What can one say about 9/11 that already hasn't been said? In that spirit, I'm reprinting my thoughts from two years ago on the occasion of the 10th anniversary, which I believe are still valid. May God bless the souls of those who died that day and may they not be forgotten.
You may have noticed that I am writing this on 9/12 rather than 9/11. I spent much of the anniversary watching the excellent coverage on Fox with one eye, and reading some beautifully written pieces online with the other.
There are always stories I’ve never heard, it’s as though the story is, in many ways, still unfolding. Some 3,000 people died that day and their deaths effected untold numbers of people around them. We will be hearing new stories for the rest of our lives, and for those who lived through the history, that keeps the history alive. For future generations, it provides a rich and detailed record unmatched by any other historical event.
Ten years is a milestone, a decade. Ten years is 9/11’s first step into the mists of history where, alas, it will be deformed and mutilated by some for their own narrow interests – that’s already happening in the case of “Truthers”, and the radical Left. People who were 10 year-old children in 2001 are 20 year-old young adults today. There are 10 year-old children who are being schooled as to what that day was about, and how they should feel about it. There are those who romanticize the “sense of unity” that existed on 9/11/01, and, indeed it was palpable and very real. Unfortunately, it was as fleeting as summer in northern Maine and was far more short-lived. Ten years hence, we are far more fractured and polarized than we were before the attacks – instead of focusing on the enemy; we’ve turned on each other and begun the process of self-consumption. It makes one wonder if that, in itself, is something of a moral victory for the enemies of civilization who attacked us 10 years ago. In many ways, the evil that came from without, 10 years ago, awakened and liberated a far more dangerous evil from within – those who actively deny even the existence of evil.
Yes, the world changed on 9/11/01, but it’s still open to debate as to whether the cause of western civilization has moved forward during the last decade, or is emanating the stench of death. There’s far too much evidence to suggest the latter, though hope springs eternal.
