Being Civilized - or not....

Anti-death-penalty apologists will often tout Norway’s abolishment of the death penalty in comparison to the United States’ “barbaric” death penalty adherence. Apparently to these, killing a person for murdering another is uncivilized.  Well today’s ruling out of Norway could not be a more fitting demonstration of what a “civilized” country is, or is not.


Today Anders Breivik apologized: “for not killing more.”  - Yes you read that right. Just before sentencing Breivic apologized to his fellow “Militant Nationalist” for only killing 77  people (Mostly teenagers), and wounding 242 more. Evidently Breivic is also sorry that his bombing of Oslo’s government buildings only killed eight people, and that the carnage was not much greater.

So Breivik is apologetic for not wreaking more carnage and murder, but to the victims, the court, and to the people, not so much…  (Actually not at all).  So one would think this blatant defiance would garner the wrath of the court and of the judge, and they would be right. Clearly the judge finds the crimes, and Breivik’s defiance and pleasure in these deaths to be appalling. After all the judge did sentence him to the maximum allowed sentence in Norway for the horrific crimes of bombing government buildings and mass murder of children (and a few adults).  And what is the penalty in the “civilized” Norway for terrorism, bombing, and mass-murder of 77 children and adults, and wounding of 242 more?  Well He was sentenced to 10 to 21 years maximum.  Wow, you say, 10 years for each victim seems a little light.  Uh no, that’s 10-21 years total… Yep He could be out in as little as ten years with good behavior. Heck if he did it all again he could get out next time before 60 and live fairly comfortably on a government pension. The courts can hold Breivic indefinitely if he is still considered a threat under Norway’s “Preventative Detention” law. But if he is really, really sorry ten years from now, sees the error of his ways, and “gets religion” while in prison – well it just wouldn’t be fair to hold him after he has completed his sentence if he is no longer a threat, would it?

So the anti-death apologists continually repeat the tired refrain that not having the death penalty would be cheaper as convicts appeal less when not on death row.  And they are right again! Breivic is not appealing his sentence. After all, he’ll probably be released before such appeal would make its way through the courts so why bother?  It is so much better use of one’s time working on writing his next manifesto.  Yes, he is…

So, if the militant anti-death penalty camp gets their way the United States may one day be as “civilized” as Norway. And perhaps the next Usama Bin Laden that manages to evaporate several city blocks in Manhattan and a few thousand people can also get their day in court (remember that was just a criminal act, and not really war (no uniforms)). And really, if we are going to sentence one guy to 10-21 years for killing hundreds, or thousands, surely we can’t fairly sentence some simple serial killer to a whole decade for murdering a mere 34 people?

To all of this I have but one prayer, “God please protect us from ever becoming as ‘civilized’ as these people wish us to be.”