Units of Horror

[Jasper]

What seems more significant to me is the fact that it should have made people more aware of the evils of religious extremism, but nobody seems to really mention it, at least with reference to American religious extremism.

[Adios]

What seems more significant to me is the fact that it should have made people more aware of the evils of religious extremism, but nobody seems to really mention it, at least with reference to American religious extremism.

Because Americas is the right king of extremism.

[Disco Pickle]

What seems more significant to me is the fact that it should have made people more aware of the evils of religious extremism, but nobody seems to really mention it, at least with reference to American religious extremism.

Because Americas is the right king of extremism.

I find it amusing that for the most part, in the muslim countries, it's their far right religious extremists calling for war, in Israel, it's their far right religious extremists calling for war, and in our country and a host of other "western" countries, it's far right religious extremists calling for war.

I say let the fuckers kill themselves and let their god sort them out.

[Suu]

What seems more significant to me is the fact that it should have made people more aware of the evils of religious extremism, but nobody seems to really mention it, at least with reference to American religious extremism.

Because Americas is the right king of extremism.

I find it amusing that for the most part, in the muslim countries, it's their far right religious extremists calling for war, in Israel, it's their far right religious extremists calling for war, and in our country and a host of other "western" countries, it's far right religious extremists calling for war.

I say let the fuckers kill themselves and let their god sort them out.

It's times like this I look forward to the 2nd coming of Christ. He'll appear, and the masses will bow before him in silence and prayer...waiting for him to speak. When the Lord finally opens his mouth, it'll be something along the lines of, "WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP?!"

[P3nT4gR4m]

We already have Veterans day and Memorial day.
C'mon guys. It was a shitty event. There have been lots of shitty events here.

I mean, what about Waco TX day, and Oklahoma City bombing day, I got rear ended day, a teacher was found murdered behind a restaurant day, Pear Harbor day.

I don't mean to sound like a cold hearted dick but frankly, we're never gonna forget about this, and we if wanted to, someone would remind us anyway.

I agree. That's why I don't often read the news regarding it. All the articles read like it is the biggest tragedy in the history of ever, condescend to me like I wasn't aware that it happened, and reinforce negative stereotypes. I have never seen a well written article on 9/11, and television broadcasts are ten times worse. Sure, I was only 12 when it happened. It seemed like it was a big deal, even if I didn't really understand it. But then, I saw what happened in the aftermath.

9/11 is directly responsible for killing my faith in America. And perhaps, more importantly killing my faith in my father. Is it odd that I remember the exact date I lost my innocence? It was December 22, 2001. I went to the movie theater with my family. I don't remember the movie, but I remember what happened there. I didn't notice it until afterwards, in the car when my father told us this. There had been a man in the theater, possibly of Arabic descent, or possibly of Indian descent, dark-haired and dark-skinned either way. My father saw him get up several times and followed him each time. Each time the poor guy was only going to the restroom. My father then explained to us that he was going to prevent a "Terrorist attack", if necessary. Even at 13, I realized that a terrorist attack was very unlikely in a small town of 8,000 in rural Illinois. Poor guy was probably just a student over at SIU and wanted to catch a flick. Of course, that's just a brief summary but it was here that I began to lose faith in my father. I lost faith in America the following year, for largely the same reasons. My faithi n Humanity followed next, and it was about that time I discovered Eris... so, maybe some good came of it.    

Faith is overrated, trust me - you're much better off without it.

[Phox]

Faith is overrated, trust me - you're much better off without it.

You are right. I was only relating a story of how I came to be who I am today, and that it was directly related to 9/11.

[Payne]

Faith is overrated, trust me - you're much better off without it.

You are right. I was only relating a story of how I came to be who I am today, and that it was directly related to 9/11.

Bullshit. Chances are your dad was an ass before 9-11. And would have shown himself to be one regardless of whether it happened or not.

[Suu]

Faith is overrated, trust me - you're much better off without it.

You are right. I was only relating a story of how I came to be who I am today, and that it was directly related to 9/11.

Bullshit. Chances are your dad was an ass before 9-11. And would have shown himself to be one regardless of whether it happened or not.

This.

[Phox]

Faith is overrated, trust me - you're much better off without it.

You are right. I was only relating a story of how I came to be who I am today, and that it was directly related to 9/11.

Bullshit. Chances are your dad was an ass before 9-11. And would have shown himself to be one regardless of whether it happened or not.

Never doubted that. But nevertheless, how it happened is how it happened. Speculating about when and where it would have happened in a world in which the 9/11 shit never happened is pointless isn't it?

[Payne]

Faith is overrated, trust me - you're much better off without it.

