Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1896)
THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, lS '.lfi. □mum "entinient" of V oltaire ami Paine, It is said in the Hebrew S cript it hav* been creatures more or less a id yet invoke the gracious favor ures, “ God m ade m an in his own like'itself. Im agine such a crea Un the eight \ - hun t I» anni v i -it \ image.” 1 urn th e statem ent up ture trying to form and ex press ot A lm ighty G o il. side down, and it becomes tru e: a conception of the forms of ex ni L iicoln b i n l u g - r.-oll (h - “ Y oh also say. ‘T his God’ “ Man m akes God in his own im istence of the plants ami anim als llA .rcl ill New Y rk hi" li.;t"t« l i\ (m eaning the God whose favor Lin- as known to us! — such an attem pt or bimi <>ii A braham Lincoln. in coin invoKml) was not the D eists’ age.” A nd w hether the represen m ust he in vain. Then suppose tation consists of the clay figure iiii" oratinn h<- a li n i ned th it the God.* Tie- Deists believe in an further this tin v creature trying to made by an African negro, the conceive he idea of God, th'- cause r •, > ì of L‘ i ' »1 u w;i- ! h»* re!¡¿i .? o d d i l c .J i d ii g , « h o .. c ...... re a te d ami m enial iirragc constructed Ly-..v-i-. ■ 'a ’ > i i * i V i i »• w . ;; n > 1 to ilr-i ru t- Ini.', ion of V o lta ire am i Pane-. Iniined- p resei ves the universe. The C h ris -1 ized mail, it is equally a vain and as mi invisible shell-fish, w ith a i i o ly alter it s de.i »’er a Gem ! j ti;l ns believe no more. Deists a n d ; foolish idol. T he most ignorant shell enoroinously large an d te n ta of New York, a'ldr.-">ed the fol l o w - , c h r i ^ t i a u H believe in the sam e God, -a \a g e and the A rchbishop of ( ’a n cles infinitely long: in fact a m ag ing note to Col. Ingersoll. Hut differ as to what this God te bury are eq u ally unable to form nified im age of itself. The folly of •D ear Col. Ingersoll: I ( jias done, and to what this God j any true conception of the n atu re this attem pt to enter what was to ju."t returned home from listening wiu y o u fu rth er say that of G»»d. Let us suppose one of the shell-fish the legion of the u n to your most entertaining b-< Gio , •Uncoln worshiped his God under knowable would he very plain to upon the life of A braham Lincoln. ' , he forillH (,f- the C hristian C hurch. those small shell-fish in the slime at the bottom of the ocean trying us. Hut let us suppose still fu rth er 1 th in k you sin<*enl\ I'd' all that of which he was a m ember. Again to form a conception of the loi ms ilmt this little creatu re not only wa." good in ii, and imn cntii b-s j y (),, {J1.e m istaken Lincoln was of existence on the surface of I In formed i his conception of God hut iiu* t«> be frank in condem ning w hat never a member of any church earth. It knows ami can know u-lt so confident of its virtues as a 1 couHiler was bad. You say th at Mrg j j nco|„ state<l a f.-w years ago nothing of light or colour, of air correct one th at it assured the L o -oln’s religion was the religion (th a t M|. Lincoln was not a Christ- or sound. Its experience has been o th er little shell-fish th at any of «•1 \ oltaire ami loin I aiue. I ¡on. H undreds of his acqiiain- confined to a few feet of mud two tln-m th a t did not thus think o fth e ki.i.w not where you get yout ,,u ' fauces have said the sam e thing, thousand fathom s below the su r deity would “ w ithout doubt perish im rity for this, lmt if the statem ent only so, hut many of them have face, where there m ust be u tter ev erlastin g ly .” T he ludicrous p re he true Lincoln hims.-lf was untrue, | t |,at }H, wa8 a F reethinker; darkness and etern al silence. All sum ption of the creatu re wou.d Io no man inv >ked ‘the gracious liial (i,.„ied ’ the inspiration of the forms of existence know n to am use a ch ild .—Joh n Wilson. f a v » r o f A lm ig h ty G o d ’ in every the Scriptures, and th a t he alw ays effort of his lif.