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William Makepeace Thackeray said
upon the subject of Bigotry:


'Make a faith or a dogma absolute, and
persecution becomes a logical
consequence; and Dominic burns a Jew,
or Calvin an Arian, or Nero a Christian, or
Elizabeth or Mary a Papist or Protestant;
or their father both or either, according
to his humor; and acting without any
pangs of remorse, -- but on the contrary,
with strict notions of duty fulfilled.  
Make dogma absolute, and to inflict or
suffer death becomes easy and
necessary; and Mohammed’s soldiers
shouting “Paradise!  Paradise!” and
dying on the Christian spears, are not
more or less praiseworthy than the same
men slaughtering a townful of Jews, or
cutting off the heads of all prisoners who
would not acknowledge the prophet of
God.'



From
Classic Gems of Prose and Poetry
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