Seventeen years ago today, the United States experienced the most deadly set of terrorist attacks on US soil. These attacks were mainly a series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks resulting in the destruction of the Twin Towers in NY City, the collapse of portion of the Pentagon in Washington, DC and the decimation of Flight 93 in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Over 2,750 people were murdered in New York; 185 at the Pentagon and 40 in Pennsylvania. Police and Fire Departments were hit especially hard with more than 400 killed. I would be remiss if I did not mention that the 19 hijackers or murderers were also killed that day. 836 World Trade Center responders, recovery workers and volunteers have died after working ground zero and that number has only risen since 2010.
3,051 children lost their parents that day. Of all those killed, only 291 dead bodies were actually recovered. In total, workers sifted through more than one million tons of debris looking for personal effects. They found 65,000 items including 437 watches and 144 wedding bands. Some families waited over a year to receive any word or personal effects; some never received anything.
According to researchers, alcohol consumption in Manhattan alone in the week following September 11th in creased by 25%; tobacco consumption increased by 10%; marijuana consumption rose by 3.2% and church attendance by 20%.
The narrative for that day’s events can be found and read. The hijackers boarded planes. Took them over with box cutters. It was a well planned and orchestrated attack. For me, the passengers on Flight 93 were heroes. By the time their hijackers took over the plane, they knew what had transpired in New York. Chances are some may have even known about Washington, DC. They knew they would be used in a similar manner. Rather than die killing others, they made the decision to take back the plane. They knew they were going to die either way. I am certain there were some on the plane who did not want to go along with the majority. I am certain there were many who were scared. In any case, those passengers did what they needed to do. To top it all off, they crashed in Shanksville. A place with only a volunteer fire and rescue department.
The hijackers did not wake up on the morning of September 11, 2001, and decide let’s go fly some planes and attack some buildings. It doesn’t work that way. This took time. This took training. This took coordination. This took effort. This was intentional.
There are some who claim it is all a conspiracy. I have to agree. The hijackers conspired to commit this evil act. Wait, that wasn’t the conspiracy they were referring to. They are referring to an elaborate plot by our own government. While I believe there were some failures on our government’s part, I do not believe our government caused the events of September 11, 2001. Could they have contributed? It is a possibility. However, in studying the events of 9/11 and the perpetrators of the events, regardless of what our government did or did not do, the bottom line is perfectly clear, they would have carried out some sort of act of mass destruction against the United States regardless of what our government did or did not do. If 9/11 could have been avoided, something else would have transpired. That is abundantly clear. It was and is their mindset. They were determined to fulfill their mission. Their mission was and still is to strike, kill and conquer. There is no stopping that mission. They are willing to die for that cause. And when they are killed or die, more pick up arms and carry on. It is a mission that was not stopped or eradicated on September 11th.
I chose not to list names because to me that only furthers their cause. They want us to know their names. To quake when we speak it and hear it. I refuse to. I refuse to be held hostage by fundamentally charged radicals. I am; however, not stupid. I know who they are. I have studied and read. I encourage everyone to do so. If you believe for one minute, for one second even, that they are finished, that this is over, that the death of the alleged mastermind behind these attacks makes us safer, then you are a fool. I mean that in the truest insult of the word.
What makes you a bigger fool or a complete witless, half witted, inept, clueless, feeble minded, asinine, daft, obtuse, delusional, misinformed imbecile is you missed the ideology behind it all. It existed long before September 11, 2001 and exists today. It walks among us. In fact, people make excuses and defend it in the name of peace when there is no peace or justification. They parade it around and sell its propaganda trying to win the hearts and minds of those who cannot see past the lies and colorful webs woven to create the distractions. And like the flies who always get caught in a spider’s web, not paying attention will inevitably lead to destruction. The ideology is ingrained. It has been for centuries. It isn’t like a movement that popped up overnight. It is not misunderstood by its followers. The danger lies in its sympathizers.
