Word of the day: Mørkemann. Lit. "Man of darkness". Media term for conservative Christian, specifically one who opposes abortion and homosexuality, and/or supports Israel. Implies judgmental attitude and joyless faith based on rules, as opposed to tolerant attitude and joyful faith based on love. Origin unknown, but "dark" probably refers to darkness of mind, or to beliefs out of the Dark Ages. See also fundamentalist, Israelsvenn (Israel friend).

Sometimes a definition helps us see how ridiculous a word is, and that's the case with mørkemann - a man of darkness. We balk at calling terrorism evil, but conservative Christians are men of darkness? I know Christians who would fall under the media definition of "mørkemenn". My father, a Lutheran minister who recently voted against ordainment of women in his church, is one of them. I believe these ideas are wrong and sometimes harmful, but I also know that the mørkemann is a myth. The word is a reflection of secular inability to imagine faith. Few seculars understand belief, so we transpose it onto a scale we can imagine, and classify believers into rule-obsessed, hateful fundamentalists - like the priest in Ingmar Bergman's Fanny & Alexander - or caring, ultra-tolerant, enlightened moderates. Simple, and wrong. In the form of Christianity I'm familiar with, faith is more important than behavior, and love is central to faith, but faith is also reflected in behavior, and some forms of behavior are not compatible with faith. All sin can be forgiven, but you must want forgiveness. The regret must be genuine. This is not possible without a clear concept of sin. So a faith based on love can coexist with a concept of sin - it is possibly to hate the sin and love the sinner. Where Christians draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable behavior is not much related to how they treat people who cross it - as fellow sinners who need guidance and help, or as dangerous deviants who must be cast out into the cold. At least there's no such relation on the issues that define men of darkness.

The recent search for men of darkness began when Dagfinn Høybråten was elected leader of the Christian People's Party. Dagbladet was first out, claiming that Høybråten was a favourite among the party's men of darkness. Others followed, and the current scandal is over his involvement with a church (a Church of Darkness, perhaps?) that wants to exclude practising gays as members. Høybråten has refused to comment on this, because it is a theological issue unrelated to his politics. The army of light is not impressed, not perhaps because he's wrong to keep silent about his non-political views, but because it would be much cooler if they could trick him into condemning homosexuality. I'm not very interested myself, unless Høybråten believes in restricting the rights to be gay everywhere else - which I don't believe he does, but is exactly the impression he might leave by speaking publicly about this. Norway's Christians largely respect the division between religion and politics. The mythical men of darkness do not.

And neither do some secular politicians. Top Labor politician Trond Giske believes it may be illegal of Høybråten's church to exclude gays, and has called for an investigation. The law he has in mind, paragraph 135a, was originally intended for racism, but now also targets those who "through speech, or other communication, including use of symbols .. threaten, spite, or expose to hatred, persecution or denigration" people based on their "homosexual leanings, way of life or orientation". Even if you believe that racist and homophobic speech must be restricted, and I don't, a law that allows exclusion of gay members to be interpreted as persecution is rotten. It probably doesn't allow that, but then it is Trond Giske's respect for religious freedom that is rotten. Høybråten goes too far when he says that Giske's proposal "expresses clear totalitarian tendencies", but not very. Giske wants to expand state power over religion into dangerous territory. And watch the hypocrisy: Labor would never support a school ban on hijabs, which would somewhat restrict symbolic expression of religious beliefs in a particular kind of public space. But this goes much further. Paragraph 135a restricts speech, what in some countries is called hate speech. Giske wants (or seems to want) to restrict people's right to express with words certain beliefs in private gatherings. That's radical.

In a less scary media stunt by the army of light, TV comedian Thomas Giertsen and a busload of gays descended on Høybråten's congregation on Nesodden with banners and cameras, no doubt expecting to be thrown out by men of darkness, .. and were welcomed by friendly old ladies who gave them home-baked. Perhaps the definition needs an update:

"Mørkemann. Lit. "Man of darkness". 1) Media term for conservative Christian, specifically one who opposes abortion and homosexuality, and/or supports Israel. 2) Old lady with a ton of cakes in the freezer."

