There are some weird rituals and holidays out there, I'll grant you.
But I'm not sure why we're "celebrating" 9/11 as some kind of sacred High Holy Day.
I mean, the Jewish community just celebrated Rosh Hashanah. Muslims, having finished Ramadan, are celebrating Eid al-Fitr this weekend. Heck, we're even starting football season.
And yes, the memories of Father Judge and other 9/11 heroes are still with me. I know they died because of terrorism by extremists.
Still, I feel like we let the terrorists win by spending emotional and spiritual energy continuing to grieve the losses of 9/11. The world doesn't need to stop and we don't need to stop, just because a couple dozen sociopaths decided to make a political statement by killing people.
I just feel a burning desire to turn the page - to move on, to get past the grief and anger. There is a certain point in time where anger and grief become toxic and corrosive, instead of productive and poignant.
Today, my grief about 9/11 is mostly related to the way that certain groups have tried to use 9/11 to attack whole groups of people, like Muslims or liberals or Republicans. My current grief about 9/11 is related to seeing those who still haven't learned the lessons of that event.
I grieve the use of the "9/12 Project" as a way for Glenn Beck to spark outrage toward Democrats, social justice lovers, and President Obama in particular. Beck's crocodile tears, his insane chalkboard, and his conspiracy theories (as well as calling Obama a racist) are making him millions, because Republicans need to demonize Obama and Beck (and Palin) is just crazy enough to do it.
9/11 doesn't have to make the world stop.
We shouldn't cancel football games.
We shouldn't cancel Eid carnivals, as one mosque in Fresno is doing out of concern that the Saturday celebration falls on 9/11. And while I appreciate the sensitivity, I just don't want to go on celebrating disaster.
I want life to go on.
I want the recovery to continue.
I want us to have enough tolerance and acceptance of one another that we're able to grieve with those who grieve and rejoice with those who rejoice.
My sister in law celebrates her birthday on 9/11. And, as memory serves, so does Markos. We shouldn't require a blackout on celebrations just because something terrible happened on 9/11 nine years ago. Terrible things happen every day. But so do miracles.