9/11 and Religion

Christine mentioned the classification of 9/11 as a religiously motivated event and the religious response of the US in terms of candle ceremonies and prayers in the days following the event. I thought this was an interesting connection, but one which needs some expanded thought. The US may have brought religion into their response, but it was not explicitly Catholic or Jewish or any other religion. Religion is a force that people turn to in order to cope with facts that are irrational -- it gives people hope that somehow, some irrational things will work out in the end. It wasn't our faith that caused us to develop a foreign policy that involved retaliation, but our general culture (pride, patriotism, etc.) that provoked it. I don't think that our response was essentially religious; it was human.

What the aftermath of 9/11 did expose, however, is some religious ignorance on the part of the US. Many people afterwards openly associated Muslims with terrorism, which is clearly not a just connection. Foreign policy should be accompanied by the tools to educate the public as to the rationale behind the policy decision. If that means a clarification as to the religious influences (or lack of religious influences) involved in policy decisions and terrorism, then I think that it should be considered. If something of that nature had already been in place, then maybe then the residents of Bethlehem wouldn't be as opposed to the Center for Islamic Studies as they are now..