Just as our parents’ generation was framed by Pearl Harbor, our generation has been framed by this day in 2001. And, in some ways, the responses have been the same but also different. Franklin Roosevelt issued an order sending thousands of Japanese and American born ethnic Japanese to internment camps, but George Bush spoke of the need to understand that Muslims could not be held responsible for terrorist acts.
Congress did pass the Patriot Act and persons from Muslim countries were targeted for immigration detention and deportation. The legacy of 9-11 is still with us as reflected by xenophobia exacerbated by certain politicians which has precluded our national psyche from healing.
We were so focused on external threats to our freedoms that we missed the virulence of the radical right which was able to seize on 9-11, fomenting hate and violence. Eternal vigilance is the price we pay for liberty, and we need to realize that our democracy is still fragile and can be destroyed by misplaced fears spurred on by the lies of politicians.
Prayer for the Day
Captives of time and space, we look to you, O God,
Limited by our bodies and minds, we search for your Spirit;
Imperfect and dissatisfied, we come hungry for the taste of your Presence,
Parched by the deserts of our hearts, we need the well of life.
Help us to grow in humility and faith as we search for your Gospel,
That will bring us peace, enabling us to share it with the world.
In the name of the One who calls us to peace,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
To be unacquainted with events which took place before our time is always to remain a child. Intelligent existence loses its meaning without the aid of history to bring recent events into direct continuity with the past.
- Marco Tulio Cicero, Roman Republic orator, assassinated (105-43 BCE)
True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.
- Clarence Darrow, lawyer for unpopular causes (1857-1938)
Give ear to my words, O Lord; give heed to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
In the morning I plead my case to you and watch.
Psalm 5: 1-3