Breivik's Distorted "Agnostic Christianity"

By Marcia Morrissey:

Some of the news reports described Breivik as a “Christian fundamentalist.” I will just address the claim that he is a Christian here. I later read parts of his 1500-word manifesto, where he admits he is not a religious Christian, but rather loosely uses “Christianity” for his own political purposes. He calls himself a “cultural Christian.” He says that religious Christians have a personal relationship with Jesus or God, which he does not.

He writes, ” . . .we do however believe in Christianity as a cultural, social, identity and moral platform. This makes us Christians.” He further writes, “Being a Christian can mean many things . . . you don’t need to have a personal relationship with God or Jesus to fight for our Christian cultural heritage. It is enough that you are a Christian-agnostic, or a Christian-atheist.” What the heck is he talking about?

Breivik also writes that he thinks that faith in God is a “. . . crutch for many weak people, and many embrace religion for self-serving reasons as a source for drawing mental strength. Since I’m not a hypocrite I’ll say directly that this is my agenda, as well. However, I have not yet felt the need to ask God for strength yet, but I’m pretty sure I will pray to God as I’m rushing through my city guns blazing.” So in other words, God is a “genie in a bottle God,” that you summon only when in desperate need, and put back in the bottle when you don’t.

[...]

Clearly not a Christian and clearly not a religious man in any form whatsoever.  Those who insist and persist in identifying him as such do so for strictly personal or political ends.

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