9/11 and American Values

In Park Slope, where I live, all of us have family or friends who either died on 9/11 or had close calls. My wife had one of those close calls. She was a law enforcement lawyer who stayed in an adjacent building until the first tower collapsed. I lost touch with her at that moment and was worried sick until she showed up after noon with a colleague and someone they met in a soot cloud running from the collapse of the second tower. It’s so sad that this year people have ignored former President Bush’s words of wisdom after 9/11 that Islam is not our enemy. It’s especially sad to see people channel their very legitimate sadness and loss into hatred and bigotry. We can learn much, not only from former President Bush, but from Martin Luther King, Jr. Frankly, the majority of White Americans in the 1800s and 1900s either supported or cooperated with the enslavement, murder, subordination, and everyday insults of Black people. But, as Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us, returning hate with hate is morally wrong and only leads to more hate and more violence. But the standard of Martin Luther King, Jr. is a real challenge for all us in politics and in our everyday lives. So the reading I recommend for 9/11 is a brilliant, but imperfect, post by Michael Moore, “If the ‘Mosque’ Isn’t Built, This is No Longer America.” Moore both shares a wonderful message and unfortunately reveals how despite those values Moore himself cannot overcome his own hatreds, such as in paragraphs 6, 9, 10. May the memory of those who died on 9/11 inspire us to redouble our commitment to do God’s work in the world and to remember that God teaches us to love — and not to hate.