Like so many others, I find myself reflecting on what happened in New York.
Perhaps it’s more personal this time.
My youngest daughter is now living in Manhattan, attending school just three blocks from the new Freedom Tower.
And so, I am a little more focused on possibilities.
New York City will always remain a target on the world stage.
It is the capital of capitalism.
It is the emblem of American culture.
It is densely populated—for maximum effect of any action.
And it is easily entered and exited.
But the real question is: why?
How has conflict—which has been with us since Cain and Abel—
escalated to such massive, impersonal acts?
My answer is too simplistic to be profound,
but it is this: Because it can be done.
The media for death and destruction now exists.
It is smaller.
More portable.
More available.
It isn’t that we, as humans, are suddenly more murderous.
We have always been murderous.
It isn’t that our political or social ideals have shifted to accept mass death.
It is the very existence of innocent people
that now ups the ante.
“See what you’ve done,” the message says.
“This is the price. Change your ways—or more innocents will die.”
Alexander—trained in philosophy—spared cities that surrendered
and leveled to the ground those that didn’t.
Tyre rejected his threat.
So Alexander moved earth—literally—building a causeway nearly a mile long under arrow fire
to break through the city’s 150-foot walls.
When he did, he destroyed it.
A message was sent.
The Mongols spared cities—if they submitted.
If they rebelled after conquest?
Every citizen was killed.
They didn’t even need to leave an army.
Fear did the job.
The Crusaders who captured Jerusalem?
They killed Muslims, Jews, and even Christian residents.
Only a few monks were spared.
Again, a message.
History is filled with examples.
The point is simple:
If the ability exists, the most horrific actions can and will be used.
It is only a matter of time and place.
And yet—
there have been a few leaders, a few cultures,
with the ability to destroy,
who chose not to.
Only a few.
Maybe some still exist.
Does that mean New York City is safe today—or tomorrow?
No, it doesn’t.
And yet, my daughter lives there.
She is technically in harm’s way.
How can I allow it?
How would I justify my stand if something happens on some future 9/11?
I don’t know.
Today, I think:
No one can live in fear.
We cannot shape our lives around the shadows of what might be.
We should not avoid cities because they could be targets.
And yet, I accept long lines at airports.
Massive intrusions of privacy.
Government surveillance.
It is a fluid decision.
The real problem is this:
We, as humans, justify such actions—individually and collectively.
We rationalize the unthinkable.
And history keeps reminding us:
The fall of Lindisfarne.
The fall of Jerusalem.
The Rape of Rome that ended the Renaissance.
The Holocaust.
All still present in us.
We have not changed.
We are barbaric—just under the skin.
All of us.
This world is under the rule of the Angel of Light.
Only God can help us.
