ANNIVERSARY OF ATTACKS

9/11 made me a better Muslim, a better person

My eight-grade math teacher was explaining that the model we were dissecting was called a parabola. Our vice principal ran into the room and exclaimed that our country was under attack. Little did I know that this morning would define my life.

My feelings of anxiety and concern soon turned into intense nationalism and pride. Aspirations for Harvard and Stanford took a back seat as I looked up the entrance requirements for West Point; I wanted to be a part of the solution.

An American flag was placed alongside my Jerry Rice, Cris Carter and Michael Jordan posters. I could not sit on the sidelines as my country was attacked. I soon realized, however, that it was not the only institution attacked that grim morning.

The news described the terrorists as Muslim men, from Muslim countries, with Muslim beards, and with Muslim intentions. I became more cognizant of my environment and of how my peers perceived my faith.

When my mom picked me up from baseball practice, I noticed uneasy eyes directed at her head scarf. During Ramadan, when I fasted through lunch, friends began commenting on how I was "terrorizing my body."

Our country was uniting against a common enemy, and I became the enemy because of the faith in my heart. I was ashamed of my Islamic identity and felt that others couldn't see me as an American because of it.

These experiences forced me to reflect on my faith. Being born into it would not be enough; I would have to believe in it. If I didn't, Islam would be tucked into a corner of my life, away from the sight of others.

The more I read, challenged and questioned, the more I was propelled to become the best citizen I could be -- to care for those in need, to positively contribute to my community, and to sponsor equality and justice. Islam made me into a better American.

Years later, I learned that the bottom-most point on a parabola is known as an inflection point -- where the slope of the line goes from negative to positive. Sept. 11 was my inflection point, without which I would not be the Muslim I am today.

AMIN G. AASER, Maple Grove

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Ten years ago, mere days after 9/11, I faced a daunting task: Explain in language that children could understand and absorb, what had happened and what they could do about it. I was several weeks into a new job leading the children's ministry program at a local church. I struggled with what to say. I knew I didn't want them to be afraid, and I wanted them to feel hope.

I was glad recently to find the notes from that talk, because the message still stands. I told the children that the sad events in New York show how much work needs to be done to have harmony in our world.

Here are the things that we can do to create harmony and peace: Talk to friends; pray for those who were hurt; sing out our feelings; support our disaster-relief agencies; thank firefighters, nurses and doctors who help in a disaster, and know that we can have feelings about what happened.

I hope the children carried that message with them and that it arched over the sadness like a rainbow.

Even today, we need to assure children that they count -- that their efforts for peace and harmony are never in vain. My hope is that their clear eyes see beyond what we adults have been able to imagine to a new day where harmony is possible among all people.

KRIS POTTER, MINNEAPOLIS

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JOBS

Irony in the phrase 'redistribute wealth'

The worst joke presently is that President Obama is trying to "redistribute wealth." This accusation could have been made about President Dwight Eisenhower, who refused to cut taxes to less than 91 percent on everything earned above $250,000 a year.

He told Republicans in Congress "no" because his concern was for the soldiers in Korea -- the rich could look after themselves.

Times have changed. We've had a momentous redistribution of wealth, but only the most partisan could classify it "socialism."

In Ike's day, the bottom 90 percent held 60 percent of the wealth. Today, the top 1 percent to 2 percent have 40 percent; the next 8 percent have 33 percent, and the bottom 90 percent have 27 percent.

Fourteen million Americans seek jobs. Forty-four million make less than $12,000 a year. Twenty-five percent of our kids are poor. Large companies, reportedly sitting on huge reserves, are not hiring due to "a lack of demand."

Really? That same 90 percent of Americans whose real incomes rose 4.5 percent from 2000 to 2009 aren't producing expected demands?

The middle class disappears by thousands each month because of the current redistribution of wealth, and accusing the president of trying to do something about is actually a great endorsement of his proposed jobs bill. If there truly is a preparation gap between jobs available and employee qualifications, let's work together to solve the problem instead of playing destructive political games.

GREG VAN HEE, PERHAM, MINN

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In "Obama offers pragmatic plan," the Star Tribune Editorial Board says that federal help is needed to boost consumer spending.

The board obviously is unaware that inflation-adjusted consumer expenditures are higher today than in the third quarter of 2007, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This obviously weakens the case for more government stimulus.

I would suggest that the problem isn't that consumers aren't spending; it's that businesses aren't investing.

They aren't investing because Congress and, especially, this administration exhibit a penchant for top-down, command-and-control, debt-financed "governance" of the economy. We have had tax cuts; TARP; the $800 billion stimulus, and QEI and QEII. The logical conclusion would be that government stimulus plans do not work.

KRISTOPHER GERBER, MINNEAPOLIS