St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-09-16
AREBUkE FRoMIHE ORIENT.

Rarely has a more dramatic scene
been witnessed than that WHICH &C.
CURED iii the congress Of the worlds
religions at Chicago Thursday. a priest
of BCDDHA was exp0uudiHg aud de-
Tending his faith before an audience OF
several thousands. the vast majority Of
whom were protesting Christians, and
many of them teachers OF the religion
of Christ, when he asked: How many
of you have read the life Of BUDDHA?''
Five hands were raised, four of them
belonging to women: Five oHiY!" ex-
claimed the Buddhist i'll q tone OF dis
dain. -Four hundred and ssventy-fiye
millions of people accept cur religion of
love and OF hope. You call yourself
nation, great nation, and yet do not
know the history of this great teacher.
How dare you Judge us?'
Who can say that the rebake of the
heather priest was not merited?
The Judgment of ignorance is in
variably the least charitable. All re-
ligious persecution and intolerance has
its birth in the cradle of ignorance
The eruelties that stain the pages of
the history Of the middle ages with
blood were the products of the dense
cloud OF ignorance that oyerhung the
world in those times. AS Intelligence
grew with education, It's magic breath
swept away the clouds of superstition,
aud mankind threw off the shackies of
seryitude To designing aud unDrineipled
priests and despotic rulers. Ennancipa-
ton of the body followed emancipation
of the soul, and today there are none
who dare to claim the right to dictate to
any man what doctrine he shall espOuse
or what religion he shall believe.
And yet, with all this freedom or ac-
ton assured, how much or real religious
slavery exists. Where is the Chris
tian minister who will not con-
denim a partshiOner who proposes TO
inform himself as TO the tenets
of a faith other than his own?
If a young man shall propose 10 in
veStigate the religion of BUDDHA or
MoHAMMED horror seiZes upon his
preceptor, and he is warned of the DAN
ger that turks within the cover of the
book that IS held sacred by many
millions OF his fellow beings. And yet,
there is in the sacred writings OF the
heather philosopher wealth of pro-
found wisdom, code of morals which
no Christian need blush to admire. and
the principles of q religion that brings
! the physical man near the gates of per-
lection while it develops and purifies
his moral sense, There is, too, in the
Koran of MoHAMMED much that is ad-
mirabie, many precepts which all might
follow with profit, many doctrines that
are certainly recOncilable to reason,
and many points of faith that, if lived
up 10, would make men wiser aud bet
ter and happier.
The condemnation of the Buddhist
priest as he stood before that vast as
semblage in Chicago should teaeh-us a
| lesson in charity. even il it has not the
effect of leading US to investigate reiig-
ions other than our own. a Christian
| cannot consistently condemn that of
which he knows nothing. He ought to
know what this prophet of the Orient
| taught; he ought to know that his fol-
overs are men of exemplary moral life
and exceptional mental endowments.
He cannot criticise without knowledge;
aud. above all, he should not condemn
| without charity. Buddhism is the pro-
fessed belief of many millions of human
beings, and they live up to their profess
sions. Christianity is the protested be
lief Of q far less number, and these are
too often wayering in their faith and
inconsistent in their practice. But
above all, the lesson should be learned
that it is unwise, illibera and unchris-
tan to critieise OF condemn without
knowledge.