MFoD lost two friends six years ago today. Both former students. One was a gentle and decent man, with his head always screwed on the right way. The other, just as decent, was feisty, vital, and loved a good argument. Both died in the Towers. Both left wives and children.
When MFoD first heard the news about what was going on that beautiful Tuesday morning (from an hysterical comment broadcast loudly on the radio, a rarity in the neighborhood), the TV went on immediately, but, with no cable, the radio and high end channels had to suffice. A next-door neighbor, stranded at home, had cable. He, of course, offered a chair. The devestated towers, minutes from falling, brought only one thought: "So, this is what they did."
Yes, it was no surprise that something happened; the surprise and shock was what that something was.
There was no prescience at work here; there was no need for any. Being "in the business," and having studied and taught about militant Islam for years, MFoD knew that it was only a matter of time. There was no need for an August 6th memo, one that was apparently ignored by those who might have helped to stop the carnage. Any keen observer of the fringe elements of Islam could see it coming.
For weeks afterward, friends were not really happy to hear MFoD's thoughts on the workings of politics in intolerant, resurgent Islam. They were angry. So was MFoD, but not for the same reason: intolerance, ignorance and confrontational politics on all sides had caused this, not Islam.
Now, six years later, friends can't get enough information and opinions. In the remarkable post-9/11 issue of "The New Yorker," there appeared among short comments written by several notable figures, one by the late Susan Sontag, for which she was roundly chastised. She wrote, "Let's by all means grieve together. But let's not be stupid together." MFoD knew exactly what Sontag meant, and what she feared. For today, six years later, we know there has been stupidity, epic in scale. It is for this stupidity that the grieving continues.
About the future of human relations, MFoD is not usually an optimist, but very few people would disagree with her that there will be a time in the not-too-distant future, as there have been many times since 9/11/01, when she has, and will say, "So this is what they did."
When MFoD first heard the news about what was going on that beautiful Tuesday morning (from an hysterical comment broadcast loudly on the radio, a rarity in the neighborhood), the TV went on immediately, but, with no cable, the radio and high end channels had to suffice. A next-door neighbor, stranded at home, had cable. He, of course, offered a chair. The devestated towers, minutes from falling, brought only one thought: "So, this is what they did."
Yes, it was no surprise that something happened; the surprise and shock was what that something was.
There was no prescience at work here; there was no need for any. Being "in the business," and having studied and taught about militant Islam for years, MFoD knew that it was only a matter of time. There was no need for an August 6th memo, one that was apparently ignored by those who might have helped to stop the carnage. Any keen observer of the fringe elements of Islam could see it coming.
For weeks afterward, friends were not really happy to hear MFoD's thoughts on the workings of politics in intolerant, resurgent Islam. They were angry. So was MFoD, but not for the same reason: intolerance, ignorance and confrontational politics on all sides had caused this, not Islam.
Now, six years later, friends can't get enough information and opinions. In the remarkable post-9/11 issue of "The New Yorker," there appeared among short comments written by several notable figures, one by the late Susan Sontag, for which she was roundly chastised. She wrote, "Let's by all means grieve together. But let's not be stupid together." MFoD knew exactly what Sontag meant, and what she feared. For today, six years later, we know there has been stupidity, epic in scale. It is for this stupidity that the grieving continues.
About the future of human relations, MFoD is not usually an optimist, but very few people would disagree with her that there will be a time in the not-too-distant future, as there have been many times since 9/11/01, when she has, and will say, "So this is what they did."
Image credit: "Mourning Angel," courtesy of GNU/Wikipedia
2 comments:
MFoD is right to quote Sontag's in/famous NYer essay, written in Berlin, by a shocked intellectual trying to muster the last threads of reason. On returning to NYC her tune modulated (touched by the suffering of many close to her) but did not change. No matter what people may say about her vacillating views over the years, she clung to one ideal: that human beings and their cultures should parry ideas, not kill over them.
So glad you know Sontag; so many people have not visited her remarkable mind. She is one of the joys of the intellectial life.
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