God Bless America-please read

I am a Canadian.
I think that in such terrible circumstances such as these. That we should put our differnces aside. If I were in new york right now and I saw someone that needed my help I don't think that I pause for one second, I would help them as best I could, if If they were american, british, french, whatever! People need help, and I wil do everything in my power to help, give blood whatever, would you refuse my blood because it came from a Canadian vein? We are all in the same boat here, in sharing the horror that has touched us all, I spent all of yesterday crying for the lifes lost in this tragedy. All that matters right now is that all free contries can band together and do what thye can to ensure that this does not happen again
O.k I did not mean to come of so angry, I have been so upset latlely, we all want to balme somebody for this. Once again I would like to say that my thought and prayers are with the victims and their families.
Thank you

 

Jedi---cost: Interesting you somehow identify with the Jedi. I think there are some bare minimum standards to be met when joining the military. Not being a head-case for starters.

 

Yes, these remarks were made by Gordon Sinclair. Gordon Siclair was an award winning journalist in Canada (Toronto). He died in 1984! The remarks he made were in 1973.

 

This started going around my school so the Chair of the Department of Education emailed this response:

This kind of message, aside from being factually incorrect (e.g. several other countries are more generous in their foreign aid, and provide proportionately more human resources to disaster relief than we do; the European airbus is both technically and economically a serious rival to US ariplanes) and historically misguided; does nothing to help us understand the complexity of the range of feeling towards America that this event (and others in the past) bring about among ourselves and in foreign countries. To promote an "us" (and those with us) and them ("or those not 100% with us) mentality advances little in terms of individual or collective understanding or healing. It also does little to help us develop strategies as a nation to prevent further tragedies. While there are clearly many historic instances of American generosity (not all of it completely altruistic I might add); and it is clear that America has contributed enormously to humankind (landing a person on the moon clearly NOT being one of them), we are also responsible for unspeakable atrocities both within our borders and around the world. We need not look far - the violent neglect of our children; fanatical religious, political and even apolitical terrorists who are "Made and bred in America"; the culture of violence that permeates many of our cities underclass and that kills thousands; the way we have polluted and overexploited much of humanity's resources. Some of the hatred and anger towards our culture and nation is clearly warranted - we have invaded countries, rigged elections, installed dictators, supported oligarchies. These direct interventions, and many more indirect ones, have resulted in enormous human tragedies - the elimination, in some countries for decades, of even the most basic political human rights; the economic exploitation and enslavement of literally millions of people; outright wars and genocide in some cases. It is no wonder why many individuals in the world are seeing this as a reckoning of some kind. To not assume collective responsibility over this is something I am not proud of. To represent ourselves as a wholly benign economic and intellectual giant towering above all others in a quest for high ideals of liberty, equality and the well-being of all of humanity is simply a lie. And to delude ourselves as such is dangerous for our nation and dehumanizing for all of us. This is a time for compassion, introspection and analysis. Eventually it will be time for very measured reaction, but certainly not for flag waving or chest pounding.

 

Thats because it was written in 74. America was starting to come out of Vietnam and the rest of the world was looking down on us. And we had just landed a person on the moon in 69. It was still veiwed as something heroic and grand.

 

Jedi Cost,

That was most of the most ignorant, cruel and stupid things I think I've ever heard anyone say. I truly hope you don't mean it.

 

Ohh yes, I agree.

 

from Gladiator the movie "there once was an idea that was Rome, but it was only a whisper" This applies deeply to our own country we don't claim to be perfect but american ideals are known to be the best in the world although once you live here you know it is superb but not perfect not what most people would think of it as anyway.

This whisper turned into a loud cry in europe from 1840-1915 when there were 60 million europeans that migrated to america. From the 1700's till 1840 there was only .5 million imagrants, and still today if allowed from the ideals of america although most people don't know what those ideals actually are until they've lived here, there would be an abundance of immigrants susceding into this country possibly more than 20 million per year. This last part is a proven fact done in surveys and stuff taken from my college text book "American History since 1865" but the fact is we will only let in on average 20,000 immigrants per year because we our selves are becoming over populated

God Bless all the military personel from all countries that help us rid this diease that has infected our world.

Nightsun

 

"No! Alderaan (WTC) is peaceful, we have no weapons-"
"You'd prefer another target, a military target (Pentagon)?"

Whoa. I never expected to see such a tragedy in my lifetime. I'd have to estimate 100 or more JCers died.



I shortened my sig so that there would be room to add a little tribute.

