This week your assignment is to spend some time in research and reflection concerning the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. First, what are your personal recollections of the day? How did you find out about the attacks, and how did you and those around you respond?
As you all know, the Bible instucts us to love our enemies. In light of the world-wide terrorism threat, how ought Christians balance the necessity of protecting ourselves and our country with Christ's command that we respond to evil with good? Keep in mind that America represents Christianity in the minds of many people around the world.
The basic guidelines for this assignment are the same as the ones that have come before: 200 word essay and at least two responses to others (totalling 150 words).
Visit the website http://www.history.com/content/9-11 to research the events and response of September 11, 2001. There will be a small and very basic quiz on Friday, September 11, 2009 over information you can find on the history.com webpage.
Here's a bonus opportunity for those that are interested: Visit the website http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/index.html and research one of the Native American tribes that the Lewis and Clark expedition encountered along the way. Write a brief essay (150 words) sharing what you find and turn it in during class this week.
Some of you are waiting to the last minute to do your homework assignments and that has a way of working out in a very negative way sometimes. Let's get right on this assignment - don't procrastinate! Your work so far has been more than exciting - I've truly enjoyed getting to read your opinions and ideas!
September 11th, 2001-I remember that day fairly clearly. I would have been in third grade in Mrs. Swafford’s math class, completely misinformed. My classmates and I were trudging into the room completely unaware that the smoking towers we saw on the television was something that would change America-that was happening right then. Honestly, I didn’t know what to think about it at that time. I knew it was bad- people were killed, and that the landscape I had just visited that previous summer would be ruined forever. Our principal soon told all the teachers to turn off their TV’s in order to protect us from having freak-out sessions, I guess.
ReplyDeleteSo now that I have had to research this tragic day for a homework assignment, I am very disturbed in some ways. It really breaks my heart to see how all of those people-the ones who were in the building, the surrounding areas, the firefighters, the police, and even those who were on the planes lost their lives. Words cannot describe the horror I felt as I watched those videos on the website. I know that I wasn’t there, I wasn’t one of the ones who had family members or loved ones suddenly gone, and I can’t imagine what kind of effect that would have had on me, to be there. The worst part was just hearing the screams of the people when the first and then second tower crashed into the World Trade Centers. Hearing about it is one thing, but actually watching it makes it seem more real to me than ever.
As far as the Christ-like, loving your enemies approach- I have to speak the truth of what I know for sure-the Bible says we are to love and pray for our enemies. Whoa, that’s a really tough command to obey. The anger I saw in some people when it happened; the bitterness tragedies like this must cause in people’s hearts I’ll never completely be able to comprehend because I didn’t lose a loved one from this event. But what I do know and can understand is the love for others that only God can place within me- to hate the sin but still love the person. So many times has Christ forgiven our failures! These terrorists, who feel it is their duty to do such things as what took place on September 11th-we need a Savior just as much as they do. The world is full of evil, but as Christians we must be a light in the darkness. Something else that caught my attention was how selfless those firefighters and rescue teams were. It’s amazing to me how they were so willing to put their lives to danger to try to find ways to rescue many others. That portrays a good message of how we should be as Christians. Since our country is considered a Christian one , let’s live up to that standard- what would Jesus do?
September 11, 2001. I was in 2nd grade, it seemed like any other day, but when we came back from lunch I knew something was wrong. Teachers were crying and several kids were called to the office to go home. But class went on. I had forgotten all about it until the phone rang. My teacher answered it, listened for a moment, and hung up. She told me my mom had called and said my sister was alright. I thought that was really random. Why would my mom call to tell me something like that? When she picked me up after school she told me there had been an accident and that planes had crashed into important buildings. I didn’t understand what she was saying but when I got home I saw the news playing on our TV. It kept switching between video clips of the Towers burning but when it switched to the burning Pentagon I realized why my mom had called the school-my sister worked at the Pentagon.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I still didn’t quite understand what had happened I knew it was something really bad; now I know it was so much worse than that. I am so thankful that I didn’t lose anyone on that horrible day and I can’t imagine what it was like for the millions that did.
Mr. Akers, I’m glad you made this our assignment for this week. It’s an awful subject to think about but I’ve found that people are forgetting about all the lives that were lost and the lives that were risked by police officers, firefighters, and just a normal fellow who tried to help out.
I remember the first anniversary-we were all called to the gym and had a special ceremony to remember. We may have had another one the next year and maybe the next…but not anymore. It may have been eight years ago but why have we forgotten? Should we just forget until it’s been ten years? I think it’s about time we remembered.
I don't remember a lot about september 11th. The basic recollection of it all was that I was in school (2nd grade I believe) at lunch time. A techer at my school (Ms. Bradshaw) came in an said something about the pentagon being bombed. I had no idea what that was at the tmie. Then we heard about the twin towers. I came home at normal time and it was all over the news. I didn;t know anyone who was connected with it, but it made me very upset to see all the pain it caused people around me. I don't handle loss very well so I felt horrible. I remember the memorials we did every year at school. I remember the prayer services. I remember the President's speech. I remember a good deal of it all.
ReplyDeleteThe september 11th attacks further illustrates the our gov't and country as a whole should always be on guard. I think that God used this as a way to bring his children back to him.
Once again I'm sorry I don't have a lot to say i just don't see how you guys have so much material to talk about.
Yeah anna I wish I had tackled the whole Love your enemies approach on here. The Bible commands so much of us when it comes to loving our enemies. The command is clearly communicated yet people have trouble when actually comes to doing it. I also struggle with this especially when it comes down to people who kill americans.
ReplyDeleteguffey, I think our 9.11 services should be a little more pronounced at school. We need to have one every year to remind everyone that our country is still suffering the after effects of this tragedy. Though it was a while ago I think its important to always remind and teach future generations about what happened.
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ReplyDeleteMy personal recollection of 9.11 is a little vague, but what of it I remember is that my family was on vacation and we did not find out about the attacks until we pulled into a gas station. This was only a couple minutes after the first attack. When we went inside the TV was on a news channel and the first thing I saw was a building with smoke coming out of it. Then when we were done in the gas station we turned the radio in our car to a news station. The attack that hit closest to home however was the attack on the pentagon. This was because at the time my uncle was working at it. When I heard that the pentagon was hit I did not make the connection right away but the my dad said he hoped that my uncle was ok. I believe that it was only by the grace of God that the plane that struck the pentagon hit a part of the building that was under renovation.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that comes to mind is in my seventh grade year the administrator of the school I was going to had one of his friends who had been in the world trade towers give an address to the whole junior high and high school over the phone. He said that the day before he felt something telling him not to go to work so he didn’t. He said that he felt the same thing the next day, the day of 9.11, but he decided to go to work any way. I don’t really remember any thing else about what was said but I do remember how much every one was moved by what was said.
On to the second part of the question. I think that it is a very good question to ask. In my opinion you need to look at the complete picture not just the 9.11 attacks. terrorism on a global scale if not stopped will go on to kill millions of people. So if you look at the greater good then you can see the need to stop it.
September 11, 2001, I remember being in my second grade class, when Mr. Volpi came into the room. He handed Mrs Lange a newsletter sort of thing and she started to cry. We were all really confused. She read some verses to us, and gave us a "second grade" version of what had taken place, and we had a time of prayer for our country. My brain still didn't quite comprehend it all. I went home as normal; mom picked me up as normal, but she was real upset. Chandler was only four so he didn't know anything. We went home..and from here I don't really remember anything until...that night. I went into the living room to tell my parents good night, and mom and dad were watching t.v. To this day I can recall the first image I saw. It was of little tiny people jumping like mad men out of these smoking buildings that were crumbling to the ground. I started crying because, although I didn't know what, I realized something bad had happened. Mom was crying; Dad was real quiet. Kindly as they could they explained it to me.
ReplyDeleteNow, this is second grade. Bad things like terrorist attacks in New York City, just don't happen. It's America; we're supposed to be safe.
Our church at the time (Beacon Hill Baptist) had a special service and we honored the men and women who had been in the planes and buildings. We prayed for the president and the government. I remember as a little kid being absolutely terrified of Osama bin Laden and Sadam Hussein after the attacks.
Obviously now I understand it all a lot more. Now I understand the threats, the wars, the terrorist groups. When I was in second grade, I could not imagine why someone would want to hurt our country.
The global war on terrorism: I mean there are a lot of reasons it's all going on. Ultimately we are to love our enemies, right? I as much as the next person don't want war or fighting. If it's what we have to do to protect our country...well. I don't know. But anyway back to the loving our enemies thing. That's the first step we, as Americans, should make an effort to do. Learn to love these people, put it in God's hands, protect our country, and go with it from there. The global war on terrorism isn't just because of the 9/11 attacks. It's been going on much longer than that. It's going to be a long, slow, methodical process, if we are to totally wipe it out.
