Monday, September 11, 2006

Five years and only moments ago...

Five years and only moments ago, our lives changed forever. We we're the target of an unspeakable act. Nearly 3,000 innocent lives were lost at the hands of misguided men that chose hate over love. On this day, I'm asking my readers to forgive those misguided men.

Hate cannot be fought with more hate. On this day, consider the words of the late, great, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
  • "Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."

  • "Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true."

  • "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

  • "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

  • "Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."
I was a pacifist before I watched our towers, no, our people burning. At that moment, even I was filled with rage and hate. I wanted to lash out, to strike back, to do what was done to us. That is because I am human. I realized later that my feelings were normal, but that didn't make them right.

As we continue to kill terrorists, we also continue to kill innocent people caught in the middle. Every time we do, their fathers, their brothers, their sons and daughters, and their friends find a reason to be inspired and join the cause against America. There is no end to this means.

God said to love your neighbor. He never said it would be easy.

5 comments:

Nicole said...

I think blogger is in overdrive today because everyone in their dog is posting on this and I have left you 2 comments that have gotten lost in the shuffle of blogger's deep dark intestines I guess.

If this comment works, I had said I completely agree with what you said and being that we are both parents, along with most of my friends, I worry about our children's futures on this wonderful planet. I try to raise my kids to love and have tolerence for fellow humans and that is my wish that other parents do the same.

Ben said...

I almost didn't post about it today because I knew everyone else would. That said, I felt my message would be very different than everyone elses. It's a hard day for me because I think my view is definitely in the minority--and it's hard for me to fault those who disagree.

Love conquers all. Cliche? Yeah, but it's one of the truths I hold to be self-evident. I wish Dr. King lived long enough to be president. I think the last 6 years would have been far less heavy on my conscience and my soul.

Nicole said...

Love conquers all. Cliche?


well, that's why I let your CFL bashing slide buddy!!!!

yellowdoggranny said...

well, im grateful that we have gentle souls like you on our side..to level the playing field for asskickers like me...i grieve for our loss of lives on 9/11 and i grieve for the innocents in iraq and afghanastan that were killed by our bombs...but thanks to bush, we will continue to be responsible for the deaths of innocents... especially our innocent soldiers who thought and still think they are fighting a noble cause. i cant forgive the terrorist nor bush...not now..not ever....

Ben said...

Sometimes, fighting is necessary. As mentioned in my "about" section, there's a few things that could turn me violent in a hurry. And believe it or not, I used to be a violent person.

A wise leader, which we definitely lack, knows when the time for violence has ended, and the time to communicate and rebuild has begun.

Today, I choose to mourn the souls lost, our and theirs, and honor their memories with an olive branch and a chance for a better tomorrow. My only hope is that there are a few on their side thinking the same thing.