Lest we forget...

[bladespark]

It's funny, how meanings change. And kind of sad, sometimes. Four years ago, "September 11th" meant tributes and memories and mourning all over again the people who died. Thinking of the heros. Recalling the firefighters and the people on flight 93.

But four more years of the NSA and Homeland Security and the war and President Bush and buzzwords and red shirt waving have changed it, and it's unfortunate that now my very first thought on hearing "September 11th" is of such things, and my first response is "oh please quit waving the tradgedy in our faces as though it will justify anything."

The web page I made the the towers fell is still there, though, and I went back and read it today. It's a little sappy, I'll admit. But it's hard to write about things like that, about death and sacrifice and heroism and America without getting sappy. And it reminded me that I can still be proud to be American. Sometimes of late I've been ashamed of it. Americans have done so many wrongheaded things that it's hard to recall there's still something good about this country. That the whole "Land of the free, home of the brave" thing still means something. It's a lot like my being Christian sometimes. It makes me cringe whenever I hear about some religious nutjob doing something horrible and bigoted, because I know that it's just one more stain on what should be a pure and good thing, and in many people's minds Christianity is now synonymous with a certain species of rabid small-mindedness.

But on a day like today it's possible to remember that some of us aren't like that. And that some Americans still stand for what this country should stand for. And that however cynical I may be sometimes about human nature, that human nature is such that hundreds of people ran towards the towers, in hopes they could help or save somebody.

They're the ones who stand as examples of what being American, or Christian, or just plain human ought to be.

So whenever the jingoistic flag waving starts, and people try and use those events of five years ago as some kind of excuse, let's try and remeber what really happened. Because what happened wasn't that a war started, or that the small-minded were vindicated in their hatred of the non-American. What really happened is that human beings, like you and I, died because of the hatred of other humans, showing us what can come of the worst of humanity. And that some of them died as real heros, showing what can come of the very best.

Never forget them.

Comments

[doran-eirok.livejournal.com]

Your thoughts mirror my own here very much... particularly on the issues of being an American, or Christian. They're both things that it can be hard to be proud of given the actions of some and the way these things are viewd by many. But in the aftermath of September 11, I too was able to really take pride in being an American. It's a feeling I remember and try hard to hold on to.

Thanks for the rememberance.

[streakthetiger.livejournal.com]

*hugs* That was nice. I agree with the things you said. Even about christiantiy and I`m an Athiest. It`s a shame when one even or one person has to screw it up for everyone.