Saturday, September 11, 2010

9/11. 9 years later by Brian Heffron aka Concered American

It was 9 years ago today that the America I grew up in and loved was washed away in one single wave of unconscionable acts in New York City, Arlington, Va and Shanksville, Pa. People of every age, color and creed were murdered not because they were white or black or Hispanic or Jewish or native American or Muslim or christian or baptist or atheist or Asian or Korean or European. All the races and creeds that made America the great melting pot that it WAS. They were murdered because they were AMERICANS. It was a day that left a lot of mental scar tissue that still bothers me to this day. If there was anything positive that came out of 9/11 it was how we bonded as a country. Like the first flower that rises out of volcanic ash, Americans of all age, color and creed were as one and it seemed to make America stronger.

But sadly like a flower, the love and unity we had for each has long died. People, Americans, have gone and turned to the business of hate as usual. It's all over the TV, the Internet, our newspapers and our radio airwaves. This country is as divided as I could even remember..........and it saddens me. In a horrible, horrible way it saddens me. That on this day. September 11. A day of reflection the day we lost thousands of innocent civilians. A day were lost a lot of our freedoms. That we would have this much hate in our country towards each other when after all it was HATE from abroad that brought us together some 9 years ago today.

I only wish that all the energy that is being used to spew this venom and hate that's being spread through our country to separate us. Use that SAME energy to demand why the person responsible for these acts. Osama Bin Laden. Has never been captured and brought to justice. If this were an earlier generation. A generation that I fondly listen to talk about how things were back then. People would have taken to the streets demanding answers for the RIGHT things. Why hasn't Bin Ladin been caught? Why were we lied to about Iraq being tied to 9/11? 9 years gone with no Bin Laden and several thousand American troops and troops from other counties killed for a lie. Where are the people fighting for the rights of the first reponders who aren't getting the proper medical attention while prisoners in Gitmo get STATE OF THE ART medical treatment? REALLY?! Seems like no one gives a shit about THAT. No one wants the truth but they're willing to tear a  fellow American down? Especially those whose religious views are different from their own. This country WAS founded by people who fled Europe to escape religious persecution.

I'm as far from religious as one can be BUT I believe everyone has a right to religion. I believe they have a right to worship their chosen faith. BUT we shouldn't hold the views of extremists who twist and destroy the ORIGINAL meaning of their faith for the purpose of anarchy against those who are true to the origins of the religions real message and purpose. Because ALL forms of religion has there own form extremists and those few rotten apples should NOT spoil the bunch. As I stated before, when I was a kid I remember being taught that American was a great "melting pot". Well the pot is still here but the burners to that great American stove we used to use to do the melting has been turned off.

Maybe one day we can be as united as we were. I can only hope and dream. There's a famous slogan in our country. America: "United We Stand, Divided We Fall". Right? Well as we stand here today reflecting on what happened and what went wrong. Maybe we'll realize as we look in the reflecting pool that our greatest enemies are staring right back us in our own reflection.

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