Charles C. Haynes: Norway’s ‘crusader for Christendom’ is no Christian

  Within hours of last week’s mass murder in Norway, headlines around the world proclaimed the accused killer, Anders Behring Breivik, a “Christian terrorist.”

  The “Christian” label apparently came from initial statements by a Norwegian police official describing Breivik as a right-wing, Christian fundamentalist — a characterization based on the official’s quick read of Breivik’s Internet postings.

  A closer look, however, reveals that Breivik sees himself as a cultural, not a religious, Christian. “Myself and many more like me do not necessarily have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God,” he writes in his manifesto. “We do however believe in Christianity as a cultural, social, identity and moral platform. This makes us Christian.”