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December 2001
Volume 65 |
Number 12
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VENTILATIONS
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| Flying Too Close to the Tree-tops |
Mark J. Lema, M.D., Ph.D.
Editor
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Mark
J. Lema, M.D., Ph.D. Editor
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The tragedy of September 11, 2001, has indelibly impacted how
we live and what values are dear to us. Sixty years after the
bombing of Pearl Harbor, Americans still feel abject sadness even
though the majority of people living have no personal recollection
of the events. The global shock of watching a 767 jet smash into
one of the most majestic structures of modern civilization and
to witness a gash in the Pentagon numbed the entire world. Moreover,
it has governments rethinking their social structures in light
of personal freedoms.
My editorial in the October issue was written at a vulnerable
period in the American psyche. The reality of the act was gelling
in our minds and the government’s plans for retaliation were
under way.
How many more Americans would be killed either by terrorism or
military ambush, and would we succeed in eliminating terrorist
activity? People were uneasy at best. A number of nonsecular articles,
newscasts and documentaries were discussing a change in moral
values that occurred since the attacks. Network talk show hosts
just prior to September 11 were addressing moral attitudes and
their societal, not religious, ramifications. In addition, Anglican
and Catholic Bishops of Great Britain had declared that religion
was dead in the United Kingdom as reported on ABC News.
I tried to capture a sense of what was occurring and, at the
same time, make it less “dated” once the membership
read it. To those who read and interpreted my views as “too
religious,” “too far right” or “insensitive,”
I apologize. This apology comes from a person who also feels the
intense remorse and personal violation expressed in some of the
letters to the editor appearing in this issue. The discussion
in the October “Ventilations” of good versus evil, common
biblical references and God seemed appropriate in a culture that
prays before political meetings, uses the concept of a creator
in song, in the pledge of allegiance and on its money, and has
a religious “holy day” as its major “holiday.”
However, in an attempt to provoke thought on these matters, I
unintentionally offended the personal beliefs of some ASA members.
Religion is indeed personal even if the multidenominational term
“God” is used.
Post-September 11 America is a different country. Citizens are
beginning to feel a common bond and a sense of unification with
others similar to what Americans felt in the 1940s. I was hoping
to recapture that sense of giving which motivated many of us to
select a career in medicine (only to have health care reform relegate
physicians to be gatekeepers and business people). For some, that
message became convoluted. For others, it was a personal affront.
For all of us, however, it should be a wake-up call for determining
what is really meaningful in our lives and careers, and to act
on it sooner rather than later.
— M.J.L.
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