Can We Make Sense of the Senseless?

by John Colanzi

I’ve been trying to make sense of what would appear to be a senseless attack on America by crazed, religious zealots.

After the initial numbness wore off and after spending many sleepless nights trying to find a rhyme or reason for what happened, I’ve come to some disturbing conclusions.

They are not crazy.

It’s far too easy to dismiss these terrorists as crazy. They aren’t crazy. They are cold, calculating and they know what they are doing and why.

Their goal is not just to eliminate and decimate America, they are sending a message to the world of their hate for:

• Democracy
• Individualism
• Freedom of religion
• Freedom of speech and thought
• Capitalism

We were the “Great Experiment” that started as nothing more than thoughts in the minds of a handful of rugged individualists.

We removed the barriers of the class system. We eliminated the concept of the individual as a servant to the state.

I can sit and write this without fear of having my door kicked in. I don’t worry that troops will drag me out of my house for exercising free speech.

I have the freedom to practice any religion or no religion. The choice is mine, not the states.

My grandfather ran away from home at 16-years-old and was able to come to this country alone and without even the ability to speak our language.

He was given the freedom in our capitalist society to start
a business, which still stands today and is run by my father.

These are the principles Osama bin Laden and the terrorists were attacking. Not just the people and property of America. They coldly and calculatedly were attacking the hopes and dreams we stand for.

They are not crazy. They are not religious. No true Muslim believes in the killing of the innocent.

They are not just anti-American, they are anti everything America stands for. We were the last bastion of tranquility in the world.

We were the last place on Earth considered safe by every free thinking human on Earth.

That’s why they sang “God Bless America” across the globe yesterday. That’s why a woman in France said everyone is an American today.

America is not just its physical boundaries. It’s not just its people. It’s a mind set. It’s the hopes and dreams of so many who’ve never even set foot on our shores.

With all our blessing comes the responsibility to go forward and to keep the “Great Experiment” alive.

We are here to stay and all we ask is “Don’t Tread On Me.”

God Bless America and God Bless everyone around the globe who were Americans yesterday.