5 Years Later

So yesterday, as part of our church's "Candle of Hope" liturgy, I gave a little speech about September 11th, and how it really took away our sense of security, as a nation. But I realized about midway through the talk, that I still don't have a lot more to say about September 11th five years later than I did about a month after it happened, except to be generally outraged by the war in Iraq that was generated (stupidly, stupidly, stupidly) out of the patriotic energy and fear that September 11th caused.

The Christian faith has at its core a simple prayer Jesus taught to his disciples. One of its lines, which people pray all over the world every Sunday, and every day, in some cases, is "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

While I recognize that forgiveness does not necessarily mean doormat behavior, I'm pretty sure that hunting down and killing our enemies does not constitute forgiveness. That US politicians took that route shouldn't surprise me, and doesn't, really -- the United States is not a Christian nation, no matter how much rhetoric goes into arguing that it is. (And usually it's the rhetoric espoused by the same people calling for all-out wars of revenge)

Do I think that the US should become Christian, in the sense of acting, as a whole, according to Christian values of forgiveness, peacemaking, and justice?

I had been planning to say no, but I actually think that we should. God's wisdom for us in how we live out our lives may not seem immediately practical or useful or realistic. But in the end, the only way for us to have peace is through peace, not through war.

So what would that mean for us for today? Health care for those hurt by the cleanup process at ground zero. Interreligious dialogue that helps moderate people of all faiths unite in providing a counterbalance to extremism. Recognition by Americans that, in fact, one American life is of the same worth, the same value, in God's eyes, as any other life, whether it be Iraqi, Chinese, Russian, Colombian, Mexican, Sudanese, or any other.

So, five years later, I pray for peace.

Blessings,

Amy