A decade later - Fundação Luso-Americana

peoples. Moreover, Islam is compatible
with democracy, the speaker asserted,
citing Turkey, which has been successful
owing to the separation between the
political sphere and religious practice.
Turkey was also mentioned by Prof.
António Dias Farinha, director of the
Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies at
the University of Lisbon. In his fascinating
historical overview of Islamic history, the
speaker discussed the factors that led up
to the attacks of September 11 th .
Pastor of St. Peter’s Church at Ground
9/11
A decade later
“The muslim world was 9/11’s main victim, since the extremist faction does not represent the people as a whole,”
was one of the opinions voiced during the lecture.
‘ islam is compatible with democracy, the speaker
asserted, citing Turkey, which has been successful
owing to the separation between the political sphere
and religious practice.
’
esther mucznik, vice president of Lisbon’s Jewish community
Zero, Father Kevin Madigan, moved the
audience with a wrenching account of his
experiences on that tragic day. Recalling
several incidents, he told of how a Jewish
physician had asked forgiveness for tearing
up some of the altar cloths to use as tourniquets;
the people who streamed out of
their houses to aid the wounded and give
them water; and the “financial spreadsheets
and family photos” that flew through the
air after the blast and fluttered down over
the streets. Father Madigan suggested we
look at the events in a different light, since
he had discovered that in many of its architectural
details, the World Trade Center had
been designed to imitate sites in Mecca.
He suggested that one of the possible motivations
had been “the smashing of a false
idol, this blasphemous representation of a
Mecca of commerce.” The priest ended by
stressing the kindness displayed by New
Yorkers who that day “found strength in
each other.”
The next-to-the-last speech struck a
positive chord – the hopeful prospect of
peace and understanding – with Father
António Rego asking “whether the distance
that separates us serves any purpose.”
Rego also ended on a light note
with a joke about a man who asked God
what the true religion was. The Supreme
Being answered, “I don’t know. I don’t
meddle in religion.”
*Student in the undergraduate program in Communication and
Cultural Sciences at Lusófona University.
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RUI OChÔA