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About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1896)
THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON. THURSDAY, DECEMBER EV O L U T IO N J churches very recently to rem em ber th a t c h a rity begins at home by “ Should you ask me why I jM»n<Ier helping the city in the solution of On tl e life of n.an prim eval? W hy 1 linyer in ; ust aye?, its public school problem . A ll th a t Ay« > ?.« wly I u rg in g chuLgeg, was asked was th at the churches M aking m an a trifle wiser give the c i'y the use of their tern- A h th e cycles of tim e go hv? ples cf worship for a brief period, From th e record« 1 would answ er, T h e chu»*' be< have refused. N«»w T h at the freedom «if th e present', Freedom from th e priest and p ro p h et, it doesseem that there is a large in- All th e know ledge, a rt ami science, consistency in this refusal. The Tell the story of th e races, church is itself only a higher school Tell th e gains of generations, house. There can be no deseera- Tell the sum of E volution. tion of the shrines of the F ath er R em em ber our progenitors. How th ey struggle«l with the dem ons, W ith the dem ons, th e hobgoblins, In th e boum lless p a st so full of m y th s ; How th ey peopled m ount and wood land, Vale an d w oodland wit.i w ierd p h a n tom s ; Saw in lig h tn in g ’s lu rid flashes An angry God hurlin g vengeance, H eard its voice in th u n d e rs frightful, Felt its pow er ill plague ami tem p est, Held in th rall of su p e rstitio n ; How followed blind th e priest aud seer, Loyal to him who threaten ed tl.« m K issing the hand th a t plundered tin m, B elieving him who sat en th ro n ed A pow'er «livine to be obeyed. How gods am i p riests com m anded them To In- as slaves or suffer d e ath . O h, pi ize the good evolved in tim e— The progress m ade by h u m a n k in d ; God w ith tw o o ’s! G ive it the p raise! Not priestly prayers wrought it for us. Nor victim ’s blood bought it for us, N or gods n o r h e a v e n s s e n t it h ith e r! It comes with m arks of toil upon it, W ith m arks of toil am i strife upou it, T he outcom e of all ages in it, I nvolution w ritten on i t.” CHURCHES .At t h e AW o p e n in g SC H 33LS o f th e p u b lic C ity it w a s sch o o ls in New Y o rk fo u n d th a t th e school b u ild in g s were inadequate to the dem and and e i i i i i of m a n k in d in p e rm ittin g c h ild re n * ® therein to learn to read and write, “ Suffer little children to come iinio m e’ would h a v e b een an adm irable s a l i n a t i o n to a c o m p a n y th e wide opening o f the temple doors. ■ A ft ft “ To have given the city the use of church buildings as tem porary schools would have been a big and beautiful ch arity . Ignorance and id le n e s s a r e two of ihe most po- tent factors in I he developm ent of crime, yet tb»* c h u r c h e s , con fronted with an opportunity to taka t e n s of thousands of unschooled am i unem ployed children off the streets and set before them the benefits of school discipline, have refused. To he sure, there would have been a considerable am ount of wear and tear, hut even if the city could not , ’ have paid for it, these churches not already burdened w ith debt m ight easily have m ade th eir own repairs, and counted the o u tlay as given to the poor and, therefore, lent to the 1 ’ ’ 3 , 1896. T H A N K S G IV IN G S E R M O N . with all failings of hum anity, Force is not the best teacher. The follow ing ap p ears in th e Secular K indness, an d conditions to grow ¡Sunday school q u a rte rly for th e lesson different in, is w hat people want, of Nov. 15: W ith this basic prin cip le to start It seeing alto g eth e r unnecessary to us with, which no doubt you have al- freeth in k ers to th a n k a god, even if th ere ready thought about, you will un- is one, for doing w hat m u st l>e rig h t if i be is a righteous god an d therefore doing der-dand our position relative .... »» hat is I'k-arl\ hi- . But ihe height the vices of h u m an ity . of a b su rd ity is reached w hen we ask Our objects you w ill read in