Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-11-15
uation as well as religious side to the
political situation.

political situation.
Even in America as well as In Grea
Britain 1t has been notable that tn,
Protestant churches have enthusiastic
cally identified themselves with tn,
cause Of the Greek church. Turkey Il
warning against Christianity and no
against any particular part thereof. AL
the great churches as well as all tn,
great nations of Christendom are pre-.
senting a united front against the
forces of the Crescent.
When 1t comes to lineup, even or
the mere basis Of numbers the follow.
ers Of the Prophet have scant show
There are approximately 100000, ,00(
Moslems In all the world, only about
15,000,00 Of whom are in the Turkish
empire. But world religious statistics
give the Roman Catholic church alone
more than 225,000.000 members and
the Protestant churches little less
than 150,000,O00 members. The Greek
Catholic church has 100, 1000, 900 MEM
bers. There are several million other
Christians Of various names. such as
the Abyssinian, Coptic, Armenian, Mes
torian and Jacobite churches, making
roughly 500,000,000 Christians in all,
or one-third Of the entire human race
The sense Of solidarity which is per-
vading this mass and which Is being
peculiarly exhibited at this time is one
Of the notable tendencies Of the time
There is greater amount Of thought
full, intelligent and widely distributed
talk concerning the getting together
on a common basis Of all these churches
than there has been since the Reforma-
ton. All unwittingly, the war in Tur-
key may promote the peace and unity
Of Christendom.
All who know Turkey, say that the
governments defeat by the allied
troops has put the knife to the throats
Of Christians all over the wide area OF
the Ottoman empire. That Is why the
Powers have rushed warships to the
Turkish waters. The Moslem Is an
elemental being, child of the desert.
His faith is keyed to the primitive life
amid which 1t was born. Arab traits
still dominate it. And the first argu-
ment Of the Bedouin is a blow. Islam
began its sway by slaughter and 1t has
continued to rule by the sword.
When the news Of the disaster to the
armies Of the sultan, who is also caliph
or Commander Of the faithful" per-
colates into the remote communities of
Turkey-and the untravelled person
has little idea how remote most Of Tur-
key is-there will be sudden acces-
sion Of fanatical fury, and the cry.
Kill the Christians!" may once more
arise, as so often in the past, striking
terror to the hearts Of men women
and children. Vengeance for the VIC
tories Of the Christian soldiers may be
vented upon the defenceless Christians
scattered up and down the land.
There are Greek and Roman Catholic
monasteries scattered all over the Bible
lands-and the Bible lands are In Tur-
key. These are almost helpless in the
face of the maddened Moslem mobs.
Both of these churches have many
great church edifces, the natural place
Of resort Of their members in times of
danger. Occasionally these are pre-
pared for a siege, like the buildings on
the Mount Of Olives. Ordinarily 1t is
as it was four years ago at Adana and
Tarsus, where the Christians were
herded into the churches and slain.
or in Asia Minor. out Of reach Of
the guns Of the warships, are the GEN.
tres of Armenian population. These
have been the scene Of many Of the
worst Of the Moslem massacres. The
Kurds are even more bloodthirsty than
the Turks. The fiendish ingenuity OF
Moslem fanaticism bent on the mur-
der of Christians is unprintable in
English speech. Almost systematical-
ly, one might say, Turkish harems are
recruited from the unveiled Armenian
girls and women in time Of massacre
Down Mosul and Bagdad way even the
Christian and Jewish women wear wells
upon the street that they may not be
marked down" by human wolves fol
subsequent capture.
Now the Armenian Christians have
no great nation to protect them. The
murder of a Roman Catholic or Greek
Catholic or a Protestant is likely to
create international complications. But
the killing of Armenians or Chaldeans
or Syrians stirs no political power to
action. These are people without q
country, since they expect nothing
from the Ottoman government. So II
has come to pass that the Armenian
communities have armed themselves
and have made plans for the ever pos
sible massacre. We may expect to
hear tales of heroic resistance II the
anti Christian storm breaks as expect
ed.
Most of the missionaries In Turkey
are Americans. These represent the
American board Of foreign missions.
which has stations scattered over the
whole empire, except in Syria and
Arabia. The Northern Presbyterian
church has missions in the Holy Land
and the Dutch Reformed church, to-
gether with the University Of Michigan
has missions in Arabia, especially In the
neighborhood Of the Persian Gulf.
British missions are mostly Scotch
and the Church Mission society. A