Posted by
Randy Miller on Monday, September 11, 2006 9:03:52 PM
We have a duty to this day, the aniversary of the greatest sucker punch in modern memory.
Not to 'Honor the Victims'. First, because vicitms don't merit honor; sympathy yes, and justice, for sure. But honor is, or should be, reserved for those who do good when it isn't easy. Certainly there were many from that day who merit honor, but it isn't because they were victims, rather because they were heroes.
But our duty isn't even to honor the heroes, though that isn't a bad thing if it helps us do what we must do. Renew, not our sorrow or pain, but our anger and resolve. Endless pain is not the purpose of remembrance, but a strenghening of purpose. As Christopher Hitchens points out, we can have a war memorial after we win. For now, our duty is to fight against the repetition of the horror, first in our lands, which we have done well at so far, and second in the rest of the world. Which we cannot hope to stop attacks one by one, but must fight the enemy, jihadis, where ever they are found.