"We will not forget 9/11."
Have you heard it? I have. It's patriotic. It's a sure sign that whoever says it is a good-hearted, patriotic American who mourns the lives lost on that terrible day and hates the evil-doers who attacked us.
But I've been thinking. Should we actually forget 9/11? Before you start throwing things at me, imagine this: if you were a murderously violent maniac, and you had just successfully killed thousands of Americans, what could you possibly want more than having a massive national occasion in memory of your success every single year?
Timothy McVeigh would love it, if on every April 19, the whole country became silent to remember his attack. But thankfully, we don't do him that service. Perhaps we should consider not doing Osama bin Laden the same.
Now, there has to be a balance here, because victims should always be mourned and respected. What I suggest is that we come up with a way to honor the victims of 9/11 with unintentionally glorifying the attackers and their success. Do displaying images of burning buildings honorably commemorate the victims? I think not. Does talking about terrorists, the war on terror, or ground zero commemorate them? No. Talking about them commemorates them. Talking about their families commemorates them. Not their killers, not their deaths.
There are a host of things we can really hold high when commemorating this occasion, without providing affirmation to our attackers. Honor the firefighters. Honor the survivors. Say, "Yes, we were attacked on this day, and so we want to let all the families of the victims know that we will never forget your loss. We want to thank you for your courage. We want to thank the brave men and women who sacrificed themselves for others."
All without a single one of these: "Let us never forget the day we were attacked... when they struck us... when the buildings collapsed... when thousands died." All this without a single image of a burning tower, or smoke-filled New York City.
It's just a thought. We could give a lot less grace to our enemies if we stopped bragging about their own victory for them. Maybe we should forget 9/11.
Have you heard it? I have. It's patriotic. It's a sure sign that whoever says it is a good-hearted, patriotic American who mourns the lives lost on that terrible day and hates the evil-doers who attacked us.
But I've been thinking. Should we actually forget 9/11? Before you start throwing things at me, imagine this: if you were a murderously violent maniac, and you had just successfully killed thousands of Americans, what could you possibly want more than having a massive national occasion in memory of your success every single year?
Timothy McVeigh would love it, if on every April 19, the whole country became silent to remember his attack. But thankfully, we don't do him that service. Perhaps we should consider not doing Osama bin Laden the same.
Now, there has to be a balance here, because victims should always be mourned and respected. What I suggest is that we come up with a way to honor the victims of 9/11 with unintentionally glorifying the attackers and their success. Do displaying images of burning buildings honorably commemorate the victims? I think not. Does talking about terrorists, the war on terror, or ground zero commemorate them? No. Talking about them commemorates them. Talking about their families commemorates them. Not their killers, not their deaths.
There are a host of things we can really hold high when commemorating this occasion, without providing affirmation to our attackers. Honor the firefighters. Honor the survivors. Say, "Yes, we were attacked on this day, and so we want to let all the families of the victims know that we will never forget your loss. We want to thank you for your courage. We want to thank the brave men and women who sacrificed themselves for others."
All without a single one of these: "Let us never forget the day we were attacked... when they struck us... when the buildings collapsed... when thousands died." All this without a single image of a burning tower, or smoke-filled New York City.
It's just a thought. We could give a lot less grace to our enemies if we stopped bragging about their own victory for them. Maybe we should forget 9/11.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s05e09-osama-bin-laden-has-farty-pants
ReplyDeletesouth park as always gets it right.
or, http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s10e09-mystery-of-the-urinal-deuce
ReplyDelete