Like the Apollo 11 Moon landings; like the Challenger explosion or the JFK assassination; people will remember where they were when they saw the horrifying events of 11 September unfolding live on television.

The year 2001 turns out to not be the start of a millennium of peace, but the beginning of an era where terrorism threatens peace of mind for ordinary people everywhere.  We must all learn to cope with the official start of a new era similar to that of the Cold War.

The movie “2001” prominently featured a large black slab, and ironically, the real-life 2001 struck a world dumb as we watched the collapse of two large monolithic structures.

This comparison is not intended to be flippant or disrespectful, nor to make light of the suffering of the thousands of victims of the September attacks. It is designed to show how tragically far we still are from reaching our dreams.

The monolith in the movie, “2001”, symbolised the struggle for humanity to learn and grow, to evolve into better people.  The destruction of the WTC twin towers showed the opposite in action - how a few people can be compelled into committing terrible criminal acts by their narrow-minded and ignorant views from a past that deserves to be relegated to the dustbin of history.

Most alarmingly, the 11 September attacks - and their aftermath - have demonstrated the fragile natures of our society and our planet, at the very time when we are truly starting to become a global village.

Where do we go from here?  Do we descend into World War Three and racist chaos?  Or do we try to build bridges in order to cross our planet’s divisions of nationality and poverty, of religion and racism?

By all means, punish the guilty and shamelessly promote human rights, but let’s also work together to build a tolerant and truly peaceful planetary village.  That would be the world’s greatest, and most ironic, response to terrorists.

This tragedy has the potential to challenge us to build a better world - to feed the overlooked millions who are starving, or to heal the forgotten millions who are living with HIV/AIDS.  We could make a determined stand to fight a war against injustice, poverty and intolerance.  Are we equal to the challenge?

Gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and intersex people in many oppressive nations know - all too well - what can be the cost of hatred and ignorance.  We owe it to posterity to forge a better world.   As one science fiction character often challenges us: “Make it so”.