In times of tragedy there is a tendency to experience incredible acts of kindness. People reach out to strangers and offer any help they can. Human beings come together with the knowledge that each can contribute, and that the effort of every individual counts. Together we also grieve. The loss of human life is, of course, cause for the greatest grief of all. Family members and friends shed tears for those whom they will never see again, and the sight of people searching for those who are missing, carrying posters in their hands, touches the strongest of individuals. Yet others are also filled with an intense sense of loss when faced with the knowledge that two mighty towers, built by the grace of human intelligence and innovation, have disappeared from the New York City skyline in only a matter of hours. They don’t grieve for metal and glass; they grieve for the destruction of human achievement.
Anger fills our thoughts and we wish that such horrendous acts would not go unpunished. We see the irrationality of the terrorists and the vile nature of their acts. We grasp that their hatred won’t lead to their salvation. One would think that in such times people would strive for sanity, rationality and respect. And yet we hear about mosques being vandalized and Arab-Americans being targeted. Shame on anyone who refuses to understand that generalizations only cause problems. Whatever the insane reasons for the attacks on America, chief among them is a hate of what the Unites States is.
The U.S. is a melting pot of all ethnicities; people come here because the Unites States was built with the knowledge that individuals can coexist peacefully through trade. The terrorists did not attack certain “kinds” of Americans. They have attacked us all, no matter which portion of the world we or our ancestors have come from. Americans hurting Arab-Americans and destroying their property is purely irrational and nothing short of despicable.
In coping with rage, senseless violence is never proper and never just. The United States will not wither away and die; it will continue to prosper no matter how much it is broken and battered by zealots. We must also continue to respect human life and human labor. Productivity makes no distinction between country of origin or religious belief; Arab-Americans are as vital a part of America’s wealth as anyone else. If we wish to move on we must allow each other to peacefully pursue our individual goals.
On another point about irrationality, while the rest of the world was grappling with the horror of what had happened (with the exception of those who chose to dance in the streets with delight, one can only hope that such stupidity gets exactly what it is asking for), Jerry Falwell was apparently seeing the light. On September 13th the television program “700 Club” was a stage for some of the most absurd ideas that have ever been presented to man, for then did Falwell explain that pagans, gays, abortionists, and lesbians, among others, should realize that they “helped [terrorism against America] happen.” Bravo Jerry, while this terrorist attack made us keenly aware of the utter nonsense that lays residence in certain brains across the ocean, you have single-handedly shown that idiocy knows no geographical boundaries.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 18th, 2001 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Opinions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.