Dear Friends: The event known today simply as “9/11” happened in 2001, 17 years ago – some would say so long ago that it is not important today. For the three of us, 9/11 is an ongoing Concern. We use the term “Concern” in the Quaker sense of a spiritual leading that constitutes an imperative to action. None of us has a reputation for irrationality or dogmatism. We have been convinced by a significant body of serious and competent scientists, engineers, architects, and others who form the scientific core of what has become known as the “9/11 Truth Movement,” and we have participated in that movement.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 attacks. The U.S. Administration’s response was to immediately blame Osama bin Laden, launch a global “War on Terror,” and push for the immediate passage of the PATRIOT Act, which gutted civil liberties in the U.S.
Evidence convinces us that the U.S. government had foreknowledge of and complicity in the 9/11 attacks. Our Concern focuses on state violence involving coordination at very high levels within the U.S. government, security agencies, the military, and the military-industrial complex on a scale never before experienced by predominately white U.S. citizens (noting that some groups, including Black and Native Americans, have experienced much worse at the hands of our government).
Early Quakers called themselves “Friends of the Truth.” We continue to distinguish ourselves among spiritual communities by seeking not only the inward divine Truth, but also truth as it applies to world events and advocacy for justice. With insight into the enormity of the 9/11 deception, we cannot simply brush it aside. The killing of several thousand people to create a pretext for going to war and killing millions more must be seen for the great evil that it is.
We believe our monthly meetings and yearly meetings need to seriously process this issue. We therefore propose to host a closed, Quakers-only, online discussion group to struggle with this issue. The goal would be to mutually educate ourselves to see if we can come to unity on a statement that could help inform our meetings. To get things started, we have reserved a closed discussion forum on Google Groups, called “9/11 Discernment,” as a place to host this discussion. To join the group, please send your name, meeting affiliation, email address, a description of your prior study of this topic, and, optionally, any relevant educational or professional background you would be bringing to the process. Your personal information, as described above, will be shared with the group, but not outside the group.
Please send your application to [email protected].
– David Chandler, Mountain View Friends Meeting, Denver, CO (IMYM); Guthrie Miller, Santa Fe Friends Meeting (IMYM); and Frances Shure, Mountain View Friends Meeting (IMYM)
[The letter above is a condensation of a more complete statement submitted to Western Friend. Read the original here: https://bit.ly/2MvNx8s]