Some Thoughts on 9-11 Ten Years Later

Tomorrow, as we all know, is the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. As cliche as it has become to say, we will all remember where we were on that day, what we were doing, etc. That is a truth that is unavoidable. It is also probably a good thing that we will forever remember such an act of horrendous evil. After all, though we are called as Christians to forgive those who have sinned against us, some acts of evil are so awful that to forget does not help in the process of forgiveness. To forgive, after all, requires honestly remembering what happened. The process of forgiveness in cases like this takes time. It takes much longer than ten years to adequately remember and forgive such acts of evil.

However, I have been thinking about some things that Stanley Hauerwas wrote shortly after September 11th. As Christians, we have been called to live within a separate reality, so to speak, than the world. Because we confess that the reality of the world has been shaped by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our lives as Christians (God's lives, I should say, since as Christians our lives are not our own), are also shaped by that reality. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God, before we are citizens of America (or any other nationality for that matter); as such that demands of us that our loyalties to Jesus and his Kingdom come before our loyalty to our country, our family, our business, etc. The God of "God and Country" I might add, is nothing less than an idol. To put those two on the same plane, to mention them in the same breath, is not the God revealed in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but a false god. This god is invariably an American god who legitimates the use of violence against those who oppose the American interests.

Hauerwas pointed out a while back that people say that September 11th is the day that changed the world; not true. The only day that changed history is the day that humanity killed the Son of God 2000 years ago. September 11th, Hauerwas says, is just another example of what happens when the world rejects the God who has made an offer of peace to humanity in Jesus Christ. The greatest evil occurred when humanity rejected God's offer of the Kingdom and crucified Jesus; all evils before and since then, have just been in the same vein of violent human beings believing themselves to have a cause worthy of killing. The cycle has run from the time of Cain an Abel to the present. This is not to diminish the evil that was committed, for all evil, in a sense, is a rejection of God and the victimization of others. Rather, there is a promise of hope when we view the world Christocentrically. We know that forgiveness for these such evils is not only necessary, but possible. As Christians, therefore, we can step out of the cycle of violence, and offer the forgiveness that Christ has given us. Of course, this doesn't mean that by forgiving the terrorists and refusing to take vengeance, Al Qaeda will lay down their arms and we will all be a happy family. They might still kill us (they probably will). However, as Christians, we know that God ultimately will dispense his perfect justice upon those who commit evil.

My prayer on this tenth anniversary is that we will continue to beseech God for healing in the lives of those who have been victimized by those events. My prayer is also for those who are continuing the cycles of violent retribution throughout the world. Violence changes the rulers, but not the rules, says theologian Walter Wink. The violence that the terrorists unleashed upon America, was perceived in their eyes as a response to previous grievances America committed against the Arab world. The violence that they unleashed on the Arab world in response to their acts has killed many more people, many more civilians, than they could have planned. While it appears that Al Qaeda has been severely crippled (thankfully), the cycles of violence will continue. As Christians we must pray for the world that they will accept God's offer of peace.