9/11 20th Anniversary: What Should "Never Forget" Truly Mean?
Yesterday, September 11, 2021, was the 20-year anniversary of the infamous and tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks, the attacks that rocked a nation--and the world. I was in New York and New Jersey this weekend, including just outside New York City (the islands in NY Harbor), and everywhere I turned were signs saying, “Never Forget.” My mother attended a memorial ceremony in which the speakers said the same phrase, which in fact was being used across the country yesterday--a building in Chicago was lit up with the words “Never Forget.” While I believe the sentiment is spot-on--we must never, ever forget the victims and heroes of 9/11--I question the sincerity of many of those people or institutions who swore yesterday they would “never forget” 9/11. What should “never forget” truly mean? Is it a mere sentimental atmosphere once a year or once a decade? Or does remembrance of 9/11 imply so much more than that?
First of all, I can say for certain that a number of those who supposedly intended to honor the 9/11 victims yesterday are hypocrites. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, unsurprisingly, made tasteless and insensitive displays of themselves.
“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris used the 20th anniversary of 9/11 to defy Americans by claiming Muslims were targeted after 9/11 and praising Islam as ‘the religion of peace.’ It’s hard to believe, but both of them decided to trash Americans on this solemn day.
The truth is that Americans bent over backward to do everything they could to come together and show unity. Harris is lying when she says Muslims were targeted after 9/11. Trashing Americans who had been through so much with the terror attack is completely unfair.”
Not to drag this article out, there were too many similar displays. Other individuals may have made good speeches, about patriotism and preventing similar terrorist attacks, but contradict those attitudes with their woke actions. In fact, since 9/11, aside from certain exceptions like Donald Trump, America has steadily moved toward making tyranny, terrorism, and injustice more possible instead of less possible. We the American people do not honor the 9/11 victims simply by reciting their names or holding ceremonies for them, if we do not learn from the horror that ended their lives.
Going into Afghanistan was the right response, but the war dragged on and finally, when Trump could have pulled out without utter disaster, the election was stolen and Biden deliberately gave billions in equipment and the names of Americans and allies to the Taliban, left hundreds if not thousands of Americans and allies stranded while bringing in tens of thousands of supposed Afghan refugees instead. . .and the list goes on.
And we could all have predicted that Biden would pander to radical Islamic terrorists. Every American who voted for Biden or refused to challenge the stolen election has, in the truest sense, forgotten 9/11. Every person supporting or reading or working for the news sources that published articles comparing the Jan. 6 patriots to the crazed 9/11 terrorists has forgotten. Every person who supports the ruination of lives through the Covid lies has forgotten. Every person who backs down from defending the truth and championing justice in the face of evil has forgotten. Unless we actively fight against terrorism and for justice and liberty, we are failing to remember and to learn from the tragedy of 9/11. In English, “remember” and “forget” are both action verbs. Unless we act on the terribly hard lessons of 9/11 then we do not remember the victims and heroes of 9/11.
How is it that we increased immigration from Muslim countries known as terrorism hotspots after 9/11? This is not an anti-Muslim statement, as Biden would claim. US progressives have a history of favoring radical Muslims, like the Taliban and Iran, while betraying or ignoring the claims of deserving, non-radical Muslims, like our Afghan allies abandoned by Biden and the Uyghurs in China. My main point being that the recent sharp rise in immigration from terrorist-heavy countries and recent Democrat remarks using 9/11 to complain about the plight of Muslims in the US show just how much our leaders have truly forgotten 9/11. And unless we the people are willing to challenge those corrupt leaders, we have forgotten, too.
To remember 9/11 is to commit to fighting and discouraging terrorism, to commit to voting for strong patriots, to commit to challenging terrorist-favoring, liberty-crushing leaders, to commit to living like heroes as so many of the victims of 9/11 died like heroes. If we make these commitments and live out these actions, then we can truly say of 9/11 we shall “never forget.”