You are right. I was only relating a story of how I came to be who I am today, and that it was directly related to 9/11.

Bullshit. Chances are your dad was an ass before 9-11. And would have shown himself to be one regardless of whether it happened or not.

Never doubted that. But nevertheless, how it happened is how it happened. Speculating about when and where it would have happened in a world in which the 9/11 shit never happened is pointless isn't it?

Blaming shit on the "Post 9-11 world" is working so well in every other sphere of life right now, true enough.

9-11 was a shitty event, no question about it. And not just for NYCers and DCers or Americans. It had negative effects on damn near everyone in the world to a greater or lesser extent.

BUT, attributing it even more badness and wrongness than even that is not in any way helpful.

In my opinion, your dad would still have been barely disguised xenophobe, and this is the lesson to take away from it. Conflating that fact with such an easy-to-emote-with thing as the WTC and DC attacks is not in any way truly enlightening for you or for anyone else.

[Phox]

Faith is overrated, trust me - you're much better off without it.

You are right. I was only relating a story of how I came to be who I am today, and that it was directly related to 9/11.

Bullshit. Chances are your dad was an ass before 9-11. And would have shown himself to be one regardless of whether it happened or not.

Never doubted that. But nevertheless, how it happened is how it happened. Speculating about when and where it would have happened in a world in which the 9/11 shit never happened is pointless isn't it?

Blaming shit on the "Post 9-11 world" is working so well in every other sphere of life right now, true enough.

9-11 was a shitty event, no question about it. And not just for NYCers and DCers or Americans. It had negative effects on damn near everyone in the world to a greater or lesser extent.

BUT, attributing it even more badness and wrongness than even that is not in any way helpful.

In my opinion, your dad would still have been barely disguised xenophobe, and this is the lesson to take away from it. Conflating that fact with such an easy-to-emote-with thing as the WTC and DC attacks is not in any way truly enlightening for you or for anyone else.

No, no you are misunderstanding what I am saying then. I am agreeing with you. I'm not sure how to articulate it, I guess. I don't "blame" 9/11 for anything. It is merely an event that occurred, and while tragic, was not any worse than events that are occurring any other day. I'm not saying my father is an asshole simply because of that one incident, and it's because of 9/11. My father is an asshole because he is a hypocritical, xenophobic, homophobic, misogynistic, manipulative anti-intellectual. My first exposure to it happened in post-9/11 hysteria, but I didn't say he "got caught up" in it.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

9/11 wasn't all bad, for me. Of course, I lived approximately 3,000 miles away from it and knew only one person who lives in NYC, and she was pretty far from ground zero. The worst direct effect it had on me was that all the fucking banks closed early, which meant I was unable to cash my paycheck, which meant I was unable to pay my rent, which meant I got a late fee, so I was left without enough money to buy weed that week. Fucking terrorists.

Anyway, the first thing I thought when 9/11 happened was "holy shit that's cool, it looks like a movie!" My next thought was that it was weird how my connection to pop culture was stronger than my empathy for other human beings, which was a valuable realization.

I also expected the US to blow up in a race war within a month, with people killing Arabs in the streets. That didn't happen - aside from a few isolated violent incidents, life went on pretty much as usual. Even in Tucson. This made me realize that the capacity for peace in America was much stronger than I gave it credit for, which is another valuable realization because as I see America slipping toward race wars and religious intolerance even faster now, 9 years after the fact, I am immunized against the idea that 9/11 caused this. It is a cultural shift led by radicals who don't speak for the majority. 9/11 brought many of them out and identified them, which makes avoiding their bullshit that much easier -- also valuable.

So 9/11 was a terrible tragedy, but like all tragedies, it is being defined not by what happened but by what those who witnessed and survived it do now that it is in the past. It will mark a turning point in American history, and global history -- whether it is a turn for the worse or for the better is for us to decide now.

[Payne]

It may be semantics, but I feel more that 9-11 is a symbol of that turning point, rather than the turning point itself. But either way, the point stands.

9-11 is being hijacked and turned into a weapon. It's up to us to see that that weapon is powerless.

"Like a frightened child in an angry world", sang The Offspring. A simplification for sure, but it rings true. The first truly major assault on America in America since Pearl Harbour came completely out of the blue for most people and it scared the shit out of them. And the world was and still is angry. More weapons. More righteous milatrism. More crusades. This will not help.

[Adios]

900 first responders have died since 911.

http://vodpod.com/watch/4418861-nine-years-after-911-900-responders-are-dead

[Suu]

900 first responders have died since 911.

http://vodpod.com/watch/4418861-nine-years-after-911-900-responders-are-dead

Yep.