Winston Churchill 1899

I've been told that now would be a good time to re-run this post from July 2004: Mark Steyn quotes Churchill

((Warning: Not Politically Correct))

In River War (1899), Winston Churchill's account of the Sudanese campaign, there's a memorable passage which I reproduce here while I'm still able to:

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property - either as a child, a wife, or a concubine - must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men."

"Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen: all know how to die. But the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytising faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science - the science against which it had vainly struggled - the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."

Readers will note that 1899 was over a hundred years ago, way before the Middle East saw the re-establishment of the nation of Israel or the discovery of oil.

Comments

[Chris Bell]

Niether politically nor otherwise correct, since you neglect to mention that this quote was edited out of 'The River Wars' by Churchill himself, over 100 years ago. You will find the full story here: http://www.nzbc.net.nz/2005/07/everyone-is-someone-elses-infidel-1.html http://www.nzbc.net.nz/2005/08/everyone-is-someone-elses-infidel-2.html Bloggers who choose to ignore this fact are guilty of something equally as bad as the suppression of free speech: namely, the distribution of misleading information.