The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-04
Christians Not Slain Because Of Re-
nsion, but Because They Are
Usuers aad Oppressors.
MoHAMMEDAN SIDE OF CASE
KORAN PREVENTS SULTAN GIVING
CHRISTIANS CIVIL RIGHTS.
Anecdotes illustrating the Difference
Between Moha nm m edan and Chris
finn Civilizations.

"Extry, Extryi Awful murders in
Macedonia. Turks Kill $1,000 Christians!
speshul extryl''
And the newsboy sped down the street.
selling his papers like hot-cakes to people
eager to read about the latest atrocities
Of the ''unspeakable Turk
An educated Mohammedan from Con-
stantfnople on a visit to America. bought
enc of the papers and read the cable
grams and editorial comments. smiling
cynically the while.
do you people really believe all this?"
he asked an American friend. do you
really believe that We Mohammedans are
such monsters of depravity, and that we
take pleasure in wiping out Chris
tians just because they are Christians?
Such course is totally opposed to the
spirit Of Mohammedanism."
Then" asked the American, chow do
you account for the massacres we hear so
much about. ?''
MANY OF them never happen, was the
reply "They are invented by the Mace
DOMAIN revolutionary committee, the Bull
garian authorities, and other enemies of
the Ottoman Empire. Other 'massacres.'
as your papers call them, are really battles.
When the Macedonian rebels are beaten
IN a fight, the survivors call IL massacre.
And what about the Armenian affair?
Surely the same remark can't apply
there?"
1.-The Armenians and the Kurds," said
the Mohammedan apologist, have always
been at deadly feud. For centuries Armen-
fans have slain Kurds, and Kurds Ar
merians. IL is not a matter of religion
at all; 1t is a matter OF race. of politics,
of commerce-there are thousand points
OF difference. The Armenians have be-
come a race OF cowardly hucksters and
usurers. while the Kurds have remained
a race Of warriors The Kurds are paying
back old scores and the sArmenians can no
! longer keep their end up. as you would
say. That is all there is TO it,
Believe me. any slaughter of Christians
I'm Turkish doniinions. or in any other Mo
hammaden country. arises from some other
cause thxn the fact that they are Chris
tians. We have no animosity toward Chris
tians. They are what the Prophet called
people OF book cahl kitab')-that is to
say, followers of a revealed reiigion-and
kindly treatment OF them is expressly COM
manded in the Koran. They are tolerated
by US. and even cherished and assisted
when they deserve il by reason of high
character and good works.
Then. If you are so tolerant" said the
still skep:ical American, why all this
trouble =?
SOME OF THE REASONS.
There are many reasons" said the Mo-
hammedan. "A great many OF the Chris
tians in Turkey and throughout the Levant
are not by airy means nice people III you
had them here I don't think you would
like them.
Many are usurers who grind the
faces Of the poor. The Mohammedan
peasant would probably offer the same
reasons for killing them that the Russians
offer for the kishineff massacre and the
persecution of the Jews. others are no.
hufal piotters the most desperate. an
srchistic type. who think nothing of blow
Ing up mosque fun of people with dyna-
mite. or OF poisoning the streams upon
which Mohammedan village depends for
water
IF they simply practiced the Christian
religion. and were otherwise peaceable.
law-abiding. useful subjects, nobody would
trouble them. Hundreds of thousands of
other Christians. who have those qualities.
1--we under Turkish rule and have no COM
plant to make about It,
This. tn brief. Is the defense of the Mo-
hammedan. He denies strenuously that he
II intolerant. and points to the fact that
Jews and Christians of all sects are per-
mitted to live and practice their religion
within his territory. And the better Jews
and Christians they are, the better he likes
them. he AYERS.
The Mohammedan asserts that he ex-
tends tolerance to the practices and ex-
actions OF any faith. be IL what II NAV.
His religion teaches him reverence not only
for his own creed. but for all revealed re-
lgions. II the Salvation Army went
through the streets OF fanatical Moham-
medan city. beating it's drums and fiaunt-
Ing its banners. II would meet with none OF
the insults which IL sometimes encounters
In the slums OF Western cities. AS soon
as the Mohammedan understood that this
curious and novel demonstration was or
dsined by the religious belief of the actors
they would treat II not merely with polite
tolerance. but with distinct reverence. AS
matter OF fact. the Salvation Army does
parade the streets OF Constantinople and
nobody objects.
THE TOLERANT MoSLEM.
Ii is striking fact. say the Mohamme-
dan apologists. that though the Turks and
kurds do massacre and prosecute Christians
for reasons not connected with religion. the,
never insult the Christian faith or commit
sacrilege In Christian churches The Mo.
hammedan. like all Fasteners, has a won.
derful tolerance for people who do not think
as he thinks. His standard OF right and
wrong Is a personal one. and he starts ou,
with the idea that what may be wrong for
him may be right for outsiders. He admits
frankly that he has no standard by which
20 judge Christians.
Westerners are prone to say. I'm consider
ing Eastern institutions. "That IL not West
ern. therefore IL must be wrong" The con-
verse would be a criticism impossible 10 any
Eastern mind A Mohammedan would never
say: THAT IS not Eastern. therefore IL
must be wrong" The Koran commands
that the "ahl kitab" who have never en-
braced Islam must be judged and treated on
their own merits. IL they have To be judged
at al. They are 10 be kindly treated and
cherished.
I'VE admire many OF your missionaries. .
~ the Aohammedans. "of course. We