I learned recently that the wife of a teacher at my old high school called an eighth grader a slut for the way that she dresses. You would think that a religion teacher's wife would have more honor than that. The girl didn't even know what the word meant. But perhaps it is our fault for expecting kindness from a radical Catholic.

Christians as a group are responsible for more hate throughout history than perhaps any other religious group. The crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust, all in the name of Christianity. It is no wonder that I have been incapable of getting along with my peers in private school. Their hatred is inbred, just as mine is. I can feel the prejudices that they have ingrained into me. I can only fight it and hope.

I fight against the prejudices of people everyday. I have several homosexual friends, relatives of every race, and I see the way people look at them. It is fear more than anything else that drives them. If only these people could see how much hurt they cause with their hate.

Eric Witte