I think most of the people who died on 9/11 would probably not want more people to die.
But that's not really the point of my original post, which you responded to. I don't know if your post was in direct response to mine, or if mine was just convenient. It doesn't matter-- if you don't mind me continuing the discussion, I do so in the spirit of amicable conflict, and not with massive emotional wrenching. :)
Not everyone in the country agreed that we should go to war. A very very very quiet, but not insignificant number of people looked at the anger and the hurt and thought "Gee, I disagree with what will be the inevitable consequence of this moment, but I am also angry and hurting with my fellow countrymen. Also, if I speak out right now, I might get lynched, and I like not being lynched." and they kept their mouths shut about not believing in retribution (not everyone has to speak out about their beliefs all the time-- not everyone is willing to die for all their beliefs, either).
A not-so-quiet and not insignificant number of people in one community DID speak up against a violent response-- I live not very far away from that community, and theirs is a sentiment felt by many in my community as well.
So, um, frankly, on 9/11 and 9/12 and the days and weeks following, I did not scream for vengeance OR for pacifism. I felt the pain and the anger, along with everyone else, but mostly I felt uncertainty. I am not 100% pacifist, any more than I am really 100% anything. I DO feel that the attack on 9/11 HAD to be answered. But I was then and still am VERY worried that the answer will be larger and more intense than is needful.
We're not getting the full story, and the intense responses people still have to tragedy-related humor indicate, to me at least, that we are being encouraged to keep the emotional climate of fear and anger pretty high. It is still dangerous, especially away from the community in which I live, to criticize the war (or, more to the point, taking the war into other countries). Even in my own household, my husband gets very tense when I express concern over our foreign policy.
This is not acceptable. We can disagree if we want to, but we should not be intimidated into keeping silent about real beliefs and real criticisms.
Also, my point still stands about the comic poking fun at our enemies. Comparing the "boy bands" to the terrorist network nations is a great way to defuse their imaginative power over us. And no one had to die to do it. |
