A Voice in the Wilderness In Defense of "Mere Conservatism"

Where weren’t you on 9/11?

by: R.J. Moeller

Today is a day of remembrance for the worst attack on American soil in our nation's history.   Meaning no disrespect, but more than enough bloggers, writers, and public figures have reminisced already today about "Where I was that fateful day"...and the last thing anyone needs is to know my own unimportant minute-by-minute recollections of how it all went down 8 years ago.

This day certainly belongs to all Americans, for it wasn't just an attack on the more than 3,000 who perished - it was an attack on our country, our way of life, and our values.

But I wasn't there that day.  I didn't lose any family members or close friends at the WTC or the Pentagon or the field in Pennsylvania.  I don't know what it is like to hear the countless references to 9/11 that are made every day of the year and be reminded each time by them that someone I cared about has never come home since that day.

I thank God that I wasn't there, that I don't know what that feels like.

Honestly, and I know the president has good intentions when he calls for 9/11 to become a day of national service (whatever that may mean), but as the Old Testament writer says in Ecclesiastes:

¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

September 11th should always be kept as a time to mourn, a time to remember, and a time to remind each other that freedom isn't free.  That at any moment evil can strike and our lives can change (or even end).

The seriousness of this day, the implications of the heinous acts perpetrated on all Americans that day, and the legitimate pain of loss that the families and friends of 9/11's victims feel every day all cry out for one critically important thing from those of us who were thankfully not there 8 years ago today: A renewed and invigorated commitment to do our part to ensure this never happens again.

9/11 was a wake-up call from the irreconcilable wing of radical Islam that has been at war with the West for decades.  It happened because evil men planned and carried out evil deeds.  Volunteering to pick up pop cans in the park with your local community organizer, an otherwise admirable way to spend an afternoon, has nothing to do with 9/11.

We might not all agree on the best way to keep our nation safe, or how best to defeat our sworn enemies, but we better all agree that those two priorities MUST be at the top of every elected official's list from now to kingdom come.

For those of you out there who might have personally suffered that fateful day, please feel free to share your thoughts with the rest of us in the "Comments" section below