Remembering September 11, 2001; and Looking Ahead

On September 11, 2001, thousands of people died in an attack on cities along the east coast of North America. The attack was carried out by people who apparently didn't approve of America, America's way of life, and anything else that wasn't exactly consistent with what they preferred.

I'm not entirely pleased about some aspects of America's contemporary culture, either: but slaughtering thousands of folks I don't like isn't a reasonable response. I'll get back to that.

Since 9/11/2001, a remarkable number of national leaders have decided that getting killed by religious fanatics isn't a good thing. Even more remarkable, many have committed to an armed response to the threat of Al Qaeda and like-minded outfits.

I think peace is nice. I think war is very unpleasant. But sometimes peace isn't an acceptable option.

The Job at Hand

In the short term, the job at hand is dealing with the sad fact that some folks would like to kill more people who don't dress and act the way they want us to. Since asking nicely hasn't worked in the past, my guess is that military action in the Middle East and other parts of the world will continue to be necessary.

Tolerance, Real and Imagined

While dealing with the physical threat posed by religious fanatics, I think it's vital to preserve the tolerance that earned America their hatred. That's going to be difficult, since my country is home to some folks who seem as fervently dedicated to their own notions as any Al Qaeda zealot.

One lot seems to feel that 'Muslims and other foreigners' are a Satanic threat to their own views of how everybody should dress and act. These folks see "tolerance" as allowing others to agree with their views: even if the others look like foreigners.

Another lot seems convinced that all religion is a sort of psychiatric condition or social pathology. These folks see "tolerance" as allowing others to hold differing opinions: as long as the 'intolerant' people keep quiet, and do whatever the 'tolerant' folks tell them to.

I'm not at all fond of either sort of 'tolerance.'

Sorting Out 'Quirky' and 'Constant'

Tolerance has been defined as "a permissible difference; allowing some freedom to move within limits." (Princeton's WordNet) I think that's reasonable.

One of the major challenges in today's world is determining just what "some freedom" means. We're going through exciting and promising changes - which means that quirky little preferences that may have worked a few generations back simply don't apply any more.

The trick will be distinguishing between rules that don't matter, like which side of a plate the fork goes on, and ethical principles that apply to 'left fork,' 'right fork,' and 'no fork' folks. It's not going to be easy: but it's necessary. And that's another topic.

Related posts:

• A quick review
  • "Playing 'Victim;' Living in a Big World"
    (March 13, 2012)
  • "Still Blogging About Anachronisms, Autocrats, and America"
    (October 8, 2011)
  • "Iran, Dubious Equipment, and a Nuclear Weapons Program that Doesn't Exist"
    (March 18, 2011)
  • "When In Doubt: Blame the Yankees?"
    (September 29, 2010)
  • "Burning the Quran?
    Better Than Burning a Muslim: Still - - -"
    (September 5, 2010)
• Tolerance, real and imagined
  • "Tolerance, Change, America, and the World"
    (March 22, 2012)
  • "Diversity in Unity: Two Millennia and Counting"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (April 18, 2012)
  • " 'The Jesus-Eating Cult of Rick Santorum' and
    'America - Love It or Leave It' "
    A Catholic Citizen in America (February 29, 2012)
  • "The Threat of People Who Aren't Just Like Us?"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (July 23, 2011)
  • "Religious Freedom, Niemöller, and Muslims in America"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (April 7, 2011)
• Working for a better world
  • "Business, Change, and Profit"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (September 10, 2012)
  • "Building the World of Tomorrow - Make that Worlds"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (May 28, 2012)
  • "Upset Applecarts: A Hopeful Sign"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (March 5, 2012)
  • "South Sudan, the Táin Bó Cúalnge, and Working for a Better World"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (January 6, 2012)
  • "Sustainable African Development: And Swift's Modest Proposal"
    A Catholic Citizen in America (May 6, 2010)