I agree with 100% of the population on one element of the subject of 9/11:
The loss of life incurred on that fateful day was tragic, it was reprehensible, and I feel for those who were taken, their families, and loved ones.
I am sad for this massive loss the United States has suffered.
I am also sad when I look around me and see how many among us have chosen to respond to this event, and the "lessons" they have chosen to "learn" from it.
A group of fanatical religious extremists decided to emply unthinkable terror as a vehicle to advance their own twisted interpretation of Islam.
Some among us were able to examine this objectively and realize that religious extremism, regardless of whether it comes in the Islamic brand, or the Christian brand, or any other brand, is dangerous, wrongheaded, and should be shunned if not outright shut down for the good of society as a whole. It takes a willingness to think individually and logically to realize that simply attaching the name of "God" to ones agenda does not alone make it unthinkable to question; taboo to assail. The single biggest reasonable criticism of ALL organized religions in the world as they exist today is the observation that so many of its "leaders" have chosen to discard the concepts of universal peace, love, and acceptance which historically have been the root of all organized religions, in deference to a "new" emphasis on divisiveness, bigotry, hatred, and intolerance.
The "new" organized religion, for many (not all) in our society worries more about punishing those who are different, than loving everyone regardless of their differences with us. Too many followers of modern organized religion worry more about even-ing eons-old scores with earthly rivals, of engaging in gang-style mentality on a global scale hoping to wipe out all the other "gangs" before their deity returns to earth in an effort to win acceptance and immortality. Sadly, the "new" organized religion also seems to foster a sense that the "rules" generally only apply to the followers, the "leaders" of the flock get a free pass to do as they wish.
Sadly, rather than seeing these clearly evil motives for what they are, people, out of fear, perhaps out of a lack of willingness to think critically, largely choose to "double-down" on their own religious identity and hatred for those of other religious beliefs. Countless non-Muslim Americans in the wake of 9/11 have decided to conclude all Muslims are terrorists and are to be treated as such. These same individuals manage to find dismay in the reality that many Muslims among them have become resentful and distrustful of "intolerant" non-Muslims among them. It is an endless circle of hatred that two groups of people choose to voluntarily join, an easier path to travel than the path of research, of vigilance, and of action, to seek out and fight against those within one's religion who have chosen to pervert it for their own personal gain.
Sadly, the number of groups I have seen come together to "fight" Islam in the name of Christianity far outnumbers the amount of groups I have seen come together, in the last 10 years, to "fight" intolerance and hatred in the Christian community and bring it back to its core values of loving one another without condition. And yes, the same applies in reverse.
When a terrorist group attacks, the terrorist group seeks victory in not one but two ways: short-term, but more importantly, long-term. Clearly the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 succeeded in their short-term objective: immediate loss of life. But sadly, I see that they have also largely succeeded in their long-term objective as well: to place us in such a deep state of fear that we voluntarily rush to give up the very freedom we pride ourselves as having, that which makes us different from those societies that harbor terrorists!
Sadly, I see that whenever I make the point that putting America on "lock-down", on allowing ourselves to be searched at the whim of the government without warrant or cause, to allow ourselves to be monitored 24/7, and to allow our President to declare ANY one of us an "enemy combatant" without needing to provide ANY reason or evidence whatsoever, is wrong, and gives the terrorists what they want, I am told I'm wrong - that we must give up our freedom to be safe in this day and age. I'm told that somehow, we've become a giant prison society - if we don't make someone else OUR bitch, someone is GONNA make us THEIR bitch. Apparently the freedom and liberty we've enjoyed for centuries was only valid until someone attacked us on our soil - at which point we could only retreat to our own inner fears and become a paranoid police state.
Sadly, if I make the case for repealing all of the horrible legislation that has passed in the last ten years constructing this police state, I am reminded that people MIGHT DIE as a result...that someday, somehow, SOMEONE will attack us in SOME way that MIGHT have been prevented with an all-powerful all-seeing Big Brother watching over us, and therefore, I must advocate the loss of human life, or that somehow, I'm for the attacks on America.
Sadly, I cannot get through to these people and make them realize that even with all of the police-statism in place today, we clearly do NOT have the security that is implied or associated. Considering that we have put in place a massive policy of monitoring every single individual inside the borders of the United States, allow unlimited searches, seizures, arrests, detentions, and "disappearances" without formal charges or trial, how come we STILL have to spend this 9/11/2011 in fear of the "threat" of attack in New York and Washington? At some point, you can't have it both ways - if you strip virtually all of the freedoms and liberties of the citizenry away, you better have a more or less 100 percent secure state - if the citizens are completely stripped of their freedom and then, oh by the way, STILL need to live in constant fear of being attacked anyway? Then really, what exactly have we gained? Some possible security?
Sadly, the next counterpoint those who disagree with me will rush to make, at this point in the dialogue, is that I am wrong to point out that even with the new Patriot-Act-inspired-police-state, we still have to live in fear of the next attack, because we are SUPPOSED to focus on all the attacks our police-state has thwarted! Just imagine all the scores of terrorist attacks that would have been successful if we did not surrender our freedoms! By jove, we'd probably ALL have been killed by terrorists by now, if we hadn't allowed the government the tools to stop these terror attacks.
And that, sadly, is EXACTLY the mentality that those who attacked us on 09/11/2001 wanted us to adapt, en masse, as a society. A mentality of paranoia, of fear, and of blind trust to an already corrupt federal government that they knew would be more than happy to take on the role of fear-peddler, to enact the "security tools" that never seem to allow us to stop being afraid, that issue endless press releases telling us that we stopped a mysterious terror attack thanks to our unlimited eyes in the sky, which we can never possibly confirm, a mentality that leaves those who attacked us pleased with their work.
Sadly, I rarely come across those who understand that the way to discourage a terrorist is not to change your way of life in response to their attacks. The way to discourage a terrorist is to utterly DEFY their desire to force you to change! And to be clear, I am not suggesting that retaliation against the perpetrators of a terrorist attack is wrong. I fully believe that once identified, the planners and executors of any terrorist attack should be found and brought to justice, swiftly and severely.
But it is absolutely imperative that we send a message to the world that we will NOT be afraid of being attacked. That we understand that standing as a lone beacon of freedom and liberty in the world DOES make us a target, and that inevitably there WILL be a price, even in human life, that such a stand will cost. But rather than fearfully retreat and try to scale back that freedom to a point where there IS no cost, the America I have been raised to know, should decide to shake off its fear, strive to move back to its roots, and offer the ultimate tribute and homage to those who we lost on 9/11, to their families, and their loved ones - in the form of a total REJECTION of the reactions our enemies seek - a fearless, strong stand, a return to true freedom, liberty, and justice for ALL in the United States Of America.