September 12, 2001, America's Day of Resolve: We Need It Again!

America Now Looks at Another Time of Rebuilding, Another Day of Resolve

We could be proud as a nation on September 12, 2001. We worked together to find survivors among the wreckage in New York and Washington. We adapted and cooperated in whatever ways were necessary to re-build our infrastructure for a brave new world. We could no longer see our nation as impenetrable; we could be attacked again. Ten years later, we are under attack again, but it's a war of words and our nation's unity is crumbling. What will it take to regain our gallantry as a nation? Resolve.

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - September 11, 2001 will forever be remembered as a day of remembrance concerning the horrible attacks in New York and Washington along with the downing of United flight 93 in Shanksville, PA. Yet in the wake of this hostile attack, America awoke on September 12 with the resolve to rescue and rebuild.

On 9-12, first responders were aided in their efforts by police, fire and rescue units from across the country, who came to help sort through the rubble, looking for those who might still be alive. America was not just united at that moment in our sorrows but in our commitment that we will not allow this attack to diminish our spirit as a nation.

Living in Northern Virginia just north of Dulles International Airport, September 12 held an eerily quiet. There were no planes in the air except for an infrequent high altitude fighter on patrol. We knew however that the quiet was not a measure of defeat but re-building our security infrastructure toward a future where this would not happen again.

We can debate for a long time whether the loss of personal freedoms for the sake of security was merited. That is for others to argue. As a country on September 12, we began again and with greater determination that such an attack would not be able to happen again.

Ten years later, we may be finding ourselves at a time of dismemberment that is far more catastrophic than the 9-11 attack and a new day of resolve is needed. The polarization and extreme partisanship that has been unleashed in the past few years has produced a staggering blow to America. The attacks have impacted the twin towers of economics and employment as well as the national defense of our personal freedoms.

The arsenal unleashed in this latest conflict is found particularly in verbal attacks where words are our weapons. The exchange of ideas has been supplanted insults and name-calling; the structures are crumbling with many caught in the rubble.

On September 12, 2001, President George W. Bush stated, "The United States of America will use all our resources to conquer this enemy. We will rally the world. We will be patient. We'll be focused, and we will be steadfast in our determination. This battle will take time and resolve, but make no mistake about it, we will win."

The opposition we face is a moral terrorism, intent upon continuing to killing the unborn; removing the ability for organizations, let alone individuals, to maintain a position of conscience concerning moral values; and deconstructing terms, such as marriage, to fit an agenda of appetite.

The same steadfast determination will be required for our nation to navigate the stormy waters of our current situation. It will require a resolve and I'm particularly calling for Catholics and other Christians to get involved.

As a voice for proper moral values, the following are areas we must be quick to embrace a call to action.

Resolve to embody our Faith based values in word and deed.

Here we are not only to defend the essence of the Gospel concerning our Lord Jesus Christ and His redemption of mankind. We are to take upon ourselves those principles, which he revealed to and through His Church. We must become participants and proponents of the authentic social teachings of the Church.

In their document on Social Teaching, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops stated, "Far too many Catholics are not familiar with the basic content of Catholic social teaching.

"More fundamentally, many Catholics do not adequately understand that the social teaching of the Church is an essential part of Catholic faith. This poses a serious challenge for all Catholics, since it weakens our capacity to be a Church that is true to the demands of the Gospel. We need to do more to share the social mission and message of our Church."

As the bishops explain, these are not just ideas to be thrown around; they are essential parts of our faith. A great resource that can assist us in understanding these key themes is the "Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church."

This is a breakthrough text, as it has placed the key aspects of social doctrine in one place where the average person can really absorb these important teachings. You can become familiar with the Church's position on
- The Dignity of the Human Person
- The Common Good and Community
- The Poor and the Vulnerable
- Rights and Responsibilities of Persons
- The Dignity of Work
- The Stewardship of Creation
- Solidarity

You will also learn about such things as subsidiarity, where we see that that the functions of government should be performed at the lowest level possible, as long as they can be performed adequately.

By living out these themes in word and deed, we become world-changers, however large or small our level of expression happens to be. If only one other person's life is changed because of our commitment to these teachings, the world has already begun its transformation.

The social teachings of the Church are not partisan platform statements; they deal with issues not parties. For us, the issue is a world in which these themes are not only important but also implemented.

Resolve to make our voice heard

It is so easy for men and women of faith to simply ignore the encroachment of the culture of death. Some simply choose to throw up their hands, believing we are powerfulness, while others pretend it's not our problem, singing "This world is not my home, I'm just a'passin' through."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian and martyr toward the end of World War II. He lamented the silence of the church concerning the atrocities that lead to the extermination of Jews and even Catholics at the hands of the Adolf Hitler and his regime.

He wrote, "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
 
Now is the time for a Catholic voice to be heard, bringing these values before our leaders in the public and private sectors.  These teachings are not simply Catholic issues or Christian issues or religious issues. They come forth from Natural Law, the laws of human nature which are infused in us all.

This is also a time to demand civil discourse of these same leaders. Name calling and vilifying of the opponent will not help solve any of our problems. I believe it was Eric Hoffer who said in his classic book, "The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements," that the easiest way to build a movement is to gather a people around a common enemy.

That strategy may gather a group, but no real constructive resolution will ever be a result, it merely builds a mob.

Resolve to pray for our Nation

How easy it is to believe that God is not aware or involved in the affairs of life, even as Catholic Christians. We see our world moving farther and farther away from him and assume nothing can bring it back.

During the 200th Bicentennial celebration, in 1976, a call to prayer for our nation spread like wildfire across America based on II Chronicles 7:14: "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

First spoken to King Solomon by the Lord at the time of the dedication of the temple, the call can easily be applied to any nation and any time. We are called to intercession and examination of our own lives as well as intensify our prayers on behalf of our leaders and the citizens of our country.

It's September of 2011. In fourteen months we will vote for a president and many of our congressional leaders. There will be a lot of speeches and spin between now and then. Our Catholic voice must join in. The more of us that join in, the stronger will be the sound.

I truly believe that, with Catholics and other Christians impassioned by our values and informed by our teachings, our voice can be heard above the roar and we can be heard.

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online and the CEO/Associate Publisher for the Northern Virginia Local Edition of Catholic Online (http://virginia.catholic.org). He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

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