Content about September 11 attacks

September 2, 2011

Sept. 11, 2001

Remembrances and viewpoints from The Progressive Christian's contributors will appear through Sept. 11, 2011.

August 24, 2011

Religious Events for 9/11 Tenth Anniversary

Sept. 11 commemorative events planned for the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, have been moved to new locations after a large crane repairing earthquake damage fell on part of the building.

Churches and other faith-based organizations around the United States are gearing up to present a message of hope, faith, tolerance and unity as the nation observes the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

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September 8, 2011

Are We More Committed to Peace-making?

The greatest memorial to those who died ten years ago will be a world more inclined toward peace. What are we doing to build a living memorial like that?

Americans experienced the first large non-domestic terrorist attack on our own soil on Sept. 11, 2001, a reality that is far too much a present and continuing reality in other parts of the world. We joined that reality in 2001. Many people died senselessly that day, and many still grieve their loss.

September 6, 2011

Bad Air, Bad Fires, Bad 9/11 Choices

The Obama Administration wimps out on saving the environment while drought-fueled wildfires blaze through Texas. Meanwhile, the mayor of New York City sets off his own sparks by refusing to include clergy in the 9/11 commemoration.

Faith & the Common Good Sept. 6, 2011

Cough, cough, hack, gasp! That's the sound of the TPC Editor's asthma in the midst of Dallas' Grade F-quality air, which bodes to get worse after the Obama Administration's latest environmental faux pas.

September 2, 2011

A Defining Decade

The Rev. Dan R. Dick ponders five reflections on how the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 affected the United States and American churches.

The way we respond to tragedy often provides the clearest definition of a nation’s character. Five responses to the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001 are etched in my heart, and they provide the benchmarks by which I have measured our healing and growth in the past decade. Each says something, I think, about our sense of identity and destiny.

September 2, 2011

We Took the Wrong Turn

We turned a single horrific event into a war against all known and unknown enemies of America. In that mission we even attacked the wrong people.

We took the wrong turn following the 9/11 disaster. We made terrorists the all consuming enemy. We turned a single horrific event into a war against all known and unknown enemies of America.

In that mission we even attacked the wrong people. None of the highjackers were Afghanis. With the goal of destroying the Taliban and extinguishing Osama Bin Laden, we killed many innocent people, bringing destruction to the land. The Taliban was weakened, but not vanquished, and Osama was not found until ten years later. And the conflict continues in a cloud of confused purposes.

May 6, 2011

A Call to Prayer for the Pathways to Peace

We know that revenge does not lead to healing and reconciliation. It does not move us any closer to peace.

The news that the United States military has located and killed Osama bin Laden at his compound in Pakistan comes as the nation prepares to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the downing of United Airlines Flight 93 over southwest Pa. These tragic events left Americans and people throughout the world in shock and grieving the senseless loss of life resulting from this intentional assault planned and carried out by al-Qaida under the leadership of Osama bin Laden.

May 3, 2011

Osama bin Laden Reaction

Faith leaders and religion journalists alike weigh in on the significance of and response to the death of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden at the hands of a U.S. special-operations force.

Compiled by TPC

Following public jubilation at news that a U.S. special operations team had killed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, religious leaders across America issued sober reflections on the spiritual significance of the military action and public response.

The following excerpts come from statements and columns issues by religious leaders and journalists.

May 2, 2011

A Grim and Joyless Satisfaction

For Christians there can be no unalloyed rejoicing at Osama bin Laden's death either in its manner or its result. The U.S. military action that captured and killed the terrorist mastermind must be viewed as a necessity that recognizes all humans' capacity for evil.

Years ago I reviewed a book called Unspeakable: Facing Evil in an Age of Genocide and Terror by social critic Os Guinness. Its thesis was that the capacity for evil exists in every human being; therefore, the then-current political philosophy that Americans were unquestionably the good guys and global terrorists unquestionably the bad guys was both false and unbiblical. I agreed with Guinness then, and I agree with him now that the world is celebrating the death of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden at the hands of a Navy Seals-CIA secret-ops team.