* w ith nm rc a p p a re n t insisted th at C hrist was not the fervor than did lie. ami this 1 * 'L S()n of God, and th a t the dogma of was not the D eists’ G > I lmt ihf the atonem ent was and is an a b God whom he worshiped under the surdity. for iis of the C uristian C mrcli, of “ 1 will very gladly pay you one w '¡eh he was a member. thousand dollars for your trouble “ I do not write this in defense of to show th a t one statem en t in your Tablets, Papeteries, his religion or as objecting to yours, letter is correct—even one. And m aterial or for luii I think it was better for the now, to quote you, ‘Do you not books call at Uitv trut h of history th a t you Hiink it were better for th e tru th maev. hl.m e him for w hat he was than l)f history t |,.H V()ll should state com m end him for what lie was the facts about Lincoln, and that G U IS S & S O N n »t. Sincerely y<>ur- n you should commend him for wh it “ C iirle II. f. J »11 i s ” he was rath er than for what he was WAS LINCOLN A CHRISTIAN? In a n sw e r to th e above, Col. In not?’ gersoll penned tin* following reply: “ Gen C harles IL T. Collis,— My Dear sir: I have just received your letter in which you criticise a Ma lenient made by me to the effect th a t Lincoln's religion was the re ligion of V oltaire and Thom as Paine, and you add, ‘I know not w here you get your au th o rity for tins, hut if the statem ent he true, Lincoln him self was untrue, for no man ever invoked tin» favor of Al- j • « 4 e i : m ighty God m every effort ot his life with more apparent fervor than did he.’ “ You seem to he laboring under the impression th a t V oltaire was not a believer in God, atid th at he could not have invoked tin* favor of A lm ighty God. The tru th is that V oltaire was not only a believer in God, but even in special Provi dence. I know th a t the clergy has alw ays denounced \ oltaire as . / , . . ac an Atheist, hut this can he ac- counted for in two wavs: F irst bv * *■ the ignorance of the clergy, and Second, by their contem pt of tru th . Thom as Paine was also a believer in God, and wrote his creed as follows: ‘I believe in one God and no more, and hope for im m ortality.' T he m inisters have also denounced Paine as an A theist. “ You will, therefore, see th at first statem ent is without the • your » slightest foundation in fact. Lin coln could he perfectly true to him self if he agreed with the religious Yours t r u l \ ’ “ K G. Ingersoll." S C IE N C E VS T H E j LO G Y. (C o n tin u e d fr o n t l i s t Issu e.) The argum ent for the existence of the hum an a ttrib u te of goodness] O T T O W E T T S T E IN ’S P o p u la r F r e e t h o u g h t B adge. “ A pin whose torch and golden sh een , W ould grace th e b reast of S h e b a ’s queen ; And will lend grace (now and) in com ing tim e To q ueens of lieauty m ore su b lim e .’’ in God is founded on the sam e im perfect reasoning as th a t we have Should be worn bv every m an and woman favoring just considered. Facts producing results such as a good m an m ight th e cause of F reeth o u g h t and reform . See design produce, are cited as proofs of the in heading of th is paper. Now is th e tim e to buy. goodness of God: while facts such H ’ , . , , as only the most cruel and wicked would or could be guilty of, are O tto W e tts te in , either passed over unnoticed, or put , aside labelled “ m ysterious.” A The Liberal jew eler and w riter, Designer of the O tto healthy and beautiful child is taken W ettstein W atch ,’ the C ol . I ngersoll S ouvenir as proof of God’s goodness; hut nothing is said of infants horn in S poon , and the beautiful F reethought B adge . Es a state of disease or deform ity, tablished in R ochelle,‘Illinois, in 1857. Send for destined to a short and m iserable existence. W hat, again, is to be price-lists of goods ami work. said of creatures so form ed th a t . . , .. life to them is possible only bv the . . , ., . .. Do all you can yourself, and get o th ers to help. sickness, pain and death of other living creatures? L ib e ra l U n iv e rs ity P o p u la r S u b s c r ip tio n It facts sim ilar to w hat hum an goodness would produce are proofs of God having the attrib u te of h u IS! Hi. m an goodness, it follows th a t facts sim ilar to w hat hum an cruelty and I hereby prom ise to p ay ................................. dollars to wickedness would produce—and the Oregon State Secular U nion on dem and, for the erec they are just as num erous— are equally proofs of God having the tion of a Liberal U niversity at S ilverton, Marion county, attributes of hum an cru elty and Oregon, provided, th a t the sum of five thousand dollars wickedness. But the tru th is neither one nor the other is any is subscribed by good, responsible parties before said de proof at all th a t th e n a tm e of God mand is made*. is man-like.