There is a puritan streak to Høybråten, as seen in his war on tobacco as Minister of Health - but embarassingly for the army of light it's a puritanism he shares with the mainstream centre-left, not the men of darkness.

Hi Bjørn!
I pop by to see what's up in your blog every now and then. I STRONGLY and fully agree to the content of this post, as you might have noticed... I don't to most others :-) The way Dagbladet has handled this is very disappointing.

Once again we see the world depicted in
black/white darkness/light.....good/evil.
These value-laden, ethical, highly abstract terms distort more than they clarify.

Now I don't even like it when Iraq vs USA is depicted as a monumental struggle between good and evil. So when pastry-puffing pensioners are depicted as "dark" I am SHOCKED.

Is it illegal to be against abortion?
Are gays entitled to membership in organizations that disapprove of homoerotic activities?
Is it illegal to believe in healing through prayer? Not the last time I checked.

It is considered good sport in Norway to mock religous people. I think that's sordid.
Just for the record... I am not gay, very religous or against free abortion...this is about rights and principles.

Gee, I'm surprised they just didn't say "American."

Europe is starting to look like a Continent of Darkness to me. Everyone must say and believe the same thing. How is that different from The Borg?

Bjørn - most often I agree with your argumentation, but in this case I think you're presenting half of a straw man.

"Word of the day: Mørkemann. Lit. "Man of darkness". Media term for conservative Christian, specifically one who opposes abortion and homosexuality, and/or supports Israel."

First off, it's not only a media term. I've been using the term "Mørkemann" about extreme conservative religious people that condemns for a long time. I usually put "Svovelpredikanter" in that category, and I've partially put Høybråten in that category a long time ago.

Now about the straw man. I've never ever seen support for Israel as one of the qualifiers. I've not seen it in Norwegian press, and I've never ever seen anybody except you that put it that way. I would like to see you argue for a stronger connection on that point. Half of your argument against the 'Mørkemann' term is based on that 'support Israel' term.

The "see also" section of yours include "fundamentalist" - many of which I categorize as 'mørkemenn' (not all, though) - and again - "Israelsvenn" (friend of Israel). For some reason that is just wrong to include in the definition. It's yours. Not the good ol' one, and not the medias (at least I've never seen that connection).

Finally, when it comes to Giske - I agree that using §135a is quite a stretch. However, lots of other arguments has been made. The most solid argument, in my eyes, is that most churches receive state support. The big question is whether the state should give monetary support to a church which excludes people based on their sexual orientation.

Rune-Kristian: No strawman. See:

http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2003/12/09/385691.html

"KrF's "men of darkness" embrace Dagfinn Høybråten.

Abortion opponents, Israel-friends and anti-socialists now gather around Dagfinn Høybråten as new KrF leader."

The title has later been changed to "Sees the light", but you can see the original title here:

http://www.start.no/sok/?q=m%F8rkemenn+omfavner+h%F8ybr%E5ten&t=nyhet&u=norske

This was the article that started it all.

What about settling for a compromise? Høybråten definately is a "man of twilight."

Bjørn: You seem to be right about that article in Dagbladet. I can't fathom why they try to expand the definition of mørkemann in that way, and I hope that the rest of the media isn't using that definition.

Rune-Kristian: What's the problem with that definition? Israelsvenner in that sense usually also hold the other views typical of mørkemenn, and vice versa.

Associating extreme religious fundamentalism with evil or darkness is obviously an oversimplification! But this doesn't mean that faith based irrationality isn't dangerous.

Who can say that the therapeutic cloning of cells should be banned because it results in the death of a mystical human "soul" is not detrimental to mankind? Or that abortion and all forms of birth control should be banned, forcing yet more children on an overcrowded world, because it is God's will?

Susan - furthermore labelling the whole of Europe (ignoring all of the differences in opinions there, amongst their millions) as the continent of darkness merely because they fail to fall in line with your beliefs is sheer ignorance.

Israelsvenn doesn't contain the negative connotations "mørkemenn" does. By including Israelsvenn in the definition of "mørkemenn" one is watering down a very good word.

You are unfortunately partaking in watering it down.

That dagbladet does it is discusting. That you partakes in it is disappointing.

