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a letter reflecting on Sept. 11th from bishop braxton

September 8, 2011
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Dear Priests, Deacons, Parish Life Coordinators, and Department Directors:

The terrifying events of September 11, 2001 changed our country and our world in ways that we do not fully appreciate even ten years later. Not only did nearly 3,000 people perish that day but also tens of thousands more have perished in the ongoing devastating wars that followed. The world has become a more dangerous place.

Since that terrible day, many Americans perceive an intrinsic conflict between “western culture” – and its Judeo-Christian origins -- and the ancient faith of Islam. While the vast majority of Moslems strongly reject the violent jihadist views of the late Osama Ben Laden, a number of voices if the United States seem to suggest that all followers of Islam should be viewed with fear and suspicion. Such xenophobia is quite perilous in the face of the rapid growth of Islam around the world (now one billion four hundred million members; two hundred million more that the number of Catholics in the world).

During the five years I lived in New York working for William H. Sadlier, Inc., my Wall Street office was only blocks away from the twin towers of the World Trade Center. I frequently shopped there, had lunch there and took guests to dinner at Windows on the World, on the 107th floor of the North Tower. I new personally several people who lost their lives in on that awful day.

Following this letter you will find my essay, “Is God on our Side?” which I wrote just days after the United States lost forever its sense of invulnerability. You may find it of interest to yourself, your parishioners or others you know. Though it has bee published in several journals, you are free to duplicate it.

I would ask each parish to include appropriate petitions (such as the ones below) in the Prayers of the Faithful at all of the Masses this weekend (September 10-11).

We pray for all of those who perished in the terrible events of September 11 2001 and the wars that have followed, that they may live in union with God who is Love. We pray to the Lord.

We pray for those who continue to suffer from the trauma of the terrorist attacks, especially family members of those who died and the members of fire departments and police departments who lost so many members, that they may be comforted by those who love them. We pray to the Lord.

We pray for all people whose hearts burn with anger and the desire to harm those with whom they disagree, that they may be open the Holy Spirit’s call to forgiveness and reconciliation. We pray to the Lord.

We pray for devout Muslims that they may continue their efforts to convey the true spirit of Islam to those who distorted it into an ideology of hate and violence. We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the government of the United States, that in its vigilance to protect the safety of all Americans, it may always respect the God given human dignity of all, including those who may jeopardize peace in the world and threaten our way of life. We pray to the Lord.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

The Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton
Bishop of Belleville

Terrorist Attack the United States: Is God on Our Side?
By

His Excellency
The Most Rev. Edward K. Braxton
Bishop of Lake Charles, Louisiana
September 13, 2001

I.
A Nightmare Without End

“Is God on our side?” “If God is all-powerful, why does God allow such a terrible thing to happen to thousands of innocent people?”

The terrifying events of September 11, 2001, in which four commercial airplanes were hijacked and the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked in a heinous act of hatred and evil, have left most citizens of the United States and many people around the world in a state of shock and amazement. Even though the power of television brought these unspeakable events into our homes, many watched the live coverage of the second hijacked passenger jet containing 24,000 gallons of fuel crashing into the second tower of the World Trade Center paralyzed in utter unbelief. The sight of the two great towers crumbling to the earth in a matter of seconds may be an indelible scar on the psyche of all who witnessed it.

In the days that followed we began to learn of the enormous loss of innocent human lives. Nearly 3,000 people were murdered in an alarmingly simple yet well-planned act of terrorism against the United States. Little by little we learned poignant details about the people whose lives were cruelly ended in a flash. Many were young professional people in the prime of their lives with futures full of promise. Others were fire fighters, police officers and those who provide emergency services who died trying to save lives. We also saw the faces and heard the voices of husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters and friends and neighbors suffering excruciating pain and grief on learning that their dear ones had perished. They had perished in acts of such wanton destruction that small fragments of human bodies could only be identified by means of the most sophisticated forensic science and DNA matching. It was obvious to anyone who has ever loved anyone that this tragedy, which has shattered thousands of human bodies has also broken hearts and shattered tens of thousands of human lives and dreams.

I lived in Washington for three years and in New York for five years. My office at William H. Sadlier Inc., a publisher of Catholic educational materials, is only blocks from the World Trade Center. I know some of those shattered lives and dreams personally. One New York friend called it a sunny morning that became a nightmare without end. I share the deep sorrow, anger, hurt, fear, anxiety, helplessness and even rage experienced by so many Americans. I share the strong conviction that every effort must be made to find out who did these horrendous deeds. They must be brought to justice and the world community must commit itself to bringing an end to international terrorism.

