I’ve been told, by the President of the United States, by the Mayor of New York, by the Governor of New Jersey, that protesting the erection of a mosque less than half a block from “Ground Zero” is not the American way. That, as Americans, we live the beliefs of religious freedom, cultural tolerance, and forgiveness. That opposing this center of religious worship is racist, bigoted, and jingoistic.
My religion teaches me to turn the other cheek, to forgive those who have sinned against me as they forgive me when I sin against them. My God is a loving God, his son and prophets espouse love for all mankind, even the most flawed among us. As a lover of this God, as a lover of the Constitution that shapes our government and ensures our freedoms, freedoms I believe to have been handed down quite literally from our Creator, I should forgive the Islamic radicals who visited death and destruction upon my country- upon me.
I’ve also been told that time heals all wounds. I’ve been told I’m educated enough to differentiate between radicals sects and peaceful brethren of the Book.
But, you know, I cannot recall anyone lecturing the survivors of the Bataan Death March about forgiveness and American support of multi-culturism. I don’t recall a Shinto temple being erected anywhere near the watery grave of the Arizona. I don’t recall liberating forces looking into the emaciated faces of Nazi death camp survivors and telling them to suck it up and cease their whining.
There are some wounds that take generations to heal- lifetimes, in fact. Those who lived through the horror have to fade from the Earth before the trauma of the event can be allowed to weaken. Before the grass can grow green over the scarred land and the hatred can dim in men’s eyes, there has to be a generational disconnect.
We are imperfect beings, humans. We do not forgive easily. We struggle with fear, irrational hatred, and bitter memories. We kneel in prayer, before many gods, seeking the Grace to be better, holier, more forgiving.
So, Mr. President, Mr. Mayor, Governor, you may try to lecture me on the American way and Christian forgiveness, but if the Lord God Almighty struggles daily to teach me that lesson, just how successful are you going to be?
When you have run into a shattered, burning, building to save complete strangers, or wrestled with knife wielding madmen in a vow to live, and die, as you chose, then you may lecture us on the American Way. When you have served one single day in a hostile foreign land, shot at, maimed emotionally and physically in dogged pursuit of the human abominations behind terrorism, then you may remind us of the duties of a citizen.
When you have stood and watched your co-workers and the people you passed in the hallways burn to death in a man-made hell on Earth, you can lecture us on forgiveness. For shame Mayor Bloomberg, for you personally. Can you not recall watching bodies plummet from the skies? Many may have forgotten that particular horror in a sea of cataclysmic images- the American press is too “sensitive” to publish those pictures any more. But you, a citizen, a LEADER, of that scarred city should never, ever, forget.
When you have made a call to your mother telling her: “I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know where they want us to go. I have to go now. I love you.” Then you may preach to me about “moving on”. When you’ve smelled the smoke, for days, drifting across the Potomac and known that you smell the bodies of servicemen, flight attendants, pilots, and middle school children on a field trip, then, maybe, just maybe, you can tell me that Americans share the blame for 9/11.
Until you can do these things, until you have made more than a token effort to understand that nine years does not heal the emotional scars of abject terror, you may not look down your sanctimonious nose and tell me about bigotry, hate, and love of freedom.
Someday the Lord shall teach my soul to love and heal the battered psyche of everyone who personally lived through that day. Until that day I shall pray for his guidance and struggle against oppression and terror. I shall serve my country and God- my God, the loving God, the God of forgiveness and righteousness.
You, sirs, are not God.
2 comments:
My words cannot match yours, but as the "mother" mentioned herein, I know my attempts to "cope" on that day and my fears for all that were personally involved can never be forgotten. I can separate those horrible acts from peaceful Muslim, but forgetting will most likely never happen for me.
You know, I don't have a problem with a Mosque at/near Ground Zero... once the Saudis begin allowing non-Muslims to visit Mecca and Medina. Until such time, the zoning requirements for the area in and around Ground Zero should restrict any sites for religious observance to be non-denominational. What do you think?
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