The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-01-07

and the nature of man. The first to
popularize it in the western world was
the swami Vivekananda, whose lee
lures were one of the features of the
celebrated congress of religions at Chi
cago in 1898. His mental alertness and
his readiness to answer the most in
volved philosophical questions attract
ed widespread attention. The same
qualities are to be found in Abheda-
nanda, who has made New York his
headquarters for the past few years.
OF quite another class is that IA
naticism which results in the formation
of an aggressive religious cult His
tory is replete with examples of this,
the most noteworthy at the present
time being the religious war in progress
in Somaliland, where the British have
for years been vain1y endeavoring to
conquer the Mad Mollah and his fol-
lowers. The Mad MolIah's name is
Hail Mohammed Abdullah. Hail sig
nifieS one who has made the pilgrin1age
to Mecca, Mohammed is the name of the
prophet and Abdullah means servant
of God" At one time this belIigerent
African was friendly to the British, Tit
no sooner did he conceive the idea that
he was semidivine, the earthly repre-
sentative of Mohammed, than he began
to wage religious crusade. He is said
to be perfectly sincere in his belief
as to his divinity. and his adherents
swear by him. In 1899 he advanced
on Berbera, but the Abyssinians worst
ed him, and he fell back into British
territory, where he has since been lead
ing the British troops a lively chase.
He is described as a typical oriental
demagogue, is tall and slender and pos
sesses features that show at once
strength and ferocity. His many mar
row escapes have led his followers to
believe that he is invulnerable and that
he is able to work miracles.
Fanaticism does not always lead 20
aggressiveness and crusades, however.
Take the case of the Doukhobors. who
are fanatics if there ever were fanatics
Their peculiar beliefs aroused the en-
nifty of their Russian neighbors and I'LL
t1mately, largely through the instru-
mentality of Tolstoi, whose sympathy
they had won chiefly by their doctrine
of nonresistance, they emigrated in
body to Canada, settling in the north-
west on land provided for them by the
government For time all went well.
but in the fall of 1902, Influenced by the
teachings of a Russian who came to
their colony earlier in the year. they
turned their cattle and horses loose, re-
fused to harvest their crops by other
than purely manual labor and discard
ed every article of wearing apparel
that had its origin in animal life
These actions were based on the
preachment that it was wrong to make
animals suffer in any way for the sins
of man. To cap their fanaticism, they
started. 1000 strong on a pilgrimage
in search of Christi Leaving their
| settlement and abandoning all their
possessions, they marched on foot to
Yorkton, whence they set out for Win
nipeg. The weather was intensely cold
and their privations were extreme. but
it was some days before the authori-
ties decided to use force to compel them
to return home. When this decision
was reached the Canadian mounted Do
lice rounded them up, loaded them on
railway trains and saw that they were
transported back to their deserted cab
ms 1t was later announced that the
Doukhobors had resolved to conform ia
the customs of the country, but from
recent reports it would appear that
they are still presenting a problem very
difficult of solution.
RAYMOND w. ELLIOT.