short speech from Winston Churchill,
>> delivered by him in 1899
"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 Muslims 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; (Source: The River War, first edition, Vol.II,
>> pages 248-50 London )
