We've come a long way since that terrible day three years ago when we were attacked by Islamic fanatics on four planes. We've somewhat recovered emotionally and our economy has rebounded to an amazing degree considering just where the terrorists struck, the financial heart of our country.

As much as we've progressed I'm amazed at the reactions of some of my fellow Americans. I watched in the aftermath of the collapse of the two World Trade Center towers people display some of the best of what it is to be an American, but I also saw us at our worst.

Burned into my memory of that day is a woman who said her faith in God was shattered because of the attacks. I have to ask such people how God is responsible for something of purely human origin? God created us with free will, we can do good or we can do bad and even evil things. If it were otherwise we would be automatons, and all you have to do is look around at what humans have done to see that isn't the case.

I recently saw several movies that highlight how much we are still the same as we were 50 or 60 years ago. Since You Went Away is a movie that seems to get better the more I watch it. Claudette Colbert, as the wife of a soldier away at war doing her best to keep the family running, is wonderful.

The character that most caught my attention the last time I saw the movie was Mrs. Emily Hawkins, portrayed by Agnes Moorehead. I've seen Mrs. Hawkins, and heard her comments right here in Nevada. Mrs. Hawkins complained about everything in the movie from 'vulgar flag-waving' to girls of a certain station in life treated wounded soldiers back from the war.

People who complain about voluntary flag-waving have never lived in a place where flag-waving was mandatory. If you don't like to see flag-waving, look away, no one is forcing you to see it. This is America, if you want you can wave the flag, watch people wave the flag, or ignore the whole thing. What you can't do is tell me I don't have the right to do it.

On September 10, 2001 I was working at Digital Lighthouse in a room that held over 200 people. The only flags in that room were purchased by me. Several months earlier I bought four flags, about a foot high, to put up on my cubicle. I used two of them and gave one to Dave Bishop and one to Willy Bishop, they both worked in the same room.

After September 11 there were many flags flying in the room, most bigger than the ones I put up. I didn't get new, larger flags, the point was never to prove how patriotic I was, it was simply to honor the country that has given me so many opportunities. Patriotism isn't a contest, something I wish the anti-Bush and anti-Kerry people would keep in mind.

Another movie I recently watched was The Best Years of Our Lives. Dana Andrews and a great cast bring this movie to life. Harold Russell, a real life amputee, portrayed Homer Parrish, a veteran who lost his hands. What connects this to Since You Went Away is the character who calls the veterans 'saps' for sacrificing for corporate greed. Sounds familiar doesn't it? Now we know who Michael Moore takes after, a snake in the grass character out of a 50 year old movie.

The final movie I recently watched was Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. It has no connection to the other movies in this column, it's just the timing, the movie came out last week on DVD and I rented it to see it with my wife. I didn't watch it in the theater when it came out, I knew it was something I'd rather see in the privacy of my home.

I've held off on commenting on the movie since I hadn't seen it. Now that I have I can say that those who complained so vociferously about it are idiots and what is worse they take us for idiots too.

I'll not deny that the movie is hard to watch, but then it isn't some Pauly Shore piece of fluff. It requires a person to question themselves and their beliefs, to look at what is at the core of Christianity, Christ's death.

The scene where Pilate has Jesus scourged is perhaps the bloodiest I've ever seen. At the end of it there is blood everywhere and Jesus is covered from head to foot in cuts dripping more. The thing is the viciousness isn't contrived. Anyone who even glances over the history of Rome can't miss the callous disregard for human suffering that the Romans were capable of.

If you haven't seen The Passion of The Christ by all means rent the video, you will find the gospel come to life.

And if you can find the others, watch them, they are well worth the time and you might be surprised how relevant they are even after so long.