This evening I am listening to Portuguese fado music. The fado is rooted in the concept of saudade, loosely translated an intense longing for things lost. Lives, for instance, thousands on this day 10 years ago, hundreds of thousands since, mostly without purpose. Or the rule of law that says one may not be held indefinitely without a trial by a jury of one's peers, or even without being charged with any crime at all. Or the idea that a person should be judged on content of character, not choice of church or of headdress. Or the right to communicate and/or travel freely without being surveilled by the CIA and the New York City police and strip searched, virtually or literally. Or the notion that state-sanctioned assassination inevitably leads to more problems than it solves. These, and an economy devastated by 10 years of ill-advised and ineffective war, are the wages of 9/11, or, rather, our reaction to it. Celebrate that.
2 comments:
Amen.
I was telling your brother Sunday that dying in a terrorist attack is no worse than dying because of any other reason. War wasn't and isn't the answer. I want my country to be better than this. How many have died because we invaded their countries? Why can't we rise to a higher level of patriotism? How can we invoke the name of God to ask His blessing on our military endeavors? And if war is necessary and good, then why haven't taxes been levied to pay for the war on terrorism? It's past time for rational discussion. Don't think it's gonna happen, though....
Nice blog, well designed, well written. Keep it up.
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