There’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while and will attempt to write about here, but before I begin, I want to make sure that what I have to say does not come across as insensitive or callous. So first, let me say that it is good and right for us to commemorate the September 11th attacks. It is good for us to remember the dead and mourn them. The attacks were a tragedy, and the pursuit of justice for those attacks is not, in my estimation, unwarranted.
So then, here is what I’ve been thinking about.
This past Sunday, America observed the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. My Facebook news feed was full of people reminiscing about where they were, what they were doing when they became aware of the attacks. “Never Forget” was on many business’ and church’s signs around town. Ten years, and still so much is different because of that day. We are still fighting two wars as a result of the “War on Terror” spurred on by those attacks. Air travel will never be the same, and not in a good way. Whenever we flew up to Pennsylvania for Labor Day weekend, I felt a little hint of suspicion when I saw an Arab man in a turban in the security line ahead of me (that is to my shame). 2,996 people died in those attacks, and I have no doubt that we will never forget.
15,782 are confirmed dead and 4,086 people are still missing as a result of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this year.
9,795 people die each day from water-related diseases.
Approximately 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in the Somalia famine (August 4th estimate, so probably many more now).
10,172 – 12,969 Afghan civilians have been directly killed in Operation Enduring Freedom.
102,417 – 111,938 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. (Records of this have not been kept well, so it may be many more.)
To put numbers like these in perspective, it helps me to convert them into 9/11s with one 9/11 equaling approximately 3,000 deaths. For example, more than three 9/11s happen every day because of unclean drinking water. Somewhere between 34 and 37 9/11s of solely civilians have happened during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Almost ten 9/11s of children just under the age of 5 have happened in the Somali famine.
What would America do if the equivalent of ten 9/11s-worth of American children under the age of 5 died in an event? We would go to war. We would change policy. We would mourn and weep and remember and commemorate.
What does America do when the same happens in Somalia? Yes, we send aid. But ironically, our counter-terrorist policy in Somalia is preventing that aid from getting to the people in need. So, our efforts to protect ourselves are preventing us from helping Somalia. In other words, policy in place largely because of the death of 3,000 now prevented us from helping save 29,000 young Somali children.
In Susan Moeller’s book Compassion Fatigue she quotes this statement: “In the news business, one dead fireman in Brooklyn is worth five English bobbies, who are worth fifty Arabs, who are worth five hundred Africans.” Lest this sound ridiculous to you, think about how the nearly 3,000 Americans killed on 9/11 received much more press than the over one million Rwandans who were killed in the 1994 genocide. Another example: Our war in Iraq has claimed nearly forty times more Iraqi civilians than Americans who were killed in the 9/11 attacks. Maybe in our eyes one American is worth about fifty Arabs.
29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31
Who is our neighbor? Are the Japanese? The Iraqis? The Afghans? The Rwandans? The Somalis?
Yes.
Than why do we not love them as we love ourselves? Why do we not turn the world upside down to save them? Why do we not remember their dead as we remember our own? Why will we never forget 9/11 but we gloss over our neighbors’ death tolls when they pop up inconveniently as we check our email? Are they too distant? Do they look too different? Is there not enough room in our hearts for them?
Am I being melodramatic? Perhaps. And is it right and good to remember the dead of 9/11? Absolutely, yes. But what would happen if we remembered the children of the Somali famine the same way? The dead of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami the same way? The dead of the wars we are still fighting the same way? What if we loved them as we love ourselves? Well, then, I think the world would change. Just like it did because of 9/11. Only, I suspect, for the better.
May we love our neighbor as we love ourselves. May we make room in our hearts for them. May we never forget them.
May God bless you and your neighbor through you.
edit: I do not do this well. This is as much for me as it is for anyone who reads this.
A great post. It irks mr how there are such loud protests against things like waterboarding, which only happened to three people, but then near silence on the 100,000 civilian deaths in Iraq, etc. The perception of war is morally corrupt when such contrasts can be made.
I catch your drift on perspective…did you know that 115,000 abortions are done in a single day? Only 1% is from rape or incest and 6% for health risks. So 93% of those are because of social reasons (unwanted or inconvenient). Not only do we not notice our neighbors suffering but we personally choose to put our life first and end the life of one who cannot even speak for themself. Such a travesty but who will save us from oursleves. He lives and is waiting for us to run home.
I would be hard pressed to put abortion on the same moral scale as civilian deaths, especially within the context of moral injustices our government should spend it’s time legislating upon. Civilians deaths are something 99% of the US could agree is immoral and thus produce policy that reflects those beliefs. Abortion issues are highly contentious and remain openly divided. Even if it was made illegal I doubt the abortion numbers would go down. It would just mean more mothers would die in back alleys using black market doctors.
Thank you for this. Great (sobering) perspective, eloquently and concisely written. You’ve hit the nail on the head with the modern-day application for Jesus’s just-barely #2 commandment for his followers. Our whole country needs this message.