Thomas Faulkner

Homeland Security

2002

mixed media

40" x 60" x 4"

Tonight I stand in front of my studio window looking directly down Lexington Avenue towards lower Manhattan through the driving rain of an early Spring storm. On the morning of September 11th I looked with stunned disbelief out this same window at smoke rising from the burning towers of the World Trade Center. In the months in between I have worked as the Red Cross Officer in Charge of the Chaplaincy at the Temporary Morgue at Ground Zero. This Chaplaincy is charged with blessing the remains of those killed in the terrorist attack.  As Christian, Jewish and Muslim clergy we work closely with firemen, policemen, emergency medical personnel, medical examiners and construction workers. I have never heard anyone talk the language of revenge or reprisal. The horrors around us have all been too evident; the suffering too great. No one desires to see this visited upon others. As a country, we value the safety of our children, making the color of our safe crossing signs as visible as possible. Yet in the cause of protecting our own safety we have often displayed cruelty towards others including children, most recently in Vietnam and Afghanistan.  We need utmost vigilance to insure that we don't subvert our values in the cause of homeland security. As Christians we owe this to all of God's children.