The Oslo Syndrome

One can't help but be aware of the bombing and shootings in Norway that a young man by the name of Anders Breivik  has taken credit for. I have to admit when I first heard of the terrorist attacks in Norway I was completely baffled. Who would want to attack Norway? Seemed way out there to me until of course I found out it was one of their own who was trying to make a point.

I am aware that there are people who fear a Muslim takeover through shear numbers in Europe and even in North America. I am also aware that Islam is one of the fastest growing religions on the planet at the moment. Given the western perception of Islam and the general connection we tend to make with terrorism when we think of it, in a way it isn't really difficult to see where this young man might have gotten some of his ideas.

But then again, why would a young man in Oslo think that acts of terrorism would somehow help in his fight against the spread of Islam and whatever result he thought that would have? I can't even pretend to know what he was really thinking but this does seem to illustrate the tendency we have of filling in the gap of awareness with stuff we're making up. One possibility is that Breivik could see changes happening in his country and around the world and it scared him. In his mind it had something to do with the spread of Islam and that it endangered him in some way and so he made yet another leap thinking that if he killed a whole bunch of people he would get the attention of the world and would have a stage from which to espouse his beliefs. He certainly wasn't wrong about getting the attention he seemed to be seeking but how he arrived at the idea that it was going to make the world wake up to his point of view was interesting.

This whole scenario is however a great example of the effects our propensity toward making leaps in consciousness can have. What happened in Oslo really doesn't make any sense and neither do most of the leaps we make when we fill in the gap of what we don't know with our fearful beliefs and concepts. I've done plenty of illogical things when I have filled in the gap with my fearful thoughts and I've certainly witnessed it in others as well. It's painful and sad really but it is the human condition, at least until we come to realize what we are doing and start making peace within ourselves so we can be present to the unknown without having to fill it with our projections from the past.

The bottom line is that what we think we know is often the product of our unresolved past and fearful imaginations. Much time and energy is spent trying to effect change in our personal lives and in the world by trying to manipulate the images on the screen rather than bringing peace to the unresolved pain within. No matter how hard we try, we cannot see or experience life any differently until we deal with what is coloring our world more effectively.

Oslo Syndrome (Actual picture from Oslo)

As I said earlier, I have no idea what this young man really had in mind but the story sure makes for a great example of what I want could be called the 'Oslo Syndrome'; the tendency of the human creature to fill in the gap of awareness with fearful projections.