the ; 8UCh a lieing as some imagine him fwhy enclosed m em bership blanks. Now, not her) to be. to change bis p lan s, or to conditions m ake ignorance and ig- do as he w ishes. Some seem to th in k th a t th e re is g reat norance is the cause of all wrong. « tu o i • a i benefit in th u s th a n k in g and pray in g , O b jec ts . . . » J h u t we are su re th a t it is a verv u n h e a lth v we m ust im prove conditions and slate of the m in d and th u s a physical dispel ignorance. in ju iy . T his sam e a ttitu d e of th a n k s W hatever is wrong, therefore am i pray er, if c arried to e x trem es, gives comes properly w ithin the scope of th e victim w h a t th e old revivalists called “ th e pow er” am i th e w riter has seen our work. By “ Tem perance, I pre- such a victim suffering all th e agonies ft ft ft ft| — ' — • ft ft ft A . ' ft ' t a aa • lherefore, to a t ta i n our “ • • w* j c '.- v t a.,.l has degeuerated, Lord. “ It is very difficult sometimes t< com prehend the process of reason- ing which guide religious bodies. The converted heathen in India, —' pn, f »ume you reter in your letter to in- of a ,„a(1 lnan> and finally ^ colnjng 8O toxicants. We do not m ak ea sp ec- faint ami weak as to lose consciousness ia ltv o f fighting intem perance m ore altogether. If we have th a n k s to offer, let us offer th a n we do of other ignorances of them to o u r friends for th e ir m any kind- the people. But when we talk j nesses and if we wish to pray, let us about it, it is alw ays ag ain st it of pray to the people, by th e use of our course. We however teach th e tongues an d pens, to arise in th e ir intem perate to cu ltiv ate self an d S trength, sh ak e off th e n ig h tm a re of rely on self and not upon a p riestly rule an d save th e world from poverty, m isery am i crim e. m ythical Jesus or God, nor for the W hen we see so m uch of th e people’s sake of either of them , hut for his labor w asted in erecting costly buildings own and his fam ily’s s a k e , an d su p p o rtin g such a large arm y of We try to realize th a t we were p riests (p reach ers), w hen n early all th e ir not m a d e in a m inute but are the is expended in try in g to m ake us product of unknow n ages of evolu- 'e . o m ethin th a t is of no earth ly use to us, an d a t th e best b u t the imagin- tiun, and th at we will continue to ations of Iuen> we feel like crying out evolute to better or worse condi- in despair; but when we remember our tions, as we m ake those conditions Secular S unday Schools a n d that m any lavorablo or unfavorable. The a ,e sh ak in g off their ch ain s of supersti- C hnsiiao id«-a th a t m an was m ade J1'" 1 <)T^er® ‘lv' ak“ ’K ,roni their self- d«»ne «Hid is d o in g a g r e a t rsh sleep ol indifference, we tak e cour- age an)l crv, 0 „ , toa9ure andg|o. deal of rious victory over the h o sts of ignorance and fra u d .’ 0 , Secular friends, w hile nd-chiet. It is m e idea th a t g a v e rise to o th ers »re gorging them selves w ith rich the u se of force to correct had con- iood, g i\in g puei ile th a n k s , or offering vain p ray e rs lor relief in these, th e h a r d - aw lule m any children were however, will not outshine the d u n , when in reality bad conduct, ti.oe^ that our beloved country has l nrm*d a wav for want of room. In saved children of New Y ork in th a t is» due largely to heredity, ra th e r ¡ever know n, let us th in k as we have th e emergency thus oeca.fi o ,,e d , n e x t w o r ld , w h e re t h e r e is neither th an willful desire. 