Readers write for Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010

America, stop in your tracks, right now, for a few minutes. The last time that happened in our country was on Sept. 11, 2001.

Remember the day? Of course you do. It is the last time our country was populated by grown-ups.

And do you remember the time that followed? The days and weeks when we were a strongly united country and the whole world embraced us without reservation?

From that point forward, for nine long years, we have spiraled ever deeper into a nation divided and subdivided. We have become a country of fractious and angry people, hurling insults and wildly irrational invective across a chasm of our own creation. We have morphed from a trusted and beloved world leader into a place where spewing venom passes for communication, and the rest of the world watches in complete bewilderment as America unravels.

Our country's heroic martyrs, like President John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., military personnel and 9/11 victims, were individuals defending a comparatively principled country that was more role model than circus, and more about the milk of human kindness than bitter tea.

Please. Press pause now.

Let's find our collective moral compass and proceed from there.

• • •

Terry?

Just, wow!

You did it!

I guess I've got to eat a little crow here. Back when you wanted to use my name on your first book, "Islam is of the Devil," I was all like, "this guy's just some fart in the wind, riding my coattails, looking for attention."

But who woulda thunk a backwards putz like you had the chops to parlay one knuckleheaded publicity stunt into a major world event!

Are you really that savvy, or is everybody else just that desperate for content? Hell, my whole place is on fire and I don't get that kind of coverage!

Now you've got me looking around for more stuff to burn to see if I can't get the media out here and get some world leaders to publicly denounce me. LOL.

Anyway, totally stoked about this 9/11. Thanks for the invite.

Best,

LILY COLE, MINNEAPOLIS

• • •

Wouldn't all the Muslims getting mad at the Americans because some American nut might burn the Qur'an be like the Americans getting mad at the Muslims because some Muslim nuts were killing Americans?

FRANK JONDAL, OAKDALE

• • •

This atmosphere will surely destroy our peace and our country more thoroughly than bombs.

JOAN WICKLUND, Edina

• • •

Apparently "Pastor" Terry Jones has a history of extremist rabble-rousing. Spiegel International reports that he was previously pastor of an evangelical church in Cologne, Germany. His extremist preaching against Muslims, gays and anyone defying his religious views, coupled with financial irregularities, caused the congregation to expel him.

This is a seriously disturbed individual with a strong dose of megalomania. Every bit of attention he receives (including, sadly, this letter) only feeds his ego. Anyone can become a rabble-rouser and have their 15 minutes of fame. Unfortunately, he has pursued his to the detriment of American society, having fanned the flames of hate.

Sept. 11 is a day of national unity. It is not a day to let anyone lead us into political maneuvering. We need to claim our unity as a nation and not let partisan opportunists fan the flames of division.

In the awful days after 9/11, President George W. Bush asked us not to scapegoat American Muslims. Gov. Jesse Ventura called for a sign of that unity at the State Capitol, and 30,000 of us showed up, with millions more watching on TV. We saw the Muslim imam stand as an American with all of us who condemned this horror-filled tragedy. We stood together and claimed our unity and our shared commitment to American freedom.

President Obama has echoed those words. "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable," he said. There is nothing more un-American than to try to use this day to divide Americans. Let us resist any attempts by politicians to use our legitimate concerns or our fears to create a tension-filled country. We deserve to proclaim our national unity this day.

This is a day in which we should all be united in our love of freedom, with none more fundamental than the freedom to worship as we choose.

In this country, we do not tell people how and where to pray. That's what distinguishes us from Islamic extremists. There are Muslim-Americans who serve in our military, and they pray every day in the Pentagon, which was also hit on 9/11. We welcome those prayers as we welcome them on the battlefield, alongside the prayers of our own sons, daughter, brothers, and sisters, in defense of our freedom.

This week the National Council of Churches, of which I am the president, stood with leaders of others faiths and declared "Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all see an intimate link between faithfulness to God and love of neighbor."

Let's make this Sept. 11 a day for a stronger, unified America, committed to the freedoms we cherish.