Bonus Sample: The 9/11 Rorschach Test

Conspirituality

Derek Beres, Matthew Remski, Julian Walker

Spirituality, Social Sciences, Religion & Spirituality, Science, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.2 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The events of September 11, 2001 changed the world. Julian reflects on several interpretations of what they meant, proposing that each is a kind of Rorschach-test result based on our own religious and political beliefs, backgrounds, and social conditioning. The conspiracy theorist simply can’t believe something like that could happen to America, going in search of complicated alternative explanations that exist outside of the “official narrative,” even of reality itself. Where the Christian conservative might see a call to Holy War signaling that the End Times is near, Neocon warhawks surrounding Bush observe an opportunity to enact plans for maintaining economic and political power and security. Meanwhile, many on the left see the attack as justifiable “blowback” against American imperialism, Cold War atrocities, and Western colonialism. Religion is merely an inflaming of a fundamentalist minority based on political injustices. What about the Soviet Union? The history of political Islam and massive Muslim caliphates that ruled for nearly 1,300 years? The intractable sectarian conflicts and the multiple internal ideologies vying for control over the Middle East? There may be no easy answers, but perhaps engaging with these different perspectives can allow us to name some of the many factors that got us to 9/11 and the seemingly unsolvable dilemmas of our world today. Show Notes Popular Mechanics on 911 conspiracies Noam Chomsky on 911 conspiracies Pilger on Project for A New American Century NYT 2023 Piece on the Reasons for Iraq War Saddam’s Ruthless Purge CNN on Kabul attitudes after US Invasion Polling of Iraqis Mahmood Mamdani Good Muslim, Bad Muslim Interview Human Rights Watch on Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan Taimur Rahman’s Red Star History of Political Islam Lectures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Trigger warning here. I'll mention the events of September 11th, 2001, for the next two minutes, so skip ahead, if you'd prefer.
0:11.2	When United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center at 9.03 a.m., it was traveling at around 590 miles per hour.
0:20.3	That's twice as fast as the recommended
0:22.3	cruising speed for passenger liners below 10,000 feet. It's surreal to go back and watch that
0:28.5	plane slip like a sword into the midsection of that building and then just disappear as the
0:32.6	fireball emerges. That's when the first stages of the chaos on 9-11 started to really take shape on TV news and in our psyches.
0:41.2	The first crash when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower 17 minutes previous could plausibly have been a tragic freak accident.
0:49.6	But two planes, two towers within the same 20-minute period? Reality was sinking in, and the deadliest
0:57.2	terror attack in history was still unfolding with two more hijacked planes still in the air. Within the
1:03.2	next hour, one would hit the west wall of the Pentagon, while the other crashed in a Pennsylvania
1:07.3	field due to passenger rebellion. Because of flight delays, they'd been able to figure out that they were on a plane that was
1:13.7	part of the coordinated attacks, and their heroic uprising against the hijackers
1:18.2	caused the crash landing that fell short of the DC target, believed to have either been
1:23.0	the Capitol building or the White House.
1:25.8	I must apologize here for resurrecting your memories of these events.
1:29.4	Like me, you probably know exactly where you were when you first realized what was going down.
1:34.0	You likely to remember the room you were in and who you were with when you watched the terrifying
1:38.7	and tragic footage over the next hours and days. Just revisiting it myself right now to gather these details
1:45.5	gives me that tight stomach and jaw and the characteristic itchy tingling of adrenaline
1:50.7	on the skin of my arms and legs. So let's not spend too much time here. Let's notice our
1:57.2	present time surroundings. And remember we're safe in this moment together, in the gratitude
2:02.7	of family and friends and all that makes life nourishing and beautiful. And for those who are thinking
	...

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