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tp179.xml

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2003-03-03

9/11-THE AGENDA INTERRUPTED AND THE LESSONS LEARNED


The seemingly gratuitous events of 9/11 that led to the violent deaths
of so many and the destruction of the towers that had come to symbolize
the wealth and power of New York, compelled me to realize that the
agenda interrupted was civilization itself, which I realized was only a
thin veneer covering a murderous instinct that still resided deep in the
human soul.

Within each of the world's great religions, I thought, there were
kernels which, if isolated, advocate non-violence. The commandment ""The
Shall Not Kill"" is reinforced by the prophet Isiah, ""The lion shall lie
down with the lamb."" The Lord's Prayer is an instruction in
forgiveness, the Hindu Upanishads, a mandate for human compassion. The
holy texts of Buddhism are prescriptions for an end to the cycle of
violent retribution, while the ultimate goal of Islam, itself, is
peace. Certainly, it was this agenda that was not only interrupted, but
perhaps canceled.

But can we afford to allow this agenda to be suspended? And have we
learned the most serious lesson of 9/11 of the necessity of creating a
more perfect union, not just in America, but in the world?

St. Paul has taught us that there can be no peace without justice. The
justice he spoke of was really Aristotelian, in which there is a more
equitable distribution of the benefits and burdens of society. As
Aristotle understood, unless the well-off create a more just world, they
will live in constant danger of violent revolution, risking the loss of
everything they have.

Consequently it is imperative that we seek to create this more just
world as a matter of enlightened self-interest. In the end, without a
component of compassion, we will find it ever more difficult to win the
war on terrorism.