11 Questions on September 11th

As I scanned the web this morning for peoples' thoughts on September 11th, I found that almost nothing I read was resonating**.  It seemed that every piece was trying to offer an explanation, a cohesion, or a theme to how we should remember or explain what happened.

There's comfort in trying to create a narrative about an event so devastating and inexplicable.  It's our tendency to want to attach meaning to things, to console ourselves that even this can fit into the stories of our lives; even this can have some sort of conclusion.

I'm tempted to do the same - to offer up what today means for me, how I explain it and fit it into the story of the world as I see it.  But for me there's still too much to sort out.  The thoughts spiral and intersect and ultimately offer nothing clean-cut, no answers.

But I do have questions.  In my hesitation to conclude the narrative of "Ten Years Later," 11 questions are my small act of commemoration:

1. What if, amidst our anger, sadness and mourning 10 years ago, we had also taken the time for self-examination, to consider our accountability in what happened?
2. What if we had sacrificed our immediate sense of justice in the name of a more persistent justice?  What if we had tried to forgive, as many families of victims have done, as many targets of post-9/11 discrimination and violence have done?
3. Would this have happened had we asked for forgiveness for our historical roles in decimating the natural resources, political capital, and quality of life of people in so many countries?
4. What couldn't we have done with the trillions that went to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
5. If something like this happened again today, would our leaders act any differently?  Would we?
6. Has our revenge created a more peaceful or safer world?
7. What have we learned about how our media represents such events and the people that become associated with them?  How much was the anti-American sentiment in the Middle East exaggerated to fit the story, and how did that exaggeration shape our attitudes?
8. Who in our country benefitted from September 11th - politically, monetarily, publicly?  Where are they now?
9. How did September 11th take on such meaning beyond itself?  How did it come to dictate aspects of the legal and prison systems, peoples' attitudes towards Islam, political discourse, media framing and coverage, and the entirety of our foreign policy?
10. How long before we understand the consequences of all we've done since, and all we will continue to do in the name of September 11th?
11. Who doesn't remember where they were?

One final word on a complicated day: to forgive is not to forget.  Forgiveness is not a thing earned by the offender, but a thing offered for the sake of the one who has been hurt.  When I say we should forgive what happened, I ask it only for our own sake.  We should forgive for the sake of self-reflection, of moving on, and of healing.  Forgiveness does not excuse what was done or negate our ability to react to it.  Rather, it enables us to react with love, deliberation, humility, and an eye toward a future long after our lingering feelings have subsided.  Culturally and politically speaking, it's the only thing we haven't tried.



**one article did really resonate: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/10-years-after-911-the-go_b_954477.html