An intolerance of tolerance

I am sensing an ideological hysteria brewing in Norway in the wake of the atrocities committed by Behring Breivik on 07.22.2011, an hysteria which may lead to 'an intolerance of tolerance' if we do not tred very, very carefully as a nation.

This is what I mean:  will it be possible to agree with some of Behring Breivik's tennents without fear of being labelled a right-wing extremist, or of being accused of endorsing the abominable methods Behring Breivik resorted to in getting his point across?

I understand that the nation is in a very emotionally vulnerable state at present, allowing for a certain swing toward a collective grief and a collective appraisal of the violation committed against us; this builds a consensus of direction as to where we want to go as a nation as we head into the future.  Our grief momentarily shields us from all other perspectives as we look inward to grapple with our shock.  We must give ourselves time to process, to heal and, with God's help, to forgive.

But sometime in the future our grief will subside; in that moment we will be faced with the same issues that faced us as a nation before 07.22.11.  In that moment we will have the greatest need for balanced inquiry, for forthright honesty, for tolerant exploration and expression of all possible solutions as we look at our nation's challenges from a new though un-asked for perspective.  We will need to bluntly look at the societal influences which created Behring Breivik and his views and to evaluate, oh so carefully, if some of his anger was not justified.

Jesus, lead us as a nation; heal us, have mercy on us.

Thomas Freitag