By Scott Buttram
TRUSSVILLE — Our world and our psyche irrevocably changed 13 years ago today. The Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers marked the beginning of a time with no foreseeable end.
As Sept. 11, 2014 dawns, we find ourselves very much in the same situation. Still at war with terror. Still shocked by the atrocities. Still, at least somewhat, living in fear.
Following that fateful day, we were told that if we changed the way we live, the terrorists have won.
Have they?
U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer’s Mate Eric J. Tilford
As we pass through airports, we see the changes. Our phone calls may be monitored. We’re buying guns at a staggering rate. Have we changed the way we live?
Even as President Barack Obama addressed the nation about the latest terrorist threat, nervous mothers took to social media to discuss the possibility of keeping children home from school today.
Are the terrorists winning?
I don’t know if there is a definitive answer to these questions, but I know we view everything differently than we did on Sept. 10, 2001. The evidence is undeniable.
Thirteen years ago, we came together as Americans. Those who lived through the world wars may have experienced a similar unity, but that feeling was a first for my generation. Sometimes I fear it may have been a last, as well.
Abraham Lincoln told us more than a century and a half ago that a house divided against itself cannot stand.
We are more divided as a country today than we have ever been in my lifetime. We are more politicized and more polarized than I ever dreamed we could be.
Today is a day to remember those lost in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. But maybe it is also time to think about what we have lost as a society.
The terrible loss of innocent lives was tragic.
The loss of freedom, innocence and unity, in some ways, may be even more tragic because we are all forced to live with it every day.
Did the terrorists win? Are they winning?
Those questions will have to be answered individually. But we know this much: They haven’t gone away and Americans don’t appear to be coming together on much of anything.
Email me at Scott.Buttram@TrussvilleTribune.com and follow me on Twitter at @ScottButtram.
