Now fourteen years later as I reflect on the changes 9/11 has brought to our world, I think not only of the increased security measures, a futile misguided war in Iraq, and an endless emphasis on the fight against terrorism – I also think of how it has eroded faith.
Since 9/11 we have seen a rise in cynicism, an eroding of
faith people had in something larger than themselves – whether that be
institutions, governments, or even God. More and more people do not trust the
narratives that have been told to them, the over-arching narratives that unify
our nations, our culture, our communities. This cynical attitude creates in its
wake an “every man for himself” mentality. When I was a teenager we had a
saying “Never trust anyone over 30”, now it could be rephrased “Never trust
anyone, especially those with any kind of authority”. Churches have been caught
in this undertow of distrust, as more and more people simply turn their backs
on anything that claims any type of authority, including religious authority.
How did 9/11 lead to this growth in cynicism? One simple phrase answers that question: Building 7.
Two years ago it was reported that:
a new national survey by the polling firm YouGov reveals that one in two Americans have doubts about the government’s account of 9/11, and after viewing video footage of World Trade Center Building 7’s collapse, 46% suspect that it was caused by a controlled demolition.
It is noteworthy that almost half of Americans do not believe
the official story about what caused the collapse of Building 7. If one in two
people have trouble believing the official account about Building 7, then it
would suggest that a significant percentage of people would also have reason to doubt the official narrative for the whole of the 9/11 incident.
Conspiracy theorists are a dime a dozen these days, and the
internet helps them spread their deconstruction of official narratives to more
and more people. The seeds of doubt are planted, and soon it seems safer to
distrust all traditional sources of authority rather than accept the narratives
that have been proclaimed through the government and corporate spokespersons.
It is no surprise that religion wouldn’t be immune to such
rising cynicism, especially with high profile cases of religious hypocrisy
being regularly revealed to a world happy to knock down straw men.
Since the grand narratives can no longer be trusted by a
cynical society, we can no longer rely on such narratives as created by
Christendom. Instead we must once again return to our roots, to the simple
narratives of our individual lives. Trustworthy truth will be found in an authentic living out of a
life of faith and love, in small but meaningful acts of peace making and
justice seeking carried out in our local communities. But perhaps that isn’t such a
bad thing, after all, isn’t that exactly what Jesus did?
