Last week, I was fixing the roof on a shed with a neighbor of mine. We've been friends for many years and we know each other very well. But sometimes there are a few surprises. Up on the roof, we got to talking about prejudice, and he said to me: "You can't really know anything about prejudice because you've got blue eyes." True: I do have blue eyes . But I also happen to know a great deal about prejudice and intolerance from a very personal point of view.

News of the terrible bombing in Oklahoma City on 19 April 95 spread quickly all across North America. When they first heard of it, how many people reacted with the thought: "Muslims" ? And yet, apparently none of those involved in this cowardly and evil act had any connection with Islam. But the first response of thousand, perhaps millions, accross the continent was that members of a particular religion were responsible. This is what prejudice does to people.