1 he faculty n ev er th o u g h t before. L e t us resolve to Mayor Sirong appealed t > t h e ( J e r i s - race nor creed.” in every individual th a t is strong- . d ° we c a n » 6e it little or m uch, to ------------------- est, alw ays predom inates. I f a t ‘ brin.K ab o u t a co ndition w hen, in ste a d tia n s for the privilege ot using their of th e ir being a p rem iu m placed on by HER W ORK ST IL L LIVES. the m om ent, it is the desire to pocrisy, th ere will be th e h ig h est in c e n churches until additional school- houses could he provided. T h is ,! The following letter was w ritten d rin k , the person will drink. Ih e tives for the honest expression of th o u g h t, however, was refused, and the New by the late K atie Kehm Sm ith in thing, therefore to do, is to find the a condition th a t will lessen th e necessity York Jo u rn al has had the courage answ er to our in juirv when we b e stm e a n s to cultivate th at desire for poor m iserable h u m a n ity to long for «he s k y ; for ,»ace a n d bar- to rebuke them in the following first talked of e n listin g 'in the ranks out in the shortest tim e and culti- a B ft a I •» a • • t £ • m ony will reign h ere on e a rth , and th is style: vate the opposite desire iu. If in is heaven. of the O. S. S. I .: “ ‘And now ahideth faith, hope C asti . r K e h m , O regon C ity , O r ., reality, we have evoluted from an C ham pions of tr u th , look th e g reat an d c h a rity ; but the greatest of May 30, E. M. 29.5.__M. P. and J. ancestry whiHi in ages gone, was q u estio n of reform sq u arely in th e face these is c h a rity .’ T hat is a dis-i K. H osm er, Tillam ook, Or., D ear far below us, perhaps we should be j today, and resolve to cast aside self-in- tin c tly C hristian sentim ent culled friends: I am very glad you wrote satisfied th a t we are as far ahead as tere-4t an*J 8° forth to b a ttle tor th e tru e from the hook to which the churches to me, and glad th a t we have such wc are and encouraged over it. n o t ' a ' >n ° our rate- look for th eir creeds and th eir in- m aterial as I feel sure you are, in despondent, and go w hipping those Gem of T h o u g h t: “ T he beam s sm ile on, a n d heaven spiration. ‘C harity h gins at hom e.’ Tillam ook, to help our valued who are only a little behind us. serene T h at is d istin ctly a pagan senti- friend and Secular cham pion, Mr. Give them tim e and opportunity S till Itends, as though no prayers and they will catch up. T h at is m ent, horn of h ard common sense | C. E. Reynolds, in the cause. h ad b e e n ; and experience. The reconciliation the idea of Secularism with refer- A nd th e breezes m oan, as still th ey It is m y judgm ent, also, th a t wave, of these two sentim ents, C hristian your conclusions as to who should ence to all reforms. H elp the peo- W hen m an is pow erless, heaven an d P agan, in practice is easy, and be ad m itted to affiliate with us as grow m ore perfect, can n o t sa v e .’ —Stevenson. its results are alw ays beneficent, stated in the la tte r p art of vour No doubt you can be of great Nevertheless m an y thoughtful m en letter, are right. assistance to us. We w ant to bend In a recent letter from W arren find grave difficulty in accounting People are w hat they are,and they th e twigs in Tillam ook, th a t is, th e c a rsn er, of W agner, the place for the frequency with which the have to grow to be different: So if children, and we w ant a Secular where K atie K ehm S m ith died, he churches fail to effect th a t recon- we w ant them different, we m ust Church and 8. S. S. there. Can agk8 w hat we are going to do in re- ciliation. Yet church congregations help them to grow and not shun you not take hold of it? We are garti t0 buying a m onum ent for are largely composed of men who them . If a person gets angry, and ««re Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, and t h is brave little woman. The peo- d isp lay p ractical sense in the con- you become angry too, th a t does several others whom we had the ’ nie there have raised fiftv d o l l a r s j s t w a r t & a t a : - ...................... .....................> ........ .............................................................. ......■ illogical “ "■ “ V K 4 7 . ...................... - ............. . ™ ..... tim en tal ways of th in k in g only r Sincerely, ' I w ip in g to help in th is m atter when they are asked to h andle do not get an g ry when he does, but again ' S m it h . - - - write to Mr. C arsner at ch u rch m a tte rs in a business wav. rem ain gentle th a t helps to grow’ K a t ie K ehm should “ M ayor Strong appealed to the it out of him . It is so in principle, See’y O. S. S. Ü. once. fo r I