Twenty five years ago today, I was in my third week of law school at the University of Texas. I stood in the student lounge and watched the burning Twin Towers on television, first with confusion and then with growing horror and fear. Our 1L classes went on that day, but our hearts and minds were with the victims in lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania.  

A view of New York City on September 11, 2001, after the attacks. This unattributed photo is courtesy of the Prints and Photographs Division. Library of Congress

Anniversaries – like the dreadful day we mark today – give us a chance not just to look backward but to consider how past events shaped and continue to form our national identity, as well as how we act in response. Will we stay true to our country’s foundational values of religious liberty for all, pluralism, and dignity, or will we allow fear to take over through acts of discrimination, exclusion, and physical violence? 

Our country suffered a collective trauma on 9/11, a hinge point in American history that we continue to remember as a day of tremendous loss. As a people, we did not live up to our values in the days after. We allowed our fear to overtake our commitment to belonging for all, and that continues to impact many of our fellow Americans. 

Some of our leaders – including then-President George W. Bush – implored Americans to pull together in unity and not to view Muslim Americans or Islam as a threat to the United States. But, that rhetoric did not match the reality. Suspicion became an additional burden on Muslim Americans, as well as additional groups impacted by Islamophobia including Arab, Sikh, South Asian, Black, Middle Eastern, and other communities. People – then and now –  equate those religious, ethnic, and racial identities with a sense of threat or danger. The U.S. government has surveilled their worship and community spaces. Their communities were targeted in hate crimes, some of them deadly. Their belonging in neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and public spaces has become conditional on their ability to prove patriotism and humanity. 

This ongoing suspicion and fear has not made our country safer or stronger. Instead, it has weakened our community ties and led to more violence, including a mass shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego just a few months ago. Today we are experiencing rising Islamophobia in our country, with elected officials exploiting fear to score political points in this campaign year. Nearly 70 members of Congress are part of the Sharia-Free America Caucus, spreading hate and misinformation from their positions of political power. In my home state of Texas, members of the State Board of Education recently approved new social studies standards, which teach that “radical Islam” was the motivation for the 9/11 attacks and provide an anti-historical understanding of Islam’s roots as a “violent” religion.     

In the face of fear, we have an opportunity to recommit to shared values of who we want to be as a people in a time of crisis – to reaffirm that religious liberty requires unconditional belonging for every person, regardless of belief or religious identity. 

Then-BJC Executive Director Brent Walker joined dozens of religious leaders and community members at the Washington National Cathedral on Oct. 23, 2015, highlighting the need to protect religious liberty and model it for the world.

As Baptists, we protect religious liberty from our commitment to soul liberty, honoring the image of God in every person and protecting their freedom of conscience. Our commitments require action. We must hold political leaders accountable for their reckless and dangerous rhetoric, work to correct misinformation in conversations with friends and family members, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the impacted communities. We must work to make “liberty and justice for all,” not just words we say but a lived reality for every person. 

Anniversaries offer a time for collective remembrance and shared commitments. I invite you to share how you remember 9/11 – where you were, how you experienced it, what you felt – and what you will commit to do to uphold our values 25 years later. With your permission, we will post your responses to inspire more in our movement to action.