What Have We Learned?

The date was instantly seared into America’s memory. Within a space of two anxious hours that morning, 19 angry zealots hijacked four commercial jets and rammed them into the beating heart of the country’s mighty economy and military—reducing the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center to rubble, carving a yawning hole in the Pentagon. September 11, Americans stared in wide-eyed horror at the grisly, smoking remains—remains of an era of perceived power and invincibility suddenly past.

Then horror gave way to fear. Anger. Vengefulness. Defiance. As the president declared war on terrorism, as security in public buildings, in airports and at borders was stiffened, the rallying cry came to return to life as usual. Any alteration in the way you live, they said, would amount to a terrorist victory.

But wait. What did we learn from September 11? Just that we need tougher airport security? That there are bad people out there? The late surge in patriotism and religion comes from a need to draw deeper lessons. We need answers to why thousands died in that disaster. “Life as usual” isn’t good enough.

In this special issue, the Trumpet asks—and answers—the questions raised by that black day. Why did this happen? How could anyone hate so much? Where was God? Will the world ever be the same? We look too at the avalanche of events since the attack, which have produced more questions. Will we ever be safe again? How will this affect global affairs? How will the war on terrorism end? For the answers, we consult the one unimpeachable Source there is, the Bible. And we take God at His word.