There is nothing useful about remembering what happened on 9/11, so I won’t do it.
My refusal to participate is not a denial of the event, or a political statement, or a kind of commentary on the worth of the people whose lives were affected by the events of that day. I simply don’t need a day like this to remember that I’m American, especially one that commemorates the successful killing of thousands of Americans by people who do not share my beliefs.
Similarly, I do not need a special month to remember black history, or a ribbon to remember AIDS, or a green shirt to remember a saint who brought Christianity to Ireland. What beliefs I hold dear, I hold in my heart, not on a bumper-sticker that says “never forget”.
I do not see purpose in the nation remembering this day. Sure it affects everyone, but it’s unlikely that you even knew one of the people who were killed. If you did, are you remembering their lives, or are you remembering how they were killed? Can we please divorce the meaning of the lives of those people who were lost from the actual action that caused that loss of life?
We need to move on. We need to stop commemorating this attack every year. We need to let those families that were affected get on with their changed lives. We need to get on with our own changed lives and become accustomed to our sad, new “normal”. And I certainly have no need to celebrate that.
