Religious organizations on campus may not share the same beliefs, but on Sept. 11, 2001, people of all backgrounds shared the shock and disbelief of the events that moved our nation.These organizations remember this day through events, thoughts and prayers.The terrorist attacks directly affected junior Jennifer Cook, from the Wesley Foundation. “My uncle worked at the Pentagon and was put on the missing list because he was out doing errands,” she said. She was relieved to know he was okay. The Wesley Foundation is holding a Sept.11 Prayer Chain at noon on Wednesday at the fountain. “Everybody is invited,” Cook said. The Baptist Student Ministry is having a free Memorial Service Luncheon on Wednesday at noon. “Students can give testimonies if they were directly affected and ask for specific prayer requests,” said sophomore Jeff Cunningham, co-president of the BSM. “It will be a quiet prayer service.” “Over the past year we’ve been encouraged to share our faith,” Cunningham said. “Crazy things happen, but God is in control. We should take every opportunity to share with those we know.” Like most Americans that day, students from the BSM solemnly watched the aftermath of the attacks. “We were remorseful and compassionate for the victims and their families, as well as the terrorists. Students prayed throughout the day and continue praying a year later,” Cunningham said. “Even though it was a tragedy and people lost their lives, I believe God’s working for the good of his people.” “Today is a good opportunity for remembrance and a time for prayer,” he said. Other religious organizations will continue normal routines on Wednesday, but were moved by the event a year ago. “It rocked me,” said Jason Bell, campus missionary on staff at Chi Alpha. “It made me want to just pray, pray for people and just talk to God.” “When it happened, I thought, ‘Wow, what is God saying through this?'” Bell said. “I know he’s aware and that he’s a loving God and knows what is best for us.” “Sept. 11 made people think like they had never thought before,” Bell said. “People were stirred up.” Abd’Allah Muhammed-Bey, president of the Muslim Student Association, said they would not be doing anything to commemorate the day. “We condemn it,” he said. “The problems that came about had nothing to do with religion. It was politics.”It was a political matter between the American government and the foreign policy of the Middle East. The pilots just happened to be Muslim,” Muhammed-Bey said. “My enemies are within, in my own neighborhood, people I’m trying to help.”Muhammed-Bey spoke at Huntsville High School last Saturday at a prayer breakfast hosted by the Huntsville Kiwanis Club. Dr. Gaetner was also a speaker. Muhammed-Bey also spoke at the Coliseum after the events of Sept. 11, as well as in the Windham School District. “We need to come together with what we have in common,” he said. “This is a golden opportunity to teach my religion in a true form, not a negative perspective.””There were two mosques in the World Trade Center; a lot of Muslims died,” he said. “Everyone was affected.” Students from all religious backgrounds can remember and sympathize as a nation. “The whole student body should unite as Americans and we should come together as Christians as well,” said junior Brent Dewolse, from Church of Christ student center.
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