Unholy Wars
September 2001
https://web.archive.org/web/20011216222831/http://www.brooklynrail.org/masthd.html
https://brooklynrail.org/2001/10/local/visions-of-a-tragedy-911
Unholy Wars
By Michael Bubb
I am so afraid right now. I watched the towers crumble outside my window. My apartment is on the Hudson River facing the WTC at a distance of less than a mile. KyoungSu had not gone to work yet; I had an appointment at 10:30 on Exchange Place, a few blocks from the WTC. We spent the first few hours going between the balcony and CNN.
Of course I’m afraid of terrorism and such horrible acts. But I’m more afraid of something else. I can’t really articulate it, but it is internal. I am already afraid to say what I think and feel. I really don’t want my country to bomb civilians and wage a war. I want my country to live up to its basic promise—but I wake out of the daydream and realize I’m talking about Ginsberg’s “America,” not Bush’s.
What are we to do? How are we to think about this? How do we act?
An icon on my desk, a gift from Spain. A Moorish Christ. Dark, sorrowful, severe face—yet also quite inviting. And the face, I realize after watching hour upon hour of CNN, of Osama bin Laden.
With this association came back the half-remembered passages from Catholic school:
- Every human is made in the image and likeness of God.
- Whatsoever you do to the least among you, you do to Me.
- Love your enemies, do good to them without expecting anything back.
- Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.
- Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
It is quite clear what we are called upon to do here. But how? What does it mean to love this enemy? Does the U.S. have the ability to turn the other cheek—not in weakness—but in the greater strength of love? How is bin Laden the image and likeness of God? And does he really have a splinter in his eye while I have a plank?