{"id":398,"date":"2011-07-28T15:18:00","date_gmt":"2011-07-28T15:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2011\/07\/the-oslo-massacre-and-the-irrationally-subjective-unwarranted-conclusions-drawn-from-so-called-symbolic-evil-acts.html"},"modified":"2017-05-30T16:05:49","modified_gmt":"2017-05-30T20:05:49","slug":"the-oslo-massacre-and-the-irrationally-subjective-unwarranted-conclusions-drawn-from-so-called-symbolic-evil-acts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2011\/07\/the-oslo-massacre-and-the-irrationally-subjective-unwarranted-conclusions-drawn-from-so-called-symbolic-evil-acts.html","title":{"rendered":"Massacres and Subjective Unwarranted Conclusions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
. . . Drawn from So-Called \u201cSymbolic\u201d Evil Acts<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"MassacreVigil\"<\/a><\/div>\n
Candlelight vigil in London for the victims of the Peshawar school massacre, in which 141 people were killed. Photo by Kashif Haque (17 December 2014)<\/span> [Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/\u00a0Creative Commons<\/a>\u00a0Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International<\/a>\u00a0license]<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
* * *<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
(7-28-11)<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
* * *<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0I wrote the following in a personal letter today; thought I\u2019d share it with you (with a few little additions, as I read it over):<\/div>\n

What frosts me about things like this is the fundamental irrationality of taking one act as if it supposedly \u201cproves\u201d something about huge groups of people. Obviously it doesn\u2019t at all. Such a mentality exhibits the classic sweeping, stereotypical hallmark of prejudicial or bigoted thought. We live in an age of subjectivism and opposition to solid logical, coherent thought. So now Christians are to be characterized as mass murderers because of Oslo fanatic Anders Behring Breivik (just like Hitler was supposedly a good Catholic and Stalin, Eastern Orthodox)? The guy is a neo-Nazi fascist!<\/p>\n

Likewise,\u00a0 there were attempts to characterize Christians or particularly politically conservative ones, as terrorists, after Timothy McVeigh and that lunatic in Arizona (Jared Loughner). It doesn\u2019t work. None of these evil murderers remotely fit into the objective profile of the groups that are lambasted as a result of them. Even if they did, it would prove exactly nothing, as to whole groups<\/i>, anyway. It simply doesn\u2019t follow. Sheer evil of such a profound level is sui generis<\/i> (\u201cone of a kind\u201d) anyway. It makes little sense to try to place a heartless, soul-dead monster like that within any<\/i> larger human group of more or less \u201cnormal\u201d people (fallen though we all are).<\/p>\n

So many people, despite these rather obvious considerations, base opinions on famous and notorious \u201cpublic\u201d acts that become highly \u201csymbolic\u201d to them. Hence, when Rev. Martin Luther King was murdered in 1968 (I visited the spot where it happened, in 2009, along with several other notable King sites: his house, church, the place of his last speech), it was taken as proof that America remained fundamentally racist at its core; even institutionally or \u201csystemically\u201d so. It proved no such thing<\/i>; all it \u201cproved\u201d was the fact that one racist who hated Dr. King managed to kill him. There are always some racists around. The dispute is how many they are and whether it is the norm and consensus in any given society.<\/p>\n

But the entire civil rights movement came to a halt for several years; even the great soul music out of Memphis died a quick death, as a result. Steve Cropper, the white guitarist at Stax studios in Memphis, who had played on and written and produced so many of those songs, has noted how he was treated with hostility in the studio after King\u2019s murder, as if he had anything to do with it. One readily understands the overwhelming grief and despair, as a result of a great leader having been cut down (America had gone through JFK, after all), but there has to be some limit to applying the natural negative emotional reaction to those who were disconnected in every immediate sense except for the mere coincidence of a skin color.<\/p>\n

Then when Obama was elected, America supposedly \u201cproved\u201d it wasn\u2019t racist anymore. I think his election did<\/i> positively indicate less racism in our country, but racists and racism\u00a0 had long since been rightly marginalized and demonized, according to any serious polling data for the previous 30 years at least. Yet the symbolic phenomenon of Obama\u2019s election supposedly \u201cproved\u201d a sudden sea change. Now that many are opposing his policies (not his skin color!), unfortunately we\u2019re back to the obligatory \u201cgroupthink\u201d charges of racism again. To make a strong protest against any of his policies is to be a racist. I guess, then, the country still suffers from the annoying tendency of the race card being played at every opportunity, no matter how irrelevant it is. I am sick to death of it.<\/p>\n

If we are truly colorblind, we criticize people of color precisely because<\/i> race is no longer an issue<\/i>, and they are treated the same: both in a positive sense and a negative sense of criticism of their governing policy or whatever else is the topic at hand. We (i.e., us white folks) don\u2019t \u2014 or shouldn\u2019t \u2014 treat African-Americans with kid gloves out of a perverse application of \u201ccorporate white guilt\u201d when it is irrelevant. That is what is patronizing and condescending: as if they wouldn\u2019t be able to take criticism because of being so inferior and ill-equipped.<\/p>\n

President Obama is a politician, period; thus open to critique like any other<\/i> politician. If proof that white America has gotten past skin color was needed, it was amply provided in 2008: so much so that Jesse Jackson openly cried in Chicago on election night. It meant something very significant. But formerly widely racist white America hadn\u2019t changed overnight. It was a long process.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been an avid student of race relations as a native Detroiter and sociology major, for over 40 years: since the Detroit Riots of 1967.<\/p>\n

The problem is this sort of thoroughly subjective thinking, which is detached from serious analytical, properly reflective thought. I posted on my Facebook page a link to a great article about the Norway massacre by Chuck Colson<\/a>. He is rational, and shows that rejection of Christianity is no answer, and will exacerbate the problem, not resolve it. But people are sheep . . .All we can do is try to keep important societal conversations on a rational plane, influenced by our own Christian viewpoints. And it is not<\/i> rational to make conclusions about groups of many millions of people, based on the evil acts of one psychopath.<\/p>\n

Related Reading<\/b><\/div>\n

The Character Assassination of Robert Spencer<\/a> (David Horowitz)<\/p>\n

Norway Attacks: \u2018Breivik Acted Alone\u2019<\/a> (BBC News Europe)<\/p>\n

Spencer vs. Alan Colmes on Norway Smears<\/a> (video clip)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

. . . Drawn from So-Called \u201cSymbolic\u201d Evil Acts Candlelight vigil in London for the victims of the Peshawar school massacre, in which 141 people were killed. Photo by Kashif Haque (17 December 2014) [Wikimedia Commons \/\u00a0Creative Commons\u00a0Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International\u00a0license] * * * (7-28-11) * * * \u00a0I wrote the following in a personal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":5880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[289],"tags":[2023,2024,2021,2022,2025,174,354],"class_list":["post-398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-ethical-moral-issues","tag-left-wing","tag-leftists","tag-massacres","tag-political-liberalism","tag-politically-correct","tag-problem-of-evil","tag-socialism"],"yoast_head":"\nMassacres and Subjective Unwarranted Conclusions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Christians (and particularly politically conservative ones), were painted as terrorists, after massacres by Timothy McVeigh and Jared 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Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}