As sophomores and juniors of Somerset Christian School, well the best thing we can do, PRAY; pray hard for our government, our soldiers, and the terrorist groups. God can do anything, right? He's sovereign. I'll leave you this thought, what if Osama bin Laden became a Christian. Somewhat far-fetched for our minds, but hey, with God all things are possible. That's just like really really cool to think about. I don't know..like I said kind of fairytaleish, but it gives me goosebumps. Neat thought. We must not forget what took place that day, but even more so, we CANNOT ever forget the perfect unaltered power of God to do anything and everything He wants.
"...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land..."
2 Chronicles 7:14
On September 11, 2001, I was in school during the terrorist attacks on the towers. I was in second grade at Oak Hill Elementary School. I do not remember hardly anything about that day. That day, I think it was sometime after lunch, the teachers and workers at our school were all talking, and a lot of stuff was going on. I was told later about the attacks. I did not really understand the significance of it or really care what happened, because it did not affect me then, and I was only like seven years old. I can remember that my parents and the adults at my school were all taking the event very seriously and were pretty emotional and upset about it. I think my second grade teacher told me about the attacks, but I really do not remember much at all about that day
ReplyDeleteAs Christians we should we should balance the need of protecting ourselves and our country with Christ's command that we respond to evil with good by not letting terrorists and other people walk all over us kill Americans, but to also not go out and bomb them and kill thousands of their people. We should protect ourselves and other people, but not harm and kill our enemies.
September 11, 2001. I was at home with my mom and brother. It was another day just like any other one. I remember my mom running to the radio and turning the volume up, for what I thought was no aperient reason. She said, “Kids, the world will never be the same.” Being nine years old, I thought I knew everything, so I said, “Its just a building.” come to find out I didn’t know all that much.
ReplyDeleteWe didn’t have cable so mom rushed us to the Bartley’s house where we spent the rest of the day watching the towers fall and people going crazy. Jessica and I were playing in the livingroom floor pretending to be interested (which was hardly at all) when I looked up and saw, with horror, a man jump out of a window in the tower. It seamed like he fell forever. I also remember a man that had blood running down his face, he was running down the street yelling.
I can’t really remember much more than that, other than the Pentagon getting hit also. I know that it sound weird but the Bible says that we are to prey for our enemies and those who persecute us. It also says that by preying for them you heap burring coles on their heads. I know this sound harsh but back when the bible was written, when people traveled, they had a pot that they carried on their heads to put their coles in so they would have them for latter. Now, if your Coles didn’t stay hot you would have to ask someone to share their’s. So by heaping hot Coles on their heads, you are basically killing them with kindness.
With all that said, we need to prey for our enemies not just to get what we want, but because they need Jesus just as much as you and me. I think that we all to often forget that Jesus died for everyone, not just the good people, or the people that deserve it(which is none of us).
Wow, September 11th, 2001....hard to believe its been this long.
ReplyDeleteI was sitting in my 3rd grade class, listening to my teacher Mrs. Underwood talk about some subject I don't remember. Then my principal, Mrs. Campbell, came running in the door. I remember being scared to death by her slamming the door haha. But then I began to grow concerned, because I saw that her eyes were full of tears. Now all of us, myself and my classmates, were genuinely concerned. After she left, we all said simultaneously: "What's wrong, Mrs. Underwood?" She was completely at a loss for words. She went to her desk, and just put her head in her hands...and cried. At that time, another teacher brought in a tv and switched it to CNN, followed by my principal. She wasn't crying, but I could tell she wasn't going to hold out long. All I can remember saying is: "Students, what you're about to see will be unlike what you've ever seen before." By now, we were all just wanting to know what was going on. So the show comes back on after a commercial, and the camera is focused on these two identical towers. I'd never seen them before, and I had no idea where they were. Then, I see a small (small to the camera, not in real life) plane come zooming into the shot and smash into one of the towers. We all gasped, and immediately crowded around the tv. The tower immediately begins to smoke, and the site where the plane crashed erupted into flame. At this point, I was full of questions: "Where is this?" "Why did a plane hit that building?" "Is this an accident?" The last question was quickly erased when the second tower was struck with another plane less than 40 minutes later.
As disturbing as that was, this next part is what really burned me up in my heart. Somehow, people had managed to get cameras on the roof's of other building's near the World Trade Center's. As I watched the tv screen, I began to see people appearing on the roof of the North tower, as well as the South. Now, being the young 3rd grader that I was, I thought that they were waiting to be rescued. You know, by a helicopter or something. I thought I was going to pass out when I was people JUMP OFF of the roof's of these buildings to their death's. This was out of pure desperation. Those people knew that they were going to die. They just chose to do it now rather than wait and go down when the building went down. Gosh, I get sick to my stomach just thinking about it now.
Gosh when you look at the horrible footage of the events of September 11th, 2001, fogiveness for these people who cause this is a hard pill to swallow, myself included! But this is where the forgiveness all comes together. In Matthew 18:21-24, Peter is stuggling with the amoung of times he should forgive people who wrong him. So he asks Christ: "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? 7 times?" Then Christ says,"I tell you, not 7 times, but 7 times 70 shall you forgive him." Now, of course the 7 times 70 is just a figure of speech, you should forgive no matter how many times. But the principle is what really get's me. I tell you, nothin gets me more mad then when I hear about 5 Marines who were killed by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) by a bunch of terrorists who don't have the guts to come out of their caves and fight like real men. But then, when I read this verse, its like God gives me a wake-up call. I mean, God sent his SON, HIS ONLY SON!!! to die for US?? a bunch of sinners who don't deserve to have the privilege to be in God's presence for even a second?? Now that is what Matthew 18:21-24 is really about. The least we can do is be forgiving, the least.
Sorry this was so long, but this is an issue I am so incredibly passionate about.
Wow Madyson, I love your essay. Especially the last 2 paragraphs. If Osama Bin Laden became a Christian, I think that would quiet every doubt about the Christian faith in the world. It's awe-inspiring to think about the the things that God can do.
ReplyDeleteAnd that verse is just amazing, ties in perfectly to what you said in your entire essay. Kind of a little sidenote here..but it's amazing to know that for EVERY situation we will face in this world...there will always be a scripture to look to and seek guidance from.
Anyway, loved it Madyson.
Guffey, I really feel like a jerk, but I have to disagree with you about the fact that you think that the United States of America has forgotten the events that took place on September 11th, 2001. I know this is a bad topic to disagree with someone on, but i just have a little bit to say about this. And Guffey I'm glad that your sister didn't lose her life in the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001. Praise God for that.
ReplyDeleteWell...the fact of the matter is this. I just am a little confused at the fact that you think we've forgotten about a day that we still mourn and remember today. I mean take this very assignment for example, why would we be doing this if we didn't remember this day? Here are some more example's: Why do hundreds, if not thousands, probably millions of ceremonies take place around the country...if not the world...remembering the victims that perished during the terrible tragedy that took place on September 11th, 2001? Why was there a new Memorial dedicated to the Victims of the attacks on the Pentagon opened last year on September 11th? Why have a number of movies been produced depicting the bravery and heroics of the policemen and firefighters on September 11th, 2001? Also, don't forget about the passengers aboard Flight 93...who gave their lives to stop the terrorists on board their plane from crashing into the White House. Why did we create a NEW BRANCH OF THE GOVERNMENT called the Deparment of Homeland-Security after September 11th, 2001? I mean I'm not like crazy mad or anything, but those are just a few ways that we have remembered/are remembering September 11th, 2001.
Yeah, I feel like a jerk, disagreeing about someting about September 11th, 2001. But...I don't think people will EVER forget a day in American History where such a terrible tragedy took place. Like Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was 68 years ago (this winter anyway). And people still remember that. Vividely.
Again, not trying to be a jerk. Not trying to call you out or anything Guffey, but that's just a thought of mine...
And Mr. Akers, I had a lot more typed out for my comment. But every time I would try to post, it would say: "HTML Error: Must have no more than 4,069 Characters." Oh well
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't remember one single thing about the day of 9/11. I would have been in 3rd grade in Georgia. However, I have been trying my hardest every since I read this assignment, which would have been Monday morning, to remember just one thing about that day, but I can't. So I can't speak so much on how people were crying at my school or anything because I don't know. I am sure my parents knew about it, but they probably didn't think to tell me because I was quite little and probably wouldn't have understood or cared. I am sure my parents cared and watched the news about it for a while, but I just don't know for sure.
ReplyDeleteSo how should we react? I think at the time, it was simply prayer. I think Psalm 61 is a good example of this:
Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of thy wings. Selah.