Almost immediately after the surprise and cowardly attacks on our military and financial centers and on the American people, the radical, Islamic fundamentalist, Osama bin Laden, who has declared a jihad (“holy war”) against the “infidels” of the United States, was named by President Bush and government officials as the likely suspect. In remarks at the Pentagon the President said that bin Laden, like the criminals of the Wild West, was wanted, “dead or alive”. Later, in a powerful nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress and to the world, the President declared that our country was “at war” with the terrorists. Further, the Islamic Taliban government of Afghanistan, where bin Laden lives and has training camps for terrorists, was warned that the U.S. would not distinguish between the terrorists and the governments that harbor them. He demanded that the Taliban hand over bin Laden and any other known terrorist in their country promptly or face the consequences. The Taliban rejected these demands and retorted that if the U.S. strikes Afghanistan, there will be a “holy war”. President Bush stressed that the military retaliation contemplated by the U.S. was not a “war” against that vast majority of peace-loving Muslims, nor was it mounting a “crusade” against Islam. The “war” was with a small but powerful group of extremists ( Al Quaeda) who had corrupted the authentic teachings of the Koran. The military actions being prepared by the U. S. have been named “Operation Infinite Justice”.

II.
Is God on Our Side?

All of these startling events have led some religious commentators to suggest that “God is on our side.” As one put it, “Just as God anointed David, King of Israel and blessed him when he slew Goliath, so God has anointed President Bush to rid the world of bin Laden and his supporters. In the Bible, God annihilated evil doers at Sodom and Gomorrah and in today’s world, He has blessed America with the moral authority and military strength to annihilate evil doers who do not respect the rule of law and terrorize innocent people.”

Is God on our side? Is God on the side of any government, or political group in the midst of conflict and violence? And if God is on our side how can we know that He is? Jerry Falwell, the Evangelical Christian leader said that in the past, when Americans lived by traditional moral values, God was on our side and protected us from our enemies. He went on to say that the liberal moral attitudes that he sees in America today has caused God to lift His protective shield and expose us to our enemies. He later retracted his statement, saying that no one can know whether a specific event reflects a judgment. In the terrible conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, religious leaders from both groups have asserted that God (Yahweh, Allah) is on their side. As Catholics and Protestants continue to fight in Ireland, there has been eloquent testimony by Catholics and Protestants asserting that the God of Jesus Christ is on their side. The deadly war in the Sudan continues to take lives by the thousands each day and the followers of Islam in the north and the Christians and followers of traditional African religions in the south assert that God is on their side.

Whose side is God on in times of war and conflict? Is any nation capable of “infinite justice? (The name was changed to “Operation Enduring Freedom” on September 25, 2001 when Islamic groups protested that only Allah is capable of infinite justice.) Perhaps God is not on either side in such conflicts. Could it be that God is simply God: infinite goodness, infinite mercy, infinite justice, infinite truth, infinite compassion, infinite forgiveness, infinite reconciliation, and infinite beauty. While we can be sure that God is on the side of infinite righteousness and absolute integrity, no government, including our own, has national and international policies that can claim the infinite righteousness and absolute integrity of God. There might be wisdom in being cautious about asserting that God, who remains silent dwelling in unapproachable light, is on our side. The spiritually more authentic and more humble statement might be for governments, like individuals to say that they keep striving to be on God’s side. They do this in time of conflict by seeking always to purify their motives and to act in ways that show genuine regard for fundamental moral principles, respect for innocent human life and a true concern for all of God’s creation.

This might be of fundamental importance in a time of profound crisis and intense emotion. If we presume that God is on our side, this very presumption can, paradoxically, blind our moral vision allowing us to go from the pursuit of justice and the punishment of international criminals to a level of red-hot rage that can make terrorists of those who have been terrorized. Then the blood of countless innocent victims will be on our hands. The President stated in his address that the U.S. and its allies (“Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.”) will bring the terrorists to justice or bring justice to the terrorists. To seek justice (in accord with national and international laws) is struggling to be on God’s side. To seek revenge would seem to be moving in the opposite direction.

Several national surveys immediately following the attack have indicated up to 88 percent of the American people support an aggressive, swift military reprisal to demonstrate our resolve and to avenge those dear to us who were slaughtered without warning, even though the “war” against terrorism will be waged over a long period of time. It is clear that many Christian people, including Catholics, do not want to hear the revolutionary words of Jesus at this bitter hour. In the Gospel of Matthew (5, 38-48), Jesus says, “You have heard the commandment, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But what I say to you is: offer no resistance to injury. When a person strikes you on the right cheek, turn and offer him the other. You have heard the commandment, ‘love your countryman but hate your enemy.’ My commandment to you is: love your enemies, pray for your persecutors. This will prove that you are the children of God.” It is very understandable why these words are so hard to hear at this hour of excruciating pain that some may wish that Jesus had never spoke them. But he did! Our whole journey in faith from our baptism to this defining juncture in our country’s history compels us to hear these words no matter how difficult it might be to live by them. We will certainly not be on God’s side in this new “war” which has no boundaries and nor foreseeable end if we close our ears to the words of Jesus.

