Late last month, Anders Behring Breivik bombed government offices in Oslo, killing eight people. He then went on to kill another 69 people at a youth labour summer camp. In the wake of these killings, commentators from around the world have engaged in heated debate over who and what is to blame. Breivik alone, his father, the Right, the Left, immigration, multiculturalism and inherent evil have all been the focus of this determined desire to apportion blame or to defend against it. How do we understand this mad rush to point the finger? Why are we so drawn into polemical discussions in the wake of tragedy? What are the consequences of this kind of polarised debate?
Every time we lay blame we’re on our bikes peddling furiously away from what is real. From shame, hurt and from responsibility. Blame is always a frustrating process of trying to make sense of the past from an already changed future. It is this change first of all, however painful, that we need to acknowledge.
The problem with pointing the finger so soon after this tragedy is that as some have pointed out, it’s not the right time. The mourning has only just begun.
Reflection is a part of any process of recovery, but its place is down the track, after the pain of an event is felt and expressed. A real reckoning of the part we have played in any tragedy is necessary to avoid repeating it and for healing to happen. But premature finger pointing is detrimental to real learning. In the midst of pain and shock is not the time to ask questions why. Asking why questions or trying to answer them at this time is always an avoidance of pain. And by avoiding the pain, we’re missing some key information useful in understanding what happened, recovering and avoiding repetition.
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