10 years on from September 11 | City Bible Forum
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10 years on from September 11

Some reflections on how September 11 2001 changed the spiritual landscape
Mon 12 Sep 2011
Alt

Yesterday marks the 10 year anniversary since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the USA. There is little doubt that 'September 11, 2001' changed the world. There has been much reflection and analysis on how the world is different now compared to 10 years ago. Many have reflected on the increased security measures and the success or otherwise of the 'war on terror'. Yet I believe the September 11 terrorist attacks also changed the perception and place of religion and spirituality across the globe. This perceptions come due to the strong links between Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. I have a few observations.

1. The death of relativism. Well, maybe not its complete death, but certainly a great modification of it. I remember a conversation I had in 1997 when someone was reflecting on the meaning of life. She concluded that it's 'whatever you want it to be' - the ultimate relativist position. Yet, I think September 11 made people realise that even relativism has its limits. Sometimes if we let everyone believe what they want, then some people's beliefs lead them to fly planes into buildings. This conclusion means that maybe we can't be so cavalier with the truth. This leads to the second observation...

2. Religion is not private. This is still a fairly common view, but the events of September 11 demonstrate that some people's 'private' faith, will lead them to do some very public acts, with devastating consequences. All sorts of faith manifests itself in very public actions, none more so than September 11.

3. The birth of the 'new' atheism. With the death of relativism came the birth (or revival) of a new form of atheism, popularly known as the 'new' atheism. This form of atheism is led by authors such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens. And September 11 was a major catalyst for their work. Indeed Sam Harris writes that he began writing his first bestseller, 'The End of Faith', on September 12, 2001. One of the catch cry's of the new atheism is that religion is dangerous and they all point to September 11 as the greatest and most recent evidence of that.

September 11 changed the way we view religion and spirituality, the world is different 10 years on. How else do you see the spiritual and philosophical landscape of our time being altered by the events 10 years ago? Would love to have your thoughts and opinions.

Comments

  • Alt
    Tue, 13/09/2011 - 7:19am reply

    New Atheism is not new, it's just recent. They've done nothing that people like Bertrand Russell did not 100 years ago.

    • Alt
      Tue, 13/09/2011 - 9:11am reply

      I agree that there is little 'new' about the 'new' atheism, except that the policy of diplomatic reticence towards religion should be discarded. Thanks for the comment.

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