Remembering September 11, 2001

World Trade Center towers collapsing on 9/11/01
World Trade Center on 9/11 shortly after the second tower had collapsed. (Photo by Wally Gobetz. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. From WikiMedia Commons)

September 11 is a day that needs to be remembered and reflected on for many reasons:

  • The tragic loss of life to several thousand innocent people.
  • The reminder that violent assault on any one individual reverberates through a family, a community, and a nation.
  • The recognition that for the first time in over 100 years, Americans were attacked on their own soil, challenging their assumption that security can be achieved through armed strength alone.
  • The killing of innocent people can lead to rage, a desire to retaliate, and calls for revenge.
  • Validation of the maxim that every time an invader takes one innocent life, 10 new people join the opposition.

The intent of Terry Jones, pastor of a small evangelical church in Florida, to burn more than 200 Qur’ans on the anniversary of 9/11 can be seen as a powerful example of rage, the desire to retaliate, and an act of revenge—the kinds of behaviors that perpetuate cycles of violence, hatred, and misunderstanding.

The loss of innocent American lives on 9/11/2001 was a travesty, as is Jones’s plan to burn the holy book of millions of peace-loving Muslims around the world.

Perhaps burning the holy book of millions is not as deadly as killing an innocent person, but as General Petraeus has pointed out, it certainly provides fuel for the small militant element within Islam aiming to harm American forces in the Middle East and elsewhere.

What does Mr. Jones know of the Qur’an? Has he considered Chapter 5, Verse 32: “[I]f anyone slew a person—unless it be for murder or spreading mischief in the land—it would be as if he slew the whole people. And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.”

Does he understand that the message of the Qur’an, which overlaps significantly with the Bible, emphasizes peace and brotherhood?

Is he also aware that, like the Bible, the Qur’an contains passages that can be distorted by seekers of power within each religion to advance their own agenda?

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Peace through the ethic of reciprocity

What does it take to achieve peace? I think the best answer on an individual level is to

The Good Samaritan painting by van Gogh
The Good Samaritan, Vincent van Gogh. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (via Wikimedia Commons).

follow the ethic of reciprocity, the principle known as the Golden Rule.

This ethic of reciprocity is a version of Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative, which says: “”Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”

All the major religions in the world have provided such guidance. For example, the Talmud (Shabbat 3id) says: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.”

The Christian Bible (Matthew 7:1) says: All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.”

In Islam, Mohammed’s message in the Sunnah is: “No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.”

In Buddhism, we find (Udana-Varga 5,): “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.”

Dr. Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Note: This post was adapted from my previously published article in Peace Psychology (a publication of the American Psychological Association), Spring, 2009.