Keep asking questions

Dear Editor: I have recently been made aware of a number of “conspiracy theories” surrounding the events of 9/11. I have watched the online documentary “Loose Change” along with several interviews with reputable engineers and scientists. These individuals question the explanation that the collapse of the towers was due to the impact and fire created by the planes, and they suggest that the collapse was due to explosives planted prior to the attacks.If your first reaction is to disregard these theories’ conspiratory nature, please take a moment to muse on past historical events that have since been illuminated by new information. What is conspiracy? What is conspiracy in relationship to the media? What is the difference between conspiracy versus probing what the media and the government agree to present as the “truth?” “Conspiracy” literally means “breathing together.” Somewhere in the history of our language, a very benevolent, beautiful word came to have the malevolent meaning. It is worth reflecting on this for the sake of bringing attention to how the phrase “conspiracy theory” has become a convenient excuse for not thinking one’s own thoughts, but merely as a way to dismiss the need to think – which is a root cause of the crisis that we are in at the moment.The possibility of the United States initiation and/or involvement in the orchestration of a crime of this unimaginable magnitude is horrifying. To think of the thousands of deaths that were caused and the intricate web of lies created to deceive the world and suffocate the American people with fear is a crime so great it is impossible to comprehend. I do not know what the answers are regarding these “theories.” What I do know is that in the space between what we were meant to blindly accept as truth and the events themselves there are many unanswered questions.My plea is this: Ask questions. No matter what the degree of your skepticism, confusion, anger, terror, complacency, or curiosity, we must ask questions. We must take the responsibility to have an opinion – not an uninformed opinion but one based on our own research, discovery, conversation, and questioning. An opinion where we feel at peace, not with our ignorance and fear, but with our informed, truth-seeking heart and mind.Jordan Dann Aspen