Nine years ago some very deluded individuals committed one of the worst acts of terrorism that the world has seen, and it unleashed a set of consequences that has altered our world. In 2001, I had recently moved back to Canada after six years of living in the States, and felt a really wide range of emotions in the weeks after the attack: sadness, anger, dismay, confusion at how it could have happened and oddly, a sense of disloyalty. I am not American, never really felt American, never really wanted to become an American even while living there. But I have family and friends who live, work and call the US their home and country. In the weeks after 9/11 it felt as if I had abandoned them by moving to Canada 18 months earlier. Mixed in with the sense of relief that I wasn't there, was the feeling that I should have been, to share in the experience and help my neighbours and friends.
I have watched in dismay at what I see as a downward spiral of fear, anger and hatred seizing the US over the last nine years. I've been hopeful that things will change, and hope that people there start paying attention to articles like this one that was in the Washington Post this week. I understand why and how we got to where we are in a post-9/11 world. It is the result of a superpower being deeply hurt, and lashing out in pain, fear and anger. Unfortunately, those emotions are never constructive.
I know this because I train people who want to better themselves, who do not allow fear to inhibit what they do, or want to accomplish. They do this by giving to each other the strength necessary to reach their goal, and by sharing their energy with others around them.
As to why I remain hopeful on this anniv
ersary of a horrible day? I am a truly fortunate man, because I have a constant reminder that hope and birth conquers fear and death. September 11 is my father's birthday. No matter how the world wants to view that anniversary, I know that I will always have something to be grateful for on that day, and a reminder of hope and love, even in the face of fear and death.But everyone should still be working on their push ups...
Charlie Stross (SF author) wrote today (http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/09/a-working-hypothesis.html) an idea that the downward spiral of fear you note is related to Future Shock, as first described in the 60s:
ReplyDelete"Society is undergoing an enormous structural change, a revolution from an industrial society to a 'super-industrial society'. This change will overwhelm people, the accelerated rate of technological and social change leaving them disconnected and suffering from 'shattering stress and disorientation' — future shocked."
He proposes that people are just basically going crazy, unable to deal with the amount of change in the global society over the last couple of decades. And while working towards increased religious tolerance is a Good Thing, "ultimately, religious doctrines aren't the source of today's social problems. The taproots run deeper, and religious extremism is only one manifestation of the underlying problem: widespread future shock."
If we can all accept the idea that religion isn't the root cause of these problems, maybe we open up new ways of solving them?