MOST of us can remember where we were on September 11, 2001 – 9/11 in the American way of dating.

I was at work in Central London and was sent home to watch on television the unfolding horror of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York. I am sure many of us were glued to our screens as the scale of the terrorism became clear. No previous attacks had come so close to home, with Islamic terrorists killing almost 3,000 people on American soil. 9/11 precipitated the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, with dreadful consequences.

Like all past events, 9/11 cannot be undone. As we face the future, we have to start from where we are, whether in personal life or global affairs.

Politicians today must deal with the world as it is, not as they might want it to be. That is one reason why it is so important that we elect the best leaders, ones we can trust to do the right thing for us all, not just for themselves. We hope the American people will realise this in November!

For most of us, geo-political events are outside our control. Other than voting and occasionally writing to MPs or the papers, most of us are spectators of world events. Many are not interested as they just want to go about their own lives. A colleague with whom I was working in 2001 said: “The misfortune of those of us who choose not to go into politics is to be governed by those who do.”

How right! The events of 9/11, 23 years ago, and the terrorist acts since, however, were outside the political process. Terrorists use violence and the threat of violence to get their own way irrespective of democracy, law or ethics. That is why terrorism cannot be tolerated – it is wrong, and it is even more wrong when conducted in the name of religion – any religion. Jesus Christ did not kill – he wept over Jerusalem, the Holy City, as we so often still do today.

John Keast, St John’s Methodist Church, St Austell.