The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines insanity as follows:
1. A deranged state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder (I.E Schizophrenia)
2. Such unsoundness of mind or lack of understanding as prevents one from having the mental capacity required by law to enter into a particular relationship, status, or transaction or as removes one from criminal or civil responsibility.
3. a. Extreme folly or unreasonableness
b. Something utterly foolish or unreasonable
What Anders Behring Breivik did was crazy, sure. Nothing reasonable can justify the death of seventy-six* young people. You can qualify him of lone nut assassin, of insane, or having a few bolts loose, but I don't think the man is insane. I think Breivik is able to think rationally and to explain his actions in a court of law. That's fucking scary. That's hard to accept, but I think that's the truth and that is why we call him "insane". It's a symptom of that wall that we have inside our mind, that we refuse to look over. Calling Anders Behring Breivik insane is a symptom of our limitation as human beings. He is a criminal, a public danger, a monster even. But he is not insane. I don't know about you, but it scares the wits out of me.
His massacre was perpetrated against people who preached open mindedness and multiculturalism. The Norwegian Labor Party was facilitating Muslim immigration to Norway. Why did they deserve to die in Anders Breivik's mind? The fear of difference? The belief that white Christians are a superior race? Isn't that insanity to believe this? No. It's human nature to think you're special, different and even superior. Some branches of Judaism believe that they're "the chosen people". The American Born Again Christians are "One Nation Under God". Breivik just believes in something different.
Taking arms are trying to inspire a revolution, isn't that insanity? One can argue that the nutty part of Breivik was to believe that people would actually share his political point of view and overthrow the government. There is a racist underworld in Europe, often associated with black metal bands. Musician Varg Vikhernes** has been imprisoned for sixteen years for the murder of a popular figure in extreme music has grown into a poster boy for national socialism behind bars. He has written essays behind bars*** and has grown a cult following. There are people who shared Breivik's thoughts in Norway and most likely, his actions meant to inspire them to revolt.
In America, we had Ted Kaczynski and Timothy McVeight. This type of violence resonates through time and history. When I learned about the massacre of Olso and Utoya, I took a long, hard look at myself in the mirror and asked these questions: "What am I not seeing? What am I refusing to see?". Unfortunately, I don't have an answer. I wish I did. The only think I know, is that Anders Behring Breivik is not insane. He is a criminal, he blatantly disregarded the laws that binds us together as a society. He is an advocate of chaos and I completely disagree with his action and I think his beliefs are beyond ridiculous. Wearing a djellabah and praying in a different language doesn't make you inferior to me. But Breivik isn't insane. He walked down into the deep dark regions of the human mind. The kind of place you can't know or think anything about unless you are there. And once you hit that bottom, there's no going back. I hate to admit this, because it's an admission of my limitation and my powerlessness, but I can only hope they lock him up forever and throw away the key.
*** http://feastofhateandfear.com/archives/vargs.html