The extremist site "Gates of Vienna" where a Norwegian blogger publishes his "Fjordman Report" has been closed to comments since July 24. Although stating that he has a "strong dedication to truth" he his not willing to participate in an open discussion on the relationship between his writing and the murder of Norwegian children at Utöy. I therefore publish my comments to him here instead.
In May 2010 Fjordman published a report titled "Can We Coexist with the Left?". The answer was a clear no:
In many cases you can compromise, but in others you cannot. If somebody tries to poison you then you have to resist. It doesn’t matter in the long run whether those who do this do so because they deliberately want to kill you or because they are fools who accidentally kill you while intending to do something noble. The bottom line is: You die. You cannot be slightly dead, just like you cannot be slightly pregnant. If the Leftists and the Globalists have their way then our civilization will die, plain and simple. That’s why this ongoing struggle is likely to get ugly, because no compromise is possible. Since similar ideological struggles are taking place throughout the Western world, this situation could trigger a pan-Western Civil War.
Now Fjordman claims that he has "never called for violence in any of my essays". But the above paragraph, in combination with the title of the report, is hard to understand as anything other than a call for violence. If someone is trying to kill, you will not be punished if you use deadly violence to protect yourself or someone being at risk. The message to Anders Behring Breivik is thus clear. Go forward and kill the young social democrats, your are entitled to do this since they as "Leftists and the Globalists" are trying to kill us. And in fact, ABB now admits to the murders, but doesn't think that these acts deserves punishment.
In his new essay, Fjordman invites us to feel sorry for him because he has not slept well. This is deplorable. When someone finally takes action on the path that Fjordman has projected as necessary he feels sorry for himself and not the victims of his hate-speech.
ABB, Fjordman, and other hate-mongers have created a dangerous situation. When the chock abides there is a risk that many of us will demand revenge and not reconciliation. In my view, one way to avoid an escalation would be to start an internet-confrontation with the hate mongers. Chase them in the comment fields of the newspapers! Chase them at their blog-sites. Do not leave them alone to develop their increasingly violent rhetoric!
It could also be discussed to what extent anonymity contributes to a civilized discussion in the comment fields of our newspapers. Our freedom of speech must be protected but not necessarily anonymity in public discussion. Everyone has a right to their views and to state them publicly, but isn't it strange to participate in a public debate if you cannot stand for your views?
