9/11

Yesterday was my birthday. In 2001, the day was forever tainted. It's hard for me to recall everything that I was feeling at the time the towers were hit. I was merely in shock, in denial, almost in a haze. It felt like I was watching a movie. I didn't want to accept what was happening and when I finally did, I couldn't stop crying. Just the vision of people running and actually jumping from those buildings to avoid being burned alive made me paralyzed with fear and sadness. Those images are forever engraved inside my head.

Something inside of you changes when you witness new things, especially when those new visions are violent and shocking. America changed that day. American people lost their innocence.

Many of us have quickly and quietly fallen right back asleep in order to avoid facing reality. Feelings of helplessness and expressions similar to, "well, what can I do? Everyone in our government is corrupt anyway," are all signs that our culture has split. In fact, there are many who have turned to fabricated conspiracy theories that try and explain the attacks as nothing more than an evil government attacking its own people. These ridiculous stories even go so far as to ignore facts but if given to the simple mind that lacks education and common sense, these ridiculous stories become believable.

Today, America was attacked again. Chris Stevens, US Ambassador to Libya was killed in an American consulate. Yesterday on the 11th, the US Embassy in Cairo was attacked by protesters who also destroyed the American flag. Our "president" has yet to offer any strong words of condemnation. Perhaps it's because he's more concerned about attacking his opponent Romney in the up coming election, with more lies and distortions.



I wonder what fabricated tales shall come out of the left now? Or maybe they will appear to come from the right, from people like Ron Paul, who parade around as libertarians but are really just another version of the left. Many supporters are completely unaware, or maybe they actively ignore that Ron Paul IS a career politician. They also are clueless when it comes to the implications of policies he advocates. The gold standard is probably one of the most ignorant things I've ran across in the last several years. The libertarian fools will actually tell you they're love for liberty and insinuate that people against the gold standard are leftists. The gold standard is NOT a right/left wing issue. It is an issue of fact vs. reality. The reality is a gold standard would destroy the poor first and then the rest of the country. That is fact and countless attempts have proven this so. Paul-bots enjoy appealing to authority by using economists' theories. The only problem is, they seem to have read only half of the story. These same economists that once proposed a gold standard no longer do so.

The left, and Paul-bots seem to advocate that we do nothing in response to evil attacks. The far left makes it a point not to just understand the terrorists, they also want us to blame ourselves for the attack. This is similar to how they attacked and blamed the women who were harassed and raped by former president Clinton. It wasn't Clinton's fault; we just needed to understand that he was a man with sexual needs and it was obviously the women who were asking for it. The libertarian Paul-bots will ask that we pack our bags up, bury our heads in the sand and pretend that the rest of the world doesn't exist. In fact indifference to evil around the world is a virtue among these people. They actually seem to believe that it's possible, in the modern technological age, that a first world country can separate itself from other nations and somehow remain neutral in conflicts. Did these people sleep during history class as well?

As I reflect back upon the limited history that I have lived through and what I have learned about history prior, I know that there are many forces committed to distorting facts and ideas. I know that these forces can come in packages that appear to be left/right/down the middle. All of these distortions have one goal in mind and that is to make people feel divided and helpless. A true leader - not just a political leader - but, a true leader in life is one that helps reveal your inner power, your abilities, your desires, and encourages you to act upon them. A true leader is one that desires you to be alert and AWAKE. A true leader does not have to convince you on anything because he/she knows once you desire to seek the truth and do so with an open-mind, you will find the truth, therefore they are not afraid of other people's opinions. A true leader does not need to resort to calling someone a name in order to avoid discussing an issue. A true leader is not indifferent to dependency, evil, or other toils in life. A true leader is one that wants the individual to be free and moral so that the whole may reflect those ideas as well.

I would like to ask my friends and family to remember that no matter what our differences may be, let us not forget that we are Americans. Please do not allow leaders to divide us in classes by encouraging coveting. Ignore those that tell you it's impossible to turn the country around. Some leaders want nothing more than for us to feel helpless. If there are horrible corrupt politicians, then you should also believe in your heart that G-d places wonderful, moral people in high offices as well. Question why it is you really believe something. Is it because of anecdotal evidence only? Remember that no matter how many people you know in your city or town, the entire US is only about 5 percent of the world's population. Your understanding of personal "facts" is much more limited than you can imagine. Try to get more information about an issue or fact with studies or anything else you can find. Read and study both sides, then find a 3rd and 4th side. Do not be afraid to read or listen to something you do not agree with. Be willing to change your mind based on new evidence found, not based on right/left politics or other labels.

I may never come to agreement with people on the left but, I see so many, otherwise rational people on the right, being divided and this causes me great concern. We are divided by lies, distortions, and propaganda. I pray that all of us work diligently to remain aware and steadfast in seeking out truth, no matter what that truth holds for us. Do not allow people to convince you of their side by showing you what's missing, rather than what is present. Absence of evidence is not proof of something else; it is proof of nothing. Believe that you do have power and utilize that power. Do not listen to naysayers who are desperate to make you feel helpless because they have become helpless players in their own lives by choice.

9/11 represents many different things to me but, one thing I know is that other cultures do not look at the United States as rich/poor, white/minority, male/female, right/left/center, gays/straights, conservative/liberal, etc. No, they look at us coming from ONE unit, ONE country -- ONE PEOPLE. This is how we need to start seeing ourselves --- our wholeness. We either stand together, or we will have none of these differences to appreciate later on.