Page 27 - Protestant Missionary Activity in the Arabian Gulf

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modern democratic principles and progress. Woodrow Wilson,

although eventualljr repudiated by his own country, was cheer­

ed wildly in the streets of Paris when he arrived for the

Paris Peace Conference and captured headlines around the

world. America, as the one powerful victor that did not try

to nail down new colonial possessions or spheres of influence
r
at the Peace Conference, remained high in the public esteem
in the Middle East and elsewhere in the Third World.

The overall effect of the World War on the Arabian Mis­

sion’s fortunes was not as positive as this rosy picture

might lead one to imagine, however. Although in many respects

physically stronger, the Mission had been badly weakened

spiritually by the great conflict. Up to this point the mis­

sionaries had been able to think, at least subconsciously,

of their efforts as part of an inevitable ongoing process

of world civilization and progress. Improved sanitation,

standards of living and communications were thought of as

the results of the Christian virtues in Western society and

were all viewed as being supportive of the ultimate missionary

goal. Modern technology was an ally in the fight against

spiritual and scientific ignorance. In the Victorian mind,

in fact, spiritual and scientific "ignorance” were poorly
differentiated. Mrs. Mylrea, welcoming the British occupation

of Basrah in 1918, wrote of the improved roads, communications,

hospitals and schools as part of a burdgeoning "Christian civ-

ilization. t»36 Thus the missionaries had been dispensing

"Christian medicine," and spreading "Christian scientific