The Gates of Hell

Our Norwegian correspondent The Observer wrote to us this morning with a tip about an editorial that was published in Thursday’s edition of Morgenbladet. He didn’t have time to translate it — and it probably wouldn’t have been worth the effort, anyway — but he thought we would be interested (and amused) by parts of it.

This particular opinion piece is yet another rehash of the controversy concerning the Norwegian academic Asle Toje and what he wrote about a fellow academic, Thomas Hylland Eriksen. We covered this territory sufficiently last week, and there’s no need to go over the latest round in any detail. From an outsider’s perspective, it’s a storm in a teacup, a joust between Lilliputian cavaliers astride dormice.

However, a sentence in the fourth paragraph of the editorial is worth noting:

Disse misforståelsene bringer en sakeløs professors navn like til helvetes porter, til Gates of Vienna

With the help of several kibitzers among my horn-helmet friends, I can provide a reliable translation of the text:

These misunderstandings bring the name of an innocent professor straight to the gates of hell, to Gates of Vienna.

This little tidbit is of interest to us because, as The Observer noted in his email, “When things are published at Gates of Vienna, the foundations of the left-wing sandcastle in Norway begin to shake.”

Which is strange, when you think about it. Why are the musings published on an obscure blog based in Virginia considered significant in the hallowed cloisters of the Norwegian academy?

Why does anybody in Oslo care what we say?

Well, they do. If we publish a Norwegian author in translation, or quote him with approval, it can have a negative impact on his career. He risks being tarred with the dreaded Breivik Brush, after which the doors of opportunity slam shut in his face.

None of this was true before July 22, 2011. Before the Butcher of Utøya earned his place in the halls of infamy, this blog and its Scandinavian contributors could be safely ignored.

Such is no longer the case. Circumstances have changed in the past sixteen months. Every morning, after perusing the news on the websites of Aftenbladet and Dagsavisen over his croissant and cup of Darjeeling tea, the self-respecting Norwegian litterateur also checks the latest from Gates of Vienna — if for no other reason, to determine which of his countrymen is now considered anathema, to be avoided at all costs.

Once again, from an outsider’s point of view, the situation in Norway seems utter madness. How is it that no dissenting points of view may be aired without all this scapegoating, ostracism, and intellectual bullying?

Is there to be no argument about the most important issues of our time?

In a word: No, there isn’t. All the important questions have already been answered, and the keepers of received wisdom brook no disagreement. The politically correct Marxist Multicultural paradigm is sacrosanct. The hallowed canons handed down by the elites have been placed beyond all doubt. Those who dare to question them are cast into the Outer Darkness.

The truth has been fully revealed. All else is rank heresy.

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All of the above is well-known by now. Such is the situation in Modern Multicultural Norway; we’re all aware of it. There would be no point in rehashing it except for one niggling fact:

There are dissenting points of view in Norway.

I know this because the dissidents send us emails (and monetary donations). They support what we do, and find the articles and points of view posted here refreshing, timely, and helpful.

They generally agree with Fjordman and other dissident writers who post their articles and essays at Gates of Vienna. But they dare not express their agreement at home, or they might put their careers, their well-being, and their families at risk.

At Gates of Vienna they find politically incorrect opinions that are backed up by facts.

There are opinions aplenty in Norway, but virtually all of them tilt towards the left. Anyone who leans just slightly to the right — or even hews to the center — is demonized as a “right-wing extremist”. Anyone who recognizes the value of a community of shared values with a common history and a distinct ethnicity is reviled as a “racist” and a “xenophobe”.

A typical Norwegian conversation on sensitive topics might run something like this:

This is why Norwegians read sites like Gates of Vienna. If they generally agree with us, they’re rewarded with accurate information and a refreshing point of view that aligns well with their own.

If they disagree with us, they want to find out what the “racists” are up to, and maybe catch some of their less progressive colleagues expressing unacceptable opinions. Hence the attention paid by the apparatchiks at NRK and Morgenbladet.

Here they will find open discussion. As regular readers know, anyone who adheres to the basic rules of decorum and civility of discourse may express any opinion he likes in our comments section. If you treat your hosts and your fellow commenters with common courtesy, your viewpoint is welcome.

This is where you will find Norwegians who don’t adhere to the orthodoxy of the High Church of Politically Correct Multiculturalism.

This is where the heretics hang out. That’s why these are the Gates of Hell.