Not so many critical theorists and moral relativists back then

From The River War by Winston Churchill. First published in 1899 (his second book), this is an account of the reconquest of Sudan during the Mahdi War. As usual, Churchill's language and rendering are muscular and kinetic. Agree or not, he forces you to engage with his argument. Despite being more than a century old, his argument echoes today though in more circumloquacious fashion, with greater delicacy, and greater obfuscation. The facts have not changed all that much but the interpretation remains contested. Perhaps there are fewer willing to take on faith that which Churchill clearly does - that on balance the gift of the mindset of the Enlightenment has been beneficial over time and worldwide. Not so many critical theorists and moral relativists back then.

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. The effects are apparent in many countries. 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 proselytizing 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 civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.