On Sept. 11, 2001 I got out of bed shortly before the attacks. I was in college at the time and I was getting ready for class. I was flipping channels and had passed a news station that said that the World Trade Center was on fire. I paused and wondered if it was worth going back. I did go back and I watched history unfold.
After the second plane hit we instantly knew that what we were witnessing was deliberate. Before I went to class, I woke my roommate up with the words, “America is under attack”.
What was I thinking when the second plane hit? Honestly, I thought to myself, “Man, I am glad I am no longer in the military.” I had gotten out of the Air Force less than a year before the attacks; I knew that after the attacks, “Stop Loss” would be enacted and some of my friends would get caught up in it. I was right and both of those things happened. I even wrote about it here:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/706721/an_interview_with_a_real_stop_loss.html?cat=9
Before this piece turns into a shameless plug for all of my content, I should note that after learning that associated content wanted 9/11 stories I realized that much of my content was in some way “Genesised” by 9/11. Even my first piece was about that day:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/339152/our_fears_of_terrorism_are_overblown.html?cat=9
Like many people, I wanted to know more about why this was perpetrated – and in some places celebrated. I, unlike most people, took the time to investigate. Through a class I took at school, numerous books/articles, as well as conversations with Muslims I learned that there really is not a big leap from text to violence in Islam.
I know the above is controversial but this is 9/11 we are discussing, and it is my experience. It is not a hard concept to grasp as long as one is not saddled with a dogmatic pre-commitment to the idea that all religions are equal. There is a reason the hijackers were Muslims and not Buddhists.
I can hear the objections already. However, at this point if a person does not know basic words or concepts like “kital”, “tawhid”, or “sunnah” then he or she should not comment. Many people want to defend a religion they know zero about it.
The attacks of September the 11th changed how I view history. It is from history that I learned that those attacks really changed nothing – just the way I (and others) perceive life. I learned that even the date that was chosen for the attacks was not by accident. On that same date in 1683, Muslim forces were defeated outside the gates of Vienna, Austria.
America wanted to know: why do they hate us? Well, before and after 9/11 Muslims have been telling the world and the non-Muslim world does not “get it”. America, there is an answer to your question. Can you hear it?