9/11

A lot of people have been posting 9/11 thoughts today. Rather than post a long semi coherent essay, I'll point you at what others have written. Start with Scott's Thought for the day, quoting Roger Waters. Solonor says Just Remember. Read Al-Muhajabah's words. And read the whole of the9/11 memorial poem on Body on Soul. And read my own post of a year ago today.

The War Party are saying "Never forget, Never Forgive". These are the people that believe 9/11 was the start of a clash of civilisations, a fight to the death between the west and the Islamic world. The "Never Forgive" line sticks in my throat. I was bought up a Christian, and forgiving your enemies is a central plank of Christian believe. Christ told us to forgive our enemies for a reason. If you give into hate, the hatred will consume you and you will become what you hate.

"Forgiving" doesn't you should not defend yourself against people that want to kill us; 9/11 told us there are fanatics out there who hate us and have no respect for human life. But we must remember they are just a hard core of fanatics. And if we have to go after them, it must always be for no other reason than self-defense. Never for revenge or a sense of "closure".