9-11-2011
Weekends are usually relegated to time of contemplation, fellowship and worship for us. But this weekend offers an opportunity for further consideration because it marks the ten year anniversary of the al Qaeda attacks on US soil. Our reflection is a sober one on many counts, though some of what we ponder is for reasons we could have never foreseen on 9-10-2001.
The events of 9-11 are burned into most of our memories. I remember watching as the twin towers collapsed, the news reporters apparently bewildered as everyone watched helplessly. Thousands died in a terrible crime of immense magnitude. The selfish imposition of misguided religious fanatics accomplished more than they could know. For the record, however, it is important to note one distinction. They expected to be rewarded with virgins. However, because of their rebellion against the Creator, refusing His commands of love and the Son of God as their Savior, upon the culmination of their suicidal attacks they were ushered immediately into hell. No man comes to the Father except through Christ. They most assuredly did not enter death through Christ. This is no reason to rejoice. The eternal torment of the soul of any man is tremendously grievous.
The attack on the US was aimed at many centers. The Pentagon, while hit, was not as successful as the attackers had anticipated. Other efforts were negligible, in comparison (I don’t want to minimize the death of loved ones for anyone). But the twofold attack on the twin towers took a terrible toll on the lives and affluence of many Americans.
The instant death of so many people was shocking to us. Each one had a life; loved ones. Each was someone’s child. Most of them were fellow Americans. All of them were fellow humans. And each and every one of them received their eternal fate that day. This is sobering. Almost 3,000 people lost their lives in those attacks. But it’s also important to note that more than that, over 3,300, are murdered as unwanted pregnancies, ripped from their mothers’ wombs, every single day in America. It’s an incredible hypocrisy for the country as a whole to mourn the death of 3,000 with such unity and vigor while we murder more innocent unborn people that that every single day of the year.
Continuing our original line of thinking, please consider for a moment, if you would, what exactly was attacked on 9-11. Yes, the country. Yes, a symbol of our power and prosperity. Yes, many loved ones. Vedran Vuk of Casey Research offers some better understanding in this regard with this article from this week. And Haviland Smith’s offering in The Daily Reckoning is helpful too, though, in my opinion, a bit too gracious toward the manipulations of the US government.
I’m not going to beat this up, but I do want to point out some very concerning misconceptions that many have. Central to this is how much freedom we’ve lost as a result of the attacks. While the rhetoric is that we’ve struck a blow to terrorism, the fact is that the terrorist attacks were more successful that most Americans care to consider. Never, in the history of our nation, have so many rights been trampled underfoot as we’ve seen disappear in the past ten years. Every single transaction we make, unless it’s with cash, is under surveillance. And even many cash purchases are reportable. Every phone call you make is monitored in one way or another. Every email you send is screened in the interest of national security. And now, in order to make flying safer, your mothers, wives and daughters are being groped by strangers in airports who tell you it’s for your own good. Incidentally, I read that Muslim women are excluded from this invasion. Feel safer now? Men, are you standing by and watching this?
I’m not advocating insurrection. But neither am I condoning the trampling and dehumanizing tactics that the al Qaeda terrorists have brought to our shores. In this, they’ve already won. The last wheezing breath of freedom is being squeezed out of America. And as you get scoped and groped in the name of freedom, ask yourself this question in regard to the price, “Is this freedom? Is this the American dream our forefathers pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor for?”
Another important question to ask ourselves is, “How many terrorists have been caught this way? How much am I willing to sacrifice to support a self-promoting system that has never proven effective?” Some have been caught in security with ill intent. But not one single terrorist has ever been caught through the scope and grope efforts of the TSA lackeys. Consider this NYT article, Schneier and PRWatch to help you think through the issue.
This is a short note to make you think. I’m not going to launch into a long-winded proposal of what’s to be done. But the first step in addressing our current situation is to recognize it for what it is. Our lives are not better as a result of the ill-named Patriot Act or any of the other intrusions into our freedoms and privacy. The freedom our forebears fought and died for has become a memory that new generations can’t possibly grasp.
As our family ponders these things we realize we only have three choices.
- We can attempt to fight it through legal means, protests, voting, writing letters and such. This is largely in vain due to the fact that we are given so few legitimate people to vote for and our letters generally fall on deaf ears that already have their agenda dictated.
- We can just live with it and do the best we can with the circumstances handed to us. This could include moving to more rural areas and doing what we can to legally avoid government intrusion, intervention and interaction (pretty much synonymous these days).
- And the third one reminds me of what a friend of mine once said when he heard someone complaining about the US, “Love it or leave it.”
So, I have to ask myself, “Do I love it?” I love the idea of America. But is that idea still alive and well? Perhaps, somewhere. Maybe I can find that place. Here’s to looking. May God give us wisdom.
