In 2001, I flew back into the USA just a couple days before Sept. 11th. A friend and I had been on a trip to Southern Greece that changed my life forever (in good ways). On the 11th, I woke up to images of NYC and the WTC.
I knew people in the building that day. I can only imagine their horror.
I know people who were and are members of Islam after that day. I don’t have to imagine their horror. I know the abuse they received after those events, and that they continue to receive to this day. People are lazy in their thinking – all Islam is the same, just like Roman Catholics and Southern Baptists are identical.
Sept 11th, 2001 was a day that changed a large portion of the world, but not for everyone. That day, and today, remain just another day of struggle to survive for food and shelter, and escape from war, abuse, and poverty. To many people, what happened in NYC, DC, and later in Afghanistan was and remains a non-event that didn’t touch their reality – let alone their world – at all. Again, I don’t have to imagine their horror. It’s there to be seen, and not all of it occurs outside the borders of the USA.
Today, let’s remember well, and let’s remember that we can do better than what we’ve done.
