September 11 - Former Enemies

When I was a kid growing up in the 1980s, the U.S.S.R. was our sworn enemy.
But then a few years after college, I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a former Soviet Republic called Turkmenistan, where my host family during training introduced me to friends and neighbors as their American son.
During my grandparents' generation, my country fought a war with Japan that started with Pearl Harbor and ended with Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
But today I'm married to a Japanese woman, and we're expecting our first child in November.
My point is, things change.
Nine years ago today, my country was attacked by Muslim terrorists.
Because of these attacks, my country is currently at war in two countries, and Islam is at the center of several controversies back home: Park51 and the Dove World Outreach Center's (cancelled) Quran burning, to name the two that are currently the biggest.
I would imagine it can't always be easy being a Muslim in the United States these days.
But this too shall pass.
I know it doesn't seem like it now, but as time goes by more and more people will accept this truth which is almost too obvious to mention: that being a Muslim doesn't mean you are dangerous.
Some day being a Muslim in the United States won't be a big deal.
I'm not saying prejudice toward Muslims will completely die out. Unfortunately, it will always be around in some form or another. But there is no doubt in my mind that some day attitudes across the country will have shifted to the point where acceptance of Muslims will be so widespread and commonplace that the minority who are still prejudiced against them will be too ashamed to disparage them openly.
Unfortunately, we're not there yet. But we will be some day.
As I write this, Americans are commemorating September 11, 2001 through prayer, moments of silence, reflection, other ways. And my heart goes out to those who lost loved ones on that day.
As for me, I am spending the weekend taking birthing classes with my wife in Tokyo and dreaming of raising our daughter in an America where Muslims are just another group of people we used to be afraid of.