Making Heroes

THERE ARE TWO KINDS of heroes, personal, and theoretical. Cops and firefighters, soldiers and nurses seem to be on everybody's list, on the theoretical side. If we're lucky, one or both our our parents can be a hero to us, in our fulfillment of an evident human need. Albert Einstein and Davy Crockett always came in right handy for me, hero-wise; they both played the fiddle, and they were both nonconforming renegades, true trend setters, pioneers. And, just downright good guys to boot. But what about women? Any female heroes, other than my eternally beloved mother? Suggested reading: "Reconciliation; Islam, Democracy, and the west", by Benazir Bhutto, my new female hero. She was assassinated in December 2007, shortly after returning to Pakistan after eight years in exile. The former prime minister was simply too popular, controversial, hated. Doomed, like Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy. Her attitude towards her Islamic religion is a breath of fresh air, and should be preserved for all time. If only Christians worldwide would read her book, which she wrote just weeks before her death, and similarly, if they would read The Quran, the Islamic holy book, a new awareness would awaken throughout Christendom. Similarly, if all Moslems shared Benazir Bhutto's vision for their faith and for the future of the world, we would all live in peace, prosperity, and happiness. And who knows, maybe, just maybe, all that'll happen, some fine day. Quite a fine trio of personal heros, I think: an American hillbilly, a German genius, and a female Pakistani political martyr.