Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1897)
THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2 1 , 1S9T . happier away as long as you th in k old belief is fought with all the oU's could see. • M here «lid th is ga> so differently from u s a ll.” |M>wer ami venom ih a t can possi come from? Let us be honest and Isn ’t it sad to th in k th a t a son bly he used. Experience teaches say we do not know. who l«»ves his m other m ust either Scientists say th a t m atter can U N I V E R S A L M E N T A L L IB us that if i he w orshippers of the meek play the hypocrite or be looked ami lowly one who called the not he destroyed and so the ele- ERTY. upon as one who needs the divine >crih!'- and Pharasnes such vile nipnis <»f which this was cum posed •■-.-.'I«, arm oi ah orthodox preacAef to . ft nam es as serpents and vipers could m ay he eternal, if you know’ w hat lean upon. T his m other knows git the power they so much de- th at m eans. We do not for we can The Only Secular Paper Published on the siiehut ire s »rapidly loo-ing, th a t n«n think of som ething without a be th at her son is as moral as Rev. Pacific Coast. all philosophei s would me tth e sa m e ginning ami if we think of a begin Wood. W hy should not Rev. \\ ood have fate as Bruno, hut, th an k s to the ning we can ’t help thin k in g of a Published Weekly by the Oregon S u te developm ent of the hum an m ind lime before the beginning and her son by him to help him in his ami the bravery of such men, we when we th in k of a tim e b e fo re the weakness? Secular Union. Her s«»n believes in everything can express our opinions freely if beginning th a t spoils our idea of th a t is good, honest, m oral and we are willing to suffer the sm all the beginning. There is one thing J E H O S M E R ....................... E d ito r. tru e—in everything th a t will make P. W .ö E h 'R - - - B u sin e ss M a n a g e r. inconveniences of ridicule, boycott certain however, th a t it is more and ostracism which are about the logical t«> think of m atter as being us better and happier, and is p u t ting in his whole tim e in try in g to E ntered at th e postoffice a t Silverton, only weapons left t<> the holy w ar eternal than to think of a God who m ake this world w hat it ought to he Oregon, as second class mail m atter. riors, and so we «tan, like the w riter created all things cu t of nothing of old, sing our little song of the and who was not created him -elf. — in working for hum anity. Rev. Wood believes in working B U B S C K IH lIO N H A l’h o . beginning of the world, of the a d Il is impossible to im agine such a for a future life, in working for the lin e Year, in advai ee.......... ..... “ * 'J0 vent of life, its growth, and its de b* ing for the m aterial of which he six Month«» in advance........................ glory of a supposed Creator, in parture into the great unknow n. would he composed m u-t have been angels, in m iracles and a holy T h ree Month«, in advance .. . ................. In Glut»« of •> o r m ore one year, in advance. . 75 If we claim to know more created if other m atter was or else Money should be sent by registered le tte r or ghost. 0 , m others, should the Rev. th an Moses did, we ought not to some m atter was eternal, and in m oney order. Woods he thought more of than Please .-end us the nam es and ad Iresses of Sec this case the creator did not create he condem ned too hastily, for it u larists who a i t not regular m b sc rib o is. your own sons? Isn ’t honesty of inu-t he rem em bered th at thous all things, and, if it is claim ed th at thought b- u e r th an deception? ands of years have passed since his the creator is a spirit and not com How do y o u know th a t your sons THURSDAY_ _ _ JANUARY 21 E. M. 297. time and the children of earth have posed of m atter at all, this leaves are not right and the Rev. Woods im proved their school days and are us in a worse dilem m a for our m inds either m istaken or playing the From K now n to U n know n. not only possessed of much more cannot grasp the idea of im m aterial hypocrite? Look around you. Do knowledge th a n was possible for things; in fact im m aterial simply It is claim ed by m any that peo you not see good people who do not ple like to be hum bugged i. e., that Moses to po-sess, hut we have d e m eans nothing to n s. Ami so we believe in orthodoxy, or any ancient any doctrine or creed will be ac veloped m orally and we will he hon lielieve as the Presb.i t«*rians do that religion? cepted more readily if it contains a est and not give our ideas as in God is w ithout form parts or pas They are Secularists. They m ay fallible, hut will sim ply state th a t sion. T hat which is without form, large clem ent of m ystery and th e not be organized in your locality they are our present conc eption of parts or passion is nothing at all. ories which can not lie proven. on account «if the power of su p er things. Another great difference Therefore there is no God accord This m ay he true of ignorant stition, b u t there are m any of them , people, but we Secularists believe between holy Moses and ourselves is, ing to this <‘hri-tian definition. and although it m ay be after you th at we will not he obliged to make th a t we are ready for the solid and the son th a t you «1«) not n«»w H isu n d ersto o d . n u tritio u s food of tru th which up our story