In remembrance of 9/11, or Patriots Day, I thought I would share a Christian history book's opinion on both the attacks and some legislation following the attacks made for defense against terrorism. My history book this year is on American government, not on specific historical events; however, I took an American history class last year. The book was called United States History: Heritage of Freedom, and you may remember me sharing parts of the book with you through Facebook. This time, I want to share a section of the chapter "America Enters the New Millennium," specifically called "Terrorism Strikes America."
September 11, 2001
On September 11, 2001, terrorists carried out the deadliest attack on American soil since
Pearl Harbor, striking in one of America's largest and most important cities, New York. At approximately 8:45 A.M. (EST), while many New Yorkers were on their way to work or just arriving at the office, a hijacked 757 airliner slammed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. A second 757 struck the South Tower just 15 minutes later. People began to flee the burning towers, but hundreds were trapped in the upper floors. Emergency workers from all over the city rushed to the scene to help. As it turned out, they had less than an hour; by 10:30, both of the Twin Towers had collapsed.
The terror was not limited to New York. A third airliner struck the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C., killing 184; and a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, resulting in 40 more deaths. It would later be surmised that the fourth plane was probably bound for the White House or Capitol Hill....
Nine days after the attack President Bush addressed the nation.
In the normal course of events, Presidents come to this chamber to report on the state of the Union. Tonight, no such report is needed. It has already been delivered by the American people... My fellow citizens, for the last nine days, the entire world has seen for iteself the state of our Union--and it is strong. Tonight we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or justice to our enemies, justice will be done...Fellow citizens, we'll meet violence with patient justice--assured of the rightness of our cause, and confident of the victories to come. In all that lies before us, may God grant us wisdom, and may He watch over the United States of America.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the section my book wrote on the attacks of 9/11. Next, the book talked of National Security.
Another part of the Bush Administration's new security measures was the creation of the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001).This led to another section called "Security vs. Liberty." Here it is:
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In his Federalist papers, Alexander Hamilton wrote: "Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct. To be more safe, they (nations) at length will become willing to run the risk of being less free." The fateful events of September 11,2001, brought about the popular phrase that on this day "everything changed" for Americans. The 9/11 tragedy created a spirit of fear in the American people leading many to accept the perspective that security, even if it meant sacrificing liberty of personal freedoms, was acceptable as a key component of the government. This mindset was seen in the legislation that was passed immediately after 9/11, namely the organization of the Department of Homeland Security and the PATRIOT Act. One idea that originated in Washington was that security is imperative to Americans. Conservatives agreed, but saw the danger of replacing liberty with security and thus losing their Constitutional rights. The name "PATRIOT Act" carried with it the implication that true American patriots should willingly sacrifice their rights to privacy for the security of the "whole." Some critics suggest that this idea of replacing liberty for security is unconstitutional.
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That is the last part of the book I will share with you. These sections hold a lot of information that we should think on. Is security worth our liberty? The one sentence that caught my attention was from the last paragraph, the "Security vs. Liberty" section. It says "The name "PATRIOT Act" carried with it the implication that true American patriots should willingly sacrifice their rights to privacy for the security of the "whole." In my new history book, we just talked about the different forms of government, such as democracy, theocracy, aristocracy and so on. One form of government we discussed was socialism. In talking about this, we came to the social theory of socialism. "As a social theory, socialism maintains that the individual is unimportant when compared to the welfare of the group." (American Government, 24) So, how far are we willing to go for our safety; are we willing to give up our rights?
I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and also hope you will think on it some. Just out of curiosity, where were you when disaster struck September 11th fifteen years ago? I was in the basement playing with toys, or so my mom says. I would not remember since I was only 11 months old. :)
I was in the same basement as you -- just in a different room. I still remember getting a phone call from your granny telling us about the attacks and going into the other room (where the rest of y'all were) and turning on the TV to see the news report. Definitely a day nobody will ever forget.
ReplyDeleteYep, you were in the living room (which was in the lower level of the house) playing when the first plane hit the tower. August was there with you. Braden had just begun his school day up in the school room. That was the first week of first grade for him. I remember the phone ringing and Daddy answering it. Then he came running out of his office, leap-frogged over you and August playing on the living room floor and dove for the tv to turn it on. That's when we saw the news story and just stood there watching the smoke billow from the tower, not sure what to think. Another memory I have from this event is from the days that followed. There were no planes in the sky. Our house was located in such a way that we regularly heard and saw planes pass over us. But for a bit after the terrorism on September 11th, the sky was quiet. It was strange not to hear the planes. This was a terrible tragedy. I will always remember this event.
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