Remembering 9/11

I had the privilege of living in New York City for nearly a decade. I met my wife and we had our children there. Our daughter took her first steps in the park at the base of the World Trade Center. Moreover, my work took me up into those towers numerous times. Yes, I have feelings on this anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, our country. The feelings are difficult and changing, but they emerge finally with a clarity of thought that tells me: This is what extremism looks like.

After we had checked in with all our friends to make sure everyone was safe. After the 24/7 news coverage, and after we went to war against people who had nothing to do with these attacks, that same clarity remains. This is what extremism looks like. And as I repeat the phrase I shake my head slowly, and think about extremism here in the USA. Extremism in our own country fomented an attack on our Capitol and an attempt to undo a free and fair election. Extremism fanned out across the nation in the guise of so called “Proud Boys” and fake electors. Extremism hoists confederate and nazi flags and marches in the brittle name of “free speech.” And extremism attacks vulnerable people and bans books. It slashes and strikes out at democratic institutions and actively seeks the harm of innocent people. This is what extremism looks like. Not in the color of our skin, or in the countries we or our ancestors came from or our religious beliefs. These things do not cause extremism, but extremists use them as an excuse to cause pain, harm, hurt, evil. Extremism pushes for the opposites of what we stand for: Compassion, kindness, and hope. Extremism allows no space for any of these. As we honor the fallen on this day, as we lift up the First Responders and the many heroes who gave their all, my plea is that we will remember what extremism looks like… especially when we see it in the mirror.

— Schuyler Rhodes, ICD Chair