9/11
3 years. it's still heartbreaking. but why is it so painful? not because we, as americans, were attacked. not because the terrorists tried to disrupt our way of life. and definitely not because symbols of our nation's power were destroyed.
people deliberately took the lives of others. it doesn't matter that the dead were mostly american or killed on our soil. being american does not make us better than anyone else. in fact, it doesn't matter if the people in those towers or on those planes were good at all. such disrespect for the lives of others is simply unfathomable for me. the school hostage situation in russia, the suicide attacks in israel and the mass killings in sudan are just like the attacks of 9/11. they are a horrific examples of humanity at its worst.
the only hope of redemption we have is that we as individuals will act with love, God's love. a love that doesn't see nation or race.
4 Comments:
I understand your rationalization of the equivalence of death and tragedy. However, I’m not sure I agree with your suggestion that the events on 9/11 were painful because of the deaths involved. It’s true that over 3,000 people died tragically as a direct result of terrorist acts. Yet, tragic deaths occur each day in America that, based on annual totals, far surpass the tally on 9/11. Tragedies such as deaths from drunk driving and murder are well into the tens of thousands (if not more). Yet we don’t memorialize these events as a whole, rather we focus on the individually. Even when the World Trade Center was bombed in the early 1990s, it was hardly the memorialized event that 9/11 has become. Yet several people lost their lives. So I don’t think that the lose of life, while unarguably high and painful to those directly affected, is what has imprinted itself on the hearts of most of America; I think its more the SHOCK of it happening at all.
You mentioned the Sudan and the hostage situation the ended bloodily in Russia. Though these events are tragic, the fact remains that the genocide that is occurring in the Sudan is nothing new to the world. Genocide—from Bosnia to 1930s/40s Germany to Russia etc.—has routinely occurred throughout the world. Its not new. Hostage situation involving innocent people are likewise not new. Similarly, hijacking airliners is nothing new. But hijacking airliners and slamming them into various buildings and areas of the United States simultaneously IS new. And I think that is what drives the memorialization of 9/11—not so much the deaths but the acts that precipitated them.
Granted, the fiendish calculation and unconscionable events of 9/11 are not unrivaled; the guards in German occupation camps exterminated Jews (and gentiles) with just as much sick enjoyment and even more precision than the terrorists on 9/11. However, no event has been orchestrated by so few that has caused so much shock and destruction, the effects of which reverberate even today—3 years after the fact. 9/11 is painful, but I’m not sure that the pain inherent in the loss of life is what haunts America. It was a sucker punch, and there is far more pain in being suckered than in being punched.
By
Michael Ward, at 7:49 PM
i completely understand what you are saying. i think my post was maybe more of a personal statement however.
By
martha, at 6:48 AM
Mike,
You are a smart man and a gifted writer. You make Martha's writing look like something taught by Big Bird. I'm just joking Martha. I love ya and enjoy reading your blog.
By
Dave, at 3:16 PM
it's sad.....but true
By
martha, at 7:53 PM
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