For those of you who have arrived in our country bearing a Moslem belief and culture, and who often expresses that you are being insulted; in Norway, we possess a Christian heritage; that is the reason for our having a cross on our flag.
In this country, we are entitled to express our own opinion. We have achieved quite a few things regarding the rights of women and men and equality. We have democracy and representative government. We are entitled to think and believe whatever we want to. We are proud of our humanistic heritage and our Christian heritage, even though the Church may be blamed for quite some things through the centuries. We are not ruled by priests and have no thought police.
We are well past the gloomy Middle Ages with its superstition, its Church power and its misery. The Age of Enlightenment altered our way of thought. Liberating regarding the Church and the perception of our place in the Universe, but it cost! We may direct our astronomical telescope toward the sky and watch suns, as well as planets and moons, and a lot of other things, and we now dare say what we are watching without risking our lives.
Nowadays, however, many have the feeling that it becomes ever clearer that something is happening!
We sense that some of our new «fellow citizens» do not respect our culture and behaviour; they just pretend. Several Norwegians experience a condescending attitude among Moslems toward us who are infidels; they expose a reversed kind of xenophobia regarding the general public debate. We are going to hell.
Every now and then, we hear of Moslems being insulted by the Norwegians’ lack of respect for Islam and their culture and that we insult the Prophet. This way, they cunningly take on the role as victims. Some are saying, maybe rightfully, that this is a devious and calculated form of suppression technique and a learned insult and not real.
To be insulted is no human right and nobody is entitled to be so. We have heard next to nothing about «Ola and Kari Nordmann» being insulted and hurt by their experiences. Some immigrants insult us and our values because they expect us to adapt to them and to their culture and their religion with no remonstrance. They have sought refuge and protection and gotten it; still, they are not satisfied.
How strange is it, then, that quite a few Norwegians develop reluctance, a counter-reaction and irritation, feeling exploited and insulted? Still, bullying and hateful words are inappropriate responses!
Terrorists and fanatics have been led by various ideas and in some places caused great misery, even pure hell on Earth. Religion and political concepts have inspired them to cruelties. We have our Breivik; he is, however, not evidence that anyone can label the rest of the Norwegian population as terrorists. Nor can we state that all Moslems are terrorists. Most of them want to live in peace without provoking anyone.
To us Norwegians, it is a frightening experience to watch pictures portraying fanatical Moslems; even worse it becomes when we hear them cry for death and destruction to those thinking differently here in Norway, threatening, Just you wait and see till Norway is made a Moslem caliphate!
Many «real» Norwegians feel anxious, not first of all because of what extremists might be up to, but for fear that our freedom will once again be limited; they fear that a new era resembling the Middle Ages is about to enter our country. Reason and the discoveries of the Enlightenment are no longer to be heard of. Priestly rule is on its way back in a new disguise
It is like stepping backward into history; the Quran tells what the world is like. Democracy, the right to vote for men and women, and equal rights for men and women, are all history. The religious robots have taken power over our thoughts and decide what is permitted to say and think.
Are you among those who acclaim this? Is this what you want? Are you seeking the caliphate? And you demand to feel welcomed!
From what did you flee? Loaded with patriarchally appointed attitudes we witness quite some girls and women dressing in religious uniforms; the dress of subjugation to us, but seemingly it is to get closer to God. Nevertheless, it exposes who is in power. To us, this is something new and we think, They might have been free by now, men and women alike; still, they choose to continue being physically, psychologically, and religiously subjugated. And all this, somebody wants to palm off on us, too.
Again, we wonder why you arrived; why did you flee, when meeting our freedom and our culture can so hurt you and insult you. It seems like you are unaware of the fact that according to our Norwegian calendar, we are living in the year 2018, the year 1440 according to the Islamic calendar.
Most of those arriving in Norway as refugees, have fled from despotic countries with religious and political suppression.
Consequently, it is tasteless and rude, to put it mildly, to front the very same religion and politics that caused the escape. Many will rightfully ask themselves why you arrived. You ought to show respect to the society to which you have come and not provoke reluctance with the people and simultaneously blame the citizens of your ne homeland.
