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SEPTEMBER 11 REMEMBRANCE
“The meeting was duly held on the 11th September 1906. It was attended by delegates from various places in the Transvaal. But I must confess that even I myself had not then understood all the implications…”
M.K. Gandhi,
from Satyagraha in South Africa
September 11, 2006 marks five years since the terror attacks of 2001. It also occasions the 100th anniversary of a meeting in Johannesburg that gave birth to Gandhi’s Satyagraha movement.
Literally translated, Truth Force, Satyagraha is the principled refusal to cooperate with unjust social institutions while also renouncing violence as a means of non-cooperation.
The September 11 attacks propelled this nation on a path of militant redemption. Blood demanded blood, violence justified violence. Bit by bit the Global War on Terror has dissolved our scruples about detainment without charges, secret imprisonment, torture, assassination, and invading other countries. All things are justified in the name of homeland security.
As we continue to find our bearings in this post 911 world we, the people of faith, must become clear on the real meaning of security, even if our countrymen are mad with fear. We must become clear on what we are called to do. If, as some claim, God is calling us to destroy the violent with violence then we are on the right track. But if God is calling us to forsake violence, and if God is truly power, then how can we claim to serve God and yet put our trust in violence?
Let this twin anniversary be a call to all people of faith, both at home and abroad, to join together in seeking another way to respond to violence, fear, and terror.
Please join me on September 11 at 6:30 PM in the sanctuary of Christ Congregational Church for a Quaker style meeting to remember and reflect on these two watershed events.
The church is located at 9525 Colesville Road in Silver Spring just south of the Beltway.
Richard Jaeggi
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