Dear FRONTLINE
First I want to say I realize I can never fully comprehend the grief of those who lost loved ones. So what I say may seem so insignificant to THEIR experience.
Like most people in this country I watched the images on TV, and that was horrorifying itself.So I can only imagine the horror of being there. My faith in Christ was strengthened because I felt desperate for a way to process what was happening. My humanity suddenly seemed so small. And quite frankly I began to lose faith in humanity. The capacity of human cruelty was magnified.
I went inside myself and continued to pray for weeks,
Prayers of gratitude, for my life, and prayers for the healing of others. Healing for those who grieve and healing of the hatred that caused such brutality.
I continue to pray for peace and healing. I don't know if its an expression of faith, or an expression of helplessness. Its the way I cope and helps restore my
faith, not so much in God, rather it restores my faith in the goodness of humanity.
Tamara Clemmons
Dear FRONTLINE
I am still feeling very numb since 9-11-01. I feel that it was not God's fault that this all this happened but; on the other hand I still am in disbelief and feeling like I don't know if there is still a God that I can depend on. I am just feeling very angry and very very sad. I do appreciate life much more than I did before. I find myself crying alot because I am so sad that I was not a Nurse then so I could of gone and helped at ground zero. I am working on getting my Nursing degree. I will get my nursing degree. I felt really angry with those people on televison were celebrating with candy like it was a good thing. My question is this: How do I get over the angry and sad feelings. I feel like I should be doing something positive for the families or something for our country. Thanks for reading this... Cathi in Hagerstown, Md.
Cathi Fowler
Hagerstown, Maryland
Dear FRONTLINE
My cousin's girlfriend's father worked that day. Unfortunately, he was tragically unable to escape the World Trade Center. I feel it is very, very hard for her to move on without her father, but she needs to have a very strong heart. I also think that it will take a long, long, time to rebuild the same.
Mark Ricafrente
Dear FRONTLINE
I believe in God. I believe that evil exists in this world. I believe that we are born into this life to learn life lessons which are pre-determined before birth. That is even stated in the R.C. bible. This explains to me the different religions that people choose. Most believe in a supreme being, however seek different levels of enlightenment. I cannot, however, imagine what type of individual it takes to kill thousands of people. I refuse to even refer to them as humans.
I lost my beloved cousin, a firefighter, but I know that he is okay. On 9/22/01 he visited me in a dream and gave me a personal message for his parents. Another firefighter was there with him who I found out a few days later my cousin had gone to find. Three other members of my family had also been visited by my cousin, post 9/11. I firmly believe in life after life.
I believe in God as a supreme being and now we have seen that his gift of free will can have a devastating effect on humanity.
I hope the Catholics are right - I hope there is a hell.
Marianne Hare
Dear FRONTLINE
On the night of September 11, 2001 I remember...been afraid really afraid to go to bed at night. I cought my self thinking "My God, if this happend in the light of day, when everyone is going and coming, what can happen in the dark of night when most of the people are sleeping? In what kind of nation I will wake up tomorrow?" Since 9/11 my nights never has been the same....MC
M C
your city, your state
Dear FRONTLINE
GOD is everywhere and a part of everything. GOD makes provisions for us most we don't realize we take them for grantedeach and every day whether we believe or not. We are all GOD'S children. Where was GOD on September 11th? He was holding up the towers so that 25,000 people could be saved!
selena nobile
brooklyn, ny
Dear FRONTLINE
it's really hard watching all this on 911. being a new yorker it's a subject that has come along everyday since 911 and since then my thinking on realigion has changed. i do believe in evil. u have to have evil or u couldnt have good. the two have to exist. but at the same time i think realigion itself is evil. i do beleive in god when i see a sunset just the beauty of the planet to me is god but all these religions that preach what they preach is a poision.
walter nance
new york, new york
Dear FRONTLINE
My Brothers and Sisters, Faith is always a daily test. As a 13 yr old boy I said goodbye to my 52 yr old father, who took 3 yrs to die from cancer. At 18 yrs old my mother died of a massive heart attack also at 52. 3 years vs. 3 mins. put death in a special perspective for me. My faith, to this day, allows me the freedom of knowing that God weeps with me when I weep, as he laughs with me when I laugh. The things that "are of this world" are only that...of this world, and they too shall pass. I have been a volunteer firefighter and a volunteer EMS/Rescue worker for many years. I was an ocean lifeguard on the Jersey shore for 7 summers, and worked as a police officer as well. I have been in life and death situations many times. I have brought life into this world and have been there when someone's life has ended. My faith has never wavered.