 

Let me just say this:

I posted that tribute because I think it is time we Americans became proud of what we have accomplished. i am so SICK AND TIRED of hearing all the negative backlash that our country gets, how we're such horrible people and how we can never do anything right. i thought it would be nice for us to hear something POSITIVE for a change! look at how everyone has banded together in the days since the tragedy! that alone give me reason to be proud of our country! i hear what America is doing wrong every day. it hurts me because i AM American. but i am still very PROUD to be American, and i thank God that i was born here and not in some other country. and this "chest thumping and flag-waving" is very important to the American spirit. because of our national pride, we have stuck together in our worst moments. we were attacked by people who HATE America and Americans. i personally can't fathom such hatred, that you're willing to kill thousands of innocent people to make a point. but i do know that that kind of attack made me feel betrayed, since America spends so much time and money and effort to try to help other countries besides our own. we could just as easily be like Switzerland, and not get involved when people in other countries are suffering, their basic human rights violated. but we get involved because we CAN help. we contribue a LOT to our world. and maybe that doesn't make up for what we're doing wrong, but i'm still proud of what our country is TRYING to accomplish.

so in other words, i think this country deserves more respect than it gets. and i am very very grateful to those countries who have pledged support to us. the images on the news last night of the changing of the guard in London while they were playing our national anthem made me cry because i was deeply touched. ok, so the tribute that i posted is outdated, being written almost 30 years ago. but has the basic foundation of our country changed so much in those 30 years that we are no longer the people that go to help our neighbors in their time of need? this week has proven that not to be the case. and i don't know about the rest of you, but i am proud of what our country is about and i will praise it, no matter how many people disagree with me!

GOD BLESS AMERICA

 

"look at how everyone has banded together in the days since the tragedy! that alone give me reason to be proud of our country"

Like every system and every country, we have our ups and downs, but I'd like to point out that we haven't all banded together. Many Americans have been insulting and blaming and worse physically taking out their anger on other Americans who just happen to be of middle eastern descent. Like any common threat or tragedy, this has tied many people together, but it's also raised hostilities towards others who are no less American citizens than everyone else.

 

"Many Americans have been insulting and blaming and worse physically taking out their anger on other
Americans who just happen to be of middle eastern descent."

Many Americans? i, too, have seen people lash out at the people of middle-eastern decent (i know of one such individual that frequents this message board, and i have said my piece to him about his ignorance), but how many Americans are really doing that? i would say those who are causing problems for the Islamic community are few and far between. i certainly wouldn't call them many. the majority of Americans are understanding, compassionate people who know that just because someone is Muslim doesn't mean he or she is a terrorist. if that were the case, then people of Middle-Eastern decent would already have been put into internment camps like what happened during WWII. no, i still stand behind my statement. Americans have banded together in the wake of this tragedy, and that is something I am very proud of.

 

As the grandchild of immigrants these thoughts came to mind upon reading the first post and the ones to follow. This was not just an attack on America. This was an assault on a way of life. America is not a country it is an idea. A threatening idea to some who feel ever encroached upon by it.
Yes, we often go it alone here, mainly because we have the wealth and the means and the power to do so. But we are not alone. We belong to the world. Those who do not live in America should remember that we are your children, we are the best of you and sometimes the worst of you, and I am deeply grateful for all those who stand with us in this dark hour. We are all going to need each other if we have any hope of defeating this dispicable evil.

 

Mastadge: "Many Americans have been insulting and blaming and worse physically taking out their anger on other Americans who just happen to be of middle eastern descent."

Mastadge, this is simply not the case (also see AthyraFire's reactions to your comments). Just as the actions of those terrorist fanatics represent a very, very, very small faction of Muslims around the world, so do the actions of those Americans against Arab Americans represent a very, very, very small faction of Americans. Grief and anger is common as a result of a tragedy such as this, but the unification across all lines of faith and race is widespread right now. American ideals stand for an acceptance of ALL faiths and race, and as an Indian American, I can truly say that America understands this by and large.

 

I renege! My thoughts were distorted, but my point was that even though America is in many ways a great nation, it like any other does have its problems.

And just to add to the list of Genealogies, I am descended maternally from Jefferson and my paternal Grandfather is a holocaust survivor, so I've got blood from both sides...And my paternal grandmothers family came here from Russia in the early 20th century to escape religious prosecution too

 

I was going to reply, but you all have said it much better than I ever could have. All I'll say is, I too am very very proud to be an AMERICAN.

God bless America and God bless us all

Samuel

 

Samuel I could not have said it better myself.

 

I'm proud to be in a country with such strong ties with such a great country as yours

 

all these great responses just make me so happy!

 

Thank you Vergere and Mastadge for your posts and sensitivity to those who were made guilty by association because of our beliefs.

