September 11

Well it is hard to believe, but it has been five years since the collapse of World Trade, oops I mean the World Trade Center. Yes five years ago today, we all sat glued to the television watching the horrific images over, and over, and over again. The Media did everything possible to ensure the images and the fear were etched into a personal and collective memory.

It is unfortunate that since September 11, 2001 we have been lied to on so many occasions by the governments of the world, that now many of us are cyinical about the events that took place that sunny September morning. It is too bad that only a short while after that day I had to witness a "great man" stand before the united nations and tell me that Iraq was an Imminent Danger to my safety, and that they were planning an attack that would make 9/11 look like a mere bully knocking over a sand castle. God knows if they could convince Colen Powell of something, I would be a simple target.

But who are "THEY" anyway. Today I had lunch with a friend. A man I respect in the highest regard. We differ in our opinions on many things. He holds me to account for my sometimes discriminatory remarks and for this I owe him a world of gratitude. Most of those remarks are discriminatory towards "America". It is out of my conversations with him however, that I have come to realize that much of my anger and contempt towards "America", should also be directed toward myself. Today he made a valid point. That point is simple, "All of this....The attack on the World Trade Center....The invasion of Iraq....the attacks on Israel.....they are all the product of a simple idea.....And that idea is Racism and Discrimination"

I guess I had thought, that because I dont say Nigger. Or because I respect the multicultural society I live in, that I am not prejedice, or that I dont discriminate. But the fact of the matter is, whenever I voice my problems with "America" or "Israel" I am showing my prejudice. It is because I lump everyone into the category that I can "hate" what they are doing. What I need to consciously do is avoid lumping things together. Because not all "Americans" want war in Iraq. Not all "Iranians" want Israel to be destroyed. Not all "Canadians" are saints LOL

Rather than lumping people and ideas together, we need to look at and oppose specific actions or ideas. I am not "anti-american", I simply have problems with the course of actions that Mr. Bush has taken in the past few year. This is not prejudice because many of my american brothers and sisters feel the same way. On the other side of the coin, I cannot, blindly say that I support or understand the position of Osama bin Ladin. For surely I do not believe, nor could ever believe that the killing of innocent women and children on 9/11 was Just. I must hold each person, and each idea up to the light of scrutiny.

So on this day of rememberance. When much of the world is being asked to pledge some sort of change in themselves, that will help us grow as people and also ensure that an event such as 9/11 never happens again, I pledge this.

I will make a conscious effort not to allow my prejudices to affect the way I view the world. That I will make an effort to investigate the specific problems I have with a specific person, and will not simply judge any man or woman by the company they keep, or the government they May or May Not support.

Just because someone is American does not make them a baby killer, and Just because someone is living in a cave, under the simplest conditions, does not make him a saint.

I hope that when history looks back on this period, that I will not be proved to be the fool. I pray that when history looks back on this period, we will not be shown as accomplices to murder or genocide. I hope that when history looks back on this period, it will show it to be the turning point toward dialogue and resolution of two fundamentally opposed ideas. FREEDOM and SECURITY.

Someone once said that with great power comes great responsibility. I hope that those people who currently weid this power, will realize the gravity of their responsibility to our species.