Changed by 9/11: Amy Waldhauer

The day after 9/11, Amy Waldhauer of Northport opened a Koran she had purchased on a whim from a Muslim man in Manhattan a year before. 

"Do not commit evil or follow those who commit evil, or you will go to Hell,'" she said, recalling the words. "It was right there on the first page." 

Waldhauer lost all tolerance for religious fundamentalism that day as she searched the cryptic verses for a motive for such hate. She realized that the attackers had been duped by Osama bin Laden when she read those words.

"Every once in a while there are people who use religious teachings as an excuse to hate or commit violence," Waldhauer said. "The attackers did what they did in the name of God. In the name of God they lost the basic human values of compassion and fairness and caused the deaths of thousands of people, most of whom wished them no harm."