I am a muslim and staying in America. I too was very sick at what happened in the WTC. I've been to NY and visited those majestic building before, I can say that looking at the grueling pictures of the towers made me really sad. I too felt anger and numb when the incident happened. But I must say this - they hit the WORLD TRADE CENTER. Okay, so it's in NY and part of America but the people that work in there are from every parts of the the WORLD. So, they are hitting at the world in literal sense.

I am proud to be married to an American and I will donate blood and will fly the American flag but this message gave the idea of 'us' against 'them'. Until we could forget the barriers and think that all humans were assaulted by this tragedy, until that moment, I think we would have helped stop this beast called 'terrorist'.

Lastly, I believe it's not who you are or where you come from, some human are right down EVIL - as EVIL as the Emperor himself maybe even worse! But until we know for sure those suspected people are the one and the same that did this atrocity, I think we should remain calm and check the evidence again and again. I would hate it if the US start a war, and after the deaths of more innocent lives (who had nothing to do with the terrorists) and find out that the enemy was not the enemy after all.

***That said - I'll light a candle tonight for all those missing at the WTC***

 

I am an australian.
I would like to express my utter sorow and deepest sympathies to all those Americans out there. Words fail to describe what you all must feel. However, I would like to suggest that you consider this.
Anger and violent revenge is not the answer. Justice is. I have seen on the news services here in australia that many Americans, somewhere around 94%, belive that military action should be taken. I suport this, but, if those who were not involved with this tragedy, innocent civilians like those who were unfortunate enough to be caught in the WTC, are killed, than America would be no more just than the terrorists.

Mass destruction is not the answer. A careful trial and military movement is.

As an australian, I have some slight perception of this tradgedy. I would also like to state that theh attack on America was an attack on a way of life, one which we australians share. Our Prime Minister was over in America during the attacks, less than 15km from the pentagon. My home city is hosting CHOGM( commonwealth heads of government meeting) in October. We have pledged military and political support to America in this time of crisis.America does not stand alone. There is help and support out there. Australia is offering that support, and in doing so, are likely to make ourselves targets.

once again, I cannot begin to fathom your loss.
May the Force Be With You, Always

 

Skydancer, I too gave blood right outside of NYC (in NJ) and there was a long line for it!

I would like to remind everyone the idea of America: rather brave colonists from England settled in America to escape religious persecution. In the New England area, many more escaped their original residence (in the Boston area) to Connecticut and Rhode Island to flee from further religious stringencies in Catholicism. African Americans have made a long and difficult plight to earn equality in this country. Women have equally come a long way in this country.

Let's not throw away the idea of America and give terrorists the satisfaction by lashing out at those simply for their race or religion. America has come a long way to represent an idea of religious and ethnic tolerance and acceptance. Let's not throw away this very dear idea of America.

 

Hello.
I, like several others, am a proud Canadian.

Yet, when the WTC was hit, many of us Canadians were is severe shock.
I for one, had always consider the Americans our close brothers, in action...and in reference.

Today, Prime Minister Jean Chretien announced this day a antional day of mourning, and our school administrators asked us to have a moment of silence, the moment ended, but everyone remained silent for several more minutes.

It is nice to know that you guys also feel the same way about us.

Jace Halycron

God less America...
And God bless our planet.

 

strange. I read this last night, and today my geometry teacher read that article to the class.

 

Speaking as a Canadian living in the US, I can say I feel a sense of solidarity with my American brethren. I think the events of September 11th have finally started to sink in and I have come out of the sense of shock I have been in since then. I remember when I called my mom in Ottawa around 11 am on that day and she was in tears.

What some of you may not know is that the Ottawa Hospital freed up every available bed it had for any survivors air lifted to Ontario, just in case. And in Ottawa on Friday they held a memorial service on Parlament Hill in which thousands turned out. My wife, who is an ICU nurse at Fairview University Medical Center here in Minneapolis, offered to volunteer in NYC, but was told that they wanted doctors. We also donated $50 via Amazon.com to the American Red Cross.

I think those people who call Canada useless are also those who know nothing about the nation.


I wrote this on the day of the disaster:



Words

Words fail me right now
Because I can't express how I feel
Lights and sound assail my senses
As atrocity offends my sensibilities

For eight hours I watched in mute horror
The towers come down
Amidst the angels that had gathered
Mortal saviors in the dust

I want to scream and I have cried
A litany of savage indignation
Of perverse sorrow in the aftermath
Of man's inhumanity to man

My words are fragments
Moments in time and locked
Because I cannot say how I feel
And never will