How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy.
The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.
A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.
Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.
No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.
— Sir Winston Churchill (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 [London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899]).
I was about to heap exuberant praise on your wordsmithery until I got to the line “Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.” I recognized this as the writings of Churchill. His observations are as relevant today as they were when he wrote them in 1899 (!). Given that not much has changed inside this religion (which I believe is not really a religion, but a war plan), Churchill was prescient when he said that “No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.” Or maybe he just looked backwards to a time I’m less familiar with and saw the same lack of progress in the previous hundreds of years. How sad for its adherents.
Nice find and highly relevant. Thank you.