The Daily Pennsylvanian presents The Road Ahead, a new series devoted to delivering expert opinions on some of the issues that now confront us in the wake of America's renewed war on terrorism.
Individual character is revealed by how we react to crises. Similarly, something about our national character, and the health of our society, is laid bare by our response to catastrophe.
Viewed from one angle, Sept. 11, 2001, is another day that will live in infamy, taking its place beside Dec. 7, 1941.ÿFrom a different perspective, however, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as full of personal horror and national challenge as they were, tell us something heartening about America.
I am among those Americans who have been worried lately about the fragmenting effects of affluence and the unabashed pursuit of individual self interest, about our retreat from the public square into gated communities and edge cities.ÿFor me, the thousands of small acts of individual heroism and self-sacrifice in the midst of deadly chaos is reassuring.
"Community" is still valued in America.ÿThe stampede of volunteers lets us know that the ethos of neighborly barn-raisings and corn-huskings has not been paved over in our anonymous cities or deleted by our high-tech lives.
Even more encouraging is the fact that public officials of all kinds, when asked to comment about the threat, almost always mentioned democracy and individual freedom as the things that were under attack and thus the things that most needed defending against the faceless enemy.
The terrorists deliberately ignored the most visible symbol of opportunity and freedom by flying past the Statue of Liberty and crashing instead into the World Trade Center, emblem of the materialism and secularism that is hated by Islamic fundamentalists (and Christian fundamentalists as well).ÿBy selecting the Pentagon in Washington rather than the Capitol or the Supreme Court, our adversaries were focused on our military power rather than upon our political or spiritual appeal.
So, this is an attack on America, but what does America mean?
Well, we will reveal to the world and to ourselves the meaning of America in the way our government responds to the challenge of combating international terrorism.ÿI hope that our collective response will remain true to our highest ideals, including respect for the worth of every individual, the rule of the law, a government responsive to the will of the people and individual rights.ÿThat is who we are,ÿthe "last best hope on earth," as Abraham Lincoln put it in the midst of another national crisis.
To confirm that identity, we must avoid justifying the acts of hate by responding with hate.ÿWe must respond with compassion to our fellow citizens who are suffering.ÿWe must oppose the terrorists deliberately and effectively without helping them destroy the liberties that are at the center of our national existence.
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