Credit: dennoit, Flickr
By Amy L. Hatch
My daughter has started to ask me who I’m voting for in the fall, which person I think should be president.
She wants to know about the two candidates who are running, and why I may or may not cast my ballot for one or the other. It opened up a series of conversations and a set of questions I was in no way prepared to answer.
And, the hardest question of all: Why are we at war?
My politics are beside the point. Politics are really just a grown-up’s way of justifying his or her actions. A way of codifying a set of beliefs that come from a wide variety of sources: From our families, from our histories, from our personal encounters with difficult life choices that are forged into convictions.
But how do we answer this question: Why are we at war? This innocent query comes on the heels of a terrible anniversary, the 11th year since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. It’s so complicated, so mired in human suffering and fear, so impossible for even a 41-year-old, well-educated woman to grasp.
Every day we do our best to make sense of the nonsensical. Why do I need to wear shoes? Why do I need to pee in the potty? Why do I have to say please and thank you? Why, why, why?
None of it makes sense, when you really think about it. The answer is usually, “because we have to.” But when it comes to violence and conflict and world peace (of the lack thereof), our answers are more fraught. What we tell our children when they ask us to define the world for them in black and white terms, even when they are 7 years old, will influence the way they think for the rest of their lives.
It is, frankly, terrifying.
When our kids are little—infants, babies, toddlers—our job is to keep them alive. Protect their fragile bodies from the forces that cause harm—stairs, sharp edges, traffic. As they get older, smarter and more aware of the (tumultuous) world around them, it is so much harder to keep them safe.
On September 11, 2001, I was dismissed early from work. No one was functioning. We were all glued to the television that someone dug out of a locked, empty office. I watched as the second plane hit the towers. I listened to the frantic mis-information pouring from every media outlet—the Mall in Washington, D.C. was on fire, the White House was under attack (which it would have been, were it not for the brave passengers on Flight 93).
I was 30 years old, but instead of going home I went to my parents’ house. There, I found my mother and father watching the news. I stood in front of the television and turned to my dad.
I asked him, “Why?”
“I don’t know,” he said to me.
So that’s what I told my daughter when she asked me again this week why we were at war. I was as honest as I could be.
Because some questions really are just too hard to answer.
I hear you, Amy. It’s baffling. Art and poetry do help. One book I Iike to read and dream over with kids is Ladder to the Moon by Maya Soetoro-Ng, illustrated by the amazing Yuyi Morales. Twin towers, a tsunami where children are trying to swim to safety, and religious wars are included. I feel as though I’m sitting at the feet of a wise woman when I read this one. This book is a lovely way to introduce poetry and tradition and connection with people all over the world, as well as some of the hardest subjects. Here’s a link to a review: http://www.theresabook.com/2011/04/book-review-ladder-to-the-moon-by-maya-soetoro-ng/
These are difficult questions.
One thing that I’ve come to better understand through the horror of 9-11 is that there is evil in this world. Too often I’ve wanted to minimize the evils of the world. I’ve wanted to believe that some actions and motiviaions are just less good. Given the gravity of world events like 9-11, bombings of churches and schools, and even local shootings and other crimes, I’ve come to better realize that evil exists.
This country was founded on truths that are self evident (part of human nature). “… that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The strength in our country comes from the recognition of these rights.
Unfortunately, evil lives in this world and it seeks to gain power. Evil gaines power when it minimized our unalienable rights and gets us to give them up. There is a power in this world that does not respect life, that does not respect liberty, and that doesn not recognize our right to puruse happiness. That evil was at work on 9-11 and contineus to work in our world today.
One thing that we can take from the remembrance of the horrors of 9-11 is to recognize and defend the rights that were endowed by our Creator. We can stand up for life. We can support life. We can work in solidarity to improve the lives of our community. We can protect our liberty so that we continue to propser as people, families, community, a nation, and as a world. We can ask our elected officials to respect our ability to solve problems at the level closest to our homes. We can pursue happiness, the true happiness that comes from being a community that serves each other so that we all succeed. We can teach our children about the evils of this world and give them the tools to win the battle.