As the anniversary of 9-11 approaches, it is time for us to look back and ask a question that has never been considered. The answer seemed so obvious, so basic, that no one even bothered to ask one simple question: Why was it an atrocity? Why were we all so horrified by what occurred? Why were the actions of the terrorists wrong?

After all, according to most Judeo-Christian beliefs, all those innocent people in the planes, the WTC towers and the Pentagon woke up to find themselves at the Pearly Gates meeting St. Peter. If this is true, then perhaps the terrorists did them a favor. The terrorists relieved them of the drudgery of this earthly life and expedited them into the glorious afterlife. How could such a benevolent act be considered an atrocity?

The truth is, despite the warm feeling everyone gets when imagining their deceased loved ones in heaven, we all know deep down that death is something to be avoided at all costs.

Perhaps it is time we all faced cold, hard reality. Those people who died on that fateful Tuesday did not go to heaven. There is no heaven to go to. We all know it, and that is why death scares us so much. The people in the towers, the Pentagon, on the planes, even the terrorists themselves were simply expunged from existence. No sentence will be placed on the guilty, and no rewards will be bestowed on the innocent. They are all just dead.

The next time you read a sticker on someone’s car window that says “God Bless America,” ask yourself, “Where was God on that Tuesday morning?” We all know the answer, because it is the only one that makes any sense. There was no God on that day, or any other day. That is why 9-11 will always be remembered as a crime against humanity. On that day, 19 men, for their own reasons, deliberately murdered over 3,000 innocent people. No one went to heaven, and no one went to hell. Nothing was gained, and everything was lost.

Micah Wedemeyer

Iowa City