I am a passionist; I believe in the power of the cross...the wood. OH...how God must have wept when He gave His only Son for us...all of us.
To all those that are having trouble dealing with the grief, the anger, the denial, the abandonment, the lack of faith...my prayer for you is a simple one. May you come to understand the power of the cross. ... Find peace in the knowledge that as a bird free of it's cage seeks the heights so the soul flies home to God.
God Bless You and Give You His Peace
Robert O'Connor
Marco Island, FL
Dear FRONTLINE
I received an e mail soon after 9/11 asking how could God allow this to happen and going on about that issue...it was one of those e mails that was sent to a mass of people. Suddenly, I felt compelled to argue the point that God "allowed" this to happen...no, He did no such thing. If we believed that, it would negate the very essence of being human - free will. I believe God gave us tools to this thing called living, very valuable tools. Along with the tools, He provides the directions to their use toward goodness...but He also gave us free will, the free will to ultimately decide if we will follow those directions, will we chose to follow His will or will we chose to turn our backs to Him and follow evil...Yes, to believe in God, to have faith also means a belief in the devil, in hell, in evil, in tragedy...none of which negate the existence of God. We would have to be willing to give up the concept of man's free will if we decide to believe God "allowed" 9/11...no, man decided to do evil that day with God's tools, man decided not to follow the directions...man showed his free will to do so...I do not want to give up free will and I would have to if I believed God turned His back on the U.S. We still have God's tools, and we can decide how we will use them...to continue fighting evil...to continue with love and faith
Kathleen McGuigan
Fairhope, Alabama
Dear FRONTLINE
9/11 only strengthened my conviction that no gods exist. This is precisely the type of random, senseless violence we would expect in a chaotic universe uncontrolled by a deity who "loves us".
Despite the fact that the tragedy demonstrates what happens when one takes too seriously something that isn't true the promise of an afterlife of rewards, people of faith will have no trouble reconciling the existence of their own version of god with the tradgedy. Faith is, after all, the belief in something despite lack of evidence, or in the face of evidence to the contrary.
steve berthiaume
chelmsford, ma
Dear FRONTLINE
When I saw how the people of New York came together after the attacks, it made be believe in humanity. Now, I cry for all people who have been the victims of evil. I also have become closer to my family more than I have ever been. It also may be realize that we are all vunerable and it is important to cherish what you have and know that everything will be OK.
While I wish the victims of the WTC never had to die, it made me believe in what is important in life. That is peace on earth, not how much money you make, who you marry, where you live or work. It is people that make you happy not things and to cherish those relationships is what happiness is all about.
Jeanine Schnell
New York, New York
Dear FRONTLINE
September 11th has caused me to rethink what life is all about and what actually is important to me, like family, friends, and especially my faith. As a Catholic single mother of three young children, I began to appreciate my struggles and learned to carry my cross graciously. God is truely wonderful and amazing. People try to understand why things happen in life, but we can't see it. It's incomprehensible and people try to figure how God could allow this to happen. What is there to figure out? Let God take care of this. Put your whole faith, love and trust in his hands and stop blaming God for everything. Instead get down on your knees and pray for forgiveness and give thanks. It's the lack of faith that causes people to have hatred in their hearts.
God Bless.
Delilah Tempel
Irvine, CA
Dear FRONTLINE
I am a United Methodist pastor in a college town in Mississippi. Mississippi State has a large population of Muslim students and their families. We are told the largest population between New Orleans and Atlanta. On the night of September 11th the newly built mosque in Starkville had rocks and rotten eggs tossed at its front door. Our closest neighbor to the church is a Sudanese Muslim, who teaches chemistry at a local Community College. I called him and asked what I could do to help his family and community. Several local ministers were invited to the mosque on Friday the men allowed in for the prayer time at noon and all of us invited to a meal and conversation following. Several in the Muslim community extended invitations for continuing personal and community dialoge.
Ron McDougald
Starkville, MS
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