Is Sept. 11 a date to unify us all, or a date for critics to ‘shut their pieholes’

It has been 17 years since that date when nut cases acting in an irrational way to show their Islamic religious faith staged their attack on the secular western world by inflicting damage upon the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

This became fish wrap in the coming days

That’s the way I recall the events of Sept. 11, 2001 – even though others are inclined to want to think in different ways to justify their own irrational hang-ups along religious and ethnic lines.

IN SHORT, THE bigoted amongst us in society want to remember the happenings of all those years ago as evidence that their warped way of thought is somehow correct; and that those of us who view life in a more rational manner somehow ought to pipe down and keep our crazy thoughts to ourselves

Yes, I remember the happenings of that day and the national mood that followed as a scary time, largely because it bolstered the level of absurdity that already existed in our society.

There were those people who claimed then (and still try to claim now) that our nation was unified – people put aside their partisan leanings and saw ourselves as one.

What actually happened is that the right-wing elements of our society (including many of those who have admiration for this Age of Trump we’re now in) became more outspoken in their thought process – and the rest of us felt a sense of intimidation.

IT’S AS THOUGH many people felt too scared to have thoughts of opposition and felt they needed, as actor Carroll O’Connor’s “Archie Bunker” character would often tell wife Edith, to “stifle” themselves.

The fact that many of us haven’t permanently silenced ourselves may be the ultimate evidence that the “terrorists” of Sept. 11 didn’t prevail. If they had, we probably would have become a nation of people where the majority of us currently agree with whatever irrational thoughts get spewed out via the current president’s Twitter account.

So when I think of all the happenings that will occur on Tuesday (most timed to coincide with 8:48 a.m. and 9:29 a.m. – the moments that day when the World Trade Center towers were struck by hijacked jet planes), to me the focus ought to be less on all the pseudo-military ritual that will take place.

Yes, there will be those who will gather at many a City Hall across the nation to watch uniformed police officers salute and national anthems be played out of some sense that we’re showing we weren’t beaten down by those people who wanted to show contempt for our society because it is a multi-cultural place.

BUT I’D BE inclined to argue that we’re really showing our survival as a society by supporting those of us who differ from the “norm,” or what certain people would like to think ought to be the norm for all of us to follow.

Yes, Sept. 11, 2001 was a date of confusion – many of us didn’t have a clue what was really happening. Our lives seemed thrown all out of kilter.

Yet from the perspective of a Chicagoan, what I recall was that many downtown businesses shut down for the day as the area evacuated. For the most part, life returned to as close to normal as people of certain ideological leanings tried to use the chaos to impose their own thoughts upon all of us.

Perhaps the last thing we ought to be doing is getting obsessed with minute details of pseudo-patriotism. Personally, I think the people who get all upset that someone didn’t show the proper degree of respect for singing a national anthem or reciting a Pledge of Allegiance are the ones who are a real threat to the freedoms upon which our society is supposed to be based.

NOT THAT I’M going to be offended by those of you who feel compelled to attend one of the many ceremonies being held Tuesday to remember what happened 17 years ago. If it makes you feel comfortable, the better for you.

Although you thinking that Tuesday is an excuse to force your thought processes on others – if you think about it, that’s a downright un-American concept to have.

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