Here is a comment I saw on a website in response to 9/11:
“So what should be our response? Do we cringe in fear? Do we react in anger? Do we run and hide? No--we fall to our knees in prayer for those who have lost loved ones--whose world is shattered and broken beyond belief. We pray for our President, for our leaders, for those giving medical assistance. And we pray for our beloved land, America--that this horrible tragedy will bring our nation back to God, back to moral values, back to the altar--where we all belong this day.”
Gos is in control. While this was a terrible, terrible accident that occurred, all we can do is pray and put it into God's hands and pray that the government leaders do the same.
I am talking like this happened yesterday, but I should have been talking in the past, while some of this does still apply today. I didn't really write much because I have a hard time getting it on paper, but I have a strong passion about this.
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ReplyDeleteOn September 11, 2001 I was in second grade. I slightly remember somebody mentioning an airplane while interrupting class. I really didn’t get what was happening, but when I got into the car at the end of the school day; my mom told me that some men had run airplanes into these two towers. Other than that, I don’t remember what everyone else said. To be honest, it scared me half to death. Like I said, I wasn’t aware of the full extent of the situation, but I understood that it was bad. I went through a time when I was afraid of the airplanes that went over my house at night. I thought about them crashing into my house or other buildings. Yes, it is funny, but the point is that it became real to me. That day was a big deal. The older I got, the more I understood that.
ReplyDeleteNow the issue of precaution and Christianity. I think it is so easy to be judgmental. Since that day, we look at any Middle Eastern person differently. If you’re honest with yourself you’ll admit that you look at them differently. I think this is where we are wrong, when we look at them with hate, other than caution. Being careful is not a sin. When we do things, such as being more sensitive(security wise) to those from the Middle East in the airports, is this wrong? I’m not so sure. I think it becomes wrong when we reach a level of prejudice and judgment, but when we do it correctly and in the best interest of our country’s (and people’s) safety, I say we are justified.
September 11 will be a day that we all will never lose thought of. It’s just indescribable. As I was looking up info on the website Mr. Akers gave us, I was watching the preview for 102 Minutes that Changed America. The video taken by those individuals really made me think. All of the heaviness came back. It was one of those things I saw and will never really understand why we felt what we felt, but as I watched this footage I realized this was more than just death. We felt violated as a country. Our safe, undefeatable country had been brought to its knees. That’s why we take extreme precautions. They’re necessary. Even now it’s just kinds coming to me. We talk about 9/11, but we experienced it. When our grandchildren learn about this in history class, we’ll be able to tell them what we saw, what we experienced. This whole experience really shows what America can be. The way God uses tragedy for the people. We can be the unified, Christian nation that came about on September 11. It’s fascinating.
Hannah, praying for our enemies is something we all have to do. Sometimes we do it out of pure desperation. I believe that's where we may be with theses terrorists. We are just so sick of their torture that we cry out to God to make it all stop and that these men will find Jesus Christ somehow. But this shouldn't be what happens. We have to love our enemies. We should pray for them because we want everyone to have the pleasure of living for God. It's hard, but we need to have a compassion for these people. When the planes were hijacked, it's reported they heard "Allah is great, Allah is great" over the radios. This stuck to me.It really brought about a compassion in me. These people are so overcome by lies. We must pray for them to be delivered.
ReplyDeleteColby, you brought out one of the most important points we should talk about during this time. God has control. Not just in our little day-to-day issues, but in situations that involve the death of thousands. This was such a horrible occurance, but America made a sharp detour to God. It was almost as if everyone really saw that tomorrow is not promised. They were able to turn to God for comfort and even though we see this passion has depleated, it gives us hope to see it can happen. We have to put everything into the perfect will of God.
ReplyDeleteWhen 9-11 happened, i was in 2nd grade. Much like the other students, i was unaware why some of the teachers were crying, and some students from our class were leaving. Later that day, after i was picked up from school, my mom told me that some very bad men had crashed a plane into the twin towers. As the days went by, it was all over the news, and i saw the impact it had on america, some people were saying that we need more national security, while all my parents could was pray, and i agree with them. We need to pray for not only the people who lost there love ones, but also for the people who were behind the attacks, and that some how, they would come to know you and turn themselves in. I do agree in some senses that we may need better national security, but that doesn't mean we go over and bomb Iraq. I cannot even begin to think about the hardships husbands, wife's, children, grandparents etc, had to come over when they had found out about 9-11. So we as a Nation need to pray for our troops, and our enemies.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 11, 2001! I was in second grade, Mrs Laigns class. I was on my way up the hill to "After care." Andrew came up to me and said that we had to leave and didn't explain why. I fought with him because I didn't understand why we had to leave. He just grabbed me and threw me in his car.
ReplyDeleteWhen i got home my parents weren't there. They had been in a state wide prayer meeting at the cabin that held the historical Cane Ridge Revival. My parents had heard about the attack from people that had heard on there radios. Kent Henry, a musician had to rent a car to get back to St. Louise, Missouri since they had grounded all the flights. My parents had stop to eat a late lunch in Lexington. Everybody was glued to the T.V. to find out what was happening. There was hardly any traffic, the United States had come to a stand still.
Winston Churchill said ,"One ought never to turn ones back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meat it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half."
Christian or non christian, country's still must stand and fight for their country. Its important to have the right motives for the fight. If you are fighting just to fight or are you fighting to protect your country.
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ReplyDeleteon september 11, 2001 i was in mrs gamotia's third grade and my class was at recess. i remember walking down the long concrete walkway to the elementry wing and meeting our awesome teacher at the door. however, on most occations she looked and was happy, this time this was not the case. mrs "g" this time was in tears and was totally speechless. she ushered us into the class and then exited only to return a few minutes later totally composed but still retaining that sadness and empathy she had expressed before. later after returning home from school i learned of arguablly one of the worst tragedies on american soil. possibly because of it relivence to us and the fact that it feels still so close to home. i mean pre-9/11 to me we were america and no one in my mind would dare mess with us. but that day changed everything, i and millions of other americans were awakened to sad realization of radical islam and terror.
ReplyDeleteas regareds to the bible: i honestly believe its most important to realize our responsibility to "go". i mean missions was apperentlly a huge deal to christ and should be our desire as christians. however, i think its apperently clear that god saw war as an option. i mean the bookof judges pretty well tells the tale along with parts of genesis and other books. i think its important to remember the ppl that we actually are at war with. these are radical muslims who see being martyred as a way of salvation (the only way). these terrorist are in no way nice or "fluffy" which they are sometimes made out to be, these ppl would much rather kill u as opposed to talk or even kno u exist.
over all i believe there is a major difference in murder and killing, war is obviously not condemned by god but rather indorsed. i think there is a balance. it is rediculous to say that we should sit here and be pasified by our libral medias agenda and believe that if it was possible that these terrorist wouldnt come and kill us if it was at all possible. i think our armed forces is the one thing that stands between us and death. i think we are the face of christianity, but in most nations we rent. do u think other countries are showing pastors on tv or mtv or vh1. obviously it is not hard for our image as a christian nation to be distorted.
biggin i think old winston had it write. i agree totally with wat u said. i think you make a great point when saying whether a christian or non-christian you still face war and death. there will always be a struggle for pwr and war somewhere in the world. we live in a imperfect world made unperfect by imperfect ppl. but its important to remember there will be a day with no more tears and no more fears where we will be with our brothers and sisters in perfection with the one who created all and there we will experiance true peace. but until then i think, as u point out, there will always be a battlefield and always be a place where christians maybe be called as warriors to defend the defensless and lead the leaderless and love the loveless.
ReplyDeletesam i actually wanna coment on your comment about guffys.
ReplyDeletei feel kinda like a jerk. but i think its apperent just as you do that its somewhat rediculous to think that america has forgotten 9/11. 1st we wouldnt be doing this if it was forgotten and there would not be millions of ppl stopping every year to remember it. 2nd i think mainly president 9bush) did handle the situation as best as could be expected. he wasnt perfect but who is. also i think if you look at it today who are the ppl who wanna forget about 9/11? its the libral activists who have an agenda where 9/11 maybe somewhat inconvieniant. i think the libral wackos such as the idiot(s) at colombia university, that say america was behind 9/11. well if anyone in america was it must a been them. i think we are at somewhat of a pre-9/11 state, but again i think this atmosphere is created by the left, such as our president and his cabinet, right now to be happy and convieniant for things to be possitive and push for "change" and especially when libral media is backing the president and will not report somethings that evidently need reporting, but may inconvieniance the "agenda". with the exception of a few stations who will report the news. but to conclude i think we must always remember 9/11 because of its impact on us and our generation.
