Thursday, May 15, 2014

National September 11 Memorial Museum Opens: Some Folks Aren't Happy




(From the National September 11 Memorial Museum website, used w/o permission.)

I doubt that I will ever see the National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York City. I live about a thousand miles west of the city, and don't travel much.

At least part of the museum and memorial open today. As usual, some folks think it's a good idea: some don't.
"National September 11 Memorial Museum opens in New York"
Anna Bressanin, BBC News (May 15, 2014)

"The National September 11 Memorial Museum tells the stories of the more than 2,700 people who died in the city when jet aeroplanes hijacked by Islamist terrorist destroyed the World Trade Center.

"It also tells of those who survived, and of how the world has changed since the attack...."
The bulk of that article is a video.

Unidentified Human Remains


(From Reuters, via BBC News, used w/o permission.)
"Fire trucks and police cars carried the remains to the repository in downtown Manhattan"
"Unidentified 9/11 remains returned to 'Ground Zero' "
BBC News (May 10, 2014)

"Thousands of unidentified remains from the 9/11 attacks have been returned to 'Ground Zero' in a solemn ceremony.

"Fifteen vehicles took the remains from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to a repository under the World Trade Center site....

"...The 11 September 2001 attacks killed almost 3,000 people in New York, the Washington DC area and Pennsylvania.

"The remains consist of 7,930 fragments of human tissue that could not be identified by forensic teams.

"They were placed in metallic boxes, covered in the American flag and taken in a convoy comprising fire trucks and police vehicles to the site of the attacks in downtown Manhattan...."
Folks whose family members were killed in the 9/11 attack believe, for good reason, that some of the unidentified human remains belong to their loved ones. Some of these folks are upset about what's being done to these unidentifiable pieces of humanity. Apparently they believe that the remains should be buried in a more conventional cemetery.

I can see their point. My faith includes some well-defined principles about what should be done with human remains. Dignity and respect are two key points.

Happily, what happens to the unidentified 9/11 remains is not a personal issue for me. From my point of view, taking them to the 9/11 memorial and museum is somewhat comparable to placing the body of an unidentified soldier in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington.

I could quibble about its propriety: but am convinced that the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, like the 9/11 Memorial, is a well-intentioned tribute to our dead.

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Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1 1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.