The mass killings 10 years ago at the USA WTC in New York were atrocious by any measure. The grief touched thousands directly affected and millions more indirectly in the USA and many other countries. For example one of those murdered - McKenzie - was a former class mate of my Beaumont days. For many of the friends and relatives directly bereaved the passage of 10 years may hardly heal at all.
Yet for the rest of us...? The politicians at the time and to some extent still now, seem to write and speak up the status of the perpetrators to that of war mongers and political enemies of some kind whereas concentrating on speaking and writing them down as demented crooks and criminals, would be far more more effective not least because I suspect that like many other criminals and bullies, the perpetrators revel in having their status elevated as much as possible which can be an effect of so much publicity of this kind..
The huge ceremony and mass publicity that is accompanying the 10th anniversary of the crimes, not only seem over sentimental but also again tend to increase the perceived status of the killers to that political rulers which become national enemies as in say Germany under Hitler rather than that of particularly nasty and ruthless transnational crooks. Simpler quieter recollections with less drama and sentiment could not only be more respectful to the deceased but also less likely the enhance the perpetrators' status to anything beyond that of demented criminals and bullies which is all they really are.
I am also slightly uneasy about our western civilisation still concentrating so much on the events 9/11. Truly dreadful though those events were , there have been killings quite as dreadful in places like Dafur where 10th anniversaries have come and gone without the political outpourings and ceremonies which are marking today's 10th anniversary of 9/11.
Trying to forgive forget and move on, are hallmarks of Christianity and of civilised society. Some might argue that that trying to adhere to those hallmarks, is is an unrealistic ideal or that it takes two to forgive and forget. The answer to such argument may be that someone has to make the first move but the longer civilised peoples concentrate on high profile ceremonies, national flag waving and fine political speeches to mark such anniversaries the longer the delay in moving on let alone reconciliation. Far better surely to concentrate on catching these demented killers professionally and quietly even, without so much flag waving and banging of war drums.
I remain convinced that the war in Afganistan is justified on the grounds that the female half of the human race there was being subjugated if not enslaved. However the 'war on terror' apart from being out of line with my interpretation of the hallmarks a civilised grown up society, would even if one could identify the centre of the terror against which war is being waged, be in line with an uncivilised "eye for an eye tooth for a tooth" concept.
The attraction of revenge is superficial and in substance (in my view ) is unChristian.
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