Many Americans spent a portion of last Friday reflecting upon the monumental shifts in our culture since September 11, 2001. This country has experienced disasters, wars, and monumental moments, but few in American history have so sharply created a divide in our national consciousness. Our fundamental conception’s about America’s place in the world changed in a moment… the America that existed on September 10th was a mere memory by the 12th. Only Pearl Harbor, and the terrorist attacks of September 11th so precisely delineate one period of American history from the next.
Since 2001 the events that occurred on 9/11 have been studied and analyzed extensively. And in the study of these events, some have reached the conclusion that the United State government was complicit in the attacks, or that the attack was allowed to occur despite prior American knowledge.
I will not use this article to espouse the specific beliefs of these theorists. Nor will I speak to the validity of these claims. I acknowledge the fact that I know nothing about architecture or engineering.
To many though, it appears these conspiracy theories are little more than a joke – an easy one liner with shock value. Every day, without exception, I see a post on social media about the nature of 9/11. There are even accounts on twitter devoted to supporting these claims.
Now I don’t know whether most people truly believe what they’re saying when it comes to these conspiracy theories, but regardless, I think September 11th is a day to shut up about it. Sometimes I think we forget about the actual loss of life that occurred that day… the pain it caused so many people. 9/11 isn’t a punch line, it was an attack, and for one day a year, at the very least, I think we owe it to the thousands of people affected by the attack to simply grieve with them.
Now some people will argue that it’s their first amendment right to say what they want when they want, and by suggesting this I’m stifling the truth. I don’t know, maybe they’re right, but it just seems to me that reverence is just as important as the truth – whatever it is. Conspiracy theories cheapen that, they take a day about remembering a tragedy, and they shift the focus to whoever is shouting the craziest ideas. To do that is selfish, and disrespectful to those in mourning. There are 364 other days to exercise freedom of speech; I just think that each year, we should take one to just be silent.
