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BY STEVEN HSIEH

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Anders Breivik -- the man suspected of massacring 76 people in Norway – has spurred a media debate about his motivations.

Prior to the attack, Breivik released a 1,500 page manifesto and is believed to have posted this accompanying video -- denouncing multiculturalism and the spread of Islam in Europe.  He quotes several Bible passages -- and calls for a modern day crusade against Muslims.

Many in the media have identified Breivik as quote- “a Christian extremist.”
But The New York Times' Ross Douthat argues Breivik was motivated more by politics than religion.  He writes -- Breivik’s crimes shouldn’t discredit the mainstream belief that multiculturalism has failed in Europe.

“Conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic have an obligation to acknowledge that Anders Behring Breivik is a distinctively right-wing kind of monster. But they also have an obligation to the realities that this monster's terrible atrocity threatens to obscure.”

But a blogger for TIME disagrees. In a response to Douthat, he writes…

“…we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that Breivik's actions are still rooted in an apocalyptic and wide-reaching hysteria that is arguably becoming more mainstream in the West than al-Qaeda's brand of puritanical hate ever was in parts of the Muslim world.”

On the subject of faith -- a religion professor from Boston University says Breivik’s view of Christianity is warped, but...

“...he rooted his hate and his terrorism in Christian thought and Christian history, particularly the history of the medieval Crusades against Muslims, and current efforts to renew that clash… So Christians have a responsibility to speak out forcefully against him.” (CNN)

But Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly believes the quote- “liberal media” is spinning the story to attack the Christian faith.

“Breivik is not a Christian. That’s impossible.  No one believing in Jesus commits mass murder…So why is the angle being played up? Two reasons… The left wants you to believe that fundamentalist Christians are a threat, just like crazy jihadists are…The second reason the liberal media is pushing the Christian angle is they don’t like Christians very much because we are too judgmental.”

And a religion professor from the College of the Holy Cross notes that Brevik’s manifesto points to a vision of -- quote “Christianity without Christ.”  He writes…

“Labeling Breivik a ‘Christian terrorist’ is just as vague as calling Al-Qaeda members ‘Muslim terrorists’: neither characterization tells us much about the specifics of either belief system and its justifications for violence.” (The Washington Post)

Anders Breivik may be facing 30 years in prison for crimes against humanity. His lawyer claims his client is insane.
 

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