Evening star., 1911-08-27

our peace and prosperity-the gospel Of
Jesus Christ and the Bible! That Chris
tianity Is appreciated is shown in Tur-
key by the splendid success OF our Chris,
as faith. when q missionary In Turkey
asked permission from a Moslem shop
keeper to take goods home on approval,
the reply was: You are q Protestant?
Well. take the whole shop!" And mis-
sionary In Persia told me not long ago
how gladly the young girls Of Persia well
coined the message of peace. purity and
strength brought by the teachers Of
Christianity.
think we need to overcome our preju-
dices against these people. They are
strangely unlike us In all their ideas of
life but they are human. The Armenians
In their appeals for help against Turkish
persecution have never been able to
Of them are singularly strong and loyal.
know an Armenian congregation In
Philadelphia In which there are many
fine young men ready to do anything they
can for their church. And have known
for some years q Persian worker who Is
possessed of great enthusiasm for his
land. Because many Turks wear a "fez"
instead of a hat need not make us afraid
Of them. 1t is a sad fact that prejudice
is so strong with some men and women
that you cannot reason with them. They
cry with the old English poet:
y do not love You. Dr.. Fell!
and their hostility, not being merely an
instinct, but a bias foolish and unworthy,
is not easily conquered. What cheap
and yet what common emotion preju-
dice is! You meet 1t everywhere. and 1t
which pleading and philosophy united
cannot seem to level. It is a sign of gi-
gantic conceit, a proof of ignorance, an
offshoot Of selfishness. Unless we beat
1t down-and it demands nothing less
than a club to kill 1t in ourselves and in
others: that ID firm rebuke and determin-
ed opposltion-we are sure to become un-
pleasant mortals and useless in the field
of healthy progress
Another modern error is an esthetic
admiration for heather customs. l have
been reading q book about Egypt lately
in which the author could not paint too
vividly the call to prayer given from
some Mohammedan tower. and the falling
down Of the people with their faces to
the ground in seeming alteration, even
while they were contemplating some h0r-
rible deed. 1t is easy to beguile emo
tional and shallow minds with the pic
ficult to make them observe duty and
speak kindly. OF course, there Is a kind
of fascination in prayer rugs and
prayer towers. and the mumbling of
woman ought to be above such silly In
fluences. Life is real and earnest, and
to let the mere emotions rule It, while
the lips murmur 'how beautiful, how i'm
pressive'' is to sink in weak dreaminess
while the worlds work goes on without
US. Mohammedanism is and always has
been q snare and delusion. Having
some measure of truth in that 1t acknowl-
edges Godr-though 1t interprets His ma
ture as 1t pleases-it Is dangerous because
1t plays upon the fears and fancies and
upon the physical emotions OF men and
women and makes them think themselves
religious and devoted when at heart they
are full of meanness and cruelty That
is the danger of all forms Of worship;
when they become extreme and play with
colors and lights. with prostrations before
imaginary things and crossings which
simulate incantations. they are as sure to
rob the character of force and the life
of genuine goodness as any anesthetic
robs the brain of reason.
We blame our old Puritan or Quaker
ancestors for the extreme plainness of
their churches and of their dress. We
wonder how they could worship with
nothing external to attract the eye or
excite the heart. We say their self
centered life made them die to. the bless
ings OF sound and color and touch. Well,
perhaps We have a little trdth In our
criticism. God has made beauty In ma