Can a person with a prejudice go to Heaven?

I will be the first to say that in my past I have had some serious prejudices. I have had a prejudice against people of different races, different religions, homo-sexuals, and the list can go on and on. However, the day I met Christ face to face, He began to make a change in my life. He began to change my small-minded views about life. I always thought it was ok to be against gay people and people who worshipped other gods. Boy was I wrong. Let's take a look at what the word "prejudice" really means. Webster's dictionary defines the word "prejudice" as a preconceived judgment or opinion. It also says it is an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge. Lastly, an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics. If you look up the word prejudice in a thesaurus it comes up with this: hatred of or discrimination against a person or persons. So when it all boils down, prejudice is hate, right? So all those years that I had prejudices against people, I was hating them. I didn't see it as hating them at the time but looking back on it, I really thought badly of people because they were different than me. I live in the South. Born here and raised here. Most of you that read this are the same way. Having been here all of my life, I have had to deal with racism on a daily basis. I have heard racial comments from friends, family members, church members, unsaved, and sadly those that claim to be saved. So today I started thinking, "Can a person with a prejudice go to heaven"? I did a little research on what the Bible says about hate. I read out of the NIV translation so any Scripture references will be out of that translation, just FYI. 1 John 4:20-21 says "If anyone says "I love God," yet hates his brother is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." Is John talking about loving our literal brother? No. He is talking about other people. It doesn't say love your brother if they are the same race as you. It doesn't say to love your brother if he/she is in the same religion as you. It doesn't even say that you are to love people only if they are the same sexual orientation as you. So what does that mean? It means that we are to love EVERYONE. What if Christ only came and died for those who looked like him? Well, it looks like I would be out of luck. So would about 90% of this country. 1 John 4:19 says: "We love because He first loved us." (He, meaning Jesus Christ) So what happens when we allow hatred to come into our lives? We start to form opinions about people based on skin color and religious views. I was in that very boat. I thought that if you were a certain color, you acted a certain way. If we let that into our minds, soon it will be in our hearts, then our families, then our churches. Before we know it we are teaching our children to hate people and we end up in a mess where black people go to one church, Hispanics to another, and white people to another. I have actually heard people say "I don't want those people in my church." I have heard, "I don't want gay people in my church." Why not? Who are you to cut God's legs out from under Him? If God sends a person to you that is confused about their sexual orientation, who are you to turn them away and back into the world? Who are you to say "You need to change your life before you come in here"? Why do you think God sent them to YOU??!! God sent them to you so that you may minister to them and the power of Christ can transform their life! Who are we to deny God His right to change people? Who are we to say that black people are not allowed to come to a body of believers that are white? Do you really think that God cares about white or black? If God sends a white family to a predominantly black church, it is that church's responsibility to minister to that family. If God sends a black family to a white church, god has given you the opportunity to minister to them! NOW! I am done with my rant; I can get back to the original question: Will prejudice people go to Heaven? Galatians 5:19-21 says: "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." In that long list of sins, hatred is mentioned. I can't speak for everyone but when I harbored hate against different people, I didn't know Christ even though I thought I did. It wasn't until Jesus Christ got hold of me, that I let my preconceived notions about people go. Had I died in that state would I have gone to Heaven? According to what Paul wrote in Galatians, I don't think so. That's a sobering thought because I was a good person. I tried to keep the commandments; I read my Bible, I prayed, attended Church, and all the other things Christians are supposed to do. That's why in our Youth Meetings I always stress the importance of KNOWING Christ personally. Not knowing ABOUT Christ. I knew all about Him but it wasn't until I MET Him, that I changed. I may catch a lot of heat for this but I will say it anyway. If I had the chance to sit down with Osama Bin Laden and present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to him, I would. I don't wish that he die and go to an everlasting Hell. I guarantee that people will say to me that he has done so much evil that he doesn't deserve to go to Heaven. My answer to that is: Neither do I and neither do you. Christ never said I will go die for them because they deserve it. Not once does the Bible say that we deserve to go to Heaven. By human standards, I am a better person than Osama Bin Laden. But by God's standards there is just one difference between him and me: I know Christ and he doesn't. So if you are reading this, and you are struggling with a prejudice of some kind, please don't leave where you are until you have asked God to help you with that. It doesn't change overnight. Sin is a one-way highway. There is one way down and once you realize you're in too deep, you have to turn around and come out the way you came in. There are no exits or short cuts. America, we are the leader of the free world and we hold more Christians than any other place in the world. Why is it then that our country's crime rate is among the highest in the world? I challenge you today to get out of your own way and shed that old mind and put on a new one. Romans 12:2 says: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Don't conform to what you have been told your whole life. Be transformed by renewing your mind from the carnal nature of man to the perfect nature of God. Then and only then will you be able to call yourself "Christ-like" and determine the will of God for your life. So do I think a person that harbors hatred in their heart will go to heaven? I can't make that call 100%. I will say this though; if you have met Jesus Christ and have turned your life to Him, you will not harbor hatred or prejudices toward others. And the only way to eternal life is if you meet Jesus and turn your life over to Him.