The Olympics are over and it will be another two years before the summer games open in Atlanta. Two weeks of golden efforts, great upsets and controversy are gone. These games had a special flair given to them by their Norwegian hosts. They have been hospitible, accommodating, supportive to not only their own team but to everyone who participated -- even that American skater.

Amidst all of the pomp and circumstance of the ceremonies, all of the Norwegian flags, reindeer, moose, torches and echos of the crowd that cheered for the athletes, something was missing. The world came to Norway for gold, silver and bronze and left with something much more valuable. Well, at least two people left with something more valuable.

The Scream, Norway's Mona Lisa, was stolen just as these games were about to start. Thieves broke into Norway's National Gallery in Oslo and made off with a priceless, irreplaceable national treasure.

You probably have seen it, as it is one of the world's most famous paintings. It depicts a figure standing on a bridge holding its head with its mouth open in a scream of terror and was painted by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. It is a symbol of 19th century angst, and had significant influences on the 20th century expressionist movement. It is Norway's most famous painting

And now it is gone. That itself is lamentable enough. What reason could someone have for doing this? Well, the answer is even more lamentable. The painting was allegedly stolen by an anti-choice group wanting publicity. They also want to pressure the government to air an anti-choice film titled The Silent Scream on national television.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but stealing a priceless national treasure is inexcusable. One would think if a group wanted to gain the international community's respect, it would not resort to extortion and blackmail. Not only that, but this incident negatively effects the credibility of the entire anti-choice movement.

It took a while, but the abortion controversy finally caught up to the Olympics, too. With all of the media there, it was a great place to get international publicity. (These culprits failed to consider the already existing Olympic controversies, which is why they didn't get the publicity they wanted.)

Is anything safe anymore? Doctors are killed at clinics, women are verbally and physically attacked upon entering and exiting clinics, priceless paintings are stolen -- what next? I'm afraid to ask. These tactics are more like terrorism than civil protest.

The point here is whether an action is a morally correct thing to do is up to the persons involved, as long as it's legal. Unfortunately, there are those who would force their mores and social constructs upon the whole of society. More unfortunate are the tactics used to do this. Our American society was founded upon principles of freedom of thought and expression. One cannot force mores and social values upon others simply because they disagree with what one believes.

People are forgetting the big picture when it comes to abortion. Women were dying. Women died by the thousands from back-alley abortions, while those who could afford ludicrous prices, could get a doctor to do one under the pretenses of a routine operation. Every regulation put on freedom of reproductive choice forces some women into the back alleys or worse, to suicide. Then everybody dies.

Will the Norwegian government air The Silent Scream? That remains to be seen. If they do they will be giving in to terrorism and to a movement that advocates it. If they do not what will happen? The painting is too well known to be sold. It cannot be sold as a copy because it's done in paint and crayon and is encased in bulletproof glass.

What the culprits managed to do is add another controversy to an already controversial Olympics. They seemed forget the spirit of the games is that of community, fellowship and togetherness. The games are a cross-cultural, multi-racial event attempting to bring about a better understanding of the world through athletic competition. Somehow they missed the part about accepting other points of view (not to mention how to be gracious guests.)

Stealing paintings isn't going to add validity to the culprits' cause. In fact, it does just the opposite and detracts from it. The sooner we stop these childish games, the sooner we'll grow up and learn to accept each other.

In the mean time, Norway is out of a painting and mile marker in art history.