Its been 16 years after the event but this morning I received an email from Robbins-Madanes Training showing a seminar that Tony Robbins was doing on the day in question, and like most things you never want to return to you were back there on that day as if it had just happened. Even for someone that lives and was raised in the UK (although I do have family in the States) – the UK was filled with crippling sadness again – just 4 years after we lost Princess Diana.
I was working in a temp agency at the time just as support staff and someone pulled up this video (it was around 1pm in the UK) – it was just a link (you know the ones that just pops up as a joke at the side of you screen – like a story from the Enquirer…- initially so ridiculous it couldn’t possibly be true).
We looked at it and everyone in the office just thought it was a joke and one of those spoof videos someone put together for a bit of entertainment. Then someone pulled up another news clip on the same story (a little more unusual), I went onto CNN and watched while people were gathering around my chair to see the second plane go into the tower, hearing the shock and screaming and crying of everyone in the streets, even the big strong men in the office were in shock and tearing up as much as the girls as we all realised this was actually happening.
Nobody could do much work for the rest of the day – I think the whole world was in shock, the reports were everywhere – each one getting worse and worse with tears came more easily as we watched a poor man jump from the building, last loving phone calls being broadcast – the sadness that flew like a wave all around the world.
When I got home from work I phoned my friends and family living in the States who were also glued to their TVs in shock – each one saying it just didn’t feel true – how could someone destroy such a fundamental part of the New York skyline. Apparently my uncle had a meeting in one of the towers that morning but as usual he was running a bit late – which obviously ended up saving his life.
I have friends that are Muslim and with small children at the time and even though they had lived in the same street for years – all of a sudden they felt uncomfortable – partly because of the news saying how people were blaming all Muslims for the attacks and partly because they were in disbelief that a religion they felt only taught peace was being abused by other Muslims who chose to put a different meaning to those words.
How someone could imagine that a God would welcome a person that chooses to commit suicide and taking innocent lives with them is inconceivable.
I don’t condone the attacks at all – no-one in their right minds could possibly condone them or the subsequent attacks in the years that followed in the US, UK or France.. but it is my understanding the Quran teaches peace and harmony condemning violence
“Whoever killed a human being, except as punishment for murder or other villainy in the land, shall be regarded as having killed all mankind; and that whoever saved a human life shall be regarded as having saved all mankind” (Surah 5:32). This is often cited to show that Islam condemns violence and holds human life in high regard
I think we should remember that as with any nation we all have good and bad, people that choose to be influenced by their peers – good and bad – and the pressure that society and influence puts on all people – I think this was really well demonstrated in a film that George Clooney did called Syriana.
People are fallable – some people in pain so deep they don’t know how to let it go, carry grudges which culminate in unnecessary wars. Every country has lost something – lots of innocent men, women and children died in all countries the countries involved, leaving loved ones that are so filled with pain they want revenge.
Its time that the peacemakers make peace, its time for the presidents and prime ministers to think twice before saying ‘lets go to war and drop a couple of missiles’ on a country that may not even be involved.
There should be laws that have consequences if someone chooses to make war from any country, consequences so huge that it makes others think twice about revenge.
Racism is a lot better than it used to be (granted not as good as it could be but better than it was), Homophobia again is a lot better than it was – and more people welcome people as oppose to insult and attack people. – We need more leaders like Obama – who really made a difference in the US which in turn made life a bit better in the UK. – So many brave men and women joined the army to protect their country – but half the wars shouldn’t have taken place – and yet they have to go where they are told, and shoot and bomb people in an effort to ‘protect’ their country – just because someone in government says they should – and it seems usually that’s someone that has never served themselves.
If we don’t all come together and say enough is enough, then we will blow each other up, and God will have to wipe the slate clean and start again. I bet that will really P*ss him off because that was alot of hard work the first time around.
Life is fragile and should be treasured whatever country you live in – a fundamental part of every single religion I’ve ever come across teaches peace and value for mankind. This distorted view of faith has come from people that choose to hold a grudge and want to see bad in everything including the religous books. This needs to be abandoned if we want this to be a world our children and grandchildren can survive in and be happy in.
— EDIT ADDED BELOW —
At the time I had been unemployed for about 18 months and as I had no-one to fall back on I was struggling with my debt, before getting the temp job in the agency but after a long time I actually had 4 job interviews lined up at last! Yay.
Within a week of all the attacks each one of those companies retracted their interviews because they all had offices in the US and it was deemed not a good time to employ people even in the UK.
Of course, my troubles could not compare to those of so many Americans, but going back to my previous email I think its important to see that with so many natural disasters around the world – more recently Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma – there’s so much love coming from around the world from complete strangers that want to help – especially with the amount of people that go missing and die under those circumstances.
Surely we don’t need to destroy the world even further – we should learn to control what we can control in a non violent way and save our strength to manage the stuff we can’t control, like Hurricanes and Natural Fires that can be equally painful and destructive.