Those of us who lived through the 9/11 attacks will have emotional resonance with that day and what followed. It led me personally in several directions.
One was unquestioned support for taking out the terrorist safe-haven in Afghanistan and giving hope to those repressed and terrorized by the fanatics there and elsewhere. This is another venue of what JFK referred to as a "long, twilight struggle" - then against communist oppression and now against terrorists of every stripe.
And by extension the struggle is about those who would use intolerance and the emotions of fear and hatred to attack others. It is an existential struggle about the bigotry that leads to first labeling peaceful groups as evil and then attacking them.
9/11 also led me to learn quite a bit about Islam and how it's practiced today. That involved reading histories, the writings of various Islamic scholars, how Islamic Sufis understand Islam and so forth. It explicitly involved seeing how various people and groups found what they were looking for in the Islamic scripture. Those who wanted to find a peaceful religion practiced by millions who just wanted to be left alone to live their lives found that Islam teaches that. Those who want to find justification for darkness, both terrorists and anti-Islam bigots, found that.
And I look back to how our President, George W. Bush, responded to the attacks. His words and deeds were models of what a President should say and do when there's dark events like 9/11:
America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads. And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect.
And, at other times:
"America rejects bigotry. We reject every act of hatred against people of Arab background or Muslim faith America values and welcomes peaceful people of all faiths -- Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and many others. Every faith is practiced and protected here, because we are one country. Every immigrant can be fully and equally American because we're one country. Race and color should not divide us, because America is one country."
(and)
"This new enemy seeks to destroy our freedom and impose its views. We value life; the terrorists ruthlessly destroy it. We value education; the terrorists do not believe women should be educated or should have health care, or should leave their homes. We value the right to speak our minds; for the terrorists, free expression can be grounds for execution. We respect people of all faiths and welcome the free practice of religion; our enemy wants to dictate how to think and how to worship even to their fellow Muslims."
One was unquestioned support for taking out the terrorist safe-haven in Afghanistan and giving hope to those repressed and terrorized by the fanatics there and elsewhere. This is another venue of what JFK referred to as a "long, twilight struggle" - then against communist oppression and now against terrorists of every stripe.
And by extension the struggle is about those who would use intolerance and the emotions of fear and hatred to attack others. It is an existential struggle about the bigotry that leads to first labeling peaceful groups as evil and then attacking them.
9/11 also led me to learn quite a bit about Islam and how it's practiced today. That involved reading histories, the writings of various Islamic scholars, how Islamic Sufis understand Islam and so forth. It explicitly involved seeing how various people and groups found what they were looking for in the Islamic scripture. Those who wanted to find a peaceful religion practiced by millions who just wanted to be left alone to live their lives found that Islam teaches that. Those who want to find justification for darkness, both terrorists and anti-Islam bigots, found that.
And I look back to how our President, George W. Bush, responded to the attacks. His words and deeds were models of what a President should say and do when there's dark events like 9/11:
America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads. And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect.
And, at other times:
"America rejects bigotry. We reject every act of hatred against people of Arab background or Muslim faith America values and welcomes peaceful people of all faiths -- Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and many others. Every faith is practiced and protected here, because we are one country. Every immigrant can be fully and equally American because we're one country. Race and color should not divide us, because America is one country."
(and)
"This new enemy seeks to destroy our freedom and impose its views. We value life; the terrorists ruthlessly destroy it. We value education; the terrorists do not believe women should be educated or should have health care, or should leave their homes. We value the right to speak our minds; for the terrorists, free expression can be grounds for execution. We respect people of all faiths and welcome the free practice of religion; our enemy wants to dictate how to think and how to worship even to their fellow Muslims."
