The path not chosen after 9/11

This message popped up on my Facebook feed this morning, the 15th anniversary of 9/11.

This is a fight between good and evil….which side do you think Hillary is on? This Zionist Jesuit Luciferian Khazarian Bush/Clinton Cabal is responsible for 9/11 of which the people had no clue about. Not radical ideologies. America has been plundering the world and committing genocide blaming a made up boogie man for their resources. The veil is lifting and Americans are beginning to awaken.

Quickly, I absolutely disagree with this sentiment and have no clue who the person is, certainly not a “friend” of mine. But it makes the point that I was hoping to make better than I could.

Fifteen years since 9/11 and what have we (Americans) learned from that fateful day? I fear many of us have learned the wrong lessons.

Wrong Lesson #1: President George W. Bush epitomized the binary thinking with his infamous “fight between good and evil” rhetoric.  Remember, “you’re either with us or against us!”

Correct Lesson #1:  I wish we had learned a greater appreciation for compassion and loving our neighbor. Following 9/11, we should have been asking “how can we help those less fortunate than us in other parts of the world?”  “How can we show our strength and resolve through love and compassion, rather than by violence and fear?”

Wrong Lesson #2: Synthesizing complex issues and relationships into simple taglines and labels is so much easier than using our critical thinking skills.  “Zionist Jesuit Luciferian Khazarian Bush/Clinton Cabal” is the mother of all labels. LOL. Unfortunately, President Bush was masterful at putting complex ideas into simple boxes.  Or maybe he was just a simpleton.

Correct Lesson #2:  I wish we could have developed a new organ in our brain after 9/11.  An organ capable of holding conflicting ideas at the same time, of suspending disbelief and really listening to the other. The tragic events of 9/11, followed by the countless tragic events in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, Paktika, Aleppo, and on and on, seem to have divided us into the home team vs. all those others. Instead, we should have learned that we’re all one.

Wrong Lesson #3: “Radical ideologies” = them, not us. Terrorists are them, not us. Our drone kills are legitimate; their suicide bombers and beheadings are illegitimate.  Many Americans (including both major party candidates for President) blame radical ideologues abroad for the 9/11 attack and the war on terror we are fighting today. While others (as exemplified by the quote above) blame the U.S. or Israel or the Zionists.  

Correct Lesson #3: Truth be told, there are radical ideologues on both sides of the ocean, in every corner of the planet, including in Congress and the Executive Branch. “Radical ideologue = an adherent of an extreme or drastic ideology, especially one who is uncompromising and dogmatic.” 

While we need to be cautious, especially with radical ideologues who wish to perpetrate violence, 9/11 should have taught us how to recognize the danger signs of radical ideologues within our midst. Instead, it appears that we’ve learned how to nurture them.  

I believe the U.S. government and many Americans have learned the wrong lessons from 9/11 and are following the wrong path fifteen years later as a result.  I wonder if we could choose another path.