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| Mike Mitchell |
Across the US flags are flying at
half-mast in honor of the twelve people killed and 58 injured by
James Holmes during the midnight premiere of the new Batman movie
“The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colorado. Meanwhile, Norway is
commemorating the 69 people shot dead by Andras Brevik at the Labor
Party youth camp on Utoya Island a year ago. Norway's Prime Minister
Jens Stoltenberg said that Brevik “brought Norwegians together in
defense of democracy and tolerance.” Unlike the much
higher civilian death counts coming out of places such as
Afghanistan, such events never fail to shock us. We are fine with
intercommunal violence, and happy to call it a “war.” In
fact, the ability to kill people with impunity in remote corners of
the planet makes us feel stronger and safer. But intracommunal
violence shocks us, because it compromises our sense of safety.
