Nine Eleven

It’s been ten years, and like most of you, I remember the events of 9/11 like it was yesterday. And after these ten years, our response as a country, and many of the events that have unfolded since, I’ve seen my beliefs about our country and the rest of the world changed and re-formed.

Maybe I never got into “waving the Red White & Blue” quite as much because I always thought seemed strange that people would talk about how much they loved their country, but seemed far less enthusiastic about the God they claim to worship. I often hear people say “God bless America” and it sounds so empty when I see nothing that resembles gratitude to Him for the fact that they could even call themselves Americans in the first place. I am so glad that I was born in America rather than one of the many countries around the globe where my quality of life would be substantially below that which I experience here, but I think it’s important not to forget Who gave me the life I have in the first place, and pledge my allegiance first to Him. Even so, I certainly had my problems with what many people call “patriotism.” The most recent example is a time I allowed myself to get into an argument via a certain social networking site. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but it offended another American so much that he told me I could leave his great country (I left out some of his more choice words so as to keep this blog PG). “If you don’t love this country, then you can just get the [hell] out!” God bless America, right?

When news broke that Osama Bin Ladin had been killed, there was an understandable sigh of relief amongst most Americans. The threat of another attack like 9/11 was somewhat weakened, or so we hope. But then something else happened. Within hours of the news, footage from across America of parties in the streets went viral. College campuses everywhere were alive with chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” There was even a party right in front of the White House. Most of this craziness was a bunch of immature teenagers and twenty-somethings that just saw another reason to get drunk and celebrate something. But it was evident that people all over America were expressing their “patriotism” by laughing at and cheering the death of a man halfway across the world. It was no longer a matter of neutralizing a threat to our country’s values and the lives of our people. It was about us being better than someone else. It was pride. And it was disgusting. If you felt joy at the death of Bin Ladin, I’m not saying you’re a terrible person. But if the reason you felt that way was because you live in a country that is so good at killing people that even the most dangerous terrorist in the world cannot hide from us, you might want to check yourself.

I believe Osama needed to be stopped—so much so that I believe killing him was justified. But make no mistake. That man believed in something (no matter how skewed it was) and he did more in the name of what he believed in than any one of those crazy partiers in the Youtube videos (I’ll come back to this). It angers me to hear people talk with so much arrogance and disdain towards others just because those other people don’t hate as well as they do. Was Osama evil? I absolutely believe he was. But don’t sit on your couch and brag about America with a pride that makes people around the world roll their eyes at us.

I guess my point is that if you want to boast about a country with freedom, don’t waste that freedom. The pride of some of the people who claim to be patriots is no more than hatred. It’s often accompanied by racism, ethnocentrism, and downright disdain for anyone different from you.

But I don’t want this post to be about the bad things I see in America (because to this point you’re probably thinking, “Is this seriously his 9/11 blog post…on the 10^th anniversary??”). No, I want to move to the good—because this weekend has brought about a lot of nostalgia, and a lot of tears. Families still without husbands and fathers and wives and mothers and brothers and sisters and sons and daughters are mourning the loss of their loved ones from the darkest day in American history. Right now there are still thousands, if not tens of thousands, of U.S. Armed Forces men and women who are making immense sacrifices to not only protect our freedom, but to see freedom spread to places where people have never experienced it. And we’ve grieved the loss and celebrated the heroism of the many New York firefighters and policemen and women who died saving the lives of their fellow Americans. Those were moments when I had to fight back tears and felt chills going over my body. 9/11/11 was be a difficult day for everyone as we reflect once again on what happened ten years ago, and the loved ones who were lost.

So how do we move forward into the next ten years?

My challenge to you is to be more passionate about the things you believe in. If it’s freedom, you shouldn’t be condemning people without it, you should be doing something to help them gain it. Patriotism isn’t pride—it’s gratitude. And gratitude shouldn’t drive you to turn your nose up at those who didn’t share your good fortune of being born in America. It should drive you to spread that which you value. On this 9/11, I don’t want us, as Americans, to just be proud. I want us to be patriotic.

Thank You, God, that I was born in a country where I’m free to worship you. Thank You for the people who gave their lives to save some of the victims on September 11, 2001. Thank You for the men and women who give up their time and energy—and even their lives—to fight those who would see our freedom destroyed. May we feel their passion and their patriotism and do whatever we can to bring the freedom we know and love to places in this world where people know nothing of such liberty. May we always remember what that freedom costs us. God bless America.