THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1897
Torch of Reason
olom nip'it nce, and aller repenting an d in order to eave others from t’Ut powerlul. th ere have been
he certainly made another mistake falling into the same errors and m any victories lor the elements
bv drow ning the poor people who m ake of them m essengers of g.H.d of construction. W hen we read
had m ade m istakes, inst. ad of con- tidings to the world, do we labor.
of the past civilization of Greece
The im portance of this work of and Rome and realize w hat a great
The Only Secular Paper Published on the verting them to Secularism . To
one who has been redeemed by establishing and m ain tain in g our benefit th eir works of art, of litera-
Pacific Coast.
and oratory
have
been
Published Weekly by the Oregon State h ()n cst re8eaI.,.h, this -t» ry o’f Liberal U niversity can not be over ture
the origin of sin is one of the worst estim ated. Our enemies realize this to the world, we feel th a t th a t has
Secular Union.
m istakes th a t man has ever made, perhaps better than m any in our been a victory for civilization,
fo», ¡..stead of m aking our relat.o s o w n r a n k s , and as we succeed we When we read of th e people of Er.g-
J E . H O S M E R ....................... E d ito r.
P. W . G E E R - - - B ASiness M a n a g e r. to wrong doing ami wrong doers m ust continually keep in m ind land com pelling King Jo h n to
plain and clear, i t has made a m ys th a t “eternal vigilance is the price g ran t them M agna C harta, giving
Entered at the postoffice at Silverton,
them a more liberal governm ent, we
tery out of it and caused us through of lib erty .”
Oregon, as second class mail m atter.
by ■ say th a t th a t was a great vic
Surrounded on all sided
our ignorance to im agine things to
srn w cR ip i ion hatfh .
he wrong th a t are not wrong at all, trained soldiers of the cross who tory for the constructive elem ent of
had w e 'wi11 reHort to a "y mode of war- hum an progress. W hen we th in k
One V ear, in adv«’ ee..........
.
5
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a
n
d
things
th
a
t
are
very
Six Month», in advanoe...........................
T hrne Month», in advance .. .
.........
have been tau g h t to consider the f a r e in the nam e of their m ythical of Columbus and bis u n tirin g energy,
In Club« of 5 or morn one year, in edvance. . >!>
gods, and, lacking in th a t cohesive when we th in k , th a t in spite of the
Money »hotild be sent by registered le tte r or height of holiness.
money order.
. . .
« u _
Please -end uh the nam<* and adore»»es or Sec
After a person has reached an force which comes from an organi snubs of kings and ridicule of the
ularist» w h o a fc not regular subscriber».
ad u lt age he or she is very ap t to zation having one central idea, our j people, he succeeded, helping to
battle m ay he a hard one, but there prove the ro tu n d ity of the earth
THURSDAY___ FEBRUARY 25, E. M.297. continue in the sam e habits, g o o d is no weapon so effective as the and discovering th is great western
or bad th a t were contracted in
youth, and so the period of life sword of tru th and if we will hut continent we again say th a t victory
Deception.
which should he guarded most is place this sword in the h an d s of a perched upon th e b an n er of hum an
few, and give them the strength of progress.
W hat a grand world th is would while hoys and girls are form ing
A fter the establishm ent of the
F reethought people a trained reason to wield it, and
he if the people could all he con- their habits,
th e opportunity of m arching and colonies along the eastern coast,
verted to simple honesty, and it is , teach their children the principles
t h e d u ty of every p aren t
and 1 of m ental freedom and if well ta u g h t fighting together we can surely say and when, after the sacrifice o f
as we realize the great work we m any noble lives in the bloody
teacher (all are teachers) to incul- i th ey o u th goes forth with noble ideas
cate into the m inds of the young and aspirations, but he finds th a t have done for hum anity, “ we have revolution against the ty ra n n y of
met the enemy and they are ours.” K ing George, we established a re
the great im portance of learning to his highest ideals are ridiculed and
During the great Rebellion the gov publican form of governm ent which
be honest, frank and open in all considered by people w ho claim to
be good, as very, very sinful, and ernm ent, through its agent, called has proven to be far better th an a
their doings.
for volunteers, and the result was m onarchy,w e bear again the shouts
At times we alm ost
think th a t a high premium is placed upon
th a t a brazen wrong—a cruel slav of victory from the lovers of h u m a n
th a t the world is dying of selfish silence or hypocrisy.
The poor youth w ithout congen ery was abolished and our Union ity. W hen the great blot upon
ness and deceit but a ray of light
preserved.
the face of our m ore m odern civili
has entered our lives and we can ial com panionship, so necessary to
Today h u m an ity calls aloud for zation was erased, when the curse
see th a t, alt hough the ad vance is happiness, and being confused and
volunteers to help abolish a far w’hich caused children to be torn
slow and often impelled, yet g rad u goaded to desperation by friends
greater slavery and to unite m a n from the bosoms of th eir m others
ally the world is ri-ing to a higher claim ing to have a great desire to
save him, when he knows he h asn ’t kind into one grand brotherhood. and sold into bondage an d separ
ideal of life.
