Thursday, September 11, 2003
In truth, this was largely written a year ago. It has been slightly modified to reflect the events of the past year.
These last 24 months have been trying times for our beloved United States. Ever since terrorists commandeered four civilian airlines, killing all the passengers on board, hundreds at the Pentagon and thousands at the World Trade Center, we have been left with many questions. Unfortunately, the questions rarely have easy answers. In the immediate aftermath many asked, “Why do they hate us?” For a year now, “Will we ever feel safe again?”
Those questions are surely important, but perhaps the central issue facing Americans and our government today is: “What do we stand for?” It seems, sadly, that if the aftermath of September 11, we have at times lost sight of the very things we are supposed to be about, the very things that made the U.S. the target of those evildoers two years ago.
Our revolution against the British in the 18th century was an unprecedented event in the world at the time. When it ended successfully, we formed a representative democratic government and established – on paper – an unusual set of rights and freedoms that would belong to all our people. These notions, radical in their day, inspired revolution in France and eventually scores of imitators who wanted their own version of the American experiment.....
The remainder of this piece can be found here.
These last 24 months have been trying times for our beloved United States. Ever since terrorists commandeered four civilian airlines, killing all the passengers on board, hundreds at the Pentagon and thousands at the World Trade Center, we have been left with many questions. Unfortunately, the questions rarely have easy answers. In the immediate aftermath many asked, “Why do they hate us?” For a year now, “Will we ever feel safe again?”
Those questions are surely important, but perhaps the central issue facing Americans and our government today is: “What do we stand for?” It seems, sadly, that if the aftermath of September 11, we have at times lost sight of the very things we are supposed to be about, the very things that made the U.S. the target of those evildoers two years ago.
Our revolution against the British in the 18th century was an unprecedented event in the world at the time. When it ended successfully, we formed a representative democratic government and established – on paper – an unusual set of rights and freedoms that would belong to all our people. These notions, radical in their day, inspired revolution in France and eventually scores of imitators who wanted their own version of the American experiment.....
The remainder of this piece can be found here.
