Posted on 09/11/2006 6:08:37 PM PDT by sionnsar
Proving that he has learned absolutely nothing, Frank Griswold reflects on the fifth anniversary of 9/11:
On a brilliantly clear Tuesday morning five years ago the peace and security many of us took for granted were suddenly shattered. Even as the tragic events of September 11, 2001 ended the way we had looked at the world, they challenged us to see ourselves in a new way.
Mass murder "challenged us to see ourselves in a new way." Thanks for that insight, Frank.
We remain threatened – as last month’s foiled airline plot reminded us – by a well-organized and unpredictable network of human beings whose goal is to inflict slaughter and destruction. And, very sadly: religion is being used not to reconcile, but to divide.
Whose religion, Frank? Do you mean to suggest that if those adherents of the Islamic religion had only realized how goshdarned peaceful the Islamic religion was, they would have never gotten on those planes? Or by using the phrase "human beings whose goal is to inflict slaughter and destruction," do you mean to excuse the Islamic religion altogether from the events of that day?
I can think of no better way to observe the passage of five years since the horrific events of September 11, 2001 than to commit ourselves, individually, as a church and as a nation to looking for new ways to pursue healing and restoration in the world God so loves. I can think of no better way to honor the memory of those who died on September 11 five years ago than by committing ourselves to working for a future in which the events of that day will not be repeated.
What, specifically, does this mean for the United States today?
Since, according to Frank, the United States brought this attack on itself.
I continue to be guided by the words of our House of Bishops in the weeks following 9/11. Challenging us to "wage reconciliation" in the world, the bishops urged us to "bear one another’s burdens across the divides of culture, religion, and differing views of the world."
To accomplish this, I believe our nation first must reclaim its historic identity as a champion of peace in the world. At the present moment, this is nowhere more necessary than in the Middle East. Our nation must play the role not just of a superpower but also of a super-servant – willing to work in a sustained and focused way for lasting peace. This means examining our own nation’s relationship to the Muslim world as recommended by the 9/11 Commission. It means understanding how the U.S. is perceived abroad. It means and working to foster mutual understanding – within our own nation and between nations – among all who share a common heritage as the children of Abraham.
Translation: stop supporting Israel. And if you're surprised by the following, you need to get out more.
Second, I believe it is more urgent than ever that the United States address the vast disparity between the wealth of nations such as our own and the extreme poverty of nearly half of the world’s people. The United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals give to the governments of the world a clear and workable plan for how this can be achieved. I could not be more gratified that the Episcopal Church’s recent General Convention identified the Millennium Development Goals as a mission priority. Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and I will soon be releasing a joint pastoral letter on the MDGs that describes how individual Christians can work for United States leadership in the fight against poverty.
It's odd how just about everything in the Episcopal Church leads back to the UN's Millenium Development Goals[Actually, it's not - Ed]. Is that some kind of pastoral counseliing move in ECUSA these days?
DISTRAUGHT MAN: Father, my wife, the love of my life, was just killed in an auto accident.
ECUSA MINISTER: I'm so sorry. Why don't you commit yourself to work for the implementation of the United Nations' Millenium Development Goals. I'm sure your wife would have wanted it that way.
ANOTHER MAN: Father, I think I'm an alcoholic. What do I do?
ECUSA MINISTER: That's a brave admission. I'd recommend that you work toward the implementation of the United Nations' Millenium Development Goals. It'll give you a sense of satisfaction that you can't get from alcohol.
AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT MAN: Father, lately, I've been overwhelmed with feelings about my best friend's wife. I want to sleep with her and I can't stop thinking about her. What do I do?
ECUSA MINISTER: That's easy, my son. Work toward the implementation of the UN's Millenium Development Goals. Which would you rather do, commit adultery with a hot woman or work for a plan that will bridge "the vast disparity between the wealth of nations such as our own and the extreme poverty of nearly half of the world’s people?"
Particularly in working for resolution to the war in Iraq, I pray that hubris not provoke our nation to stay a course that does not appear to be working, and that pride not blind our eyes to alternative strategies. I pray that in the Middle East we will be willing to try – knowing in all humility how great the task – to bring the parties together to find the peace that has so long eluded the suffering people of Israel and Palestine.
Because the New York Times said so, that's why.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. If the author of this piece wanted to discuss Frank Griswold in all his glory, he need only have repeated Frank's actions on 9/11. Although he was in the vicinity, the Presiding Bishop of the ECUSA did not go toward the wreckage to act as a man of God, a priest moving forward to give comfort to the afflicted. Others did, but he did not.
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