As you're reading this, things have probably gone back to normal. As I'm writing this, the news, the sports, and the calendar are all reminding me that this day, September 11th, is not a normal day.
And yet, as I look around at my Facebook feed, and at my Twitter feed, and consider the morning news shows, I am convinced that this is actually, sadly, an all-too-normal day.
Of course, I remember vividly the events of 15 years ago. I also remember the indescribable sense of unity that suddenly washed over the country. The people that perpetrated 9/11 killed indiscriminately, without regard for skin color, gender, gender identity, creed or political affiliation. They killed us as if there were an identifiable "us" to kill --; they saw us as a unified whole. Unified by our American-ness, by our belief in freedom, pluralism, diversity and strength. They did not draw distinctions to preserve any of us. We were all targets.
And, for a time afterwards, we believed that, too. We saw that, whatever divided us, less than one year after the most contentious Presidential election in our lifetimes, the things we held in common were powerful, and meaningful, and enough to inspire evil and misguided young men to try to kill all of us. At the very least, the common enemy inspired us to stand together as one, because we were all targets.
It was supposed to be the day the world changed, the day time stood still.
Time has marched on. And nothing has changed.
The summer before 9/11 the great political debate in this country was about stem cell research --; remember that? The argument about whether it was ethical to destroy human embryos/unborn human babies for the purpose of medical research. Last summer, one of the great political debates (and that's using the word "great" VERY loosely) was about hidden camera videos that showed Planned Parenthood staffers negotiating to sell aborted babies for profit for medical research.
After 9/11, American flags flew proudly from every public arena, venue, and most houses, and a baseball game, a football game, and car races were opportunities for us to celebrate our commonalities. 10 hours ago (writing time), a handful of professional football players chose to not stand in honor of the flag, to draw attention to that which divides us.
And, while one of our Presidential candidates this year has run a campaign based largely on identifying who the "us-es" and the "thems" are in America, the other candidate, just the other day, declared that at least 20 percent of the country belongs in a "basket of deplorables," because they A. don't support her, which must mean that B. they are all racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, Neanderthals.
You know, come to think of it, I could very easily be wrong: things might have changed since 9/11. Things actually, incredibly, may have gotten worse.
The trouble is, that which divides us does little to slow the hatred of those who would destroy us. The shooter at Ft. Hood did not target one race or gender over any other, in the most diverse profession in America, that of soldier. It did not slow down the killers in San Bernadino, who opened fire indiscriminately at a Christmas Party. And it did not occur to the man who murdered 50 people at a night club in Orlando, that among that specific subset of Americans, were likely also blacks, whites, Hispanics, Democrats, and maybe even a few Republicans. In each event, each targeted at a subset, the actual killing was directed at all of us.
But, we forget. Time marches on, and we can't even agree any more on what to call the people who want us dead.
It seems to me, they should just step back at this point, and wait for us to collapse all on our own. We may not need any help, any more.
from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.comhttp://arvadapress.com/stories/After-15-years-have-we-learned-our-lessons,235160?branding=15
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