Israelsvenn doesn't contain the negative connotations "mørkemenn" does. By including Israelsvenn in the definition of "mørkemenn" one is watering down a very good word.

You are unfortunately partaking in watering it down.

That dagbladet does it is disgusting. That you partakes in it is disappointing.

Rune-Kristian: It's not my word, remember - I'm trying to define it as it is actually used. It's a bad word whether or not it includes Israelsvenner, and I find it difficult to imagine an Israelsvenn who isn't also against abortion and homosexuality. In common usage, that qualifies them as mørkemenn. But perhaps you're used to a different usage.

David: "But this doesn't mean that faith based irrationality isn't dangerous."

Absolutely. Religion is irrational, and ignorance is dangerous. It's not this particular kind of dangerous, but it's plenty dangerous still. What bothers me a bit is when seculars identify religion itself as the threat. It is a threat, but it's only one of many _kinds_ of ignorance. Ignorance is the enemy, and secular ignorance often outdoes religious ignorance in ability to do harm. "Mørkemenn" is a way for seculars to pat their own backs and identify ignorance with some other group they're not part of - but ignorance is everywhere, it's basically and uncurably human.

So I'm against ignorance. I'm against the religious ignorance that makes 50-60% of Americans believe in the literal text of the Bible, and I'm against the political ignorance of secular Norwegians I've written about so often in this blog.

And exactly what are my beliefs David? Please tell me how you came to be an instant expert on this subject?

In the US we have a saying: "Europe is always predicting that the US is falling into fascism, but when fascism comes, it always seems to miss us and hit Europe."

Being pro-Israel, anti-abortion or pro-Christian is considered to be a "person of darkness" in Norway? I hear the jackboots faintly marching, marching, marching. . .getting closer. . .getting closer. . .

Fascism has won, when you label all but one belief system as wrong, whether this applies to your beliefs is besides my point.
Dismissing opinions/beliefs that one finds disagreeable, without bothering to consider any facts or to consult the motivation or basis for such beliefs than this can only result in dogmatic, ignorant ways of thinking, regardless of whether you are a creationist "scientist", an Islamic fascist, or a secularian ignoramus.

It is this collectively dismissal of a point of view because it is unpalatable, whether it is pro-Israel, pro-Christians (the two often irreconcilable), pro-Palestinian or pro/anit-whatever is what is dangerous, irrespective of the opinion espoused!

Opinions need to be constructed from facts and logical reasoning, not questionless faith and obediance. This can only occur if you examine other points of views, keeping your mind open to the events, studys and research (the basis), underlining differing opinions.

David E.

PS: Susan; I've no idea what your beliefs are, besides your apparent implication that fascism is Endemic to Europe (name a facist or even rightwing european state since the end of the late 1940's?) and those who aren't anti-aborting, or pro-Israel are somehow on the road to fascism.

"Fascism has won, when you label all but one belief system as wrong, whether this applies to your beliefs is besides my point."

Umm, that is exactly my point, David -- do you have a cognitive disorder? My post on "Continent of Darkness" points out exactly what you accuse me of -- a continent where everyone must have the same political opinions or be ridiculed, demonized and accused by "their betters", the established voices in the media, academia and even the churches.

Do you deny that most of Europe's established institutions overwhelimingly promote and enforce ONE acceptable political viewpoint on the issues above, and damn and demonize any dissenters as freaks and losers? That is what Bjorn's post is all about!

This is what I mean by fascism, not the textbook definition of it as being a follower of Benito Mussolini.

Typical Leftist thickness as well as ultra-predictable sanctimoniousness. NEXT!

In other words David, in case I haven't made myself perfectly clear, I'm not necessarily anti-abortion but I find it frightening that those who are, are being demonized in this manner so casually and so brutally by the European press. Today it's newspaper or campus demonization -- when does it switch over to "re-education camps?"

Same with the other political viewpoints damned as branding one a "Person of darkness." I may be pro or I may be anti -- YOU have no idea -- but either way I'm disgusted that people are being treated in this manner simply for having different beliefs from the "acceptable" lefty ones carefully promoted by the establishment.

SUSAN: The issue I have with your post, is your claim that the majority of Europeans/European social institutes hold only one homogenous viewpoint, an obvious falsehood, and even worse you explicitly state that no differing opinions, values in politics etc.. are tolerated there.

