Silent Respect

On Monday, many will be marking the anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. I will not honor the terrorist religious fundamentalists that killed because their G-d told them to do it. I will be remembering the lives lost, the families they've destroyed, and the loss of innocence. The terrorists shamed themselves by "shooting" their "enemies" in the back. These were but mere criminals looking for attention, believing that they were righteous because of words from a book, and the rant of superstitious leaders.

The world stood with the U.S. on that day.

Our political leadership's response to this attack started out honorably, to bring those to justice who murdered so many innocent victims on that day. But instead of sorrow, many people turned to anger and vengeance. And instead of justice, many wanted revenge. The U.S. shamed themselves by turning to evil and hatred.

The world no longer stands with the U.S.

The U.S. has shamed itself and disrespected those lives lost. The leadership of the U.S. took the same irrational approach to fundamental differences as the terrorists did. They want to fill you with fear of more attacks, and so do the terrorists. They want you to give up your freedoms, and so do the terrorists. Thanks to the U.S. leadership, the terrorists keep many in the U.S. and the world afraid. This fear has caused blindness to logic and reason among many U.S. citizens.

Many think that the way to remember Sept 11, 2001, is to show the attacks over and over again. That is wrong, that only fuels anger, that keeps people scared, that lets the terrorists control our fear. That is not the way to honor the innocent lives lost that day.

Be silent and think about those who have lost their presence in our world because of those that don't understand what G-d is, and choose to live their lives based on irrational, repulsive words from books and ravings of anti-spiritual religious leaders. They are not only from Islam, those repulsive ideas come from Christian and Judeo leaders also. They all are responsible for the murders of innocents in the name of their mythical G-d.

The way to honor the lives lost, is to be silent and think about those people who will never bless us with their gifts, their discoveries, their company, their laughter, their intelligence and their spirituality.

I will be silent that day.

"So it is that we might almost say silence is the tribute we pay to holiness; we slip off words when we enter a sacred space, just as we slip off shoes. A "moment of silence'' is the highest honor we can pay someone; it is the point at which the mind stops and something else takes over (words run out when feelings rush in). A "vow of silence'' is for holy men the highest devotional act. We hold our breath, we hold our words; we suspend our chattering selves and let ourselves "fall silent,'' and fall into the highest place of all." - Pico Iyer: The Eloquent Sounds of Silence