Posted on 09/12/2003 1:34:13 AM PDT by kattracks
Cornell Universitys official September 11 Commemoration event was advertised as offering reflections on the tragedy and comments on its continuing implications. Instead, the ceremony quickly morphed into an outrageous Leftist rant on the evils of American oppression.
Reverend Kenneth I. Clarke, director of Cornell United Religious Work, was the host and star of Cornells 9/11 show. With nary an American flag present (save a few carried by members of the College Republican club), Clarke began his remarks by comparing the September 11 attacks to other world tragedies:
We share in the global community of tragedy...Thirty years ago on September 11, Chilean President Salvador Allende was assassinated. On September 11, 1977, the South African leader Stephen Biko was killed...We share in a collective tragedy.
September 11, 2003: Rev. Clarke commemorates the 9/11 attacks by denouncing American racism, sexism, and homophobia.A lot of things have happened in the history of mankind on September 11. On September 11, 1789, Alexander Hamilton was appointed Secretary of the Treasury. On September 11, 1965, the Beatles' Help went to number one on the charts. But Cornell students did not attend a September 11 ceremony to hear about all of the interesting events that occurred on that particular day in world history. And they certainly didnt come to hear about how the 9/11 attacks were morally equivalent to a Chilean military coup that ousted a Marxist.
In point of fact, students came to commemorate the day that 3000 of our fellow countrymen were slaughtered by Islamic fanatics. Frankly, most Cornell administrators would like students to forget this. Men like Kenneth Clarke want Americans to ponder the global communitys struggles on 9/11.
Following Clarkes remarks, Professor Cynthia Farina, associate dean of the faculty, read poetry about wild geese and then began to cry. It was a stirring scene for all those who get choked up about fowl metaphors.
Later, Richard Riley, director of the Cornell Sage Chapel Choir, introduced the song that his group would be performing America the Beautiful. Just kidding. Instead, they performed a song about the Underground Railroad (what else?) called Steel Away. According to Riley, the slave song would get us all in touch with the multi-layered nature of the 9/11 attacks.
Finally, Clarke returned to the podium for his closing comments. He asked the audience to ponder the question, How shall we live two years separated from the tragedy of September 11? Clarke offered his answers:
We must reject simplistic approaches and solutions to the [worlds] complex problems...[we must] challenge our ideologies ... we must consider the current war with Iraq and the degree of disquiet that is left with us as a society.Clarke then attempted to understand each terrorists inner child by quoting the National Council of Churches: [We must consider the] sources of anger, hate, and dehumanization ... that lead to acts of violence. Citing the work of Leftist academic Martha Nussbaum, Clarke urged us to think beyond America and instead look to the global community for solidarity:
We must have a deeper comprehension of the concern, anxiety, and fear [of others in the world] and understand the wrongs they suffer...[as well as] the societal problems we must address racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-religious sentiment, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia.Only at an academic institution like Cornell could a so-called reverend get up in front of a crowd of people and solemnly declare that the great lesson of 9/11 was for Americans to recognize our inherent homophobia and sexism. If Clarke had made that statement in the heartland of America, he would have been laughed at and booed off the stage. But in the academy, this man is honored and revered.
Clarke concluded his inappropriate remarks by warning us of the hazard of [American] supremacy and urging us to seize the moment to grow [out of our] us versus them mentality.
Cornell University is descending into a moral tar pit. On one of the most solemn days of the year, the University could have honored the military, reinvigorated patriotism on campus, and stood in firm support of liberty. Instead, the Leftist administration used the occasion to bash America. And the sad truth is that Cornell will never understand the significance of the 9/11 attacks because it no longer understands America.
More bilge and twaddle, from the same morally cancerous crew who just recently awarded Cynthia McKinney a full professorship. (... and these smug, self-adoring yip-yops actually dare to lecture, straightfaced, about "the societal problem of anti-Semitism"...? Madness!)
Allowing Chile to eventually become the most stable and prosperous country in all of Latin America.
Besides, Allende was forcibly deposed but his death was a suicide.
People CAN be moral creatures, but we have to be TAUGHT to be that way. We are not moral and good by nature, quite the contrary. Unless instilled with values of respect for others, tolerance, and a good work ethic, humans are no more than selfish, lazy dogs fit to be whipped.
While those Utopian morons at Cornell are sitting around wondering why our enemies hate us and singing Cumbaya, I'm out here in flyover country cleaning my weapons to protect my family from the "poor, misunderstood victims of the capitalist system". (I prefer the phrase, "barbarians at the gate", myself)
Oh I think they understand it real good ... so good that they know how to make it rot from within. The students are trained monkeys and their trainers are the marxist professors. They are a 5th column movement with no interest in democracy other than using it as a tool to destroy it.
It's time to acknowledge this and quit believing that they are just misguided pacifists who have lost their way.
If only these people would take the advice they so sanctimoniously dispense to others.
They could then admit Maureen Dowd and Eleanor Clift...
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