The record-union., 1899-09-16
4 WORLD OF PREJUDlCES.
CHIEF ONE DOMINATING THE
HUMAN MIND Is RELIGIONS.
As a Rule Man Starts Out Preju-
diced Against Everything
Not His Own.

lowing interesting address, which was
listened to attentively:
How few of us realize what a world
OF prejudices we live in. Look where
we will, turn where we may, we find
prejudice following upon prejudice.
The chief prejudice dominating the
human mind, is religious prejudice; the
feeling of hatred and dislike which
seems inborn in many of one religious
belief against those OF other religious
beliefs. We find the Mohammedan, for
example, hating the Buddhist and the
Buddhist hating the Brahmin, and all
hating the Christian. Then we find
the Christians hating each other; the
Greek Catholic hating the Roman Cath
olic, and in some countries all the Cath
olics hating the Protestants, and IN
England the Conformists to the Church
of England hating the non-Conform-
lists; and in yet other countries, we find
ProteStants hating the Jews, while In
still other countries we find Catholics
hating Jews, and in some parts of some
countries we find Orthodox-Jews hat
ing Reformed Jews and Reformed Jews
hating Orthodox Jews; and SO we find
the world of religion filled more or less
with love and tolerance.
Then we have race prejudices. In
Asia, for example we find that the
Siamese hate the Chinese; the Chinese
hate the japanese; the Japanese hate
the Hindoos; and all these hate the
Europeans. In Europe the Frenchman
hates the German; the German hates
the Russian; the Russian hates the
Turk, and all these hate the Anglo
Saxon. Nor is this feeling confined to
nations. Even in this country we find
local and territorial prejudice. New
England has a prejudice against the
West and the South has a prejudice
against the North and all have more
or less prejudice against the foreigner.
Since all religious beliefs have been
established by man and all nations and
commonwealth are composed of men,
and since man is imperfect, it must
follow that religions, nations and COM
monwealths have failings and weak
nesses. No religion, however sublime,
no nation or commonwealth, however
great, has as yet attained perfection.
Since perfection is beyond human pow
er, it is not difficult to find much to
criticise in other beliefs, in other coun-
tries, in other commonwealths and in
other individuals.
Man, as rule, is his own ideal. He
is apt to look upon himself as the hub
around which the universe revolVes.
His own ways, his own thoughts, his
own manners and his own conceptions
seem to him the best conceivable. If
they did not so seem, he would be quick
to change them. Thus it is that for
eign thoughts, foreign manners and
| ideas not in harmony with his own, are
to man disturbing element, hence dis
tasteful and subject to his dislike and
! hatred.
! AS a rule, man starts out prejudiced
against anything not his own. This
prejudice must be overcome before he
can give impartial judgment and be-
come at all fair minded. He is apt to
! look upon those who are not with him
in his belief and opinions as being
against him, therefore his enemies and
hence to be hated.
If we analyze the word prejudice, .
we find that it clearly means to pre-
| judge; in other words, to judge before
hand without due inquiry or investiga-
ton. To do this is, of course, to judge
in ignorance and without intelligence,
and hence to be narrow, illiberal, if not
bigoted.
Buckle tells US, in his history of civ
| ilization in England, how English writ
ers formerly circulated miserable and
impudent falsehoods against the
French, by holding them up to the
greatest contempt; by casting refiec-
/ tions against the chastity of their
women; by leading every Englishman
to believe he could beat ten French
men, by picturing them as a. lean and
! stunted race, who drank claret instead
of brandy; who lived entirely on frogs
who were miserable infidels; who heard
mass every Sunday; who bowed down
before idols and who even worshipped
the Pope. On the other hand, the
French were taught to despisesthe Eng
lish as rude, unlettered barbarians,
without either taste of humanity-sur
| ly, ill-conditioned men, living in an
unhappy climate where a perpetual fog,
only varied by rain, prevented the sun
from ever being seen; suffering from
| so deep and inyeterate a melancholy
that physicians had called it the Eng
lish spleen; and, under the influence of
| this cruel malady, constantly commit
ting suicide. particularly in November,
when the English were known to hang
and shoot themselves by thousands
Nor need we go so far back as to the
old English writer's to learn Of national
prejudices and dense ignorance. They
exist to-day in many directions. The
Spanish people, for example, had been
taught to believe that the Americans
| l. L
without sentiment, without culture and
without refinement; that we We're lack
ing in courage and in valor and that
the navy of Spain would have no diff
Guilty in landing on our shores vast
| Spanish army, before whom the ILL
trained and cowardly American sol
diery would flee in dismay. The lead
ers of the Filipinos have taught their
blinded followers to believe that one
Filipino could whip five Americans and
that we are a nation of braggarts and
| Windnills.
We find the same ignorance, preju-
dice and hatred in the religious world
causing the earlier Christian in Eu-
rope to persecute the Jew on the charge
of stealing and numbering Christian
children to use their blood for the Pass
over service. We find. in earlier his
tory, Protestants in Great Britain tor
turing Jesuits, and Catholics in turn
making tremendous use of the inquisi-
ton. We find religious fanatics even
on American shores burning witches.
Thus do we find that much of the
misery and suffering experienced by the
human family. since the dawn of civil
ization was caused by prejudice, and