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The end of the innocence?

That’s what people call September 11th, 2001. Three years ago today. They say it’s the end of the innocence of the world. That, when the towers fell, three thousand people died. But what also died was our faith in the goodness of people and our sense of security. That it, too, lay in the rubble.

But it wasn’t the end of the innocence, of course. Not really. Maybe the end of the delusion, but that’s it. Human beings have never had a true age of innocence. We’ve been warring with each other, killing each other, and destroying each other’s civilizations since time immortal.

It’s the third anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, true. But, even considering only the latter part of the 20th century until today, it’s also:

And let’s review what we have learned since then:

These are just a few examples. Here are many more. The thing is, evil has been present and trying to take over for a very long time. It’s not the end of the innocence. Maybe it’s just acknowledgement that innocence never existed in the first place.

Despite that, we have not been defeated. Despite all the attacks, all the lives lost, we continue to flourish.

Which is why, today, I propose not just sadness and remembrance, but also celebration. Celebration that we’re alive, that we’re free people living in a free country. Remembrance not only that we’re fighting, but what it is we’re fighting for.

If that’s the only lesson to come out of 9/11, maybe it’s enough.

{ 1 comment… add one }
  • Puck 09.12.04, 5:52 AM

    The thing is, there is no evil. It is innocent of us to pretend that we can divide rverything into two simple groups.

    Many of us here in Canada are deluded (or misinformed) about what is going on in the rest of the world. But just because some resort to terror is not enough for me to lose my faith.

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