Look at the most recent German elections, see how close the contest was between the left-wing coalition and the conservative party. Or France’s Le Pen? The right-wing antics of the current EU president? Is these examples of a continent where only one political party line is tolerated?

Dismissing beliefs simply because they are "leftist", from the "establishment" or because they are commonly held in the media and elsewhere in society, is to commit the same fallacy you accuse this conspiratual leftist establishment of making.

If the majority of Europeans think that, for a State (with predominantly male politicians) to legislate away the freedom of women to control their own reproduction as repugnant, why shouldn’t this be reflected in their social institutions? A small minority may disagree, but they are hardly going to be condemned to extent that you are implying.

Even if the great mass of Europeans dismiss such fundamentalism, doesn’t mean that people reject such views because they are a minority viewpoint or somehow unfashionable, there’s plenty of other reasons to reject them.

As for re-education camps, such tools are only needed in societies where an elite tries to “correct” a dissenting majority to its views. Like in Nazi Germany (Hitler’s Youth Camps), or Soviet Russia (Re-education building projects ie; canals etc..)

David Elson.

PS: Labelling my ideas as typical “leftist thickness” and “ultra-predictable sanctimoniousness” only displays your hypocrisy in this area. I’m a liberal Conservative.

Det må i dette land værer lov å mene noe også om
homofili , uten å hetse noen personlig. Problemet
for en del mennesker er at de blander sak og person, religion og politikk.
Hvis jeg , som selv er hetero , sier at jeg
betrakter den heterofile samlivsformen som den naturlige , vil noen homofile si at jeg er mørkemann. Da har jeg egentlig bare en kommentar:
Mitt seksualliv er en privatsak , enten jeg nå
kaller meg hetero eller homo eller bi !Vi ser for
mange reality show om dagen og tror at alt skal
være offentlig! OJ.

David,
Spain and Greece have been fascist after the 1940's. I would add eastern Europe as I feel communism and fascism are pretty much the same, but that's a minor point. Also the US was never fascist BEFORE 1940. And fascist and communist parties have attracted significant percentages of the population at times in Europe but not in the US (yes this has to do with the voting system, but Europeans could use a different voting system).

Americans are likely to find it VERY disturbing that the media label ANY group as "darkness men". In the US, a group which advocates eating people and says the world is going to explode is likely to be labeled by the media no more harshly than a "radical cult". Openly mocking a significant population's beliefs is a no-no. Although bias does exist, it is denied because it is considered wrong.
Also, the idea that opposition to abortion is irrational is intellectually indefensible in my opinion, as deciding when personhood begins is basically an arbitrary decision. No one is more in the dark than anyone else on this question, except maybe for those who deny the legitimacy of other opinions.
That leaves homosexuality (I'm assuming they aren't crazy enough to smear anyone who supports Israel). A lot of people don't like homosexuality. Does the media smear all of them, or just the religious Christians? Don't you think people should develop their own opinions about such people? How does this fit with the belief that Bush can't label any country evil? Surely these people aren't worse than North Korea. (I'll bet the axis of evil also opposes homosexuality anyway)

I will leave a comment in English on the term
"mørkemann". "Mørkemann" is a term often used
to place a Christian person in a Conservative
setting: Morally , political and religiously.
In my opinion the real "mørkemann" is the
ignorant.If you tell your children that part
of Christian faith is to believe that the world
was created in 7 days - you tell your children
a lie . Knowlegde is the true basis of faith.
My faith is not threathened by knowledge -or
science . Children prevents you from being a
"mørkemann" - Children are wondering why! So
should we , and let that be part of our faith!
OJ.

David: Ultra-lame response. Obviously you don't get what I'm talking about at all, so I'll drop it right now. PS -- your posts do indeed reek of sanctimoniousness, so what's wrong with me saying so? Really no different than calling conservative Christians "men of Darkness" (which you seem to approve of), except that I'm not doing that with the stamp of approval of a professional journalism, only expressing an opinion on a blog as a private citizen.

Maor: Thanks, you made some good points.