 

III.
Why Can’t God be Like Superman?

“If God is all-powerful, why does God allow such a terrible thing to happen to thousands of innocent people?” As people wiped away their tears and those of their friends and neighbors and those of strangers, many found themselves asking versions of this question. It is a question that is at the heart of the Old Testament book of Job and is as old as the human spirit. In front of the Cathedral after the noon Mass just hours after the catastrophic attack that was already being compared to Pearl Harbor, one person expressed it this way. “Either God could have prevented the attack and chose not to or God wanted to prevent the attack but didn’t have the power to do so. Whichever it is, doesn’t that make God irrelevant to our experience of horrific suffering?” A child said, “Why couldn’t God be like Superman and blow on the World Trade Center and turn the fire into ice? Then everyone could go home safe and sound.” Another person said, “Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who was completely innocent, suffered the painful death on the cross, even though the night before in Gethsemane He begged His Father to take this cup from Him and spare Him this suffering. In the end He said, “Not my will but your will be done.” We simply have to accept what happened as fitting into God’s inscrutable plan, which we cannot understand and should not question.” Then someone else commented, “That’s why those who escaped realized that God did not want to “take” them at this time. God still has some special work in mind for them to do. It was not their time.” This comment was interrupted by a woman who said, “I just can’t buy that! I don’t believe that it was “time” for those thousands of people to die. It just happened. That’s all. After today, people are going to have to realize that God is not God the way they think God is God.” God is not God the way we would be God if we were God.

There are profound metaphysical questions concerning the relationship between the spiritual reality of God in the realm of eternity and the material reality of people in the realm of time, between good and evil and between innocence and suffering involved here. Neither Scripture, tradition nor the reflections of theologians and philosophers through the centuries have answered these questions in a way that everyone finds satisfactory. Some people have become atheists and agnostics after reflecting on evil events of great magnitude such as the Jewish holocaust and African slavery because they could not reconcile them with the existence of a God who is loving, just, merciful and all-powerful. Those who give themselves time to reflect and pray over the awful events of September 11, 2001 may realize that there is no need to attribute these actions to Satan, to evil personified or human insanity. They may come to acknowledge the more frightening reality that some human beings, who are not insane, making use of God’s astounding gift of free will, are fully capable of the most unthinkable atrocities. They may also realize that God is not God the way we would be God if we were God. God does not ordinarily interrupt events in nature or acts of people in order to prevent dire consequences in the lives of innocent people. We may ask why this is so? Some say it is so that God can draw good (such as the outpouring of love and compassion in New York) out of these dire consequences. Others say they simply do not know why. Perhaps the only answer is the answer of St. Paul to the Corinthians. “We see now through a glass darkly. But then face to face.” Our Catholic faith does not teach us that the answers to all of life’s difficult questions are ours in this life.

As Catholics we believe that God created and loves every human person in the world. It is not His will that innocent people suffer. Nor is all suffering somehow a punishment due to sin. Recall the story in John’s gospel where the apostles asked Jesus whether the man born blind was blind because of his sin or the sin of his parents. Jesus answered that it was not because of anyone’s sin. We believe that God knows us better than we know ourselves and that everything that happens to us is mysteriously within Divine Providence. God impels us to love Him with our whole being and to love our neighbors (every other human being) as we love our selves. While God does not eliminate suffering from our lives, He does not abandon us when we suffer. In some way, beyond our comprehension, through the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Christ, the compassionate God suffers with us. This is not the time to let your faith be shaken. This is the time to deepen it and share it with others. This is the time to renew our efforts to uproot all forms of bias and prejudice against anyone or any group (especially people of Arabic and Muslim backgrounds) from our hearts. This is the time to meet Christ in the sacraments of reconciliation and Eucharist more, the time to give more, live more, pray more, forgive more, love more.

Pope John Paul II, obviously shaken by this new American day of infamy, said. “This was a dark day in the history of humanity. How is it possible to commit acts of such savage cruelty? The human heart has depths from which schemes of unheard of ferocity sometimes emerge. Faith comes to our aid at these times when words seem to fail. Christ’s word is the only one that can give a response to the questions which trouble our spirit. Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say.” It is in this spiritual rather than military sense that we can be confident that God really is on our side!