Let us TRULY honor those who died on 9/11/01.

[Padraig18]

I don't know about everyone alse here at DU, but the anniversary 9/11 weighs especially heavily on my mind today. Any way, earlier this morning I pulled one of my all-time favorite books off the bookshelf, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". As I opened it to re-read it, a quote from the introduction caught my eye; it was written by author Robert Pirsig, after his son Christopher was stabbed to death on a street in San Francisco:

"What had to be seen was that the Chris I missed so badly was not an object, but a pattern, and although that pattern included the flesh and blood of Chris, that was not all there was to it. The pattern was larger than Chris and myself, and related to it in ways that neither of us understood completely and neither of us was in complete control of.

Now Chris's body, which was a part of that larger pattern, was gone. But the larger pattern remained. A huge hole had been torn out of the center of it, and that was what caused all the heartache. The pattern was looking for something to attach to and couldn't find anything."

There were almost 3000 such individual holes torn out of many life patterns that awful Tuesday morning in September, three years ago, in addition to the enormous one that was burnt into our national psyche. Tens of thousands more holes have been torn in the related aftermath, and maybe hundreds of thousands may yet be torn, the way things seem to be going.

We must remember that, by habit, Life wills itself to continue--- this I know firsthand, from bitter experience. We here in the United States are in the miraculous position of being able to choose this November precisely *how* it will continue for us, as a nation. As we do--- as we go about reweaving the patterns of our national life--- might it not be best to put aside the terrifying images and the sheer numbing, unfathomable numbers of dead? Any loss--- every loss--- leaves a profound hole in Life's pattern. That's what happened September 11th, 2001 --- a huge, ragged and bloody hole was torn in the pattern of our nation's life. Now we, as a nation, must collectively decide on just how and where we want its life to go on.

As for myself, I can not choose to fill that hole or reweave the rent that remains in my life with anger, with hatred, with fear or suspicion; the tear in my life's pattern will not be mended with the glue of warm, red blood, nor the void in it filled with the broken and shattered bodies of men, women and children killed in multiple wars fought in distant places. Perpetual war will not bring back the light to that dark place September 11th branded into my soul. Hatred is the poison which created that gaping hole, and therefore I will let that bitter cup pass from me untouched, its contents vile, nauseating and unworthy of the lips of civilized men and women.

May God give this great nation strength and wisdom, that we, its people, may choose wisely what course we take into the future.

'In pacem, requiescat. In nomine Patri, et Filio, et Spiritu Sancti. Amen'

:hi:

[Padraig18]

1. Kick n/t

[markomalley]

2. We should honor their deaths by beginning to act ethically

as a country. Get rid of our current fascist government. Treat other countries with respect. Maybe then they will not have died in vain.

Thank you for your post.

[Padraig18]

3. Exactly!

:hi:

[JCox]

4. What we were afraid of

Guys, hello,wake up! This is exactly what we were afraid of. You all are forgetting. How can you forget that day?? I know that you all remember exactly where you were when you heard about the attacks. Those INNOCENT people died for no reason. It would have been one thing if they would have attack a military base or something like that but they hit us from behind, cheap shotted us. It's sick! I won't forget, did any of you have loved ones on those flights?? Obviously not because if you did you would feel very differently!

[markomalley]

5. I'm not defending the attacks

But I remember our imperialism...the absolute arrogance that we were right and they were primative scum. I remember how we went and virtually occupied the most holy land in Islam. I remember a bunch of stuff.

I also remember the Palestinians being peaceful people, too, until they got pushed too far by their occupiers.

People do desperate things for desperate reasons.

I knew three people who were killed in the Pentagon...so don't tell me nothin' about that. I just want to fix the probnlem so that we won't be a target anymore.

[Padraig18]

6. I've forgotten NOTHING, friend!

My mother and father were both murdered in a terrorist attack, so don't you DARE presume to preach to me!

:grr:

[rasputin1952]

7. There was an article this AM on C-SPAN from a group of normal...

Muslims, calling on the Muslims of the world to denounce the violence that a few relatively radical mullahs are calling for. Their article was pretty good and well written. I think that the "mainstream" members of every religion think basically the same; and I think that God gets kind of ticked that these people are doing great harm in his name. We need to stop listening to leaders that foster violence, regardless of where they are from or what religion they preach from. This needs to be a human effort, not Muslim, nor Christian, Buddhist, Jewish or Hindu. No religion should be co-opted by radicals, and we, the human population, need to just tell these hypocrites, "If this is such a great idea, you do it!"

I am saddened by all of the death these incidents have created. The 1000+ of our service members, the 3000 during 9-11, the thousands of Iraqi's, Afghans, and others. The children in Russia...:(

It is time that we, as a part of humanity, call upon those that preach death and destruction, to just plain shut up, and if they don't, we need to jail them all, and allow them to wallow in their own filth. I do not care what someone calls themselves, if they are hypocrites and hatemongers, they need to be dealt with, and quickly.

[soundfury]

8. Let us TRULY honor those who died 911 by telling É

the truth.

911 was a lie.

[Padraig18]

9. It looked pretty damned real, from where I was watching...

:eyes:

[MountainLaurel]

10. That jet fuel sure smelled real

Blowing my way from the Pentagon

[Padraig18]

11. We don't have our tin foil hats on tightly enough, it seems...

:p

[proud patriot]

12. great post paddy

:hug:

[Padraig18]

13. Thank you!

:hug: