9/11, It's A Matter Of Respect

     I had thought that I should wait to write this down today as opposed to waiting until tomorrow, the tenth anniversary of the heinous attack on our country by deranged individuals.  But, I didn't want to maybe mar my solemn observance of this event and decided that now would probably be better.
     In pondering the events of September 11, 2001 it seems to me that one of many reasons for the occurrence was a lack of respect.  Here is how I see it.  We as a people seem to be loosing our tolerance of the views and beliefs of others and assume that our way is the only way to do things and believe in.  Don't get me wrong, those who know me know that when it comes to my country I am a jingoist.  Look that one up.  I have been known to remind strangers to remove their hats when our National Anthem is played and request strongly my students stand during The Pledge of Allegiance.  I do this not to enforce my views on them but to have them acknowledge that they need to respect my views even if they themselves don't believe in them.  Just as I need to respect the views of others and stand during the Canadian National Anthem or acknowledge the convictions of someone else's beliefs.
     So, I see the tragic events of that day as those deranged individuals to have killed thousands of innocent people as their inability to respect the beliefs of others.  They got that way, I feel, because they listened to those they respected and extrapolated what they learned and twisted it to mean something the teachings were not.
     Then we as a nation reacted and condemned thousands of peace loving people, many from our own country, as sympathizers of those individuals.  We passed laws and assaulted individuals in the belief that they were all the same.  We behaved without respect for the common beliefs we all share from every philosophy that civilized societies hold.  We spent billions of dollars and put countless lives in harms way to eradicate those that might have a connection to those individuals all in the name of security.  Yet we still can trace all of this to a lack of respect regarding the situation of another.  There are countless cliches that apply, "You don't understand someone else until you walk in their moccasins",  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." and many more.   In the Orange County Register recently there was an article that said college graduates are ill prepared for the job market as interviewers noted that at the top of the list was "personal interaction skills, including courtesy and respect." 
     It just seems to me that we as parents, adults and teachers of our children some how missed our opportunities to evaluate the actions of a few individuals and teach what they did not learn.  Had we as a worldwide community done so, maybe thousands of people might not have lost their lives.