Far from my religion tempering my prejudices, racial prejudice was actually instilled in me by my evangelical Christian church. I grew up in North Carolina in what we call the Bible Belt. My church taught me that segregation was the will of God and quoted the Bible to prove it. It taught me that men were by nature superior to woman and quoted the Bible to prove it. It taught me that it was o.k. to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and quoted the Bible to prove it. It taught me that homosexual persons were either mentally sick or morally depraved and, of course, quoted the Bible to prove it. So the idea that being religious might make one less prejudiced is a fantasy. It appears to make people more prejudiced, or at the least, not to confront their prejudices.