My "Where Were You When" story is pretty lame, so I'll save some cyber space and spare you, my reader, all of the nostalgic details. Honestly, I have not spent the day reliving 9-11-01. If I had wanted to do so it would have only entailed the following: 1) I spent the whole morning confused. 2) I finally realized what had happened and got freaked out. 3) I cried for about an hour when I got home from school.
Now that that's done...
We should, without a doubt, remember the victims of 9-11. And we should continue to comfort those they left behind. But I firmly believe that it should not stop there. The lives of the thousands of innocent civilians who have lost their lives as a result of the United States' invasions, "wars," and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan are just as precious as those lost ten years ago in Pennsylvania, DC, and NYC- no more, no less.
Call me "unpatriotic" if you so desire, but my allegiance lies not with a country or government or set of man-made ideals but with the Lord Jesus Christ. And I firmly believe that His desire would not be for us to drop bombs and kill others in the name of "freedom" or democracy. Violence only ever leads to more violence and can under no circumstances be justified, especially not by anyone who would seek to follow Christ. Only by loving will we extinguish the flame of evil. This Jesus calls us to love our enemies, pray for those who would seek to harm us, and to care for all men.
Shane Claiborne writes "I have pledged allegiance to a King who loved evildoers so much He died for them, teaching us that there is something worth dying for but nothing worth killing for." Amen, brother!
