Posted by
stevo on Thursday, November 23, 2006 1:56:51 AM
I remember where I was on September 11th...do you?
For many out there, I doubt it. When it comes to foreign affairs, most Americans have a materially-induced amnesia. On 9/11, these people cried, but they didn't ponder. They didn't take time to meditate upon the ideologies of hate that gave rise to a horrendous massacre of innocent lives. They didn't consider the long-term ramifications of engaging Islamo-fascism.
Yet, they cried. They cried on simple humanitarian grounds--"Those people are dead, and that could have been me!" Five years have passed, and the graves of 9/11 victims are now surely covered by brush. Those graves might as well hold the national sympathy for the disaster as well. It jarred our self-consumed lifestyles just enough to provoke a gaze outside of ourselves to the greater dilemmas and realities of this world. Yet, just as quickly, the "coast is clear" call rang forth and we withdrew again into our holes.
Our holes stand protected, but not without sacrifice. President Bush was serious when he pledged to honor the memory of the victims of 9/11. Even now, if we listen just hard enough, we will hear the dull thuds of mortar shells. At this moment, if we adjust our eyes just enough, we will see the quick flashes of explosions and the somber trails of smoke left behind them.
Where were you on September 11th? Perhaps the question is no longer germane.
Where are you now? That is the question. I fear that most of us are residing comfortably in our holes, awaiting the next September 11th to again draw our gaze outward.