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