Most Americans over the age of 30 can tell you where they
were and what they were doing on September 11, 2001. It is a day that is burned into our
individual and collective memories forever.
Me, I was hanging off the side of a mountain in the Poconos –
teaching middle-school kids how to rappel off a 70 foot cliff during a retreat
to a Christian camp. I still remember
what a beautiful, clear, early fall morning it was. We had hiked up the mountain to the rappelling
site and were there most of the morning.
We descended back down just before noon. When we got to the camp’s main lodge
building, starving for lunch, the camp’s director pulled me aside and told me
the unbelievable tale of what was happening not that far away in New York City.
Since there was no TV or good internet at the camp, our news
was spotty, mostly radio news announcements.
At that early hour, there was still plenty of confusion as to what was
going on; at least for us.
I remember pulling the kids aside as a group after lunch out
on the lawn and telling them as much as we knew then. We prayed.
Some kids asked questions that we didn’t have answers for yet.
Since we knew it was some kind of terrorist act, we didn’t
know how that would affect travel. We
were scheduled to go home later that day and I wondered if the interstates
would be open.
But, we had no difficulties; and the bus with everyone aboard
arrived safely back at the school by early evening. When I got home and turned on the TV, I saw,
for the first time, the horrendous images that the world had been watching for
most of the day.
It was unbelievable.
It was like I was watching something out of a sci-fi movie – you know
where a meteor or mega-earthquake destroys a large city.
But, here was reality.
The two tallest buildings in NYC; some of the tallest in the country and
the world were no more. They were just
huge piles of rubble in what looked like a war zone.
As yet, most of the public didn’t know just how many bodies
were buried in that massive rubble. But,
we knew it just had to be bad.
Over the next few days, the scope of the tragedy began to
settle in. Not just NYC, but the
Pentagon and a field in western Pennsylvania were also part of the war
zone. Over 3000 souls were lost in just
a few hours of time – the greatest single loss of American lives since Pearl
Harbor.
Shortly after the vicious attack, America and Americans
responded. President Bush mobilized the
military and federal law enforcement.
Citizen groups all over the country began holding memorials and prayer
vigils. American flags went up all over
the place. We even put them on our
cars. Red, white, and blue lapel ribbons
became the rage. FDNY and NYPD hats and shirts
became huge sellers.
Stories of heroes and amazing tales of faith and miracles
began to be reported as more and more people told of their experiences.
Americans began to demand answers. Yes, this was a radical Islamic terrorist
group that had planned and executed the attack.
Yes, this was the same group that once before tried to blow up the World
Trade Center. Yes, the leader – Osama Bin
Laden – could have been captured after the first attack if President Clinton
wasn’t busy fending off his multitudinous scandals.
People cheered when we went into Afghanistan to take the
fight to the terrorists on their home soil.
Embedded journalists and other TV personalities gave us daily reports
of how the battles were going. It seemed
like we were going to finally have the resolve to rid the world of this
jihadist terror threat.
But, I knew better.
As a boy of 13, I remember seeing the images out of Munich – the guys in
the dark hoods peeking around the corners of the Olympic village. I remember Jim McKay’s somber tone when he
was describing this earlier radical Islamic terrorist attack at the 1972
Olympics. Of course, we all know how that
turned out – a bunch of dead Israelis and martyrdom credence for the
barbarians.
Truly, sadly, 9-11 ended up being much the same. In the radical Islamic world, these 19
hijackers are still martyr heroes today.
And, despite the west’s sometimes best efforts, radical Islamic jihadist
terrorism hasn’t been eradicated; in fact, just the opposite.
In time, American patriotism waned. America elected the most pro-Muslim President
ever in 2008; and again in 2012. Terror
attacks around the world have escalated and hundreds of thousands of innocents
have died – in the name of a warped religion.
Back home in America, the left capitalized on the fear and
anger over 9-11 and subsequent attacks to take away more and more of our
freedoms. Atheist radicals have equated jihadism
with all religion; especially the Christian religion, and pushed an agenda to
totally destroy America’s Judeo-Christian cultural institutions and mores.
Add to that, the racial fomenting done and approved by
the current Administration, and what we have is a growing anti-American
sentiment right here at home. It’s now
become fashionably hip to walk on the flag, burn the flag, and to protest the
National Anthem. Spoiled, rich
millionaires in the NFL are the latest antagonists in this effort to destroy
all that was once great about America.
