U.S. conservatives on defense after Oslo killings

(RNS) For years, many religious and political conservatives in the U.S.
have sought to connect Islam to violence carried out by Muslims, and
argued that Muslims often fail to denounce terrorism committed by
Islamic extremists.

But in the wake of the horrific attacks in Norway by a right-wing
extremist who identified himself as a Christian warrior against Islam,
many of those American conservatives are finding themselves on the
defensive, especially after some of them prematurely portrayed the
terror attacks as the works of Muslims.

Mark Juergensmeyer, author "Terror in the Mind of God," noted close
parallels between the 32-year-old Norwegian man, Anders Behring Breivik,
who killed at least 76 people in coordinated attacks on government
buildings in Oslo and a youth rally at a nearby island, and Timothy
McVeigh, the anti-government radical behind the 1995 Oklahoma City
bombing.