Come brother; come sister, “ Let ated husbands and wives forever to
Deception is one of our greatest been lost, often makes m istakes, the
us lay aside every weight and the toil for cruel m asters, when th is
enemies, and, through long years of effects of which will live as long as
sin which doth so easily beset us,” blot was washed aw ay by the awful
suppressed and blighted thought, we th e hum an race exists. The mis
and fight for our own and our war of the Rebellion, again the
have dragged this dead inheritance take m ay be in either direction.
ch ild ren ’s em ancipation from the shout o f victory! victory ! was heard
from our heathen ancestors. B u t The reason may be silenced and the
slavery of ignorance and su p ersti from m illions of the lovers of lib
com pare for one m om ent the victim be one more added to the
tion.
erty,
justice
and tru th . The
freedom th a t we have now with long list of hypocrites or he m ay
great discoveries of the laws of
th a t of a few decades ago, and then become reckless and add one more
let us ask ourselves w hat is to be to the long procession th a t is for E lem ents A ffecting Our Progress. n atu re,th e circulation of the blood,
th e law of gravitation, th e ap p li
ever m oving onward tow ard the
the effect on com ing generations.
E ver since men com m enced their cation of steam and electricity an d
A lready we can see the superior M>t tom less pit of a wasted life.
As long as the enemies of Seen onw ard m arch tow ard civilization, the w riting and p rin tin g of books
intelligence of children born of
freethought parents and with w hat arism can keep the conditions as ever since they banded them selves so th a t we m ay all th in k over again
for m utual protection and again the great thoughts of the
haired they view deceit and hypoe- they have been in the past a n d e a n together
racy. They will, if given a chance induce sons and daughters of Free- against wild beast, not m uch w ilder g reat m en who lived before us, an d
to gain the knowledge necessary, do thought to join their churches, and than themselves, there have been th e establishm ent of free public
wonderful
things
to eradicate point with scorn to those who have two elem ents a t work which have schools, a ll have been great victor
deceptionand fraud from th e world been driven to crim e by the u n affected our progress. These ele ies for the construction of a high
and to hasten the tim e when men wholesome conditions brought about ments may l>e called the elem ents state of civilization.
But ah, the elem ents of d e stru c
will be governed by reason and by their preaching, ju st so long of construction and the elem ents of
have they little to fear; hut let us destruction. They have been con- tion have also had victories. The
love instead of deceit and greed.
once give our children a chance ¡ tin ally a t w ar w ith each other, the destruction of the great A lex an d rian
to develop th eir
high
ideals, one gaining a victory here and the lib rary where for six m onths th o u s
All W rong-D oing a Histake.
let us once
furnish
them
a other there, and the fight has been ands of valuable books furnished
W ho can tell w hat m ight have congenial society where they can as fierce and the victories and de fuel for the four thousand b ath s
been if individuals and nations had meet others who like them selves feats as rapid as h u m an th o u g h t of the city, was a victory of r u th
m ade no m istakes? O ur m istakes have been tau g h t the folly of blind itself; hut a com parison of ourpres- less destruction through the hands
hold us hack, prevent us | from e n faith and the beauties of nature, le t ent civilization with th a t of the of the M oham m edan fanatics. The
joying the happiness th a t we are us once train them to work in the most ancient, shows th a t the ele inquisition which caused th o u san d s
capable of enjoying and ruin the broad field th a t is now ready for a m ents of construction have g ra d u al of intelligent men and women to
rich harvest for hum anity, and the ly gained ground, and th a t although be burned to death for opinions
fairest and purest of life.
We hold th a t w hat Christians old tenem ent of orthodoxy will trem in the past it has been but little a t sake was a cruel, an awful victory
a tim e today we find th a t a great for the enemies of m ental liberty.
call sins are sim ply m istakes. If ble to its very foundations.
In order to help those, who have m ovement is on foot tow ard the Nor are these battles confined to
Eve ate th e apple, she m ade a m is
take, provided it caused the u n h ap made the m istake of playing the em ancipation of m ankind from the p ast age». R ig h t here in th is
piness th a t is claim ed, and the be hypocrite or recklessly indulging pow ers of destruction. This move- city, every where in our fair lan d
ing who created a creature so weak in otherevil pursuits, to correct these m ent is not like a spontaniouscorn- the victories and defeat follow’
as t«» m ake such a m istake, made m istakes as best they can and be- bustion, rapid or noisy, hut is more each other in rapid succession.
(C ontinued on 7 th. P a g e.)
a m istake th at clearly shows a lack come cham pions of tru th and right; like the growth of a great tree, slow