As I drive to Colorado to celebrate my father’s upcoming birthday, I have been listening to Ron Chernow’s wonderful biography of George Washington. Last night, when crossing Nevada in the dead of night, but with the temperature fluctuating from the mid-90s to low 100s, I learned of the trials that great man faced when first taking charge of the Continental Army, then little more than a ragtag collection of state militias, in 1775.
Among other things, the then-green Commander-in-Chief was concerned about the spiritual welfare of his men. From his “General Orders” of July 4, 1775 (one year before that day would become the most significant one on an American’s calendar):
The General . . . requires and expects, of all Officers, and Soldiers, not engaged on actual duty, a punctual attendance on divine Service, to implore the blessings of heaven upon the means used for our safety and defence.
Wonder how the ACLU would have reacted had it been around at the time.
Contrast the father of our country with the the current Mayor of New York City: “New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will not reconsider his decision to exclude clergy from the ceremony marking 10 years since the Sept. 11 attacks, a spokesman said Friday.“
While clumsy-handled, I suspect it’s a tactical-decision that allows the avoidance of the issue of allowing Islamic clerics and representatives to be excluded…or invited. In the absence of a widely-recognized and accepted moderate Islamic cleric to invoke the Blessings of Allah or other appropriate rites, too-many would be potentially offended by the inclusion of Islamic leaders praying at the site of Islamofascist terror and murder…and it being beamed worldwide on cable and satellite TV.
If your surmise is true, Ted B, then it reveals what is so messed up about America now. For fear of offending the representatives of the religion which is the cause of all this grief, “we” decide to erase a part of our nation’s historic reality. If Islam were a religion with any real depth of spirituality, the Muslims themselves would have offered to stay out of sight that day and gather in their mosques and ask God to forgive them.
Bloomberg is a boob. If he were smart, he would include everyone to be involved, yet the firefighters & policemen are excluded as well! Keep monitoring the salt Lucy Bloomberg.
“If Islam were a religion with any real depth of spirituality, the Muslims themselves would have offered to stay out of sight that day and gather in their mosques and ask God to forgive them.”
Amen, EssEm!
“. . . many would be potentially offended by the inclusion of Islamic leaders praying at the site of Islamofascist terror and murder.”
Potentially?
I hope that at least one of the many programs airing on and around September 11 would play the clips of people across the Arab world literally dancing in the street when they found out about the collapse of the WTC. Maybe those clips can be intercut with the video of people making the choice between burning to death and leaping off the building. I can hope, but it’s in vain.