. The War Cry. to see idolatry in practice is tohave shattered entirely any preconceivedideas of its elevating influence, much assome anti-Christian advoeates would haveus believe proceeds from such , where it is not positively debasing,as one may see it at Benares in India is,at the best, childish in the extreme. _ Thepuerile customs found in non-Christiancountries would be amusing were it nota sad fact that millions of people live anddie in so ignorant a slate. Beneath the spreading boughs of manya village tree may be seen heaps of dis-carded clay gods which have become dam
. The War Cry. to see idolatry in practice is tohave shattered entirely any preconceivedideas of its elevating influence, much assome anti-Christian advoeates would haveus believe proceeds from such , where it is not positively debasing,as one may see it at Benares in India is,at the best, childish in the extreme. _ Thepuerile customs found in non-Christiancountries would be amusing were it nota sad fact that millions of people live anddie in so ignorant a slate. Beneath the spreading boughs of manya village tree may be seen heaps of dis-carded clay gods which have become dam-aged, thrown on one side, and replaced byanother. These may take the form of acow, an elephant, or a hideous monstros-ity. At another place the object of worshipmay be a rough stone picked up from thesea shore, or brought from a neighbouringrock, and smeared with vermillion. A plantplaced in an old kerosene tin, may serve thespiritual aspirations of a village household;but, more often, the method by which the. drives a horse, before taking it out in themorning, may kneel down aud render wor-ship to it, with a view to enlisting its goodgraces during the day. In many parts of the world religiousacts consist only of an attempt to appeasemalicious spirits, who, it is thought, maybring harm lo the home or the crops. Along-side a jungle path may sometimes be seena bush with a piece of rag tied lo practi-cally every twig, presenting an exlraon. -ary appearance lo the uninitiated. The*,accumulations of rags are offerings made bvthe travellers along that road to the spiritssupposed to infest the locality, with a view-to keeping them in a benign traveller tears a small piece rrom bisscanty clothing and attaches it to the example is sometimes found inthe front of a patch of cullivaled land whoremay be seen hideous stone horses withenormous eyes with which to see, and pro-minent teeth to take vengeance on evildoers. These are provided that the godsmay ride ar
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidw, booksubjectsalvationist