Nobody hinders you from worshipping your god that home. However, when you demand «special advantages» in the public, reject other people for religious reasons, and expose contempt and that the same time demand respect; then, several think that enough is enough and that you should take your backpack and get back to where you arrived from. If that is too risky, try and find another happy county. The choice is all yours. But, why did you come here?
Anyone legally arriving in Norway, being open-minded towards the Norwegian culture, is welcomed in the best possible way. We will do our very best to make them thrive and become well integrated; however, much depends on those arriving.
Many Norwegians become afraid and uncertain regarding what Islam really is. Some Moslems state that Islam is a religion of peace; reality has, however, proven the opposite. There is great disagreement regarding who interprets the Quran rightly, and who is entitled to carry on the heritage of Mohammad.
To outsiders, it does not seem like the tolerance towards those believing differently is well developed. The impression is to a high degree that of a culture of fear. Only when the opinions of those thinking differently are muted, peace can prevail. Some are flared to obedience, some are executed for converting, others for blasphemy, still others for knowing too little about the «perfect» book by which they should live.
I do not think that most of those considering themselves to be Muslims have read the Quran and belonging writings; they accept the preaching in the mosques.
If you, as a Moslem, wants to convince me that the Quran is the Gospel of Truth, and that Mohammad had received perfect knowledge and was infallible, you bear insult upon my reason and my right to think according to my own, free will. You are now in Norway, and here we may lawfully pick at any established truth on both religion and anything else, encompassing Islam, Mohammad and the Quran.
Fortunately, we have experienced the Age of Enlightenment, fronting reason as guideline of all things in life. The Age of Enlightenment was rooted in the scientific world view in the 1600s. Science explained natural phenomena differently from that which the Church had promoted; consequently, the Church lost much of its power. In 1536, the Reformation arrived in Norway, giving the individual the option of personal interpretation of the Bible. Humanism and the Renaissance inaugurated the Reformation.
Mohammad lived from about 570 to 8 June, 632 in the Arabic Peninsula. This was long before Humanism, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Age of Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and the growth of democracies like ours. That Mohammad in his lifetime was given perfect knowledge and was infallible, goes well beyond most non-Moslems’ reason.
I am entitled to state my opinions on this issue. If you then say that you feel insulted, quite fine! If you think that your feeling insulted implies that I should be punished, I regard it as nothing else than a devious form of suppression technique. If you disagree with me, fine, but the disagreement goes both ways. You do not possess the monopoly to truth or the right to feel insulted, even though you may think you are. You are insulting me at least as much. Maybe we will be sitting on the same cell and talk; who knows?
The only thing that can lead to a reconciliation between Moslems and those thinking differently, and also among Moslems, is a Moslem reformation, hopefully free from bloodshed, and a study of that which has taken place in the world outside of the fossilised Moslem universe. Maybe the ice will melt.
Provide all Moslems with the right to interpret the Quran and Mohammad by themselves in light of the knowledge of our days and with their own reason, without risking their lives. Belief and doubt must be allowed to walk hand-in-hand! Humour and self-irony must be like extra spices on the food! Then there is hope!
«Will it never end?» a contribution in the Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen Tuesday 6 November this year, in the wake of the release of a Christian woman convicted for blasphemy in Pakistan. Thousands of fanatical demonstrants crowded the streets of Lahore because of her being released. They wanted her executed.
Yes, the big question is, Will it never end? Now the Moslems must grasp that we are living in the year 2018, nearly 1400 years after the death of Mohammad.
I really do hope that we will not get backward to pre-Christian times in Norway, when The Hávamál was to be followed. Much of it was good and Mannevit mykje is not very foolish; however,
Even with one you ill-trust
And doubt what he means to do,
False words with fair smiles
May get you the gift you desire.
The Hávamál, 46, quoted from https://www.ragweedforge.com/havamal.html
Unfortunately, not very different from what some have experienced in their relationship with our new fellow citizens.
Translated to English by Lars Hoem