^{Most SMART people are very sceptical that somewhere up in the sky is a supreme being who created the universe. But even if there is, He or it is certainly not looking down on the Earth and listening to people's prayers - although, given the spectacular success of their mission, supporters of the September 11 suicide bombers might disagree!}

^{Those 19 young men who sacrificed their lives were all devoutly religious. They must have prayed a lot during the months leading up to the fateful day. On the morning of September 11, 2001, their prayers must have reached a crescendo. If God listens to prayers then surely He was fully aware of what was about to happen. So, given the fact that He did not intervene to stop them, should we conclude that God approved of those murderous acts?}

^{Religious people do not like to be led down a path of logic and common sense when it comes to prayer. Far more important to them is that they maintain the fantasy of a benevolent “parent” up in the sky who is listening to them and looking after them.}

^{The truth is that nobody was listening to the prayers of the suicide bombers, but that didn’t matter. Those young men were brainwashed by their religious leaders into believing that they were martyrs and that God had reserved a special place for them in heaven the instant the planes exploded.}

^{How can we reduce the chances of tragedies like September 11 occurring again? Those 19 brainwashed fanatics didn’t materialise out of thin air. They all grew out of a religious base that gave them the initial indoctrination, the support structure and constant reassurance that they were doing what God wanted.}

^{Trying to stop brainwashed religious terrorists with measures like tighter immigration controls is about as effective as swatting at individual virus carrying mosquitoes. What we must do is spray the religious swamps that breed them! The “spray” in this case is knowledge and education. Particularly in the uncivilised world we need to reach young people before they become brainwashed by their elders. People who have been educated about religion, rather than having been indoctrinated into a religon, are much more likely to question the validity of religious dogma and far less likely to allow themselves to become brainwashed couriers of death.}