"We are all Norwegians," tweeted Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt in the aftermath of the Oslo terrorist attack. For some world politician to adopt the phrase has now become part of the ritual of healing and signalling unity when these horrible events occur. At the time of Bildt's tweet, it was unknown that the terrorist was right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik, but that didn't stop the right in this country of engaging in the abhorrent ritual of speculation as to how radically Islamic the terrorist must be. Washington Post writer Jennifer Rubin not only indulged in it shamelessly, but then posted a dubious 'retraction' which included the rationale, "there are many more jihadists than blond Norwegians out to kill Americans." While that statement may be true, it mocks and obscures the reality that there have been far more acts of terror planned or perpetrated by fundamentalist Christians and right-wing extremists on American soil -- over twenty in the last two years.
The perpetrator of the Norway attacks is reported to have tweeted the John Stuart Mill quote, "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests." In this way, one fundamentalist could be hoping to inspire others to rise up as well. In his country, as in ours, there are ample outlets for extremist fires to be stoked. And even the public faces of conservatism and religion, after a time of hollow condemnation or denial, will return to engaging in exactly the kind of rhetoric that can ignite a fundamentalist in a way that ends up collaterally damaging 100,000 lives. Fundamentalism and extremism in America aren't adequately shunned by our society as a whole -- especially our government, our media and our religious institutions. Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere commented in a press briefing, "I think it's appropriate to underline that politically motivated violence that Norway has seen in the modern age has come from the extreme rightist side." These are words the likes of which you wouldn't hear from high ranking officials in our government. Similarly, I wouldn't expect to see any major mainstream media outlet devote a share of their journalistic resources to the topic that was in proportion to the actual threat. And I certainly don't expect any prominent Christian leaders to suggest an initiative that directly addresses the problem of fundamentalism that results in acts of domestic terrorism.
In this way, the leaders of the most powerful institutions in this country are failing us. As a society, when we don't acknowledge we have a problem, we are simply asking for the ensuing crisis. Well America, we have a right-wing problem. It's not solely Christian, but it's definitely conservative. Unfortunately, the violent acts that have been committed are now just part of the din of American life, all of them taken individually and not part of a larger pattern. But the politics of Anders Behring Breivik -- right-wing, anti-immigrant and anti-government -- are the politics of Rush Limbaugh, who has millions of listeners in this country. They're the politics of Timothy McVeigh. They're the politics of Herman Cain and Sarah Palin. And they're the politics of the Tea Party. Will a leader of the Tea Party stand up today and say, "We are all Norwegians"? Perhaps it could happen. But tomorrow, I am willing to bet their words and deeds will again suggest something more akin to "we are all right-wing terrorists." Because 100,000 who have only interests is equal to the force of One person with a belief.
The next terrorist attack on American soil will likely be committed by a conservative. The greatest terror threat to Americans is from the right wing. This cannot be stated enough, and it is information that should be noted in any government or journalistic report about terrorism in this country. That we as a society are still allowing this crisis to form insinuates a cowed majority and a populace that has collectively decided not to acknowledge its flaws... there are others, conveniently, to blame. But let us make no mistake- conservatism is the ideological manure for home-grown terrorism.