Remember? Why?
Remember this from five years ago?
I remember how i felt when i saw that image on TV. But more, i remember how everyone else seemed to feel. People were moved to the point of passion. For about two weeks, the whole country cared. Now, five years later, it's a little intellectually embarrassing to bring it up, isn't it? Come on, let's talk about root causes, poverty, disenfranchisement. Nine-eleven was tragic, but it's old news. Only undereducated red-state flag-wavers are still harping on that.
Two brief thoughts. No, three.
- You don't need to be a self-described "patriot" to tell right from wrong. (Or vice versa, the snide could say, but hold that thought.)
- For any free and liberal society to survive, true lovers of such tolerance must recognize and stand against aggressive intolerance everywhere it exists - not only in their own culture. Else, they embrace their own destruction. It's only a matter of time.
In 1945 the surviving Jews said "Never again."
These are two very different statements.
Do we care enough to step from the first to the second? I doubt it. Not anymore.
Not when so many of us are unthinkingly asking ourselves if we even should.
Not when we've already stopped caring about the first statement - which, really, we might as well. It's like Thanksgiving as a post-Christian holiday: what's the point?
And finally, not even if we could all agree on what was to be done. Which, if it were to happen, should frighten anyone almost as much.
So here's a challenge: Don't get all misty-eyed for ten minutes today watching the retrospectives, remembering one September day in one year in one country in the whole ancient history of this huge aching world. Don't flatter yourself that you really care - unless you're going to keep caring and do something about it.
A good rule for all things, maybe.
Image credit: wuzzadem.typepad.com
1 Comments:
I personally do not know why we have reunions/anniverssaries of catastrophies.
Lets have a progressive update, lets have positive moves towards restoration, - and maybe some of these Gazillion TV things are - but please quit using national disasters/catastrophies to sell your advertising airtime year after year on the same event.
I feel like I am in a Hell & Damnation 'old-school' church service where everything is negative and we question all our OWN people as to why we are a failure and why our government allowed this to happen...what about an optimistic attitude about aggressively diminishing our chances of having it happen again?
'News' makes me sick, some people would like to heal...not be reminded of that deadening 'nothing you can do' feeling in the pit of your stomach when its to late...and you see the remanents of friends and family in the aftermath.
Just like our troops...we are not making the decisions, and we do not have to agree with the reasons, but at least have enough sense to keep your mouth shut once they are in the 'thick of things' and pray & show your support for them. Their your people, your kinsmen.
It would suck to be in the military and watch us on TV all whining and crying over here...that,would make me 'feel' like doing my job (thats sarcasm).
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