| Show A EDANS DEFENSE 58 53 went street NEW march 10 93 editor deseret news sam salt lake guy utah oak dear sir I 1 have just received a copy of your journal dated the 28 h alt anil and containing an editorial head ed mistaken as to that its tone tode la Is so BO unusually luet and impartial that I 1 am prompted to thank you for thus endeavoring to set your reaferd right upon a most important subject and for in a sense coming to my defense the recklessness and gross inaccuracy which have characterized the efforts of many of the newspapers to tell the th public what I 1 say and believe and the dense ignorance of the islamic system and the lives and the practices of the edans of the east manifested by some of the editorial writers in various parts of the country have annoyed me considerably and itle it is therefore very refreshing to read your fair intelligent expressions regarding the teaching of the koran relative to polygamy an editorial writer in new york after devoting half a col dmn to a display of his ignorance regarding mohammed and his teachings angs seriously refers to him as the famous greek prophet 12 in my opinion that writer is not competent to express an opinion upon the subject I 1 have never said that the koran inculcates polygamy ys nor have I 1 ever said that mohammed told his followers that they might marry as many wives as they chose I 1 am too familiar with the book to make such a mistake as that one of the most striking evidences I 1 have encountered of the depraved state of mind of a large proportion of the americans with whom I 1 have come in contact since my return from the fast east is the promptness with which they exclaim polygamy when the subject of islam is referred to the hypocritical expressions of horror and disgust which they generally indulge in and their utter failure to see anything in the lo le relation but an opportunity tor for the varied and unbridle a indulgence of the sexual instinct or inclination during my travels in the east I 1 was constantly in the company and homes of mohammed edans ans and I 1 never heard one of them tell a shady story to make his companions laugh discuss in apy way the relations of the sexes refer to their wives in conversation with ather men nor utter a single word or expression that might not have been heard beard without a blush by the most refined lady in our country in america I 1 have heard board stories and expressions from the mouths of merchants pro fess ional men and aad even clergymen that were obscene ob seene and iu some cases absolutely disgusting to me the sexual relation seems to hold a very insignificant place in the minds of the thousands of devout madans I 1 have met they do not look upon marriage solely no aa a means of sensual gratification our P prophet taught that the union of the sexes had bad a far higher meaning than that and that woman was too far above the animal plane to be used by man BB as a mere toy or plaything I 1 have met very few americana american who seem to be able to realize that it la is possible lor for a mau man to have a wife and never exercise all the rights and privileges of a husband they seem to be firmly wedded to the idea that all a man needs in order to give full play to the animal within him is to have a legal opportunity to do so my experience which has been quite extensive leads nie me to believe that the average takes a much higher view of the marriage relation than does the average american amerlan amerian an I 1 am an advocate of polygamy under gertain certain conditions but I 1 am free to say that I 1 would not advocate its ite introduction into our social system the rhe masses are not moral enough are not able to rise above the animal in their nature sufficiently to 90 use the privilege wisely bud and justly it would prove a curse it is not hot a part of the islamic eaf system item and 0 our u r prophet clearly discouraged its practice he found the arabs indulging inducing in unlimited polygamy and treating their numerous wives as if they had no that any one was bound to respect he modified these conditions condl lione restored the arab women to their proper sphere and in many places abolished polygamy entirely toe the idea that polygamy is in practiced by the masses oi of the eastern edans iu is a grave error the indian mohammedan with more mor 0 than one wife is rarely to be found and in turkey egypt and arabia the ibe almost universal unive raal rule is to have one wife but there are cases where a wan lunn might very properly take two wives these cases canes are provided for in IF the islamic laws and frequently much misery and suffering are thereby prevented batner an amusing incident occurred last week at one of the uptown up town clubs in this thia city bud and I 1 tell it aim simply ply to illustrate a point which you will readily understand A party of episcopalians Episcopal ians were seated in a corner of the reading room discussing church matters three or four of them were vestrymen vestryman vestry men an old friend of mine who has taken quite an interest in my lectures and is generally supposed to have become interested in ilam I 1 lam entered the room and was immediately greeted with 4 hello old man insa when are you going to start your harem this remark was made by one of the vestrymen vestryman vestry men and all the rest of the party burst into a loud laugh well P said my friend when the laughter had bad somewhat subsided if W when hen ido im going to have it under my own roof and not dot do aa you fallo fellows wa do 91 the laughter ceased and the discussion of church affairs was resumed yours very sincerely ALEXAN ALEXANDER DEft RUSSELL WEBB |
