When our country was hit by terror, I was happy to hear the wise responses, from our Prime Minister, and not the least, from the young politicians who were the victims of the shooting:
"Our response will be be more democracy and more openness."
The purpose of terror is to scare people. Statistically, the probability of getting killed in a terror attack is much smaller than being killed in a car crash, or some other accident (at least if we exclude extreme countries like Iraq and Afghanistan from the statistics).
We have been lucky to live in a country with little violence. Not even the police carry handguns. I hope this remains in the future.
I hope and believe we will not become a country where people are afraid of each other, and protecting ourselves from each other. If we do, the terrorists have won.
We must stick to the ideas and values of the social democracy, where conflict is handled by means of dialogue and debate. Hate and revenge don't bring us forward.
In the spirit of Nordahl Grieg, the Prime Minister said:
"Freedom of speech is our weapon."
I will use that weapon, and it's the only weapon I will use.
(After the terrorist attacks, people have covered towns and cities in flowers. I took the picture above a couple of days ago when I passed by town square. The statue of the king who founded our city in the year 997 (an official random number) was surrounded by flowers and candle lights.)
When I saw the news, I immediately thought of you. That's logical since you're the only person I know there. It took me back to 9-11 when I was glued to the TV. I love the stance Norway and Norwegians took. That says so much about you and your country.
ReplyDeleteWow, your police really doesn't carry guns? I gotta say I'm a little surprised. I'll refrain from passing judgment though. I mean, I'd like to live in a country where we feel safe enough to disarm the police. As progressive as I thought Canada was, we're far from there.
ReplyDeleteI was really sad to hear what was going on over there. I'm glad your government is changing.
ReplyDeleteThat is to say, I'm glad your government ISN'T changing because of fear. I pushed the post comment button before I was finished. Glad you're all right.
ReplyDeletei couldn't agree more with what you wrote.
ReplyDeleteThe killings were horrific. Your post really says it all, truly.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post. I agree with you definitely. The pen is mightier than the sword!
ReplyDeleteHelen: Thanks! I'm very happy that our PM and other politicians took that stance. There are two possible explanations for this: (1) We have become a truly peaceful country, since the age of the vikings or (2) we're such a small country that we will loose if we try the aggressive way. I hope (1) is the right answer >:)
ReplyDeleteBen: Our police do not carry any visible guns. I think they have guns locked down in the trunk of the police cars though. The idea is that unarmed police will in general lower the level of aggression in the society. I think that's a good and wise attitude.
I was happy, too, for Norway when I read your Prime Minister's response to this act of terrorism. What can be gained by revenge?
ReplyDeleteGuns wouldn't do much good against terrorism anyway. Norway is very wise and freedom of speech is pretty effective armament.
Clarissa: It looks promising for the future.
ReplyDeleteid: We apparently agree about many things, except the use of upper case letters >;)
Lydia: Thanks.
Aimee: I've always supported the pen team, and I'm convinced they will win in the end >:)
Jayne: The conflicts in the Middle East have shown that revenge doesn't work. Someone need to break the hate spiral. In general, I think the strongest part in a conflict should start the dialogue prosess. In fact, there are similar challenges in a democratic system. The majority have to be nice to the minorities because the latter will never win the elections.