Love in the face of evil

Today as I was driving home, I heard an NPR piece on the Norwegian Murder trial. You remember the case. This was the guy who put bombs around the city of Oslo, then took a boat out to an island where young people attended camp. He does not deny that he killed all of these young people. He claims that he did it to save Norway from the immigrants, Islam and multiculturalism. His spewing of hatred and intolerance is evil incarnate (as well as a large dose of crazy).

The people of Norway have been faced with the question, “How do we respond to the horrific hatred spewed by the person who has admitted to murdering and wounding hundreds of our children?”

The defendant in the case, Anders Breivik testified at his trial that he hates the multiculturalism he sees in the Norwegian culture. He is especially offended that children are being raised to be inclusive of those different from themselves. In particular, he indicated his hatred for a song taught to school children. The song is a modified version of a Pete Seeger song, My Rainbow Race. The Norwegian version, Children of the Rainbow, is  translated by Reuters as follows, according to the NPR website:

“A sky full of stars

“Blue ocean far as you see

“An earth where flowers grow.

“Can you wish for more?

“Together we shall live

“Every sister, every brother

“Small children of the rainbow

“And a fertile soil”

….

“But tell all the children

“Tell your father, tell your mother

“This is our last chance

“To share one hope, one world”

Scary stuff, to be sure.

So, 40,000 people stood outside in the cold and rain of Oslo, as well as all over the country, sang the children’s song.

They have chosen to use music and love to taunt the evil of hatred and violence.

Here is the video of the Oslo gathering. It brought tears to my eyes.

 

This makes me very proud to be a descendant of Norwegian immigrants to the US.

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