This is truly a case where you cannot empathize or sympathize. There is no rationalizing. Hitler may have been a madman but he was a man. He was a leader. He was undeniably the leader and held power. He took great strides in his vision, his strategy and his goals. His inner circle was strong but they bought into his ideals. Although some may have deviated, they knew the cost they would pay in so doing and ultimately swore allegiance to him. The same goes for most of history. From the time of Pharaoh in Egypt to Alexander the Great to the great Roman Empire to now, it has repeated itself over and over. The one thing that has also remained constant, is the threat posed by the radical group we faced on our soil on September 11, 2001. The one we vowed to fight. The one we must never let win. It is shameful and ignorant when anyone makes excuses or tries to justify this group. It cannot be done. Period.
As a practicing Christian, I am called to love my brothers and sisters. I take this very seriously. I do not harbor hate in me for anyone or anything. I must admit, the closest I get is to an ideology. I have a strong disdain to the core of my being. This is not to say I set out on a mission to personally destroy or irradiate anyone associated with this ideology. Much like the story of the good Samaritan in the Bible, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, if faced with a similar situation, I would help anyone, regardless of who and what they were as my empathy always wins in the end. Is there a part of me that would scream internally? You bet. If I knew, I would. But would I be any better than the terrorist themselves if I merely left them on the side of the road? Not everyone associated with the basic ideology are radicals. I will agree with that. However, I do believe they are exposed to the fundamentals. Their silence and ignorance whether by chance or choice is a conscience decision to side with their radical counterparts. We have radical Christians. Any sound minded Christian will speak up. Yet, time and time again, Christians as a whole are persecuted for the actions of a few. A whole denomination is incorrectly judged by the world based on a religion – get this – a religion that is based off of Jeduo- Christian beliefs but are in fact a separate religious entity (yes, I am referring to Catholics.) That is completely acceptable in the eyes of the majority but not in this particular case. In this particular case, if you remotely believe what I do, you are automatically a racist (which by the way race has nothing to do with the ideology – people of all races share in these beliefs) a bigot (which by truest definition means one who stubbornly or intolerantly adheres to his or her own opinions and prejudices. It isn’t a matter of being stubborn or intolerant; it is a matter of facts) and closed minded. An opinion is an idea that is believed to be true or valid without positive knowledge. When all of the facts, information and knowledge point to the same conclusion, whether one wishes to accept it or not, it is no longer an opinion. The facts are what they are. Twist them, make excuses for them, put a bow on them, it still does not change them. You can label me what you want. I love everyone; I may not like you. I definitely will not trust you. No where does God command me to trust my fellow man. I am, instead commanded to trust Him.
In my infinite trust in God, I am committed to seeking Him above all others. I do not understand all of His plans. I do not understand why things happen or His creation. But as I marvel in the good and praise Him for the blessings, I also know I need to praise Him in all things not just for all things. As I recall the events of September 11th, at first it may seem impossible to do. The pure evil of that day. The destruction and disruption caused. The lives taken and uprooted in a matter of moments. The lasting impact it has had. My son, born that year, has never known a time in his life when we were not at war. A whole generation of children will never appreciate life the way we will because of the impacts of that day. They do not see or comprehend the world as we do because they grew up in a world molded and shaped by it.
On September 12, 2001, we all made a promise to never forget. We made a commitment to ourselves, to our neighbors, to those who perished and to the world, to remember. How many of us truly do that? How many of us truly remember how we were when we woke up the morning of the 11th and how we were on the morning of the 12th? When we fell to our knees fervently praying to God – some of us for the first time – some of us in intercession for others – some with tears – some broken – some lost – some asking for forgiveness – some looking for answers – some seeking vengeance – some just seeking Him – but the point being we sought Him. We committed ourselves to a renewal of of land, spirit and our being. We reached out to our neighbor, we reached out to one another and it did not matter who they were if we knew them and all lives mattered. We were shaken but we were not broken. Praise God! In the midst of such horror, the rainbow clearly shined. That is the commitment we need to remember. Let us never forget.
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