In two or three sentences, explain the author's purpose for stating, "It took Timothy McVeigh to teach America that fanaticism and righteous martyrdom are not the monopoly of one religion or, indeed, any religion at all." Background information: Timothy McVeigh was an American domestic terrorist responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing killing 168 people

Explanation of the sentence: Timothy McVeigh was neither Arab nor Muslim and provoked a terrorist attack by being an American boy, respectable and admired.

Explanation:

Timothy McVeigh was a New Yorker, white, straight, and a boy decorated for his actions in the Gulf War. In other words, he was the American standard, an admirable person and one that made the country proud, but this proved to be a big lie. That's because Timothy was responsible for a terrorist attack on the bomb that killed around 168 dead and left 850 injured in Oklahoma.

The attack was linked to some radical Islamist group, nobody imagined that an American would do that to his own people. However, by discovering that Timothy was the culprit and who had no connection with Islam, the population could rethink their concepts in relation to religions and patriotism.

"it's more of an essay than story, but perhaps it is best described as a mood-piece: it uses a lot of musical imagery, not to mention sea imagery, religious imagery, and any other imagery that suits his purpose."