This podcast is mostly stories about science or music, so I was surprised by the latest podcast entitled 60 Words which took on a political topic. To quote from their website:
"This hour we pull apart one sentence, written in the hours after September 11th, 2001, that has led to the longest war in U.S. history. We examine how just 60 words of legal language have blurred the line between war and peace.
In the hours after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a lawyer sat down in front of a computer and started writing a legal justification for taking action against those responsible. The language that he drafted and that President George W. Bush signed into law - called the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) - has at its heart one single sentence, 60 words long. Over the last decade, those 60 words have become the legal foundation for the "war on terror."
A fascinating subject.
Of course I remember this time well. It was a somber moment for our nation, full of uncertainty, fear and anger. During the podcast, which explores how we went from a single sentence to a 12-year war, they state that "no one saw this coming" except this one member of Congress. I just smiled sadly. Because I saw this coming, too.
Right after the towers fell, I wrote in my journal a bunch. I said in the days following 9/11 that what I was most afraid of is that we would, as a country, be so upset by this event that we would declare a war that would potentially never end. I wasn't afraid that attacks like this would continue on my home soil. I wasn't mad at the people who did this to the point that I was ready to beat them up. I was sad. I preemptively mourned the loss of our country as a peaceful nation.
As time went on and wars were declared, Rob would say, "Yes, but this is related to 9/11. They will stop after this." As we became more and more involved in dubious military actions, Rob stopped making those comments, and I stopped being sad. This is now the world we live in.
Now, to be fair, I am a laissez faire - ist when it comes to foreign affairs. I wish we did not see ourselves as the world's watch dog / hero / do-good-er. I know there are reasons why we do, but I think that our self-imposed duty of "ridding the world of evil" is not healthy for us or the world. So it shouldn't be shocking that I don't approve of the military actions we have taken since 9/11, including those early actions that we saw as justified. Where is the love? Where is the forgiveness? When will our ego be soothed and our anger placated?
So the podcast was hard to listen to. At the powerful end of the piece, I was filled with emotion. As I pondered about it, I had an Ah ha! moment. This path we're on, it's a destructive one and we need to get off it. The only way to do that is to not want America's best interests over other countries' best interests. We need to truly see the people of the world as our brothers and sisters. And there it was in my head: D&C's expansion on Malachi 3:5-6, with the words "UTTERLY WASTED" jumping out at me.
D&C 2:1-3:
1 Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
2 And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.
3 If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.
I know that this scripture is normally applied to family history work, but what is the process of family history work if it's not the process of realizing that we are ALL brothers and sisters? We, as a world population, are so interconnected. We are one people. If you trace our lineage back and back and back, we all have the same ancestors - we are all related. DNA-wise, the differences between me and you and them are negligible. On top of that, we all come from the same Father and Mother. We truly are all brothers and sisters. The notion of political and religious boundaries blind us to the truth that we are all One.
And if we don't realize that we are all One people, that we need to respect and love ALL as our own, we will destroy each other. And the earth will be utterly wasted. Christ won't have to waste it for us. We'll have done it ourselves.
...
So go check out the podcast. It'll give you food for thought.
Of course I remember this time well. It was a somber moment for our nation, full of uncertainty, fear and anger. During the podcast, which explores how we went from a single sentence to a 12-year war, they state that "no one saw this coming" except this one member of Congress. I just smiled sadly. Because I saw this coming, too.
Right after the towers fell, I wrote in my journal a bunch. I said in the days following 9/11 that what I was most afraid of is that we would, as a country, be so upset by this event that we would declare a war that would potentially never end. I wasn't afraid that attacks like this would continue on my home soil. I wasn't mad at the people who did this to the point that I was ready to beat them up. I was sad. I preemptively mourned the loss of our country as a peaceful nation.
As time went on and wars were declared, Rob would say, "Yes, but this is related to 9/11. They will stop after this." As we became more and more involved in dubious military actions, Rob stopped making those comments, and I stopped being sad. This is now the world we live in.
Now, to be fair, I am a laissez faire - ist when it comes to foreign affairs. I wish we did not see ourselves as the world's watch dog / hero / do-good-er. I know there are reasons why we do, but I think that our self-imposed duty of "ridding the world of evil" is not healthy for us or the world. So it shouldn't be shocking that I don't approve of the military actions we have taken since 9/11, including those early actions that we saw as justified. Where is the love? Where is the forgiveness? When will our ego be soothed and our anger placated?
So the podcast was hard to listen to. At the powerful end of the piece, I was filled with emotion. As I pondered about it, I had an Ah ha! moment. This path we're on, it's a destructive one and we need to get off it. The only way to do that is to not want America's best interests over other countries' best interests. We need to truly see the people of the world as our brothers and sisters. And there it was in my head: D&C's expansion on Malachi 3:5-6, with the words "UTTERLY WASTED" jumping out at me.
D&C 2:1-3:
1 Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
2 And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.
3 If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.
I know that this scripture is normally applied to family history work, but what is the process of family history work if it's not the process of realizing that we are ALL brothers and sisters? We, as a world population, are so interconnected. We are one people. If you trace our lineage back and back and back, we all have the same ancestors - we are all related. DNA-wise, the differences between me and you and them are negligible. On top of that, we all come from the same Father and Mother. We truly are all brothers and sisters. The notion of political and religious boundaries blind us to the truth that we are all One.
And if we don't realize that we are all One people, that we need to respect and love ALL as our own, we will destroy each other. And the earth will be utterly wasted. Christ won't have to waste it for us. We'll have done it ourselves.
...
So go check out the podcast. It'll give you food for thought.
4 comments:
love it, love you. but you already know that.
I had a lot of the same thoughts around that time. I specifically remember having a discussion with my roommate about how you can't fight a literal war against a figurative enemy (in this case, obviously the tactic of terrorism).
Thanks, Rebecca. Love you, too!
Jules: Right! Actually, when the guy on the podcast said, "No one saw it coming," I thought, "Man, I bet they're going to get a lot of people writing in. Cause there are plenty of us who saw it coming."
And apparently I, Tamra, just posted as Miciah. Ha!
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