Thoughts on the 2nd Anniversary of 11 Sept 2001

[Guest guest]

The second anniversary of September 11 has come and gone, and frankly

it struck me as unbearably unfocused and melancholy. Thank goodness,

the showy, weirdly overblown hyper-patriotism of the immediate

aftermath (flags on cars and every other possible surface) seems to

have passed -- now it survives mainly on scary souped-up pickup

trucks with gunracks, driven by somber men listening to country music

or neo-con talk radio.

 

Likewise, the concrete, measureable work of cleaning up the wreckage

is long since finished -- that massive and awe-inspiring achievement

was the clear focus of the first anniversary: resulting in a sense of

closure and readiness to move on.

 

This year, that feeling was gone; mood was all wrong; I joined a

large "moment of silence" gathering as a gesture of remembrance --

but all I could think of was the fact that nothing was resolved,

closure nowhere in sight. The world empathy and support that the US

received in the days after the attacks could have been the beginning

of a new age of unity and cooperation. Instead, the US administration

chose to ignore or exploit it -- opting for isolationism and

unprecedented arrogance, in the process alienating half the people in

the US itself, and nearly every human being abroad.

 

A new war was declared -- for no clear purpose -- on Iraq; the

existing intervention in Afghanistan left unfinished and under-

supplied. The Iraq invasion was easily completed; but allowed to

degenerate into a quagmire of anger, miscommunication and a

pointlessly escalating death rate on all sides. News reports on

Thursday featured crisis psychologists explaining that only now are

the families of the dead emotionally equipped to begin truly

benefitting from legal recourse and personal counseling -- just as

all of the organizations set up to offer these things are closing

down.

 

Are there any bright spots in all of this? Has anyone managed to

learn any of the lessons of that fateful day? Perhaps so -- I found

it in a column written by Arun Narayan, editor of the Oregon-based

children's magazine, "Skipping Stones"

(http://www.skippingstones.org/). Perhaps these sane and

compassionate words will cheer you as well:

 

"The most important lesson that 9/11 offers us is that we must engage

in a continuing dialogue to overcome prejudice with understanding,

hatred with love, injury with forgiveness, suffering with compassion,

and terror with peacefulness. Out of this tragedy have risen

opportunities for understanding the many levels of diversity in

our world -- of faiths and traditions, cultures and customs, tongues

and thoughts, expressions and experiences that enrich our planet.

 

Let's shape our global future by helping, healing, engaging in

dialogue, praying together and understanding each other. Locally, for

example, on September 6, the Register-Guard newspaper continued the

community "interfaith dialogue" by publishing 15 different

perspectives on how people belonging to various faith traditions and

spiritual paths seek inner peace. Afterwards, 33 religious leaders

of all faiths came to the Twin Rivers Interfaith Ministry meeting to

hear three different perspectives. ...

 

Becoming active peacemakers means engaging in dialogue with friends

and strangers alike. When we listen to others, and when we know their

stories, they no longer remain strangers to us. The time is ripe for

observing an International Day of Dialogue. We believe the United

Nations, World Parliament of Religions, and many other NGOs might be

willing to sponsor such an International Day of Dialogue. The

National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) based in

Washington, DC, has already adopted a resolution to this effect.

 

Let's celebrate our diversity and create a bond of unity with a

compassionate dialogue!"