A Tour of the Missions: Observations and ConclusionsStrong, Augustus Hopkins
Religion
A Tour of the Missions: Observations and Conclusions
Strong, Augustus Hopkins
East Asia -- Description and travel; Missions
Thus far we have treated only of Hindu progress. A word must be said of
progress among the Moslem population of India. Here the Aligarh Movement
demands attention. Sir Seyd Ahmad Khan was its leader. He was of noble
family, entered the English service, and took part with the British in
crushing the mutiny of 1857. When the Mohammedan population afterward
fell under suspicion, he gathered round him a company of liberal young
men and sought by educational means to bridge the gulf between Moslem
and English. He claimed that British rule in India represented Christian
civilization, and that this is no enemy to Islam, but only its
complement and helper. He saw that only religion could heal the breach
and rescue Islam from decline. He founded the Aligarh College in Delhi,
and devoted himself to the cultivation of friendliness, not only
between Moslem and English, but also between Moslem and Hindu. This
college is one of the strongest educational forces in North India.
Returning to Hindu progress, we mark the work of such men as the Swami
Vivekananda. It will be remembered that he represented India at our
Chicago Parliament of Religions, where Joseph Cook challenged the
priests of the Orient to answer Lady Macbeth's question, "Who shall
cleanse this red right hand?" Vivekananda sought to blend Christian
philanthropy with the Vedantic philosophy. Identity with the Supreme is
to be attained, not only by passive contemplation, but also by active
unselfish service. But this truth was mixed with strange interpretations
of Scripture. Jesus' declaration, "I and my Father are one," was made to
mean, "Every man and woman is God." And Vivekananda was quite willing
himself to be worshiped. His fundamental error, indeed, was his lack of
the sense of sin. He said to his audience in Chicago: "The Hindus refuse
to call you sinners. Ye divinities on earth, sinners? It is a sin to
call a man so. It is a standing libel on human nature." Yet, in spite of
this deification of self and of all humanity, he did much to inspire
pity for the poor, to awaken India to self-consciousness, and to give
hope of national unity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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