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The Alternate Path After 9/11

The Alternate Path After 9/11

Last updated on: September 10, 2026 at 1:30 pm by C. Don Jones

The Alternate Path After 9/11 2026-09-10T13:30:13-06:00 C. Don Jones

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Twenty-five years ago, life in the USA paused. A week later, it restarted and chose a path that has led to the chaos, violence, and destruction of today. Scripture lays out two paths that were taken following the destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the Kingdom of Judah. One path offered healing. The other called for revenge. The first offer was given in the book Lamentations. The other is Psalm 137.

The Path Taken

We know what happened. The United States, me included, remembered Pearl Harbor, and opted to destroy the enemy. The Psalmist describes a miserable life in exile. The exiled singers are angry. It is a rage that knows no bounds. They lash out against the Edomites for their perceived betrayal. Interpreters sometimes express distress over the last verse of Psalm 137. “Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!” I did too. I cannot say I have ever been that enraged, but 9/11 brought me close to it. The psalm focuses on how the exiles have been wronged and continue to suffer wrong at the hands of their captors.

We chose to destroy our enemies. President Bush described the attackers in many ways. When he described our friends, they were “with us.” Our enemies were “against us.” So, a few years later when the US decided to invade Iraq, some of the allies who were “with us” in Afghanistan became enemies to be derided for being “against us” on Iraq.

We and the rest of the world live with the consequences of our wrath.

The Path Ignored

Jeremiah receives the credit for Lamentations. It is a difficult book to read as it describes a community suffering with no apparent comfort. The prophet takes a different approach than the psalmist. While crying out to the God whose Temple is in ruins, he notes the actions of the enemies, “Let all their evil doing come before you; and deal with them as you have dealt with me because of all my transgressions; for my groans are many and my heart is faint” (Lamentations 1:22). We did not take this path. We did not embrace our own innocence, Instead, we declared the innocence of the victims of the terrorist attack. Our violence was in their name.

I once protested to Professor Noam Chomsky we should defend ourselves. He graciously replied with a counter argument about our guilt in the world. I ignored it at the time, but I never forgot it.

The Better Way

While I do not wish to dwell on what we could have done differently, we should look to see what alternatives were offered that fit the method of lament. Right-wing Televangelists called for other people to repent. Jerry Falwell infamously blamed feminists, homosexuals, etc. for what happened. Conservative media blamed “multiculturalism.” There was one voice I remember. While we watched the attacks unfold my anger began to boil. His response was grief and mourning. I tried comforting by claiming, “This will not stand. We are the United States of America.” He looked to me and said, “That is the problem, we think we should always attack. It is why this is happening.” I thought he had a point but was still wrong.

The truth is we did not have to launch a forever war in Afghanistan, Iraq, or anywhere else. We did not need to turn Guantanamo Bay base into a concentration camp. It was all unnecessary. And it cannot be undone.

How Do We Move Forward?

Church leaders expecting other people to repent without considering their own sins is an abomination. Therefore, church leaders should begin repentance for our part in every evil we have done.

We give thanks for religious freedom without considering what we have given up to gain it and to whom we have denied it.

We claim blessings of land and wealth that are actually stolen goods.

Church leaders allow themselves to be bullied by church members who have no interest in following Jesus Christ.

Church leaders willingly bless so many evils by claiming we personally have nothing to do with it.

As a nation, we should repent from the evils caused by greed, covetousness, and blood lust. We call them manifest destiny and the Monroe Doctrine which became genocide and gunboat diplomacy.

And then there is our original sin of racism, slavery, and the abuse of entire populations.

When we fear resentment from others, it may help to examine our tendency to discount the needs of others to satisfy our desire for more.

Repentance means justice and a desire for holiness.

We can never be perfect on our own efforts. If we learn the grace of truth, we can be part of the great project of universal restoration.

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