Funny that Churchill thought of mad dogs, too, when describing Muslims.
And Gandhi had no problem with killing sword-wielding madmen either.
“…But the Mahommedan religion increases, instead of lessening, the fury of intolerance. It was originally propagated by the sword, and ever since, its votaries have been subject, above the people of all other creeds, to this form of madness. In a moment the fruits of patient toil, the prospects of material prosperity, the fear of death itself, are flung aside. The more emotional Pathans are powerless to resist. All rational considerations are forgotten. Seizing their weapons, they become Ghazis—as dangerous and as sensible as mad dogs: fit only to be treated as such.
. . . . civilisation is confronted with militant Mahommedanism. The forces of progress clash with those of reaction. The religion of blood and war is face to face with that of peace.”
― Winston S. Churchill, The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Taking life may be a duty. We do destroy as much life as we think necessary for sustaining our body. Thus for food we take life, vegetable and other, and for health we destroy mosquitoes and the like by the use of disinfectants etc. and we do not think that we are guilty of irreligion in doing so…for the benefit of the species, we kill carnivorous beasts…Even man-slaughter may be necessary in certain cases. Suppose a man runs amuck and goes furiously about sword in hand, and killing anyone that comes in his way, and no one dares to capture him alive. Any one who dispatches this lunatic, will earn the gratitude of the community and be regarded as a benevolent man.
– Mohandas K. Gandhi, Young India, 4-11-1926
Funny that Churchill thought of mad dogs, too, when describing Muslims.
And Gandhi had no problem with killing sword-wielding madmen either.