On September 11, 2001, I was seven years old. I was homeschooled up till this year, so I learned about it at home. It seemed like a normal day for me, but at around 9:00p.m. mom and dad started whispering and looking nervous. I of course had no idea of what was happening, and thought it had somthing to do with my grandparents. A little after that, mom and dad herded me and my sisters(I have two sisters) into my dads office upstairs. They looked very grave and sad, and we started to get woried. We thought we were in trouble! They said that they wanted to show us somthing very important that had just happened. Dad turned on the TV, ( I dident even know we got TV, since we never got to watch it), and flipped to the news channel. What I saw didn't make very much sence to me. On the screen, I saw two very large and tall towers that I, to that point, dident know even exsisted. After a few seconds, a large plane flew into the scene and rammed right into the towers. I was very suprised and impressed by the huge fireball that erupted from the building, and I think I senced the fact that that a lot of people had died, but it didn't really hit me untill later. After that, I saw the second plane hit the second building, and then both the buildings fall.
ReplyDeleteIn the following weeks, I herd TONS of 9-11 stories. It was like all my parents would talk about! I felt terrible about what had happened, and about all the people that had died, but it all seemed kind of distant to me. I don't think I had the,"Who would do this?" approach to it which seem kind of strange to me.
A few years ago, my parents started researching what had happened at 9-ll, andthey showed me a lot of what they found. Quite frankly, I was horrified at what I saw. If you look for it, there is a ton of evidence that shows what REALLY happened at 9-11.
I'm not trying to make a political statement here, and i'm not a conspirisery theorist, but If you really want to know what happened at 9-11, please look it up for yourself! And please, look with an open mind. Look for the facts and evidence, and don't go by what other people say.
Have a great weekend!
Raphael
comment on pope.02 said.
ReplyDeleteI don't think america will ever forget what happened on september 11, but I do think that it's important not to let it get ritulistic. For those who lost someone special that day, i thing it would be impossible to forget it. But for others, it might be easy to get caught up in the "remembering" part of the day, that they forget what really happened.
Just as an interesting side note, years before september eleven, a book was published called "The War on Terror", or something like that. What was interesting about the book was that, on the cover, it showed the twin towers IN CROSSHAIRS! Hhhhhmmmm... very strange, or, not so strange.
On 9/11 I really had no idea what had happened that day. I saw my teachers crying but didn’t understand it. I remember walking into my house through the back door that day and my mom was pale in the face and crying as she watched the news. We asked what was wrong and she told us about the planes crashing into the towers. I still didn’t really understand why it was that big of a deal. I mean planes crash everyday. What I didn’t realize was it was hi-jacked and crashed on purpose. The number of people killed in that attack astonishes me to this day.
ReplyDeleteeven though the bible says we are to love our enemies, it can be extremely hard to do so in times like this. I know that I didn’t love them at the time and its still hard for me to. but the bible commands us to so I guess we need to since it is Gods word. Even though America is a Christian nation, it seems like the sin in the world keeps increasing. How can we call ourselves Christians when “everyone” (as seen through the worlds view) sees us acting just the same as everyone else? We need to stand firm in our faith and spread it throughout the world.
September 11, 2001: Who can forget that date? It is embroidered upon the hearts of every living American. Just hearing the words "September 11" evokes a sense of patriotism and pride inside of me. Unfortunatelyt, years from now, when we are all dead and gone, teenagers will be apathetically copying down projectile notes in lazy penmanship and temporarily memorizing the date... but it won't be the same.
ReplyDeleteOn September 11, 2001, I was supposed to be in school. (What is to follow is fact, not excuse) Unfortunately, the night before, my sister had dyed her hair and left the solution in too long, so I was in the uncomfortable chair of a hair salon's waiting area with her. I remember that the TV was turned to some comedy, but one of the ladies recieved a phone call or something and turned the channel to the news quickly. At my young age I didn't realize the significance of what I saw. I only saw the recurring video feed of a buliding falling down and the awestruck expressions of those whose faces flashed across the screen, nothing else registered at the time.
I don't remember if it was that day or a few days later, but I remember my parents and grandparents talking about the tragedy. Their conversations mostly focussed on who did it, because at the time we didn't know who was responsible for it, but occasionally they would drift into a sidenote of sympathy and patriotism.
To me, it all meant nothing. I was just a kid and inside my little mind I couldn't differentiate between the realism of the attacks and the fictitious scenes that played on television everyday. The first time my parents ever included me in their conversations about September 11, was when the Allen Jackson song came out called "Where Were You?" My dad, being the huge country fan he is, talked to me about the threat of war and such and it began to make sense.
Some say forgive and forget, but that is only partially true, especially in this situation. Forgive. Do forgive the lost men who hijacked the planes that day and ran them into the World Trade Centers, but don't forget; don't forget the pride that you feel when you think of America fighting to protect its freedoms and get closure for the many lives we lost that day, don't forget the feeling that comes over you everytime you see that recurring image of the Trade Centers falling to the ground, or when you see photos of the mound of ash-covered concrete with an American flag flying boldly in the center; but mostly don't forget this: We ARE America.
We are America,
We are strong.
We stand tall
Against the fight,
Heroes are we all.
This is land of liberty
what God has given us,
we will not let fall.
Om September 11, 2001, I remember waking up to watch cartoons. I was 5 years old at the time, and homeschooled. School started at 9am for us, so I'd always get up at 8am to watch Arther and other shows that came on PBS before school. I remember that after I had been watching TV for a little while, the news flashed on. I just saw this man that was talking and thought the channel had been changed to Fox or some other news network. I flipped through all 72 channels and literally everyone one had a similar news broadcast on. I went into my parents bedroom and told them something bad must've been happening. After about 15 minutes of persuasion I got my dad up. He looked at the TV for 10 seconds and muttered something like 'Oh my gosh...' under his breath. My mom came in the room a minute later, and I saw big tears in her eyes. I remember being concerned and sitting down to see what was so wrong. I saw smoke coming from a building and then a replay of a plane hitting it. Being a 5 year-old I thought this was 'cool'. But then it showed a woman no the street crying harder than anymore I'd ever seen anyone cry. And he kid was beside her with a similar expression. Her husband, and his dad, had been lost in the building. I couldn't understand much at that age, but I immediately understood how much it'd hurt to lose my dad. It was unbearable. The rest of the day is a little bit hazy to me...
ReplyDelete8 years after this catastrophe, I'm looking back. I remember how our whole nation panicked and felt vulnerable. I remember how the church turn-outs were the highest in decades. I remember seeing President Bush on TV attending church, and seeing tears in his eyes and hearing his voice shake as he addressed this tragedy. Tomorrow is 9-11. I am willing to bet that in chapel we will mention the event, have 30 second of silence, then go on as usual. Church turnouts are back to an all time low, and I doubt Obama will say more than a few words, if any, on the subject. America has forgotten just as people always do. We turn to God when we're scared and feel threatened, then, as soon as the sky clears, we're back to like nothing had ever happened. This has happened since the beginning of time. People will never learn.
That's all I have to say on this. God bless those who lost someone that day.
Pope, I like what you said about the ridiculousness of the idea that we were possibly behind the attacks, however I disagree about the we haven't forgotton part.
ReplyDeleteI think we have forgotten. Not like completely forgotten everything, but to most it's just another date to memorize for your history test. Perhaps I'm the only one who did this, but when I was writing my essay I had to look back on the webpage to see the year because I couldn't remember if it was 2000 or 2001. (Obviously I'm guilty of it.)
But we don't remember the significance of the date and some people question why we are even fighting this war in Afghanistan... this is why.
Just my oppinion.
Colby, you realy hit it with Psalm 61. God is all of this and so much more. We have and always will need His help in times of trouble. We will all, sometime or another, cry out to God in desperation.
ReplyDeleteIt seems somewhat blurry to me and almost like an old dream but I remember certain parts that I will never forget. I was in second grade when 9/11 occurred. My class and I was standing in the hall of our school when we heard the news that there had been terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and later on the Pentagon. A little while after that the school started to call our parents to pick us up. When my dad picked me up I could just see the look in his eyes. He was so angry and at that age it scared me so I just sit down in the car and stayed quite the whole ride home. When I had a chance to watch the news I saw all of the terror that was going on and then a feeling that was so weird and scary came over me. I realized that America being one of the strongest countries in the world had just been attacked. Not realizing it then I later remembered that my cousin was in New York at the time of the attack. I then asked my mom if she was okay and she told me that she was fine. Then I started to question why somebody would want to hurt so many innocent people that was just doing their daily jobs that day.
ReplyDeleteLooking back on it now I can't beleive that eight years has really passed by this fast. When I watch some of the documentaries on 9/11 I start to think that through what all that America went through during all of that everyone might have had some hatred towards the terrorists but in the end everyone handled it well. What some of us don't realize is because of 9/11 America was brought closer togethor more than ever. September 11, 2001, was like one of the last great Christian revivals in America because floods of people poured into churches seeking comfort and relief. To basically sum everything up September 11, 2001, was the day that all American's hearts just dropped from their chest.
