BREAKING NEWS (See links to more newspaper articles after this post.)

UPDATE July 26:  Anders Breivik’s attorney says his client “favors dictatorship, not democracy.”  He had praised Russia’s Vladimir Putin in his manifesto; now Putin’s spokesman is calling Breivik “the devil incarnate.”  Breivik was “surprised” he wasn’t killed by police before he got to the island.  He took drugs “to be strong, efficient, and awake.”   (Read more at the British Telegraph)

UPDATE July 26:  The leader of the European Defense League (EDL) is quoted as saying:  “I know how incensed people are at the threat of Islam. This is not a threat but in five to 10 years we will have English lads blowing themselves up.”  (The British Telegraph)

UPDATE July 24:  Killer Anders Breivik wrote, “I will be labeled as the biggest (Nazi-) monster ever witnessed since WW2.”  He expressed a desire to meet the Pope and Vladimir Putin: “Putin seems like a fair and resolute leader worthy of respect.” (British Telegraph)

(The Norwegian flag posted below is from photobucket.com)

Norway Under Siege: 2011

It was not business as usual today, Friday, July 22.  A Norwegian citizen is under arrest for murdering more than 80 teenagers on the island of Utøya who were attending a political youth camp, and he may be linked to a horrific bombing in Oslo that also resulted in deaths.  (Read an English-language report from Norway.)

Nothing can ever justify these kinds of heinous acts.

The man in police custody is Anders Behring Breivik.  He’s being described as a right-wing Christian Conservative in a country where the Lutheran church is the state religion but most of its ethnic residents are, nonetheless, secular.  The demographics  began to change dramatically when large waves of Muslims from Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, Iran, and Turkey began to immigrate to Norway during the last two decades or so.  (There were approximately 20,000 Muslims in Norway in 1990; as of 2010 there were approximately 100,000.)

Authorities are saying Anders Breivik has no known ties to any political groups.  (Seattle Times).  However, he is “a member of a Swedish Nazi forum which encourages attacks on government buildings.”  He has ostensibly “been a member of Nazi forum ‘Nordisk’ since 2009.”  (British Mail Online) and (British Guardian)

An earlier news report had stated that “A terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or Helpers of the Global Jihad, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack….”  American officials are saying they are not familiar with this group and it “might not even exist.”  (New York Times) 

Can someone commit the premeditated murder of innocent people and still be called a Christian?  No.  Jesus was very explicit when he said that he would turn his back on people who had called themselves Christians but had used his name to commit evil acts (Matthew 7:23).  The New Testament (Greek Scriptures) does not condone murder but teaches against it.

On the night before he died, Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another….By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34).

I lived in Norway in the 1970s and once walked down the streets of Oslo where panes of glass from tall buildings were shattered today by the massive explosion.  I have relatives in Norway.

In the next few weeks and months, I will be adding information to this web page [as sub pages with separate titles] about the startling and egregious challenges being faced by the people who so bravely resisted Nazi Germany’s invasion and created the Nobel Peace Prize.  Many Norwegians are in shock.  Many are saying, “We thought this kind of violence couldn’t happen here.”

My normal Friday post has been suspended until Saturday.

C.E. Chambers

(NOTE:  This article will be altered from time to time to include breaking news.  Also, John 13:34 was added.)

BREAKING NEWS:

UPDATE July 25:   The Crown Princess of Norway’s step-brother was the first one killed on the island of Utøya by madman Anders Breivik.   (British Mail Online).

UPDATE July 25:  Killer Anders Breivik “alludes to two other cells” during a closed hearing in Olso today.  It’s possible he’s been in “close contact with hundreds of British right-wing extremists for two years.”  (British Mail Online)

UPDATE July 25:   Some bodies had been double-counted.  The death count on the island of Utøya has been lowered from 86 to 68.  Overall number of deaths (including those killed from a bomb in Oslo) has been lowered from 93 to 76.   A few of the Police missteps are noted.  (Stars and Stripes)

UPDATE July 24:  Casualty count from Friday’s tragedy in Norway (two separate attacks) now stands at 93 fatalities and 97 wounded.  Anders Breivik says he acted alone.   (British Telegraph)

UPDATE July 24:  A woman with a small motor boat (and people manning approx. 19 other boats) made trips to the island of Utøya to rescue desperate swimmers despite police instructions not to approach.  (British Guardian)

UPDATE July 24:  A German man with military background rescued numerous teenagers swimming for their lives from the island of Utøya to mainland Norway during Friday’s tragedy. (From the German Spiegel.)

UPDATE July 23:  Did Anders Breivik post a 1,500 page manifesto (“A European Declaration of Independence”) and a video on the internet before his attacks?  (Yahoo.com)

UPDATE July 23:  Police believe there may have been a second shooter on the island of  Utøya.  Anders Breivik was charged today with “acts of terrorism.”   (NY Daily News)

UPDATE July 23:  A Norwegian man rescued three boat loads of teenagers from the madman on the island of  Utøya (located approx. 20 miles northwest of Oslo).   (Read British Mail Online here)