We are most creative and sense other possibilities that transcend our ordinary experience when we leave ourselves behind.

Religion is not a nice thing. It is potentially a very dangerous thing because it involves a heady complex of emotions, desires, yearnings and fears.

We talk about God as though he was like a somebody. We ask him to bless our nation, or save our Queen, or give us a fine day for the picnic. And we actually expect him to be on our side in an election or war even though our opponents are also God's children.

Even before 9/11 I was gripped by a sense of dread: our lack of criticism about what we were doing in the Middle East - the slagging off of a whole religious tradition.

Yes, all fundamentalists feel that in a secular society, God has been relegated to the margin, to the periphery and they are all in different ways seeking to drag him out of that peripheral position, back to center stage.

The values of Islam are expressed by Muslims clearly. September 11 changed the world, and put Muslims on the spotlight.

If it is not tempered by compassion, and empathy, reason can lead men and women into a moral void.