Do 9/11 memorials further the terrorists' cause?

I think the best way to honor the people who died on 9/11 without furthering the terrorists’ cause would be to lose the hysteria, start an honest conversation about religiosity and modern society, stop invading countries, stop violating human rights, become more open to diversity, become less tolerant of governmental invasions of privacy, drop the “us vs them” mentality, and become a kick-ass modern society that leads by example.
Additionally, we can discuss the tragic loss of our friends and family without invoking scary ultra-nationalistic rhetoric.

As for an actual memorial – I suppose I would have little problem as long as it was inclusive.

I don’t think memorials further the terrorist cause, expressing sorrow and grief over a tragic event is part of the path to healing.
However, I also do not believe in endless canonization of the past that goes on for decades.

I don’t care if it is on a personal or national level, revisiting the past over and over again is not healthy nor productive.

I won’t be watching any memorials for 9–11 it is over and done.

This is not to minimize the horror of that day, but, enough is enough, time to let go and stop living in the past IMO.

I don’t think so. No more than Arlington cemetery or the memorial stones outside of many military posts. The terrorists cause is sheer and utter madness . The only way to perpetuate that is to find more people who are sheerly and utterly mad.

Avoiding the remembrance of someone’s death should not be part of the war effort.

@Coloma – Good point about re-living things. Is it really healthy to be constantly re-living a moment as awful as this? I’m sure tv networks have cooked up some ridiculous soul-crushing musical montage tributes that will bring tears to everyone’s eyes (or they hope). How about we grieve for those we lost and not keep revisiting a time when for a moment the country felt like a victim?

I don’t think they further their cause. Terrorist hate us because of our way of life. They won’t stop hating us for any reason unless we live by their ways. Namely Sharia Law.

To an extent they do but at the rate our drone missiles are swatting the loud talkers off the planet maybe, someday, there won’t be enough of them left for us to really care about. And as the Middle East changes it could be crowding them from the other end. I have hope.

I was just reading the other day that 10,000,000 horses were killed in WW1

I think we should hold a memorial for all the war horses that have lost their lives due to mans egoic obsession with power. ;-)

No. I think terrorists are going to continue to think and act as evilly and irrationally as they always do. Memorials and tributes don’t spur them on. As long as they have a target in mind and still harbor feelings of hate and pride as “martyrs for their own cause”, they will continue to do whatever they can to cause as much grief and heartache to as many innocent people as they can, unfortunately.

I think that pretty much sums it up @MRSHINYSHOES

I think the ‘whole point’ of terrorists is varied, from revenge to simply murder by numbers. Therefore 9/11 memorials probably don’t matter to some terrorists.

No, the memorials are created in remembrance of the innocent victims not the terrorists or their cause. Does anyone even know what their cause was?

The desires of the 911 terrorists were to kill as many innocent people and destroy as much as possible.

If we have no 911 memorial or leave the ground zero area barren and or build a huge muslin mosque near ground zero, then the terrorist win.

It would further the cause of terrorists if U.S. citizens become too afraid to have 911 memorials or become too afraid to build truly magnificent replacement buildings for the Twin Towers.

Terrorists have destroyed the Twin Towers and 3000 lives but they will never destroy our spirit. NEVER!!!

No, the 9/11 memorials help us remember that the terrorists ARE the cause!

On the contrary. Memorials piss off the terrorists. Because they can’t destroy our spirit and strength. They want nothing more than everybody being scared. They are also pissed off when we don’t hate. They thrive on people hating people. They thrive on vicious circles of violence. Memorials are about remembering and love and forgiveness.

Every time we remember 9/11, it seems to me we get more concerned about security. The terrorists major victory was in causing us to spend billions of dollars and diverting enormous resources in order to give ourselves the illusion that we have more safety. These are resources that could have done a lot of good in other areas but that are essentially wasted on creating this fantasy we can make our lives safe and that the danger is huge and overwhelming enough to require this kind of response.

I think that every anniversary, we see a bump in fear and arab-bashing. I think that is one more feather the terrorists, long dead, can put in their caps. Their legacy is going on and on, and we are their best ally in doing that.

I’m not sure we have a choice, though, because we do need to honor our dead and wounded. We do need to remember. Unfortunately, remembering plays right into their hands. The only way we can win is by not being afraid. Not being terrorized. This country is centuries away from that, I think.