left to the right, with the vast majority of us somewhere in the middle. But that view was challenged for me when I considered the actions of this "Christian" who took lives into his own hands and decided to play God.

I won't mention his name, because from what I've read, he WANTS the notoriety, he wants the world-wide forum that being a mass murderer gives you because the world cannot fathom WHY this had to be done.

Instead of a straight line, with extremists on each end wreaking havoc with the world order, I picture a circle, with a side populated by most of the world; rational, sane, humane people. But as you move away from that, you come to the small section where rational thought gives way to insane logic. The section where, no matter whether your ideology is right or left, the end result is always a break with sanity.

The finger-pointing and name-calling because one side did this, or the other side did that, is ultimately useless and always takes away from the possible solution of peace and unity. How do we move from the side of right into the side of wrong? How does that happen?

The world is asking that question now, and if we can learn anything from this, it's that every step we take in this journey of life can take us in one direction or another. Toward the light side of the circle, or the dark side. The good news is we get to choose which way to take, and I hope that we examine every step to make sure that we are not heading to the wrong side.