FROM THE NY TIMES... Why will never be defeated. Why we can NEVER be defeated...
October 2, 2001
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Eastern Middle School
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
I recently attended meet-the-teacher
night at Eastern Middle School, my
daughter Natalie's school in Silver
Spring, Md. The evening began with the
principal noting that Eastern, a
public school in suburban Washington, had 40 different
nationalities among its students. Before the teachers were
introduced, the school's choir and orchestra, a Noah's ark of
black, Hispanic, Asian and white kids, led everyone in "God Bless
America." There was something about the way those kids sang
together, and the earnest, if not always melodious, way the school
orchestra pounded out the National Anthem, that was both moving
and soothing. As I took in the scene, it occurred to me how much
the Islamic terrorists who just hit America do not understand
about America.
Their constant refrain is that America is a country with wealth
and power but "no values." The Islamic terrorists think our wealth
and power is unrelated to anything in the soul of this country —
that we are basically a godless nation, indeed the enemies of God.
And if you are an enemy of God you deserve to die. These
terrorists believe that wealth and power can be achieved only by
giving up your values, because they look at places such as Saudi
Arabia and see that many of the wealthy and powerful there lead
lives disconnected from their faith.
Of course, what this view of America completely misses is that
American power and wealth flow directly from a deep spiritual
source — a spirit of respect for the individual, a spirit of
tolerance for differences of faith or politics, a respect for
freedom of thought as the necessary foundation for all creativity
and a spirit of unity that encompasses all kinds of differences.
Only a society with a deep spiritual energy, that welcomes
immigrants and worships freedom, could constantly renew itself and
its sources of power and wealth.
Which is why the terrorists can hijack Boeing planes, but in the
spiritless, monolithic societies they want to build, they could
never produce them. The terrorists can exploit the U.S.- made
Internet, but in their suffocated world of one God, one truth, one
way, one leader, they could never invent it.
Lord knows, ours is hardly a perfect country. Many times we have
deviated from the American spirit or applied it selfishly. But it
is because we come back to this spirit more times than not, in
more communities than not, that our country remains both strong
and renewable.
Why can't we convey that? In part, we're to blame. President Bush
denigrated Washington during his campaign and repeated the selfish
mantra about the surplus that "it's your money — not the
government's money." How thankful we are today that we have a
Washington, D.C., with its strong institutions — FEMA, the F.A.A.,
the F.B.I. and armed forces — not to mention a surplus to help
manage our way out of this crisis.
In part we don't talk about these issues so we don't embarrass our
autocratic allies in the Middle East. But this negative view of
America as a nation that achieved wealth and power without any
spiritual values is also deliberately nurtured by governments and
groups in the Middle East. It is a way of explaining away their
own failures to deliver a better life for their own people: The
Americans are powerful only because they stole from us or from
others — not because of anything intrinsically spiritual or humane
in their society.
A society that will dig until it has found every body in the World
Trade Center rubble — because at some level it believes every
individual is created in the image of God — a society that raises
$600 million for the victims in two weeks, is a godless,
spiritless place? Guess again.
These terrorist so misread America. They think our strength lies
only in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon — the twin pillars
of our wealth and power — and if they can just knock them down
we'll start to fold: as if we, like them, have only one truth, one
power center.
Actually, our strength lies in the slightly dilapidated gym of
Eastern Middle School on parent-teacher night, and in thousands of
such schools across the land. That is where you'll find the spirit
that built the twin towers and can build them over again anytime
we please.
So in these troubled times, if you want to feel reassured about
how strong this country is, or what we're fighting to preserve,
just attend a P.T.A. meeting. It's all there, hiding in plain
sight.
