“There will always be good men doing good things. And, there will always be evil men doing evil things. But, to get a good man to do an evil thing—for that you need religion”
--John Milton, Author of Paradise Lost
September 11, 2001 arrived with such premeditated violence and seismic force that it forever replaced December 7, 1941 as “the date that will live in infamy” for Americans. For us, to some extent, it must have been what the Japanese in Hiroshima and Nagasaki felt on the day the dreaded atomic bomb fell on their cities. However, for us, 9/11 was a surprise—a vile and pernicious ‘sucker punch’. The difference between 9/11 and the dropping of the atomic bomb, obviously, was that in a ‘world at war’, death, destruction and carnage, unfortunately, become daily and expected events.
Yet, the scale of death, destruction and carnage the Japanese witnessed and experienced was unparallel—even in war. Like Edwin Starr, in his seminal R&B hit of the ‘70s asked, I constantly ask myself—“War! What is it good for?” How do we, as a species--the majority of us avowed God fearing and worshiping people--find ourselves acting like cavemen with lethal rocks? As Gandhi observed, if we follow the principle of “an eye for an eye …it would make the whole world blind”. Alas, while our brains are pondering quantum physics in the limitless universe, our knuckles are still dragging the ground. And, we keep shuffling menacingly towards each other, while ducking and dodging the weapons of both individual and mass destruction that we claim will insure our safety and security. What’s our problem? As Joan Rivers would say, “Can we talk?” Let’s give it a try.
Immediately, I want to say that the purpose of this little treatise is not to make a blanket case against war—even though, there a very few instances where I think it is justified. My real purpose is to engage in the act of reflection. The best definition of Reflection, being the “process of one observing oneself”, comes from Peter Vail in his book, Managing as a Performing Art. So, let me begin reflecting. My first epiphany is that I think the majority of humans believe in a higher power—God, Allah, Jehovah, Vishnu, if you will. And, if that’s the case, why are we so locked into “heated agreement”? Why do we insist that others wear what we wear, say what we say, act like we do in their worship rituals? Why do we commit acts of inhumanity towards each other in the name of our God? Why do we commit evil acts in the name of The Most High? Has the devil infiltrated our holy ranks? Is this hatred we hurl at each other the way we are suppose to live? And, why does live spelled backwards spell evil? Should we focus more on living to love rather loving to live? I don’t know….I’m just saying—you know?
What I do know is that we should not make 9/11 a national Day of Hysteria. Nor should we turn it into a national Day of Hatred. What we should be doing is reflecting and reconciling with each other so that no future “Date in Infamy” comes about to dwarf and replace 9/11. On this day, let us all, on Earth, atone for the myriad of sins committed under hypnotic nationalistic and religious trances. Let us insure that ‘freedom of religion’ is practiced and revered in whatever manner a group chooses to worship God.
We’ve seen the awful destructive power of hate. We long to see the awesome constructive power of Love. Let’s make 9/11 the head corner stone of a universal covenant to advance humankind from the Stone Age to an enlightened Space Age. Let’s agree to grow up as a species.