Abortion is a heavily politicised and emotive issue in todays society. I would like to see a reduction in the use of abortion as a form of contraception, though I am not opposed to abortion itself. Better noninvasive contraceptive methods need to be developed, so that abortion becomes the last option.

What the hell is this shit about being conservative christian if you support the only legislative and democratic state in the middle east?And for you ignorant and naive communists that wrote this crap i am refering to Israel.

>> My father, a Lutheran minister

cool Bjørn, my grandfather was also a Lutheran minister.

>> Knowledge is the true basis of faith.
My faith is not threathened by knowledge -or
science

Oskar, great point. The same is true for my faith. Bjørn says that religion is irrational, probably because he views Christianity as "blind faith".

He is incorrect on four levels. First, faith is not exclusive to religion, but is a part of everyone's experience. When you buy a can of soup, you don't know what is in there, but you buy the can on faith. When blogging with someone from Australia, I don't have any physical evidence that Australia is actually there. But I take it on faith that the land of Steve Irwin is really there. Similarly, I have faith that Plato lived, although I have no evidence of it.

Second, the Christian religion doesn't necessarily require faith. Thomas had no faith at all, he needed to actually put his finger inside the wounds. The jews walking along with walls of water on both sides had no faith whatsoever. They could see God's miracle with their own eyes. And it continues. Christianity has 2000 years of documented miracles. If there is even one possible scientific explanation or theory that wasn't investigated, the alleged miracle is rejected.

Third, by claiming that religion is irrational, people pretend that science can explain everything (like making a god out of science), yet they ignore the fact that they don't know the first thing about physical reality. For example, people cannot even explain the gravitational force. They can model it with an equation, but who can explain why it happens?

We know that an electron lights up our lives and powers our machines, but what is an electron? We know that an electron has an electric and magnetic field, but by what magical mysterious powers do these fields project force at a distance? It takes a lot of blind faith to believe in the supremacy of science, given our complete ignorance of these mysteries.

Fourth, to say something is irrational says that this concept does not have any correspondence in reality. This means that Bjørn thinks that he knows that God does not exist, and implies that he thinks that it is impossible for God to exist. How can he or anyone possibly support this contention?

Believing something (like God does not exist)without evidence is just ignorant "blind faith".

-proud member of the vast right wing conspiracy of mørkemenn

I think many faith based people get confused between being spiritual and being religious. You can be religious (sanctimonious, following precepts of men, certain world view , rigid rites and rituals WHICH CAN SOMETIMES BE QUITE IRRATIONAL ex. the suppostion that God resides in a stone house in Mekka and that your prayers can only be efficacious if spoken in classical arabic or directed towards a city in arabia , not less than 5 degrees deviation of true north permitted in tolerance level) without being spiritual....you can be spiritual and not be blindly religious LOL.

It is probably easier to be religiously muslim than to be spiritually muslim simply because the 'religion' of islam emphasizes to an extreme ,blind rites and rituals a carry over of old testamental christianity hence biblical sunnism ex. tithing(zakat), public display of worship, prohibition of graven images, prohibition of alcohol,denigration of women, stoning of adulterers/ss,growing of beard, obligatory wearing of hijab for females, segregation of the sexes in worship etc. etc.(early muslim converts were jews and early christians who contribute heavily to biblical sunnism -- so if you want to witness pure unadulterated hypocritical old testamental christianity- kindred religion of the pharasees and their ilk - look no further, you have it here this day in the practise of Islam by the Ahl'usSunnah wa Jamaah ( sunni and shiites) LOL.

Many modern christians practise churchianity a variant form of primitive christianity. I venture to guess that the more sanctimonious a self professed christian becomes ,the less he adheres to the instructions of Jesus of Nazareth.

"Love God with all your heart, and immediately love your neighbour (uncategorically) as Yourself, for upon this two commandments hang all the Laws and Prophets"....here Jesus of Nazareth talks of Agape Love ...pure UNCONDITIONAL DIVINE LOVE........THE CHARITY OF CHRIST?