I agree with what (Jarred) had to say about 9/11 being just like the assasination of John F. Kennedy or any other important event that has happened in history. It will mean something to the generation that was there when it happened but the generations to come will think its boring and just another set of boring history notes to write down. 9/11 to our generation is just unforgetable and sewn deep in our hearts but when we start telling our kids about it they will just think its another date in history to remember and they won't understand all that went on that horrible day.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 11th 2001 I remember so much of that day so clearly. At that time I was 7 homeschooled and I had just finished my school work when the phone rang. I just sat there and waited for mom to pick it up just thinking it was just another phone call from a friend or somthing. But mom picked the phone up an then an aweful look came over her face and she started to cry after talking for a minute or two she hung up the phone an turned the tv on. The first thing I saw was a sight that I will never forget. It was horrifying I saw two big buildings burning, firemen and police officers were running around, people were crying, and people jumping out of the buildings. I started crying a ran to my mom and hugged her and asked why the building was on fire and why people were jumping out. She told me what was happening and I just cryed more. I asked her why someone would want to do something as aweful as that and even though she tried to explain I didnt understand. For the next days my mom watched the news and I was horrified at what I saw and heard.
ReplyDeleteYes it was horrifying and one of the worst tragedies but as God says we are to love our enemies. WOW TALK ABOUT HARD TO DO ESPECIALLY WHEN SOMETHING LKE 9/11 HAPPENS!!! I personally struggle with that. I just cant understand how someone could be a part of what happened semptember 11th 2001 its aweful to think someone could be so heartless (In a sense). But yet we are to love them? Yes we are. As Americans and Christians we need to respond to this evil as Christ would (love them, pray for them, and forgive them.) Forgiving is a hard thing to do sometimes especaily something like 9/11 I cant even imagine the people that lost loved ones trying forgive something like that but yet we are supposed to. Jesus died on the cross so our sins Yours and mine and the terrorists absolutely everybodies could be forgiven. If Christ could do that for everysingle person then we can at least forgive, love and pray for our enemies.
I think what Colby Upton said was true. Prayer is just what our nation needed to handle the tragic events that happened on 9/11. I think that a lot of people had a somewhat hatred toward the Middle East but prayer is what helped some of the many family members that lost someone that day to in a way forgive the terrorists and the people of the Middle Eastern culture.
ReplyDeleteWell, I found out about 9-11 during school in second grade. It was just a normal school day until we realized what had happened. I remember Mrs. Lange crying. Obviously, we second graders freaked out when she told us what happened. I remember it startling me and getting my attention. (I didn’t understand what really happened, though) I definitely couldn’t fathom the significance of that event as an ignorant second grader. When she told us what happened, she got us together to pray.
ReplyDeleteI do believe we should balance out protecting our country and obeying God’s command to love our enemies. As Christians, we should pray for our enemies. We shouldn’t just pray for our country; we need to pray for terrorists, even though it’s hard to forgive their atrocities.
It was a day of incredible grief and courage in the US. At 7:45 p.m., the New York Police Dept. declared 78 officers missing and estimated 200 firefighters to be dead. That doesn’t even come close to the total of casualties created by the collapsing of the World Trade Center and the Twin Towers. There was a spirit of valor in those men that gave their lives. That day somewhat triggered a desire in America to seek after God and prayer. Of course, it has died off somewhat. It was just a short burst of revival energized by a tragedy; it didn’t last long. However, our country has not forgotten the event. There are many ceremonies every year respecting the event and honoring the bravery of many men. I just think it shouldn’t take a disaster to wake everyone up. I think some of America’s leaders might need something to occur that would wake them up to the reality of the One that has blessed our country and is still in control. (If it be God’s will)
I must say what jake said about when we feel threatened or scared we turn to God but when everything is going fine we just go on living our lives not thinking twice to turn to God. I have seen people do this many times and im guilty of it myself. When thing arent going our way an bad stuff is happening we turn to God for help which there is nothing wrong with that except the fact that we often dont turn to God to thank Him when things are goin good. We need to realize we cant live life without God we need Him everysingle day not just when thins arent going to great. God can bring you to your knees in an instant ( like He brought America to its knees ). You just need to be prepared which means turning to Him in everyday matters as well as tragedies and thing like that.
ReplyDeleteMadyson I really agree with you on your essay. With God EVERYTHING really is possible. And we absolutely DO NOT need to forget that awful September day. GOD REALLY IS GREAT!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd the verse you ended the essay with was kinda cool.
I don’t remember much from that day to be honest. I remember my teacher, Mrs. Hendon, being called to the office and then coming back in and told us something bad had happened. That’s all; I don’t recall tears or being upset or angry. But, I remember the memorials every year after, the footage played on its anniversary, and every prayer service I went to after; and each year I watch another video, hear another story, or go to another memorial all my emotions become more real than any emotion I felt that day. The first tower struck was the north tower, at 8:46. Soon after at 9:03 the south tower was hit, but the first tower to collapse would be the south tower. Then the north went too. The north tower took only 8 seconds to collapse-eight seconds! That’s plenty of time to think, but almost no time to move. When I watch the film of the towers falling I get angry. I see people hanging off the edge of the tower waiting until their arms give out to fall and then, in one instant, the whole tower started to slide. I see the people who had escaped or were watching from the street start to run frantically and in a panic from the smoke and debris, now pouring into the streets. They drop their briefcases and purses and run as fast as they can only to be overtaken by the dark, dense cloud of debris.
ReplyDeleteNow, how can you expect me to pray and show kindness to the people who did this? You want me to pray-use the blessing we have of talking directly to God- for the people whose goal was to wreck and destroy as much of my country as they possibly could. My country, the place I live. No, I don’t know anyone who worked in the towers or pentagon. I can’t say that I knew someone who died there, but I know that I love my country and I am furious when I see people wanting to damage this country. Matthew 5:44-45 says, “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Being angry at terrorists isn’t going to make their life harder. Hating them won’t solve your problems or bring those people who died back, but loving them and praying for them will make a difference in your life. It’s not always easy to forgive people who have done things to you (or your country), but the Lord is willing to help you if you pray and ask for strength and help in forgiving people who have harmed you or your country.
Whenever i woke up that day i had no idea what was going to happen that morning. that day i was stting in my little class room waiting for class to start. at this time i went to a very small private school and the only tv in the whole school was in my class room. Our pricipal came running into our room and told to teacher to turn the tv on.so she did ,and i was just eight years old and had no clue what was going on. i remember all the other teachers and some of the older kids came in and everyone was talkin about what was happening. then the camera turned to the first tower and we watched the plane crash into the tower and the whole room got scilent. as i continuded to watch the tv screen i saw the second plane coming and i shouted "there comes another one" and one of the other kids said that it was just a preplay. i dont think anyone could believe what we were watching. then the second plane hit. it was terrialbe to watch the buildings burning. then one of the other kids saw that from the top floors of the buildings there were people jumping out. then all of a suddon one of the buildings collapsed. then the second. destroying other buildings and killing many more people
ReplyDeletei believe that the best way for us as americans should deal with the current terrorist threat in a christian mannor would be for us to hate them but we couldnt let that major crime go un punished. but at the same time we should be a little angry at our government officals because we did have warnings that someyhing like this would happen. with other bombings and things like that but it took the killin of all those people before we did anyhting. we should be fighting them but it shouldve been sooner.
hey jakub i really agreed with everything you had to say about these un fortuate events. it would be better if all americans thought that way
ReplyDeletemadyson i really liked eerything you said about this. you really nailed the religious fact about this. we should let God take control it. andwe really should never forget what happened that day
ReplyDeleteSeptember 11, 2001 was a day in my life that I will never forget. I was in the third grade, Mrs. Childers’ class, and I went to school thinking it would be a normal die. It was very far from it. Our assistance teacher came running into the classroom with a panicked look on her face. She whispered something to my teacher, so she turned the TV on and that is when I saw the planes hit the towers. Of course, I didn’t completely understand, I was only eight, but I could tell something wasn’t right. Once I got home my parents sat me down and explained to me the seriousness of the whole situation. I’m not gonna lie, as an eight year old boy I was scared something would happen to us in Somerset. But of course it didn’t and I was very happy.
ReplyDeleteAs for the second part of the question, how we ought to balance the necessities, God lays it out plainly that we are to pray and love our enemies as we would our friends. To be honest, this is a very hard order to obey. But you have to sit and ask yourself how many times has Christ forgiven us? We need a savior just as bad as those terrorists do so we have no room to hate or judge. It is okay for us to hate the sin, but we have to find it inside ourselves to still pray for and love our enemies.
