Return-Path: <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id f8JHiCf14346; Wed, 19 Sep 2001 13:44:12 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 13:44:12 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <003301c14132$6915ef60$0e00a8c0@sk.sympatico.ca> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Brenda Sherring <b_sherring@mcs.msd.sk.ca> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:601] Re: Fwd: [BRC] Terror Attacks of September X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300 Status: O Content-Length: 4899 Lines: 90 The following statement was delivered by Jay Cowsill, Society of Friends, Saskatoon, at a Multi Faith Vigil held in Saskatoon, SK on Wednesday, September 12, 2001. Friends, these are terrible events that we have just witnessed. Nothing that we can now say or do will alter them. Their history- though yet to be written- is already beyond our power to change. Let us focus ourselves, then, on that history that can be changed, the history of the response to these terrible events- a history not yet enacted that will unfold over the next days and weeks. Much of the talk yesterday-as people were still reeling under the first shock of the enormity of these days- was talk of retribution, talk of hunting down and punishing, talk of vengeance decked out in the language of justice. Such talk, I fear, will prevail at last- as if the evil of violence could be eliminated by violence. As we mourn the dead and fear the future, the deeds that we have just witnessed should also give us pause for reflection. It is altogether too facile to say that the responsibility lies completely with a single party that we can identify, isolate, vilify, and crucify. I think that tonight and in the days to come we should ask what it is in ourselves and in people like us- in what we say and do- that can drive others to hate us so much, that can drive them to such a pitch of fury. We should, I think, amidst all the talk of freedom, consider what type of freedom the World Trade Center and Pentagon might symbolize- not only to the small group of people that attacked them, but to people everywhere made desperate by the apparent hopelessness of their conditions. What do the World Trade Center and the Pentagon symbolize other than our freedom- the freedom of people of wealth and privilege- to dominate the world by whatever means we can grasp: cultural, commercial and military? It makes no difference to victims of violence whether those raining death down upon them are self-appointed, covert operatives or publicly elected officials following meticulously detailed norms of procedure. Nor should it make a difference to us. Terror is always terror, whoever the terrorists might be. The poor people in New York and Washington who have suffered and died from these reprehensible acts now join their names to those of the poor people who have suffered and died from other acts of terror other acts in what Winston Churchill called "the lamentable catalogue of human crime." They join the names to those of the poor people of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Hanoi, Baghdad- to all who suffered terror, injury and death from the skies. What, we might ask, can we- the people of Saskatoon- do in the face of these terrible events? What contribution might we make? There is nothing we can do for the dead. There is probably little we can do to avert the terrible acts of retribution now being planned. But there is much we can do to change the familiar world of our everyday lives- to change the way we relate to one another- the way we interact between and among ourselves. We can study to bear with one another better than we do. We can study the arts of compassion and forgiveness. We can teach ourselves that there is no way to peace: peace is the way. We can learn that there is no way to non-violence: non-violence is the way. ----- Original Message ----- From: Eileen Eckert <eileeneckert@hotmail.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 10:17 AM Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:600] Re: Fwd: [BRC] Terror Attacks of September 11, 2001 > I have heard much about America's loss of innocence in the wake of the > attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and the crash in > Pennsylvania. As Debby's posting makes clear, we were never innocent; what > we have lost is the luxury of not seeing the effects of our own and our > government's action in the world. > > On NPR last weekend, Scott Simon remarked that many of us learned last week > how much we love our country, not with blind loyalty but with unblinking > recognition. I don't think "unblinking recognition" is a characteristic of > the patriotism of many Americans, but it is a goal to strive for. > > > >From: DEBBYDAM@aol.com > >Reply-To: nifl-povracelit@nifl.gov > >To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> > >Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:598] Fwd: [BRC] Terror Attacks of September 11, > >2001 > >Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 12:50:06 -0400 (EDT) > > > >In response to Eileen Eckert's criticism of jingoistic responses, I offer > >the > >following thoughtful response on the relationships among poverty, racism, > >imperialism and responses to last week's terrorist act. DD > ><< message5.txt >> > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp >
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