Like Islam christianity can degenerate into a version which becomes rigid and proscriptive and prescriptive observing rites and rituals however irrational...it then becomes a mechanistic religion( religion from re-ligare , latin:to be tied to a set of rules and regulations pharisaic or otherwise ) and is no longer a spiritual experience- an experience which transcends space-time continuum( fodder for another forum? :) )

Interestingly i have observed that my dog Lobo is capable of loving me despite my shortcomings - bitchiness, too much make-up/Tammy Faye syndrome,impatience, not saying my prayers 5x/day,running around in a lascivious fashion without wearing my hijab or burqa ( tee -hee), being desrespectful to the Pope, not aligning my work station at home to face mecca or at least the minimal meridional requirements of Fong Sui, jealousy, gluttony ,covetousness, lying, cheating, hating others now and then,vanity,occasional conceitedness, occasional selfishness, speaking in church when i should be just seen and not heard ( a la Paul) and on and on -- recognized any of this 'sins' among you who are spotless and sinless hem?

Do you know , my darling dog Lobo, lowly creature that he be - can love you UNCONDITIONALLY - EVEN IF YOU WERE A LIAR, A THIEF, A LECHER, A VAINGLORIOUS PERSON, A HYPOCRITE, A SEX PERVERT, A FORNICATOR, AN ADULTERER/SS,A GLUTON, A HEATHEN, A LOW-LIFE AND JUST A GENERAL ALL ROUND SINNER ? AMAZING AIN'T IT A LOWLY DOG CAN EXHIBIT QUALITIES OF AGAPE LOVE OF WHICH THE MAHABODDHISATTA - JESUS OF NAZARETH ATTEMPTED TO TEACH US FALLIBLE HUMAN BEANS/BEINGS / HOMO SEXPIENS............and yet if you were to present yourself( with all your imperfections) to your sanctimonious southern baptist minister at that nice Thomas Road Baptist Church at Lynchburg , Virginia -- our paragon of Virtue, His Holiness Mr. Jerry Falwell...i can assure you that you will be summarily disfellowshiped from his church ( cult) before you can even say amen! LOL.

Now ..what was it that some of you fellas out there in cyberspace were clamoring for the legislation of prayers in school and in public...?...to which i recommend you the injunctions of the Buddha- Jesus of Nazareth ( or don't get squirmish, 'buddh' is just good old sanskrit for enlightened..hey Jesus sure is enlightened, you can't argue that one LOL ): " when you pray go into your closet and pray in secret for your Father who hears in secret will reward you. Do not be like the hypocrites who makes much ado about his prayers, standing in street corners for men to see. For them shall men be their recompense " !!!

OOOOH... Father Totoro and Father Gunnar ..i have sinned , pray sell me some indulgences ! Heelp !Auxilio !, !!!ساعدني au Secour !, zu Hilfe !幫助我!!!

SANTA TERESA KIM DE AVILA
CONVENT OF THE HOLY BLOG

p.s. for a religion with rationality i refer you to :
http://www.deism.com/

for a feud between Science and Religion, i refer you to :
http://home.btclick.com/scimah/obscurantism.htm

( many scientists believe religions to be IRRATIONAL/OBSCURANTIST AND ANTISCIENTIFIC, the problem goes back to Galileo who discovered that the earth goes rund the sun rathern than vice-versa as stated in the Bible.)

for the Skeptic's annotated Bible, Quran and Book of Mormons, i refer you to:

http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/

( this one will really bother all those pious and sanctimonious jews, christians and muslims..definitely the muslims ha ha )

for a visual display of the irrational elements in revealed religions i refer you to:

http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/index.html

( a must see visual display !!!)

Days after a massive tsunami killed more than 160,000 people in Southeast Asia, theologians of the world have acted quickly to safeguard their own beliefs by boldly rationalizing this unexpected "act of God". "God loves us all," said Rev. Cole David of Durnham, ME, "but need I remind anyone that Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world?" "Our God most wise is simply testing the people of Southeast Asia," explained Rabbi Avi Cohen of Brook Farm, PA. "God had nothing to do with this," offered Rev. Franz Bern of Munich, cryptically. "Each time they find a child who miraculously survived among the thousands upon thousands of dead, it is a testament to God's mercy and everlasting grace," said Rev. James Oleph of Memphis, TN.

Saint Teresa Kim of Avila

Trackback URL: http://bearstrong.net/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/610