There really aren't many, you know. July 4, 1776, and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. November 19, 1863, and the delivery of the Gettysburg Address by then President Abraham Lincoln. December 7, 1941, and the attack on Pearl Harbor, HI. November 22, 1963 and the assassination of JFK.
September 11, 2001, is recent enough to still resound in many of our memories... but distant enough to no longer dominate our thoughts, worries and daily routines. We all recall where we were, and what we were thinking on that tragic morning, yet our lives go on much as they did prior to that day.
I know that if anything good has ever come from that terrible morning, it was the lesson to all of humanity that EVIL exists in this world... it is a real, tangible, measurable threat to us all. It should also have shown us... in the first hours of footage, in fact... that real GOOD exists as well.
The evil I speak of isn't Islam, it is the sort of evil that convinces anyone that murder, terror and destruction can ever produce good results. It is the sort of evil that convinced Nazis that the "final solution" was an acceptable national policy. It is the sort of evil that convinces honest, hardworking men and women that they are fundamentally "better" than another person based only on their skin color, creed or ethnicity. It makes faith-filled people firmly believe that God (by any name) is on their side ONLY... and that He hates everyone else.
In a world dominated by relativism, 9/11 showed us that evil is real... it isn't "relative" and you can't deal with it "objectively" because it is never, EVER objective.
The good I speak of is evident in the manner in which our society (as a vast whole) has responded to the attacks and the evil that inspired them. Solidarity, unity and common purpose were evident as soon as the first plane crashed, and have been recognized and applauded each and every day since. We recognize the real heroes of 9/11... the real "martyrs" of the day, and not one of them were fighting against America.
I'm a bit torn by the prospect of seeing it all again tomorrow just as we all saw it ten years ago. It was an upsetting thing to watch then... but it can only be harder now, ten years later or not. Still, I recognize the necessity of remembering the day and the evil that caused as well as the good that has helped see us through it.
I'll watch. Gladly.
No comments:
Post a Comment