When I was reading Dsams essay, it made me think about something I hadn't said earlier. I agree with what he said about the fact that loving and praying for your enemies will help you in your life. Vengeance is the Lord's, but something good that comes from sincerely praying for people like terrorists and those who do you wrong is that you learn to let go of the anger and bitterness you may have towards them. I've heard it said that when you hate someone you have already commited murder in your heart. Just something I thought of while reading that.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 11, 2001 will be a day that I will always remember. I was in third grade at Stearns Elementary School. We had just come back from lunch to find our teacher (whos name I can't remember)crying. She had the news on and it showed the plains crashing into the towers. I thought that it was a movie, but it still scared me. Parents started to come to get their children, when my mom got me and we were home she explained (as best as she could to a 7 year old)that something terible had happened and that it had happened because these people hate us for the way we believe, and that we need to pray for these people.
ReplyDeleteThe second part of the question is very hard to do. How can you love someone who has done something like this to your country; killed innocent people. Christ loved us even though he knew every sin that we would commit, and yet he still came into this sinful world and died...for us, even these terrorists who hate Christians. All we can do is pary for these people and hope that they will someday know Carist!
I like what Josh said about the fact that it shouldn't take a disaster like 9-11 to wake us up. So many times in the past I know that when something bad happened I wouldn't even think about immediately go to God in prayer first when it would have taken something bad to happen for me it to even dawn on me that I could be praying about it. God is in control and I don't know why we forget that sometimes.
ReplyDeleteOn the morning of September 11, 2001, I was at Oak Hill Elementary, second grade and in the blue hall. I remember coming in from recess, and saw my teacher, Mrs. Wiggle watching the TV in the left corner of our little classroom. What I saw was one of those tall sky scrapers in a big city that I only dreamed of going to. The TV was filled with fire, smock, and people telling stories of kayos. A few moments later she turned off the TV. Out of my memory as a child, I only remember that day there. I don’t remember feeling a thing, except wonder. But doesn't every child feel this? I knew what a disaster was but I didn’t know how to comprehend this. I remember vividly of the reactions around me, the adults were horrified, but us kids didn’t know what was going on.
ReplyDeleteThis morning when Mr. Akers was talking about how these guys didn’t just wake up one day and decide they wanted to destroy the Twin Towers, They planned it for yearss, and even some of them went to skool to be pilots. I look at this and we could have intervened and showed them the truth. I don’t know what I’m actually getting at by saying this but I guess you will never know whose trying to do anything. The world is lost and we should try to save them. If people would have opened there eyes and said a few words to them then maybe that day a hundred people wouldn’t have jumped out of a building at 60 stories while holding hands. People wouldn’t have flown to their death knowing they won’t make it out. We as Christians should always be ready to share the Gospel. Even to those who might look like they don’t want to hear it.
I believe that we should still protect our country and do what is necessary to maintain our freedoms. But still at the same tyme love and pray for our enemies. We can help those in need in war torn countries, by helping the innocent with basic needs like-shelter, clothes, food, clean water, and friendly faces. Like what our soldiers are doing now, there in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting but also helping those in need. God is Love and we should share his love. God is Love but God is not mocked.
On September 11,2001, I was at school in Mrs. Gamotia's class. I honestly do not remember much from that day except that we had been seated in class and I knew something was going on. Mrs.Gamotia told us what had happened and explained how the planes had crashed into the world trade center. I did not really understand what exactly had happened. I got that planes had crashed but then again planes crash sometimes so to me it was another plane crash. I did not realize who terrorists were or that what in the world hijacked meant. I mean everyone is saying terrorists hijacked some planes and flew them into the twin towers. I did not even know what the twin towers were. But when I got home my mom turned on the tv and turned to the news where they were talking about it. They were showing the videos over and over of the planes flying into the twin towers. My mom began explaining the whole thing to me and thats when I understood what had happened although I still did not fully grasp how tragic it really was. It was later when I watched a movie on 9-11 that I came to the realization of how horrible and tragic that day was. I then understood how many innocent people were killed in this terror attack and how many lives this had affected. It was a major tragedy.
ReplyDeleteAs christians we are to love our enemies though. It does not mean that we allow or approve what they do but we must love them. This is hard for me to comprehend but I think of it as we are to love them as people and we should pray for them but we do not love how they act. We do not accept their sin. Everyone is in need of a savior. We should pray for the terrorists inspite of what they have done. This is what God wants us to do.
My personal recollection of that day isn’t that clear. I was 7 years old when it happened. And I knew that what had happened was bad but I didn’t understand the magnitude of the problem. I remember my mom turning on the news and talking to either her sister or her mom about what had happened. I remember watching the Twin Towers fall but I don’t know what time I watched it. But I was thinking “Who would do this to us?” “What did we do wrong?” and other questions along the same lines.
ReplyDeleteYes, the Bible says that we should love our enemies. But that doesn’t mean that we accept what they do. It says, “ Do unto others what you would have them do unto you,” so we are to treat them well but not be a doormat to them. We as Christians are to a light in the world and are not to hide that light. But for that light we are persecuted, so we have to deal with people that will hate us for no reason other that we are Christians... So we show them GOD's truth and be kind to them without given in to their ways. And to balancing good v.s. evil take the Bible and use it to determine what is good and true and regard the evil that is evident in the world and pray for those that need redemtion.
I remember most things about that day. Usually, I cannot even remember anything before 2005, but I remember that day as clear as today. I remember our principal come running down the hall, telling everyone that the world trade center had been hit by an airplane. Later, he told us another plane ran into it. Later on, I watched a news recording of the event. The video I remember was the exact same as I watched on the website. Did you notice that the South Tower collapsed first, but the North Tower was hit first? This was because the second plane hit at angle, taking out a corner, while the first plane hit dead on. This was the first time a skyscraper had ever collapse, and it was about to happen again. Everyone was in shock. Watching the tower crumble makes you realize that there are people that want to do that to you. The building continued to burn several days afterward, perhaps to cover it up with smoke and debris. We should pray that it will never happen again. The terrists were hoping that it would weaken the nation, but it did the exact opposite. After 9/11 the nation was never so unified before.
ReplyDeleteI'm literally crying as I'm typing this because I just watched a documentary and whenever I see the videos, it really just tears me up. But on with the assignment, on September 11, 2001, I, like most of my other classmates, was in my third grade class. At that time I was attending an extremely small Christian school. I was in a classroom with about 20 other students from second - seventh grade, I think. I remember someone came in and informed our teacher, Ms. Debbie, and she then informed us that a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York City. At this time in my life, I had no idea what they were. I just know that something bad had happened because the kids in the higher grades started crying and losing it. They dismissed school and we all went home. My mom cried for days. When I finally realized the severity of what had happened, I cried, too. I obviously still cry when I'm faced with the reality of what happened eight years ago today. I remember we watched the news a lot after the attack and it made me really scared. I remember laying in bed at nights and being worried that the same thing could happen in KY or somewhere even closer.
ReplyDeleteAs to the second portion of this assignment, I know we are supposed to love our enemies. I struggle with it on a level like this. I can handle a bully in a hallway. No problem. But when you attack my country, my religion, my friends, or my family (including my dog) you have crossed the line. I think that loving our enemies is the right thing to do but when they attack our country, we can't just sit back and let them do it. We have to take action to prevent those things from ever happening again. That's just my opinion.
Well on September 11, 2001 I was about 7 year old living in Florida. All I remember was my teacher telling us about the world trade center being destroyed. I really didn’t understand the significance at the time because I really didn’t understand the concept of people wanting to kill us because of our belief systems. So I really didn’t respond as much I mean I felt bad for the people with loses but I still didn’t understand I believe it was the same with others in my class also. Even if others are killing us for our Christian beliefs we still need to stand up in prayer and have faith in God no matter what the threat is against us or our nation. Even though it is very difficult most of the time we still need to prey for our enemies and keep our name as a “Christian Nation” even though looking from the inside of America we have fallen very far away from that. So to sum it all up we do need to fight against them so they don’t kill more innocent people but we also need to pray for them and try to bring back the Christian side to our nation.
ReplyDeleteSeptember 11th 2001 was a milestone in my life actually. While I may not have been there personally, i feel as though i lost part of my America in this attack. I think it is absolutely necessary to reflect upon this piece of history. It was be stupid of Americans to forget this event. REMEMBER, the point of history (while is to be informed), we are informed to learn and not repeat our mistakes. Whoever thinks we should forget this time piece obviously has NO respect for America.
ReplyDeleteSome might say America is a Christian nation. I would not agree with that statement. Reason: When there are more lost than saved, majority rules. Yes, "poles show 80% of Americans say they believe in God". Well of course they do!!! Wether or not you like it, you do believe in A god. Maybe that's not Jesus Christ. Your "god" is what you serve when you live your life. Poles mean nothing. Actions actually do speak louder than words.