of nothing, but we understand nor apj reciate is gone, when properly ^digested and assim- will try to reason from the known In order for those who have been this same Secularism , this Religion ulated will give us more sym m etri to the related unknow n. of H u m an ity , will be u n iv ersally It is a well known fact of science biased hv orthodoxy to understand cal and well balanced m inds. Secularism , it seems th a t a regular accepted and practiced. We should he very careful in th at the three states of m atter i. e., course of training is necessary, teaching things as facts which are the solid, the liquid and the gaseous F e a r of D eath. either in practical w ’ork or d ili onlv theories. We should always are caused by the different degrees Death has been a great bugbear gent inquiry and conversation with state th a t our unproven theories of heat and pressure to which m a t in the past, and we have inherited are merely our ideas and not fall ter is subjected and it is believed those who do undersand it. This seems like a w a k statem ent a great dread for w hat has been into the beastly error of stating th a t the different degrees of heat to one wh«» understands Secularism , called th e cold icy hand of death, theories as the tru th ; hut there arc are caused by the rates of motion for it is so easy of com prehension hut when we have become th o r some theories which can not he of the molecules or particles of th at w ay-fa'ing men though fools oughly acquainted with the laws of actually dem onstrated which never- which all m atter is composed N o w need not ha ve as n .a "y «litTeient no nature, and religious teachers cease tln-lcss explain certain phenom ena if this he 'ru e, and we believe it is, tions (cre«*ds) about it as t he wise ( ?) to scare p« op e by holding up vivid so well th a t they are generally accep the earth and probably all p la n C hristians d«> about their religion. and awful pictures of death-be«l ted by th a t grand body of benefactors ets, suns and satalites—the whole In order to show how* S e c u la r is m scenes and the hist souls w rithing called scientists. N early all facts universe — was all in a gaseous state is misund« rsto"d we will quote the in hell we will learn that it’s not known to science were once in this at one tim e and th is is th e n v re following from a ch ri-tian mother’s such an awful thing as we have state and have h -en proven and ac reasonable when we find th a t th e been made t<> th in k . If we had cepted, not by the help of the m ys earth is slowly growing cooler. letter. Her son, who is a Secularist, We believe been ta u g h t lor \e a rs ami years tery teachers called theologians, Now if this tendency of the earth is is in the far W est. th a t this will clearly show’ th at Sec th a t death is perfect re-t, no pain, but in spite of them , and when applies to all bodies alike, it brings u larists ought to organize ami let no worry. n«i care, we couhl now some great discovery has been us hack to a tim e when m ercury, the world know w h at Secularism is. look up n it as some do with no m ade by some noble sacrificing venus, mars, jupiter, s »turn, ura- Here is the «juotatio n : “ John, I more dread th a n we have for going philosopher, the holy dealers in n u sa n d neptune with a ll th e ir moons cannot circulate those papers to rest at night, after our d a y ’s m ysteries have always, like Betsy’s the sun ami all suns, in f ict every (“ lo p ’hes” ) because I c in n o t think work is done. The present condi husband when Betsy killed the thing was in th e form of gas. as you do and I do not see anyone tions of so« iety cause us to feel bear, shouted from the top of the This gas m ay have been u n i th a t docs. The C hristian Science sorry to h ave our loved ones in the house i. e., their pulpit, Oh yes, ted iu a cotnponn I or li <e <«ur atm osphere, it m ay have been sim comes the nearest, h u t tin re are world to h a 'tie against their ene Betsy and I killed the hear! •/ onlv a few of them and they mies, lint when society has reached These holy men have tau g h t th a t ply a m ixture. Our m inds can not a more perfect state, m uch, if not the powers controling the universe grasp the idea of endless spa«*e so d<> not m ingle with others and do- all of this sorrow will lie taken are gods, angels, devils, spirits, we’ll not mention it, hut we can not seem to advance. I wish you aw ay, for in a perfect stat»* of society ghosts, and witches and in th e p a ^ t, th in k of all the m atter being in the had Rev. Wood by you always. He all would he as brothers and sisters whenever they could, they have form of gas and we m ust he sat was a good m an and I th in k such The m aterial a m an couhl «I«» you lots of good. and i he danger of our loved ones forced the freethinkers or philos isfied with th a t. suff ring from want «if care or pr<»- ophers to keep silent, and. in m any of which we are composed inu-t The last we heard of h im he was in tection would he gone and our only cases they have silenced them by have been there if this is true. had h ea lth .’’ “ It d o e s seem hard, «inly one hoy gri f would be for the sorrow of force, and today every discovery of W as it d ark? There were no eves those who wou d m issus. science which tends to weaken the to see and nothing th a t eyes like and he is so far away, hut you are Torch of Reason -.1