Saturday, July 30, 2011

Norway Church Burnings - Updated

Turns out Norway isn't the pacific idyllic left-wing paradise we've read about in the media.
The following is a partial list of church arsons:
1992:
May 23: burning of Storetveit Church in Bergen[23]
Jun 6: burning of Fantoft stave church in Bergen[24] – Varg Vikernes is strongly suspected as the culprit, but was not convicted.[24]
Aug 1: burning of Revheim Church in Stavanger[24]
Aug 21: burning of Holmenkollen Chapel in Oslo[23] – Varg Vikernes and Faust were convicted for this.
Sep 1: burning of Ormøya Church in Oslo[23]
Sep 13: burning of Skjold Church in Vindafjord[23] – Varg Vikernes and Samoth were convicted for this.
Oct 3: burning of Hauketo Church in Oslo[23]
Dec 24: burning of Åsane Church in Bergen[1] – Varg Vikernes and Jørn Inge Tunsberg were convicted for this.[1]
Dec 25: burning of a Methodist church in Sarpsborg[1] – a firefighter was killed while fighting this fire.[1]
1993:
Feb 7: burning of Lundby New Church in Gothenburg, Sweden[25]
1994:
Mar 13: burning of a church in Sund[26]
Mar 27: burning of Seegård Church in Snertingdal[26]
May 16: attempted burning of Gol stave church in Buskerud[26]
May 17: attempted burning of Åmodt Chapel in Buskerud[26]
Jun 4: burning of Frogn Church in Drøbak[26]
Jun 19: attempted burning of Heni Church in Gjerdrum[26]
Jul 7: burning of a church in Jeløy[26]
Jul 21: attempted burning of Odda's Church[26]
Aug 13: attempted burning of Loop Chapel in Meldal[26]
Dec 10: attempted burning of Åkra Church[26]
Dec 22: attempted burning of Askim Church[26]
Dec 26: attempted burning of Klemestrud Church[26]
1995:
May 13: burning of Lord Church in Telemark[27]
May 25: burning of Såner Church in Vestby[27]
Jun 14: burning of Moe Church in Sandefjord[27]
Jul 21: attempted burning of a church college in Eidanger[27]
Sep 3: attempted burning of Vågsbygd church college in Oddernes[27]
Nov 3: burning of Innset Church in Rennebu[27] (source: Wiki)
h/t Chris Petrie, a Mark Steyn reader
Can you imagine the media outcry if this had been a mosque instead of over two dozen Christian churches?

Update: via reader D. Morris 2011 update. Another.

8 comments:

Frances said...

That's a fairly long time ago - any recent statistics? As presented, it looks like a few anati-Christian native Norwegians or idiots who like watching fires, and churches - because of their shape - tend to burn really well.

It would be interesting to enumerate - in various countries - the numbers of churches, synagogues, and mosques; and then the number of attacks on each group.

BallBounces said...

Yes, it was some time ago. But, it shows there is a dark, secularist underbelly to the Norway presented to us. And, the point about MSM non-reporting -- I mean, who even heard about these arsons? Didn't fit the MSM narrative, so it didn't get reported.

Joe said...

I don't know about your Church Richard but ours has changed its missionary focus from Africa to Europe. Not that we want to ignore Africa but Africa has a higher percentage of practicing Christians than does Europe.

Anonymous said...

There is an inherent creepiness to this country.

http://www.jewishmediaresources.com/1461/is-norway-the-harbinger-of-worse-to-come

dmorris said...

This post leaves more questions than it answers. Who DID the burnings?

Was it a serial arsonist,or two,three? Was it a member of another religion,say,Buddhist,Rastafarian, or Sikh?

Or was it a gang of nutcases such as Aryan Nations that sought to vandalize churches in the name of their cause or just for the thrill of it?

Until we have a breakdown of the five W's, we can't really assume anything about the motivation without risk of being completely off base and possibly leaving completely innocent persons suspected or even accused of the crimes.

It WAS a fairly long time ago, but what was the result,arrests,convictions?

Were the churches rebuilt? Is there a new church standing where the old one was located?

Just a lot of questions.

dmorris said...

http://www.newsinenglish.no/2010/03/10/resurrection-of-a-black-metal-convict/

Here's a good article in a Norwegian paper about the perpetrator of many of the 1990's church burnings,and it may surprise you. A "Black Metal" musician was responsible for several fires,and served 16 years in jail.

http://www.newsinenglish.no/2011/04/12/more-churches-hit-by-vandals/

Another article from Norway, apparently churches are again being vandalized,the police suspect "pranksters".

dmorris said...

http://www.angelfire.com/de3/dragonsofthenorth/Arson.html

One more link on the same story.

Anonymous said...

Guys. The arsons were done by black metal musicians and fans because there was a general dislike for the church and they wanted to be perceived as "trve" black metal fans, its a google away and most people who listen to metal in recent times know all about it anyway. Also they were reported loads! There was a massive hype about it in the media in Norway, framing the fabled "black metal inner circle". It caused a massive wave of fear across the nation, which was exactly what the arsonists wanted. The most well known and the man who started it all, most commonly known as Varg Vikernes, said that Christians were disrespecting Odin by building churches on "Odin's soil", and that the builders of the Churches were the evil ones, not the ones who burned them down. Several convictions were also made although lots of the burnings are attributed to people who can't be sufficiently linked to the crime.

"... nothing intellectually compelling or challenging.. bald assertions coupled to superstition... woefully pathetic"