These people, who live lives of privilege few of us will ever enjoy, are
seeking to damage the very advantages that they, themselves have benefited
greatly from.
We are empowering rogue, terrorist nations and calling it
diplomacy. We are afraid to even call the
enemy by his real name – it just isn’t “politically correct.”
Our military has been weakened by drastic budget cuts,
dubious leadership, and a radical social agenda that is making sexual and
gender confusion the hallmark of our era.
Strong patriots and people of faith are being drubbed out of the
military; replaced with spoiled, weak, personally ambitious ideologues that
want to be part of the “transformation” of America into the unrecognizable.
People of the Christian faith are being jailed, sued, fined,
and fired for simply practicing the same faith as that of our Founding Fathers.
The Constitution has been all by turned on its ear by a radical
judiciary acting like oligarchs and a belligerent, petty President who sees
himself as some kind of historical “change-agent” with no real legal
constraints he must obey. The Congress
has been reduced to a group of, in the words of an old Cher song title, “Gypsies, Tramps
and Thieves”!
None of this bodes well for America’s future. We cannot lead the free world, as we once
did, with this immense internal rot. The
Psalmist said it rightly, “If the foundations are destroyed,What can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3 NASB)
Nor can we expect to be free from future
terrorist attacks. The enemies of
freedom and self-government are growing all over the world. Jihadists are flush with cash, some of which
came from our government. The
traditional, tyrannical governments are drooling over the prospects of
returning to power. New faces are coming
onto the world’s nuclear stage; many of them homicidal.
Have we learned nothing from 9-11?
Our
current Presidential candidates are long on promises and short on honor and
resolve. Hillary went to the memorial today
and passed out – obviously not wanting to be there (remember, it is also the 4th
anniversary of the Benghazi Battle debacle).
Trump showed up too, acting like he has
always been there for the victims and the rebuilding efforts. Yet, when NYC rejected his design for
rebuilding the World Trade Center towers in 2005, he “took his ball and went
home” – doing absolutely nothing until earlier this year. For the first time, he gave a donation to the
memorial – in order to get votes for his political ambitions. And, oh by the way, the $100,000 he gave wasn’t
even his own money. He funnels other
people’s contributions to the Trump Foundation through his books and takes
credit for it. According to tax records,
Trump hasn’t contributed personally to his own family foundation in 8 years.
America’s future is precarious, no matter
who survives this sleazy election battle.
Both political parties have cemented their own positions of power in
Congress. The vast majority of “bought-and-paid-for” incumbents will get re-elected – further destroying the American
economy and culture. Even more radicals
await judicial appointments.
People, from coast to coast are frustrated,
angry, and scared; maybe more so now than right after 9-11. But, few have any answers. Both Trump and Hillary have their
brain-challenged, gullible, “cheerleading” cult members. The average citizen is lost in the maelstrom.
So, what do we do?
The answer is simple. The resolve and the spiritual and political
will are far more difficult.
We must return to our foundations as a
nation. Faith. Freedom.
Self-sufficiency. Morality. Integrity.
Self-sacrifice. Charity. Courage.
These are the hallmarks of a truly great nation.
We are only a great nation when the rights
of all are respected and cherished. We
are only a great nation when virtues are honored in culture; not belittled and
demonized. And, we are only a great
nation when we can glory in our cultural diversity yet all laud our one
national identity – you know – E Pluribus
Unum. (“Out of many, one” - for
those who have suffered through public school pseudo-history indoctrination!)
None of America’s current problems is
insurmountable if we have the will and drive to fix the problems. We can return to sane reality
culturally. We can return to sane fiscal
restraint. We can rebuild our lagging, “stylish”
military with the fiercest, best trained, most humane warriors on the planet.
We can have a government that works for We The People; not the other way around.
And, we can pass on a greater quality of
life for generations yet unborn if it becomes important enough to us. (Yes, we must stop killing our offspring and
ghoulishly selling their body parts to the highest bidders!)
But, for all of this to happen, we must
show the same dedication and courage as we saw happen on 9-11. Just like the firefighters and police ran
into the burning buildings; just like the self-sacrificing military staff
worked to save their fellow Pentagon comrades; and just like the group of “citizen
heroes” stormed the cockpit of Flight 93, so we must display the same fortitude
and resolve to save this nation.
America has been that “shining city set on
a hill.” If we don’t want all that is
America to become a flickering candle amidst a growing storm of world darkness,
we must rise to the occasion like countless American heroes have done in the
past and save this land from “all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
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