Friday, September 2, 2011
Prayer Banned from 9/11
Should prayers be said at memorial services? Do they offer peace of mind or point out religious differences? Although many would believe that a short prayer is necessary at a ceremony, U.S. officials are excluding religious leaders from the biggest remembrance ceremony of the year. Ever since that fatefully tragic September day in 2001, Americans across the country have come together to remember those who perished in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Centers. As the 10th anniversary approaches, this year will be no different, however many religious figures are trying to make changes to service at ground zero. This year the names of the 2,983 deceased will be read by their families as well as short remarks will be made by the New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and President Barack Obama. Although this same ceremony occurs annually, many Christian leaders are voicing their concern. These clergy members believe that the event organizers have purposefully left out a religious figure to say a few prayers throughout the service. Evelyn Erskine, spokeswoman for the mayor said “It has been widely supported for the past 10 years and rather than have disagreements over which religious leaders participate we would like to keep the focus of our commemoration ceremony on the family members of those who died.” The question now is should there be a religious leader presence? And if so, of what denomination should that figure be associated with? The United States government and the event leaders for the 10th annual remembrance ceremony believe there should be no religious affiliation.
I believe that the purpose of the remembrance ceremony is to reflect on the names of the lives lost on that horrific day. This is not an ordinary memorial service. It reflects on an event that not only killed many people, but also seriously threatened the state of our country. Of the 10 previously held remembrance services, clergy members have never once been present at ground zero. Instead of a prayer, there have been moments of silence for the audience to reflect and if they choose to at that moment, pray. These moments are planned for this year’s ceremony as well. While I recognize that a prayer may seem very important to religious leaders, I think they are losing focus on the real purpose of this ceremony. It is to remember those who died. It is meant to focus on the tragedy that every person across the country felt in their heart the moment they watched what the two planes hit the World Trade Center Towers. Although prayer is often used to help console, in this situation I believe having this event in itself helps to reflect and comfort.
Also, if there were to be a clergy member at the ceremony, who would it be? How would the organizers decide which person reflects a large enough majority to be present? Recently, while on a radio show, Mayor Bloomberg stated “There’s an awful lot of people that would like to participate, but you just can’t do that once you open it up. So the argument here is, it’s elected officials and those who were there at the time and had some influence.” If one Christian leader was selected, Americans of Jewish faith would want their own separate speaker. Then maybe Protestants and Catholics would want their own separate speakers. And if these three different faiths were able to have a speaker it could spark the question of why a Muslim leader was not present. After all, there are many Muslims living in this country and they may want to voice a prayer as well. This could in effect bring about even more controversy. And through all this difference in opinion and addition of speakers the focus of the remembrance ceremony would be lost.
While I respect and recognize the reason for wanting to hold a prayer I believe that it takes away from what is truly important at the ceremony. Also, if these religious leaders feel so strongly about a prayer then they can go to one of the many other commemorative events taking place that day. Ultimately I believe that in theory a prayer is a positive addition to the ceremony, but the process of finding a speaker who everyone can agree on would be impossible and the service already holds moments of silence which fulfill the same purpose that a prayer would.
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