As usual, the morning of
September 11, 2001, was bright, calm, and peaceful in
New York. Symbolized by the Statue of Liberty, New York
was one of the safest places in America, the safest
country in the world. And there the World Trade Center’s
skyscrapers stood under the blue sky as an architectural
vision of a strong nation confident of its future. Who
could ever doubt that the calm peace would be
interrupted by terrorist intruders from the sky? But
when the hijacked planes crushed into the twin towers of
the World Trade Center, these grand architectures smoke
billowing from the top floors, then crumbling into dust.
Because of This sudden attack the calm day saw the scene
of what a New Yorker describes as Armageddon and the day
won its new name, “Black Tuesday.”
Who could watch this tragic scene
without asking what kind of inhuman, unsympathetic
hearts did these savage things? New Yorkers typically do
not show much emotion. But on this day, covering mouths
against smoke and dust on a debris-strewn street, there
was a huge outpouring of emotion -- a lot of weeping.
Since this time on something has
changed in American consciousness. As a TV reporter put
it, "For New Yorkers it is a day without the twin
towers; and for Americans it is a day without the sense
of security." Indeed, Americans seriously began to ask,
"Are we safe here?” Are we safe here where the passenger
airplane can be hijacked for suicide terrorism? Are we
safe here where our society is vulnerable to another
terrorism? Are we safe here in this world where our
military action against terrorism can lead to another
major war? Indeed, there is now a widespread sense of
insecurity.
The Psalmist of the Old Testament
knew this problem of insecurity when he sighed, "Look,
the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows
against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the
upright in heart"(Psalm 11:3). The security of innocent
people was being threatened because they were vulnerable
to the attack of the hidden wicked—the terrorists in
modern sense. The sense of insecurity was even
heightened when he uttered, "If the foundations are
destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (v. 2). In this
situation he had no means to defend from the attack of
violent enemy’s arrow. In the physical dimension, he had
no solution for this evil violence problem. But as he
sees in his spiritual vision that “The Lord is in His
holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven,” he finds
the spiritual source to meet the violence in the
physical world. “The Lord tests the righteous and the
wicked. And the one who loves violence His soul hates”
(v. 5).
When confronted by terrorism, the
Psalmist found the spiritual source to appeal.
Confronted by the terrorists attack, this is the lesson
we also need to learn. We simply know that we are now in
the situation where military action alone cannot
eradicate terrorism. Bombing can destroy the facilities
of Afghanistan, the poor country. But the spirit of
hatred that the radical Islam fundamentalists have
against America seems to be not the kind that can be
conquered by military power.
The root of terrorism is not simply
a matter of international politics. In its deep level,
the root lies in conflicting ideologies and the clash of
worldviews. From cultural perspective, two different
worldviews, two different definition of goodness are
confronting in our world. In this case, there is a group
of people who seems to be even unaware of terrorism’s
evil nature because their worldview had been
indoctrinated in other way. There is a group of people
who is willing to justify terrorism for the sake of
Jihad, the holy war in their sight. There are even
bandits of terrorist candidates who make this inhuman
suicide terrorism their life goal, their cause of
existence. In fact, violence itself is not what the
Islam religion encourages. Yet, within the Islam world
there are radical fundamentalists groups who have such
cultural bias and hostility against Western
civilization.
Having mentioned that they have
undue bias against Western civilization, especially
against American liberalism, we will still need to admit
that their bias is not without reason at all. From their
perspective, America is the country that exports the
secular value to the world. And that is the reality one
can hardly deny. Wherever we go in the world nowadays,
we see there the imprint of American pop culture on
local cultures. One good example is to see how American
pop music is popular among young generation around the
world in our era. But as culture changes so fast in our
era, not everyone appreciate the rapid change. And it is
often the religious fundamentalists who are most
sensitive to the eroding of traditional values. In the
East, Falun Gong Movement is its typical example of
these radical fundamental groups just as it is the case
with Islam fundamentalists in the Middle East.
As the radical Islam
fundamentalists make their claim that their cause is to
purify world from the secularizing influence of America,
we of course know that this claim only reflect their
cultural bias. Yet, at this time we need to recall the
vision the Pilgrim Fathers had as they came to New
England of North America, cherishing an instrumental
vision of God’s mission. The Puritans had cherished a
“great hope and inward zeal” of at least playing a part
in carrying forth of the Light of Christ to remote parts
of the world. They also strove to attain the realization
of Christ’s rule among the nations not just by winning
the souls but also by transforming the society.
Now, the question to be asked is:
Is America the Apostle of Christian value or the Apostle
of secular value? Yes, even if we have the power to bomb
the nests of terrorism, this is the question we will
need struggle seriously. We need to go back to the
Puritan vision. No less important than punishing the
terrorist groups is to refresh and rekindle the Puritan
vision of the Pilgrim Fathers.
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