As for our response to terroristic actions upon our country, America should use the Bible, yes. But no where does the Bible say to be a pushover. America is the most powerful nation on this planet at the moment. We can use our power in the right context. It's unbelievable to me that United States citizens protest the war on terrorism. I wouldn't be surprised if they agreed with abandoning Vietnam either.... Regardless, America should always retaliate. Our voice shall be strong and swift, crushing all who oppose.
Everyone?
ReplyDeletemost of our post were similar. It did kinda hit me today when Mr. Akers talked about how two generations from now, student wont even have experienced this feeling. I know that when i finally caught on i was angry FOR my country. I felt like we needed to destroy all eastern opposition (that's we're having a war...duh. so it doesn't happen again). I am very much in support of defending our country and standing our ground against enemies. You can't talk it out (cough cough Obama cough cough).
What great essays! I've read them and appreciate the things you have to say. As I mentioned to the juniors today, 8 years ago I was teaching at Heritage Christian, deep in 11th grade Bible when the news came. As we listened to the radio reports a student named Brad asked how bad it was. This was before the towers collapsed, before we'd heard that the Pentagon had been hit, and before anyone knew about the disaster in Shanksville, PN. But my answer to Brad was instinctive - I told him it would be worse than Pearl Harbor. There are many lessons to learn from September 11. The "Greatest Generation" responded to the Pearl Harbor attacks by standing up to the massive forces of evil represented by Adolph Hitler and imperial Japan. I hope that those of us with memories of September 11 will always be willing to stand up against this great evil, and will be mindful of the costs of letting down our guard.
ReplyDelete911. It was very unfortunate that it had to happened. I remember the day that it happened. I was playin with my sister when my mom turned on the t.v. and we heard her cry for God to keep those people safe. My sister and I ran to the room where the tv was. I was only 7 years old at the time so I didn't comletely understand what was happening but as I watched the videos that they kept playing on the news I knew something horrible was happening. My mom and sister were crying and I was just sitting there trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Eventually my mom told me and I just couldn't understand why those people would do such a horrible thing. I'm so thankful for the men and women that have gone over into Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and all those other places. They have gone over there to serve our country and we should be so thankful for that. Some people just don't give enough respect to them and that makes me so mad. Many have died but they have died with honor and I will forever be thankful to them for giving their lives for this country, for our freedom.
ReplyDeletebiggin(Michael), I agree with the points that you made, and i really liked the Churchill quote that you put in there; very good point, very good quote, very nice.
ReplyDeleteI like what Josh and Cody and like 10 other people said about praying for them. people like that may have killed thousands and done horrible things to our country, but we still need to pray for them, and we still need to try to convert people like that. They may have sinned and hurt many people, but they are still God's children, and He still loves them. The Bible tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. While we dont need to let them walk all over us and kill thousands more of our people, we still need to pray for them, because even though they may have done way worse things then any of us have ever done, we are all sinners and we are all God's childrren
ReplyDeleteI loved what Mr. Akers said. There is a great cost for letting down our guard; also, pretending to be invincible is one of the most dangerous things you can do. Before the Titanic sank, people claimed that not even God could sink this ship. Look what happened; all it took for disaster was a small piece of the Arctic, let alone the power of God. Before Pearl Harbor, the Navy thought nothing could happen with their battleships lined up in a row, the ammunition locked away, and the planes lined up wing tip to wing tip. Before 9/11, people thought the towers would last a thousand years. Are you catching on? Man’s designs and creations are not perfect and indestructible; saying so may result in absolute disaster.
ReplyDeleteI liked what Jarred said, 9/11 was a very traumatizing event. It was seared into the hearts of millions and can never be removed. Nice little poem, it was very appropriate for the situation.
ReplyDeleteMr. Akers, as you said, we need to be mindful of the cost of letting our guard down. That is why I think the most important thing we learn about in history is our mistakes. But, mistakes aren't that much fun to learn about so, most of the time we just sort-of skip over them. As I've said before, if we don't learn from the mistakes of the past to better the future, then there is no point to history whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteAnd, to add on to what Caleben said about the Titanic, "don't count your chickens before they hatch, because you always end up with less than you intended".
I really liked Ryan's point about how we need to REMEMBER what happened, and LEARN from our mistakes. I brought up the point in my essay about how history repeats itself and how people never seem to learn. It only takes one generation to change that. I'm sure that the next generation won't feel the impact from September 11th as strong as we do, but they can still understand it, and understand that we need to turn to God in times of peril, but also times of prosperity. I don't want to sound like one of those motivational speakers that are always like 'YOU can change the world,' because honestly, that is a bit far-fetched. But it has to start somewhere, why not this generation?
ReplyDeleteI also like how almost everyone has said something along the lines of how they were too young to understand the attacks at first, but now that some time has past they feel strong emotions towards the attacks on the WTC that day. Two generations were really affected that day, which is what makes this incident so unique I guess. The fact that someone had the nerve to hijack a plane and hurt hundreds of INNOCENT Americans that had familys and friends was absolutely infuriating. The attacks were so wicked and so cruel that children can understand them at a much younger age than if it had happened under different circumstances.
ReplyDeleteRachel, i like what you say about people forgetting. I think that people forget about things, especially if they have not lost someone close. In the bible God told the Israelites to place memorials before their children and tell the story, over and over so their children wouldn't forget. I think that America needs not just remember September 11, but make it like a solemn holiday with banks closing.
ReplyDeleteCharity i like the thought of helping innocent people in need as a country with one hand and with the other defending our nation. People need to understand the heart of Americans. i feel the terrorist that attacked America were very anti Americans. They hated us for who we really are. They did not like us having freedom, because the culture that they lived in didn't present the freedom in choice that we have for them it sometimes means death.
ReplyDeleteEmily- I agree with what you said about the fine line between caution and judgment. The fact of the matter is, a very few percentage of people from those areas would present a strong terrorist threat. But a just a few people do something horrible to our country and it changes our view of that country/race completely. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being careful, but being hateful towards someone because of something that they personally didn’t do, in my opinion, IS a sin.
ReplyDeleteRyan I want to comment on your comment.
ReplyDeleteLike what I said to Emily’s essay, not everyone in the Middle East are the “radical Muslims” that we think they are. Just because they might not be America’s “bff” and happen to be in the “Middle Eastern” region, does that mean we should destroy them?
What’s sad is we sometimes based our opinion of a group, country, or race based on what a few of them do/did. I happen to have two family members from the Middle East, who are now American citizens, and they both are some of the most patriotic, respectful, polite, and hardest working people I know. Not the crazy violent terrorists we think they are.
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ReplyDeleteSam, pope, guffey, and jarred:
ReplyDeleteHere's my opinion on the topic of forgetting 9/11.
Remember the year following September 11, 2001? Remember how America had "turned back to God?" (What's happened since then?) Remember the many, many services and prayer days? Former President Bush declaring a National Day of prayer for our country, and from then we had one every year. (Until this year.)
I don't think America has forgotten what happened that day. I think we have forgotten Who kept America from going under. We "came together" and praised God..why aren't we doing that now?
Also, Michael you were blunt, but a lot of what you said was true. (No offense to anyone who likes him) But President Obama said he wasn't going to declare a national day of prayer for our country. Obviously he's forgotten the impact of that day..but anyways, we need to always keep in mind what happened, and tell it to future generations so they (as Mr. Akers mentioned) won't make the mistake of letting their guard down.
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ReplyDeleteRyan..
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about "not just talking it out." You can't do that. When you're fighting with Muslim extremists who will commit suicide to insure America is destroyed, signing a treaty or whatever, gets you absolutely nowhere.
I also agree with what you said about the war. I know people fighting in that war; is it scary? Yes. Is it terrible? Yes. Is it worthless? No.
It's kind of like when America was first founded. The colonists tried "talking it out" with the King. What did he do? Raise taxes and send his army to enforce them. Eventually a war was fought, and hey that's why we have a country called America today.
You can't fight terrorists by talking to them; sometimes you have to fight back. It's awful and no one likes it, but it's what has to be done.
On Septenber 11 i was sittin in my classroom at Southern Elementry and we got the news and they turned on the tvs and as i watched i had no idea what was going on.
ReplyDeleteBut when we got home after bein dismissed early my mom had it on tv so we sit in the living room and she explained exeruthing to me but it still was confusing.
Looking back on it, it was a tragic event and changed the way america thought and it brought us closer together.
Jared i love how you said that 9/11 caused a country change and how we will never forget
ReplyDeleteRyan i totally agree on how you said that 9/11 was a milestone in yourlife just like mine and its a horrific event that will never be forgoton
ReplyDeleteMadyson my remembrance of september 11th is pretty much the same as yours. I didn’t really understand what was going on until that night when my parents also explained it to me. I really like the verse you have at the end of yours. It shows the exact way that we should handle the situation Mr. Akers was talking about, loving our enemies. And you are exactly right when you say that we can pray. That is something that we can actually do.
