WAKE-UP CALL

HOW COULD WE HAVE FORGOTTEN THE LESSON OF 9/11 THAT DARKNESS MUST BE ENDURED IN ORDER TO CONFRONT THE DAWN? IN THE 5TH CENTURY B.C., POET EURIPIDES OBSERVED "HOW OFT THE DARKEST HOUR OF ILL/BREAKS BRIGHTEST INTO DAWN." A CLEAR, SUNNY DAY BETOKENED DEATH ON A SEPTEMBER MORNING, 5 YEARS AGO IN NEW YORK; IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A REVEILLE TO A SLEEPY, LAZY, SPOILED, SELF-CENTERED COUNTRY, OBLIVIOUS TO A DANGER THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FORESEEN. I QUOTE THE WRITER AND THINKER WM. F. BUCKLEY WHO WAS PARAPHRASING ANOTHER AND LIKE-MINDED WRITER AND THINKER, WHEN HE ASKED, IN THE 1970'S, "HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT DISCOVERING THAT YOU ARE SLIPPING INTO A DARK AGE?" YES, HOW.

TERRORISM ISN'T THE ONLY LOOMING THREAT. PUBLIC ATTITUDES MUST CONTAIN A COLLECTIVE MORALITY THAT IS IN TURN FOSTERED IN A FREE SOCIETY. BUT EXAMPLES OF MORAL SLIPPAGE APPEAR AROUND EVERY CORNER IN OUR COMMUNITIES TODAY. MORAL LAPSES AND ETHICAL IGNORANCE MAKE A MOCKERY OF AMERICA'S HEGEMONY. OUR ENLIGHTENED HEGEMONY IS A MYTH, A PRELUDE TO A DARK AGE LOOMING ON THE HORIZON. CITIZENS, POLITICIANS, PUBLIC POLICIES, SOCIAL MORES AND THE ENTERTAINMENT CULTURE - ALL LIVE OUT BLINKERED AND UNDISCERNING LIVES. THE TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS, LOVE GOD AND NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF, NEED CLARIFICATION OR A DARKNESS WILL DESCEND UPON OUR LAND.