USD Magazine, Winter 2002

H endershott says the attacks may lead society to a re-moralization, in which government leaders and citizens will feel less restrained in making moral judg– ments about behaviors in o ther cultures, and may take early action agai nst oppress ive regimes. In the past, she says, people often dismissed o r igno red political and religious persecution aro und the globe, allowing deviant social structures like the Taliban government of Afghanistan to fl ourish. The Sep t. 11 artacks, however, made it clear rhat we do so at great peril. Sociologists can help in this regard, says sociology Professor M ichael Soroka, by advising the govern– ment when they spo t seriously deviant social and cultural patterns in other societies, such as organized networks of violence or xenophobic leadership. Soroka also predicts we'll have to get used to new patterns in our own society.

As they tu rn to family fo r comfo rt, people across the country also have sought solace in religion, ask– ing clergy to help them fathom the loss they feel. Religious leaders have tried to bring their flocks, if not to understanding, then to faith and hope for the future (see essay at righ t). "It's a struggle to find any good in a situation like this, but it has caused many people to sifr through their lives and think about what is really important," says the Rev. James O'Leary, who works in Un iversity M inistry and comforted students who lost friends in the attacks. "It rakes ti me to recover, but it may help people to value the gifts we have - things like life, love, faith , fam ily and relationships." Like other clergy, O'Leary has had to answer ques– tions from those who wo nder why the attacks were committed in God's name. H e points out that reli–

gious fa naticism often is corrupted for purposes of politics and war, and that extremism in any religion often pushes people to commi t destructive acts. Scholars of reli– gion, meanwhile, struggle with the reaso ns why America in particular is vilified by Islamic fundamentalist groups such as the al-Qaeda net– work that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks. To make some sense of the attacks, says Religious Studies Professor Ali Gheissari, who researches the ideological history of the M iddle East and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, one must understand that only in the past

USD students handed out ribbons in remembrance of the terrorism victims. "People are going to have to recalibrate their thinking, and that's no t always easy," he says. "Things are no t going to happen the same way they happened before, and there wi ll be a period of adjustment. " In addi tion to obvious changes, such as beefed-up airport screening and legislation that increases law enforcement's power to monitor and prosecute sus– pected terrorists, th e very nature of li fe is expected to be different in America, where people once took safety fo r granted . H endershott says that the collective out– pouring of concern fo llowing tragedies often fos ters a need for peo ple to re-connect, and she anticipates marriages will increase while suicides, divo rces and long-distance relationships will decl ine. While people turn inward to familial bonds of comfort and care, Soroka warns they also should be very careful about givi ng up civil liberti es - such as the freedom from detention with out charge, or the right to telephone and e-mail privacy - in the name of safety and security. "Because you don't kn ow how hard th ose liberties might be to get back," he says.

century or so have fundamentalists usurped political processes fo r their own ends. T here is still time to co unter these extreme ideologies, he says, and adds that Americans should support the traditional , more moderate elements of the Islamic wo rld . "Islam is not th e first religion to be overwhelmed by political ideology," he says, "and it's crucial to realize that Islamic fun damentalists don't have the last word. Within the tradition oflslam , the debate about questions of law, privacy, civil rights, gender roles and relationship with the West is ongo ing." Like many of his fellow professors, Gheissari says individuals can actively participate in shaping the post-Sept. 11 wo rld, simply by trying to understand what led to the terrorist attacks, and by trying to understand each other. "We are now in a timely and urgent place fo r Islamic peopl e to liberate themselves fro m th ose who want to use politics toward xenophobic ends," G heissari says. "Islamic peoples must prove that their religion is not the way these few people are making it look. If others help them in this quest, it will bring peace to all peo ple." +

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