story3590.xml

story3590.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

Like most, I was in total shock. All the emotions (shock, anger, fear, uncertainty, disgust, feelings of revenge) were there, were real, and came and went at will, it seemed. That gave way to a feeling that, although terrible, this act could not give way to blind retribution. It has. We needed to begin asking questions. Who did this? The most important question: Why? This question has yet to be fully answered. At some point, we stopped asking after our people collectively decided that "they" attacked us because they were jealous of our lifestyle and because "they" did not have the same respect for human life as we do. I can only offer Manifest Destiny, the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, Columbus, Wounded Knee, Sand Creek, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Central America, and the economic sanctions against Iraq as the obvious rebuttal regarding respect for other cultures.

That said, we need to continue to scrutinize ourselves and ask ourselves the question: "What positive change do I want to see, and what am I willing to do to make it a reality?" Our individual visions can become a reality.