The Bridgeport Bomber

So what the ?*!!*** were you thinking, Mr. Faisal Shahzad? You studied in this country, found a job here, married a resident, your children are Americans, and you still want to harm this country?! Exactly what kind of schmuck are you? Exactly what kind of malevolent d***head would do that? I know, a d***head like you.

So, worldwide terrorism is now just a few towns over from us. And this of course means that the New England life as we know it is not quite the same anymore. What I love about this part of the country is the sheer pleasantness of it. There is my deep-rooted love for the Midwest and especially for Chicago, but southwestern Connecticut with its just-right distance from New York City, its sun-splashed beaches, Trader Joe’s and Stew Leonard’s – is just so darned pleasant! I can imagine hating it for its Stepford Wives-esque little towns, its complete lack of diversity, its high prices and its lack of sidewalks or bicycle paths. I’ve grumbled over all of these things with friends and to myself. But would I try and destroy the place over these flaws? Of course not! If you didn’t like America, dear Shahzad, if you didn’t like whitebread Connecticut (although that hardly applies to Bridgeport), you had the option to leave and go someplace closer to your comfort level.

And is this even the right way to vent your anger or your rage? How many Vietnamese lost their lives in an unjust war in the 1950s and 1960s? Do you see any of their descendants flying planes into skyscrapers or planting bombs among innocents out of a misguided, I would even say a self-entitled, sense of grievance? Two wrongs do not make a right, Mr. Shahzad, no matter how much you may try and stretch the argument that way.

And that brings me to another topic. What if you were the parent of someone like Shahzad? How hard must that be, to see your beloved child turn out to have not just murderous tendencies but a mass-murderer streak? What must that do to you, the parents of said thug? It’s possibly one’s worst nightmare come true.

Should parents bear any responsibility for their grown children’s waywardness? Perhaps not, but I do have one general piece of advice. All these people went nuts because someone from outside the family preached a warped message of hatred to them, in the name of religious instruction. And the parents and family members probably approved of their “good” son spending hours in a religious setting, mixing with other “good boys” and “pious men”. And then they are perplexed about the outcome. “But he was always so good!” is the refrain. Well, the lesson is that religious instructors aren’t always good people. I know, it seems contradictory, but just ask the Catholic Church. In other word, dear parents of international terrorists: don’t get lazy about your parental duties. It’s your job to teach your children the difference between good and bad, right and wrong. Religious instruction and moral instruction start at home. So, don’t outsource morality to your church, mosque, temple or synagogue. And perhaps everyone else can rest a little easier, then.