Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1878-06-02

SUNDAY READING.

vi ters as we'll The king comes i'll with a
flourish of trumpets; the man of humber
make announces himself by whistling or by
the even smaller self assertion of clearing nus
throat. Read the following and mark how
Mahomet, in the Koran, expresses himself
I'm the name of the most merciful God.
BY the war horses which run swiftly to bat
Ito, with painting noise; and by those which
strike FIRE by dashing their hoofs against the
stones; and by those which make sudden in
cursion on the enemy early in the morning,
and therein raise the dust, and therein pass
through the midst of the adverse troops:
verify man is ungrateful unto his Lord: and
he is witness thereof and he is immoderate
IN the love of worldly good. Doth he not
know, therefore, when that which is i'll the
graves shall be brought forth, and that which
is in mems hearts shall be brought to light,
that their Lord will, on that day, be fully in
formed concerning them?"
And again:
Gin the name of the most merciful God.
The striking what is the striking! and
what shall make thee to understand how ter
rihe the striking will be? On that dav man
shall be like moths scattered abroad, and the
mountains shall become like carded wool of
various coors driven by the wind. Moreover
he whose balance shall be heavy with good
works shall lead a pleasing life; but as to him
whose balance shall be light, his dwelling shall
he tho pit of hell What shall make thee to
understand how frightful the pit of hell ISL 1t
is a burning fire.
Tbs Orientals are greatly given to these
sami-incoherent superfuities in their religious
phraseology. Something of this tendency to
repeat and invent meaningless sentences and
weave them into their exhortations is always
observable among the colored folk at their re
Wvals and camp meetings. Also there arc
people who are neither dark of skin nor of
Orj2t al birth who are not always free from
iuto'orences in their preaChings and prayings
But then our forms and phrases of worship
aga ali borrowed from the East and in using
borrowed things we are only too apt to misap
ply thom and make ourselves seem ridiculous
and absurd What has a war horse and his
dust got to do with the ingratitUde OF man,
and biz love of worldly good2 One might as
well sly ''By the COW that set fire TO Chicago,
and by the potato bugs of Nebraska, do you
not know that it is contrary to law to shoot
quail in the summer-time2' As to THE Strik.
Ing" above quoted, something OF its incohe-
rcnco disappears when we read the foot note
appended to the chapter in which it occurs,
informing us that "The Striking is Zone of
the names or epithets given to the last day,
because it will strike the heads of all creatures
with terror" But even this does not make
senso Of the apparent nonsense OF the deciara-
ton that "the mountains shall become ike
carded wool Of various colOrs driven by the
wind" One is reminded Of the fanfarouade
of tho "western" pettifogger who wound up
his harlngue 80 the jury by reminding his
Honor that he was not like marble stat
uto, waited about by every wind that blows
This IS a world wherein are many one sided
men, careening over with lop-sided ideas We
have voutured thus to lightly criticise some of
the words of the Koran. We are very secure
III the conviction that by so doing we shall in
nowise offend any Christian ears. 1t is not
impossible, however, that what we have said
may reach the notice of some sensitive Ma
hometau aud cause him the experience of a
moral and mental shock. But, in the ethics
of this age and life we are prone to disregard
the feelings of the few, the helpless, and the
unprotected. We bride the tongue when we
approach subject whose discussion involves
what We term the religious sentiment of the
community" But we Of the Gentle world
belabor the Book of Mormon without stint
and hesitate not to criticise the Koran. 1t
were practical Christianity to do the larger
and more manly, Drawer and more charitable
thing than this. We cannot forego our right !
of respectful criticism; but we shrink from
urging the negations of our own skepticism
upon minds that are cheered and comforted |
by an accepted faith. Blessed are the believ
ers! Doubt brings its own punishment. Here
is the Bible; here the Koran; hore the Tai
mud here the Book of Mormon The beliefs
which are laid upon the Bible are not only as
numerous as the sects, but they are as many
AZ the ministers who represent sectarian opin-
ions. One Mahometan doctor finds the Pro-
phet donouncing tobacco; another justifes it's