ReplyDeleteRyan I agree totally with all of your essay. First we are the most powerful country on the face of the planet and we should hold our own. We should relaliate. Second, actions do speak louder than words. Until more are saved than lost we are not a christian nation. And last, but certainly not least, we should remember what happened this point in history. It brought us closer together than ive ever seen as a nation.
ReplyDeletepope, i totally agree with you. the armed forces are whats standing between us and death. And that the Muslims would rather see us dead then to at least hear what we have to say. all we can do is pray for us as a nation, and for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although people say we are viewed as a Christian nation, and people say that we should be viewed as one, we really are not.
ReplyDeleteCody I agree with you. All we really can do is pray and support our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran. People view us as a "Christian Nation" when most of us really dont act like it. We need to always be thankful and appreciative for the troops over in Iraq, Afganistan and in Iran and for what they are doing for us; keeping America safe, and all of us alive. God Bless America
ReplyDeleteMorgan is right. We need to pray for them and even forgive them. Forgiving is definitely the hardest to come by. Just think of the people that lost loved ones in the attacks. I heard about this guy that didn’t even know his family was on one of the hijacked planes. He almost died in the attacks, too. I got to thinking about what that would be like. If my parents went to D.C. and the hotel they were in was bombed, I would struggle with forgiveness. But Jesus, of all people, perfect and holy, became everyone’s sin on the cross. If we’re saved, we don’t have to face God’s wrath against our sin. We’re covered in His righteousness. For that reason, it makes sense that we should not be beyond forgiving others.
ReplyDeleteJacob, I think you are right. God does use things like 9.11 attacks to bring His people back to Him. Some times it takes a major event, like what happened on September eleventh, to bring it all back into focus. I also think that some thing like that will most likely happen again if we do not keep our focus on God.
ReplyDeleteBiggin, you made some really good points about needing to be carefull about the reason we are fighting. I agree one hundred percent. If you are fighting just to fight it is wrong but if you are fighting to protect your country it is not. I also liked the quote you had from Winston Churchill. It really made a lot of sence
ReplyDeleteWell, I liked your point about Jim Elliot, Ben. We need to protect our country, but we shouldn't be too swift to just go blow them up. Something we forget about is that those terrorists that we kill go to hell.(end of story, like u said)
ReplyDeleteRyan Adams, I completely agree. if you want to forget what happened on 9.11 then you have no respect for not only America as a country but no respect for all th people who died or gave their lives on that day. As for what you said about America being a so called Christian nation. I agree actions are louder than words. Shockingly enough I also agree with what you said about America being the strongest country in the world. You are also right in saying that no were in the Bible does it say to be a push over. I think you did an awsome job on this assignment
ReplyDeleteryan i agree with you very mmuch on the fact that we should learn ff our mistakes in the past. And if it leads to a war we need to fight it if it is for the better good
ReplyDeletewith what vanessa said about the reactions of people on sep. 11, 2001 they took it very seriously. now when we talk about it though its so nonchalant when we shoyld still react like the day it happened because it was a very serious and tragic thing that happened in our lifetime
ReplyDeleteBen, someone already of the pointed this out, i believe, but i liked how you said if we kill them they go to Hell, end of story. It's sort of a harsh way of putting it but how else do you get the point across with that much impact? It's so odd that i go through the day so often and have never once thought of the people killed and sent to Hell, during the war on terrorism. Most of the time we had no other option there but if we would have had an option to let them live and POSSIBLY get saved, just possibly, would we have? Just something to think about.
ReplyDeletePope, I think its interesting to point out that war is not something God condemns. It feels like war is treated like something God would punish you for, but often war is the only way to go and the Bible isn't against it. I think God doesn't particularly enjoy the thought of war but it is something that must be done. I just wanted to thank you for pointing that out.
ReplyDeleteAnna,
ReplyDeleteI really liked the point you made about the police officers and firefighters involved in the search, rescue, and clean-up of the tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001. They were the epitome of selflessness. I can't imagine the bravery and courage it took to charge full force into those buildings, knowing that they were very unstable and almost certain to collapse, to try to help those who found themselves in that horrific situation who couldn't help themselves. I don't think I would be able to do that.
Madyson,
I really admired your Christian maturity in your response to the second part of the prompt. It takes a lot of Christian love to hope for the salvation of Osama Bin Laden. Most people (particularly in this region) have a knee-jerk reaction to completely wipe out our enemies first thing. However, as Christians, we should always pray for the outcome that would bring people (even Osama Bin Laden) to the Truth. That might not be what happens in the end but we should at least be praying for it. Defending our country is top priority, but we should try to remain optimistic and prayerful about the matter.
Madyson, I completely agree with you about prayer and miracles. We should pray more for our leaders, the leaders of other countries, and soldiers. We also need to have complete faith in God that He will take care of us. I worry alot about even the smallest things so it's hard for me sometimes to have complete faith in God but I sure try. I'm sure some of you also have trouble having all faith in Him. But we have to. If we were to try and fix a problem without His help do you think we could do it. That would be a negative. So we got to have faith in God that He will watch over us. Even if your problem is small, give it to God. Don't try and work it out by yourself. Miracles can happen you have to have faith.
ReplyDeleteEmily C, You're not alone girl. I was scared for the longest time that some plane was going to crash into my house also. I was so scared that the terrists might be in my house. I wouldn't go upstairs by myself unless the lights were on. I was afraid they were hiding in the dark or something. Yeah you people are probably laughing your butts off right now but hey I was only seven years old what do you expect :) But I seriously was scared to death that they were going to come over into America and try and take over. You don't know how much I prayed then. I was just so scared. I get scared really easily so for something like that to happen made me pretty darn scared. But I just had to lay it at the feet of Jesus and stop worrying about it. I know kinda silly but....Only seven years old people!!! :) Just remember if your worrying about something whether it be big or small, just lay it at the feet of Jesus.
ReplyDeleteVanessa, I agree with what you said about how we are supposed to love our enemies but we are not to just allow them to come in and attack us. I find it hard to explain this just because we are to love them yet at the same time we have to defend our country which in many cases means killing those who are trying to kill us. And loving your enemies is deffiately something I struggle with. It is hard to love those who want to kill you, thats just a simple fact yet we are told to.
ReplyDeleteAnna, I like how you mentioned the many firefighters who put themselves in harms way for the sake of other peoples lives. I can not imagine what I must have been like. Just to be there and see and the descruction and the people and those who lost loved ones. I also can not imagine what was going through the people and the firefighters heads. I mean the firefighters were going in not knowing if they would even make it back out yet they did anyway. They did not turn and run from the dangers but instead faced them. This is a true picture of loving one another and we should learn from it because sometimes we are not willing to help out in the little stuff because we don't want to miss a show or somethin yet they did when it could cost them their lives.
ReplyDeleteVanessa, you might never see this because im finally able to get on the computer but enyways what you were saying about its hard to love your enemies. I just wanted to say that that it is hard. It IS hard to love the people who kill your freinds and family. And it IS hard to love that bully in the hallway who beats up on you everday but we are christians and thats what were called to do. And also you were saying about how you were just a little kid and didnt understand, but everyone around you was freaking out and balling. But now you know and you are commpationate about it. You feel for those people who died and the freinds and family of those lost ones.
ReplyDeleteMichael what you said to Guffey,
ReplyDeleteI Hate it how people are forgetting, but im not guna say that im not either. I hate it how im forgetting. Uhhgg i just cant get it out of my mind of those people jumping off of there building that they went to so meny days before to work at. Its just simply horrific. Not even simply at all. It was and is utter chaose. And my heart brakes to even think of it. Im so glad that i was to young to know what was going on. Im glad i was sheltered from it. But at the same tyme i wish i wasnt.
I do not remember September 11th very well. I was in third grade sitting in Mrs. Gamotia’s classroom when she told us something horrible happened, but didn’t say what. I got home and my mom told me what happened and turned on the news. I was shocked, but never really thought much about it afterwards.
ReplyDeleteI think responding to evil with good is completely irrelevant to protecting ourselves and country against terrorism because protecting against terrorism is the business of the government. Romans chapter 13 talks extensively about the government. It tells how the government has been given authority directly from God. Verse 4 says “But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.” Terrorists do what is evil, and the governing authorities have the responsibility from God to bear the sword against them. It does not say “and although they do evil, we are supposed to return evil with good so the government should do nothing about it since its country represents Christianity to the rest of the world.”
Don’t get me wrong, we should be kind to Muslims and represent Christ to them, but if I found out they were a terrorist I would probably consult the authorities.