Can we stitch the population of the country back together?
A few weeks ago, during ceremonies around the area commemorating the bravery of our police and firefighters during the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States, most speakers spoke of the unity felt in the aftermath.
America appeared as one in response to the terror.
That was 20 years ago. Where has that feeling gone?
The keynote speaker at the commemoration at Osprey Point in Upper Township talked about the unity then and the divisions now.
But he went only halfway.
Marmora Fire Chief Jay Newman gave the perspective of roughly half of the nation aggrieved. What Newman summed up were accurate sentiments, but for there to be as great a divide as exists now, there is another side feeling aggrieved as well.
We wonder if there is hope for these two sides to be stitched back together.
At the moment, we are unsure.
During the annual 9/11 ceremonies we collectively vowed to never forget the sacrifices. When we look at our brave local police and firefighters, and stand proudly for the national anthem, we’re left to wonder why we can’t all share the same emotions and commitment to our country.
As Newman addressed various points, it made us think more of the divide.
We agree with him that a lot of police officers are scorned and that first-responders have to worry about frivolous lawsuits when they should be caring only about the lives they are trying to save.
He said the military was embarrassed by the quick surrender to an enemy they defeated, who has as a leader a former resident of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. The way our abrupt exit from Afghanistan happened was a kick in the teeth. But there were three presidents before Joe Biden — George Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump — who kept us in a war for two decades, costing us trillions of dollars that could have been better spent on our own country and, more importantly, costing the lives of more than 2,400 American soldiers, a thousand NATO troops and tens of thousands of Afghan civilians.
Newman criticized the highly paid athletes who kneel for the national anthem, disrespecting the flag. That has caused anger among many in the public, especially among those of us who reflexively and proudly stand when we hear the first notes of the “Star-Spangled Banner.”
Let’s add the other side, the Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol and used poles carrying the American flags to smash windows and beat police officers. For those who thought kneeling peacefully during the national anthem was a travesty, we can only imagine what they must think of American citizens, under the guise of patriotism, attacking police officers under those same flags.
Newman talked about youths living on social media and requiring instant gratification. Amen to that. But it isn’t just youths. That illness infects the older generations as well.
He didn’t mention the huge fight over vaccines and mask mandates, but that is yet another dividing point with people making choices based on dubious social media claims, conspiracy theories and politics instead of science. (We have to note that in conservative Cape May County, county commissioners deserve tremendous credit for their focus on ensuring the residents here are safe and vaccinated. They never swerved from that message.)
Let’s not forget the sense of entitlement swirling across all aspects of our society, believing we are all owed for things for which we haven’t worked. That can be as little as being rude and demanding when we visit overtaxed local businesses struggling to make it through a pandemic. And it can be as large as putting the desire to win above faith in our democracy and refusing to accept the results of a presidential election.
Newman said our nation’s history is being “revised in some convoluted way.” Too many people are trying to make others feel guilty about the nation’s past, over so many things they had nothing to do with and over which they had no control. This is the greatest nation on Earth, but we are not served by hiding the ugly truths. Our strength as a nation is enhanced — not diminished — by unraveling, acknowledging and confronting the imperfections in our past and our present. That is how we create a more perfect union for our future.
The fire chief concluded the nation has to turn back to God, “solid U.S. principles and Judeo-Christian values.” Even that is fraught because of the nasty collusion of politics and religion.
We know basic Judeo-Christian values have served us well and continue to guide us in our daily lives, but those values are undercut when we see some of the most seemingly deeply religious Americans — who used to demand our leaders adhere to a basic moral code — decide that political power is more important.
We agree with Newman’s last line of his speech, that we all should support our first-responders everywhere. That should be a no-brainer. The protections our police, firefighters and EMTs provide cannot be understated.
Sadly, things are not so clear on the larger issues across our society at this point in our history. Our political leaders aren’t doing us any favors; the only leading they do is to increase the divide by demanding people choose sides.
If we were to pray for one thing, it would be that we focus less on the things that divide us and more on the things that have united us as Americans for two and a half centuries. God forbid it takes another 9/11 to remind us of our common ground.
