I'm still having trouble comprehending that it's been 10 years since the disaster on 9/11. Have we really been living in a post-9/11 for a full decade already? Has over 1/5 of my life been lived with this event in our collective psyche? During the kids' message Sunday when I asked them how many were under the age of 10, it struck me how many people there are who have known nothing other than a post-9/11 world.
Over this weekend of remembrance, no little controversy has been stirred in the blogosphere and 24-hour cable ad newsium over who's to blame, and over who is casting blame at others. We want to blame people, and we want to argue with those who blame the wrong people.
Who is to blame?
Of course, many conspiracy theorists claim the U.S. government was behind it all, citing all kinds of suspicious "inconsistencies," and claiming that it was all an elaborate scheme to solidify political power.
Others blame those who are more lax about national security. They say it was because too many people have gone "soft" on protecting our borders, allowing the plan to hatch in the first place.
Others have blamed the sinfulness and declining morals of Americans - a charge made not only by the unhinged, judgmental fundamentalists, but also by some of the leading religious voices that are normally quite sound. This is God's wrath on sinful America! You and I are to blame, they say, and therefore we should be deeply ashamed of ourselves.
There are those who blame some subsector of the Muslim community. They blame either the "radicals" or those with uncontained political aspirations. They are careful not to blame all Muslims or even Islam itself.
Others blame all of the Muslim community, saying there is no such thing as "non-radical" Islam. Others rush to the other extreme and bark at anyone who would dare include "Islam" of any form when deciding who's at fault.
I think I've heard more people blame all forms of religion more than any other suspect. All such "religious extremists" are equally dangerous, according to this charge. And now, "extremism" is a term that has expanded to include anyone who is "fervent" or even just "serious" about his faith. That means that I am as dangerous as the hijackers.
Perhaps the most talked about blamer this last weekend was a writer who laid the responsibility square on people who were in leadership, like President Bush and Mayor Giuliani - not really blaming them for the event, but for giving us a "decade of shame" of politicizing the whole event. Ironically, the article itself politicized the whole event.
Still others note the demonic nature of that magnitude of evil, and include the fallen spirits among the blameworthy. For a brief time after the event, it was acceptable in a world of tolerance to call something "wrong" or "evil." At minimum, the sinfulness of man is a major factor in what happened.
Would a strong Calvinist even dare to blame God?
Who is to blame?
What I find interesting is how important it is for us to blame someone - anyone at all. The level of heat in these exchanges tells me that there's something in our very core that needs to know who's at fault, so that we can put the blame where it belongs. We've just got to cast blame on someone! What does this drive to place blame tell us about ourselves?
We crave justice. We are appalled and angered by the grave injustice of 9/11, and we need to blame someone so that we can hope and pray for justice to come. It was wrong, we know it was wrong, and we want someone to pay for that wrong. Even many who deny God have an insatiable hunger for justice (a justice that has no definition without God).
Which is why it is so hard for us to comprehend grace. God's grace is that Jesus takes the blame upon himself for all our injustices. And that feels so wrong - Jesus is that last one who should be blamed. But, grace says that Jesus took all the blame, and offers us grace instead. The cross is even bigger than the atrocity of 9/11, and beyond sufficient for everyone who deserves any portion of the blame.
Who is to blame?
Jesus is willing to be. It is the only way that we can survive God's justice. That is the Gospel.
There is something within our nature that just seeks to have it all figured out.We must have an answer, we must know WHY. Why.... after every Natural Disaster, some popular religious talking head public ally blames a sin as the cause. So wish they'd look at themselves and the church but No they Blame and Fingerprint at the world. Most recently I had read that some of these kind were blaming the recent Hurricane Irene on America's lack of support of Israel. Where do they come up with this stuff? In Luke 13:1-5 the disciples question Jesus as to ask paraphrased, who is to blame? He never answers them..He speaks of things eternal..he points them to where His heart is at...there is a greater perishing....a greater perishing than that of the body but of the soul. I get distracted sometimes..especially by politics....it's like a Yankee Game! But there is a greater focus, a weightier matter....an eternal perspective that I am by grace to maintain....just thinkin out loud and 'remembering'..May I not forget....thanks
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