The Tragedy in Norway

No one can deny that the recent bombings and killings in Norway are a tragedy of the highest order. Also, no one can deny that in the frenzy to create news, the media has taken over this event with hyperbole and sensationalism. The Norse, like the New Yorkers and others before them are trying to make sense of all of this. An op-ed piece in the Ottawa Citizen caught my attention. It proclaimed that there was some "natural morality" that got violated. In truth, random acts of killing are just that: random acts. Any open society will not be immune to such acts and any open society is not willing to give up basic freedoms so that these acts can in some way be mitigated. The response of the various border agencies show how futile it is to prevent random acts of violence. vigilance,yes; mind bending border security, no.

In fact, the granddaddy of vigilance is practiced by the Israilis. With a tenth of the border security that is evident in the rest of the world they have managed to thwart over 95% of nascent attacks. This with allowing society to be vigilant but without undue intrusion to personal modesty. The average Israeli is vocal enough so that any undue intrusion would not go unnoticed. However, where most of the population has had some intensive military service, the average Israeli can balance security with a reasonably unfettered lifestyle.

It is too easy to clamp down tight when something of the magnitude of the Norway killing go down. It is too easy to agree that Muslim immigration are somehow a threat that has to be reckoned with because that kind of thinking morphs into other genocidal thoughts. Today it's Muslimes, tomorrow its Jews or some other identifiable minority. This is particularly true of Canada where ethnic minorities make up an increasingly larger part of our society. While wearing a burqa may be antithetical to safe driving it is not a large step to say that Jews should not wear a kippah in public. That is what's happened in France. What happened to liberty and equality?

Society will always have its share of nut cases. We have them in Canada. There are several paramilitary groups in Quebec who are pledged to taking the province out of confederation by force. There was a Muslim splinter group that wanted to organize to behead the Prime Minister. All of these groups are watched carefully by federal and provincial police--as they should. But thankfully most Wesstern governments have reacted with measured condolences and calm. As it should be.