Purchase1260

Of course, where are my manners?
I'm 21, a senior philosophy major, with a background in Cinema studies. As far as my education in multi-culturism goes, I've always been disinterested in the study of culture. I don't mind it being celebrated, and i can respect it to the point of reason, but truth be told, I'm really not one for tradition.
As for my memory of the attacks on 9/11, much of it is very vivid. From the whispers among teachers, the looks of panic as we asked what was going on. They lied. Something about downed power lines, I believe it was. Walking home was surreal, I remember helicopters overhead. At the age of 11, i couldn't fully comprehend what was going on. I knew that it was an attack, that the twin towers had been knocked down, and that people died. I remember wishing that when i visited the towers several years before, I had gotten a pressed penny with a picture of them on it, instead of the Lady Liberty imprint.
I remember the patriotism. The US vs THEM. To a child,it was good guys and bad guys, black and white. I remember poorly constructed flash games in which the player had to navigate a maze with a missile to bomb Osama bin Laden. I may have been a bit young to truly say this, but i grew up in both a pre and post 9/11 United States.
Nobody in my family has ever been a firefighter. I'm the first. The culture and mannerisms are still slightly alien to me, and i expect they will be for quite some time (I tend to get defensive when anybody starts "busting my balls".) The topic of 9/11 in the fire service, even a decade later still resembles a healing wound. It wasn't until quite a few years ago that i started to actually appreciate the magnitude of what had actually happened.
I digress. My take on the whole issue is that it's being treated as a cultural conflict. There is a dress code to ride, and odds are it's for safety. Life before culture. It's that simple to me. Of course, because the conflict was not between two people of the same heritage, it's cause for controversy.
It's not an attack on our culture.
We're not imposing on their freedom of religion.
Of course, this is just my perspective.
And thanks for the warm welcome.

For my very first post on this forum, I'm going to thank you. I had clicked through a few pages and was was honestly a bit disturbed by some of the responses. Level headed logic is like a breath of fresh here.