Sptember 11, Patriotism, Revenge and Mercy Very Long

[MartiDave]

At 8:42 according to my Car's clock on September 11 I dropped my daughter off
at school. As I was heading to work I flipped on WFAN 660 AM to listen to Imus
in the Morning. I was surprised to hear a rather panicky sounding Warner Wolf
(normally a sportscaster) talking about a plane crashing into the WTC. I
thought to myself that this was tacky, even for Imus. When I heard more I
discovered this was no comedy routine. I rushed home and turned on the TV and
called my wife at her job. As I was explaining the story I saw the 2nd plane
hit. I was riveted to the TV. My mind flooded with thoughts. Between calls
to my wife, and my brief post, the story grew to epic proportions. My thoughts
turned to my brother who is Kansas and his family in Turkey. Then I thought of
my wife who works at a synagogue. Were any of these people targets. I thought
of the NYC crowd and tried to call Tom the only one whose number I had. Then I
was called to a crisis team meeting for West Windsor NJ, the community where my
church is. That town has well over 1000 people who work in NYC at least 250 or
so that work in the financial district. We met and we decided to set up
shelters for kids who may have been made orphans. We also decided to go to the
train station in our town and greet people returning from NYC and to help
people who might be waiting for people to return to them. Between the meeting
and my time at the train station I spoke with my brother. The base in Kansas
was on lockdown, and his family in Turkey was okay. He even said that they
were safer then us! I spent 7 hours at the train station. I saw a lot of
traumatized people. Many covered with soot and dust and many completely
shocked. I saw wonderful reunions, but I also saw people that will never be
the same. We found out the next day that at least 19 families in West Windsor
have been impacted by the tragedy.
On Thursday night I was part of an interfaith service that included priests,
ministers, rabbis, cantors, and an Imam. There were tons of people there. As
my part I said a prayer for the police officers, fire fighters and rescue
workers. I was drained and overwhelmed with thoughts of my recently deceased
Father, a retired police officer.
On Friday, my usual day off, I opened up the church for people to come pray and
worship and fellowship. I also went to the store and purchased socks,
t-shirts, bottled water and towels for the relief effort. I have hardly slept
it seems, not because I am busy, because I am haunted with images of loss and
pain. I felt great anxiety as I talked to my doctor on Thursday (He is
Muslim). He is afraid for his life. He abhors what the terrorists did, but
knows that he will face reprisals. He is an American and feels much pain for
the people he knows that died in the WTC.
All of these events have made me think about how to define Patriotism, Revenge,
and Mercy. I am a pacifist, but in a certain sense my heart aches for revenge.
My family was indirectly impacted, but suffered no death. My wife and I both
have cousins with kids that escaped from the WTC safely. My nephew and my
brother are both military, my brother's family is US military dependents in
Turkey. Even though part of me desires revenge, I don't desire carnage. I
don't desire the death of innocents, and I do not desire to see people at war.
This is all part of my confusion. I am a patriot, I love this country, but I
don't see my patriotism in calls for death and carnage. I abhor Osama Bin
Laden, and want him to meet his justice in a swift and decisive way, what he
has done is the tangible representation of hatred. But I wish it could occur
in such a way that too many innocents do not die. I don't even desire his
death for that is outside the bounds of my understanding of the gospel. But,
even in that understanding I find myself wondering if his death wouldn't be the
best thing for everyone involved. I am angry that people have done this to our
country, but I am also frustrated that these terrorists choose to treat fellow
human beings in this manner. I know that I am naive, and I know that I am a
bit of a pollyanna, but I don't want this tragedy to change the way that I see
the potential good in the world, although I fear to even a small extent it has.
Remember love your families, be nice to a neighbor, hold the door for a
stranger, give change to a beggar even.
Side note to Billy: I disagree with some of what you have said, but I have
great reverence for your passion and patriotism.

Dave Spiegel

[Dixon Hayes]

Dave wrote:

>I am a patriot, I love this country, but I
>don't see my patriotism in calls for death and carnage. I abhor Osama Bin
>Laden, and want him to meet his justice in a swift and decisive way

I think most Americans feel this way. We are a better country than to do this
to anyone else. It's one thing to go to war and we inflict collateral damage
in the process, but I would like to think we wouldn't target and single out
innocent civilians. The idea is retaliation against those who did us wrong,
not bloodily boasting that we can sink to that level.

Patriotism is about a *whole* lot more than going to war. It's about *why*.
And it's about what we've already seen in the way of the recovery efforts in
NYC and Arlington.

Dixon
===========
"Gomer, you get down there with them spiders and get to work!"
--Barney Fife

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