It’s September 11. May we never forget…
Often we say “I’ll never forget where I was that day.” But what if we never forgot what it was like to feel empathy and devastation for others we don’t even know?
What if we decided to never forget the way our chests felt hollow as we watched political violence at play, 24 years ago? What we if we decided to never forget the way that we felt, nationally, so crushed as we saw destruction hit us so very hard?
Political violence is never the answer. It wasn’t in 2001, and it’s not today in 2025.
And political violence does seem to be contagious, as we see continued acts of violence against politicians on various sides of the aisle, and against people groups of all types, escalating in our society.
Politically motivated assassinations – whether against democrats or republicans, whether against Melissa Hartman or Charlie Kirk, whether against the World Trade Centers or a church or a school – are wrong, always.
Gun violence against children and teens and teachers – whether you wish it was or not – IS political, too. Our children should feel safe going to school – hard stop. It’s our responsibility to the next generation to make a safe place for them to learn to be citizens and leaders.
A democracy is supposed to allow for free and fair participation of all people as we seek to live in community together; it’s not supposed to allow for permanent silencing of someone or groups of people by the hands of the mentally unwell or the angry. It’s supposed to be SAFE to participate in a democratic republic like the US.
And yet, we’re responsible for allowing political violence to become the norm. We’ve chosen who to grieve based on political party, rather than grieving the loss of any and all life.
As for me, I chose to grieve for all lives cut short and those who personally loved them as they navigate the difficulties of loss.
Kate with a Twang 