TH E TORCH OF REASON, SILV ERTO N , OREGON, THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 1897.
Why
„
the Name Church?
» ”r,l cliureb inmeail ofuonie other mosque, synagogueand church.
t
word.
o
I t ' thisto cousi.lerthe same an invita-
Mvanswer ¡a that there is would be.lhe highest form of the! tio to
E ditor T orlii of R eason : I no other word to my knowledge and the type of which we can
wr.te you for the purpose of havmg op,men which so well indica.es ,he
The true function of
you make a
s-ert. lion in sup- nature of such an organization as is the propagation of
"diure8. , ^ h0Ught S^' ,Sl"'U h,. "hUrC"- ThB " re6X
d^
conceive,
a church
religion;
‘
subscribe for the
T orch
and to b?cnms a member of the
Secular church which shall soon b-
orgauixed in this city The list of
Charter m e m l ^ X i ^ v X X
organ,zatton
church.
.secular indicates the character of from.
When I say morality and I desire anyone' who will
Many Of ,ny assocates ,n Free- the church. A n y o n e who under- I do not mean ethics; I .....
a become a men,b. r of the Seen
though, p opagand.sm arc opposed stands the meaning of ,he word distinction between ,he two. Of Church of Cincinnati to add “s
to the application of th at word to Secular, undsrs.ands what kind of course the propagation of ethics is
-«Wress,
Youts respect full v ,
such an organization; they claim- an organization it is. Sine • there is also a functi u of the ideal church
J ames R. A llen .
,ng .hat a church ,s a budding or no other word which acceptably Religion, morality and ethics,is th e1
Cincinnati, 0.
organization for ebrtstian worship, could Is: u-ed instead of the word logical order of the three elements
as it is defined in the diet.... ary. “church,” it is imperative to use or principles. That church which
Mr. B. F. Underwood.
Many of them are .mt w,11,ng, for that word with an advanced .... an- teaches the highest form of these
t h a t reason
r p iis n n only,
o n V . to
to
m ill n
S m .u l i r
T l,„
1
.z
• .
.
that
join
a Secular
ing.
The ............
w >rd
“society
Mr. B. F. Underwood is travel
to three elements is the one which will
ing
in the East at present and is
church which some of us propose to common a name to h* suit*bh
survive.
organize soon in this city; and my-
The Scotch Covenanters would '" 'T h e ' other night I listened to a ! prepared
S X to l.-cture on the following
sel and <>t ters desire you to make not ai first use the word church but s<rett evangelist for a few moments 1 The Words of G •
“ K ie j
this argument as requested for their used congregation instead, presum-, who said tha: Ingersoll with all his Cb” rch a "d State forever Separate.”
^ G it;
ably because of the Catholic church teachings never saved a man from
F i* ,r fF°m tl>e
I will hereinafter adduce those using that word, but the covenanters d *i .<,l)ut th it J h u < ha I
At first V Tn i ‘u Evokrt?0,"*
arguments which present them- had to eventually use the word I t h o i i e ‘ ,r w h i t I,.*
I
3 e i • .Influence of Civilization
selves 10 my mind nnd I want you
“church” and so will we. but after cogitating a 11,tie upon 4 The Influence of Christianity
to »ring forward those ideas which
Phe law of evolution operates in the m atter I came to the c inclusion
0,1 Civilization.
I fail to offer. It is only the name the tu t of words as well as in that he had made a point; although
EnkistoricaI Character of the
to which objection is made, every- animal life. The meaning of he had not expressed bi ns If in « 1. ^ a,De".t-
,. .
body approves fully the nature of words constantly changes; -he logical form. Thu point be made Special' F onns
g" ’n
the oignniza ion; and tney admit present meaning of many words has was th it Freethinkers in their pro-
7 The I ) . c ine of Im m ortality,
" '' T , 1 " " T .
tl,e 083 ,,f the no siiniltu-le to tha, of one hund- pagandism fail toaccompanv their thr ^ros ami Cons,
word c. mreb, but they declare red years ago Such being I he case, criticism
with a prana-atlon of ., . . 1 hH
a " (i Danger* of
the
Roman
Catholic
Church.
that if they were to approve of it. it is justifiable to change the mean- morality and ethics. It is not Jesus
9 Romanism in America.
they would 1... forsaking principle ing of a word when necessary and who reforms the drinkers who are
1*1 .Aristocracy of Brain and
and following
pol.cy which they whether we do so purpos-ly or not,; reformed in his name, and there are Heart.
w il not do.
I fail to see that toe meaning of words inevitably many who have been, but it is .he
1 1 Paine, the Religious Re
they w iu .d b , forsaking principle, changes. With u^e would come an arguments which the evan .«lists former and Pamphleteer of Aineri-
,
,
,
«•
, »can Independence.
and will herein consider the ques- understanding of the new applica
and preachers make against, the
¡2 l’| , , Rude.
,,„e
tion of principle only. A professor cation and definition of the word. habit nf drinking; the valid part six lecture..)
of foreign languages in a theologi-
The church, I hold to he an insti .........
>f th *ir arguments heitig wholly
L3 1 he Evolution of Religion.
cal college in this city and. a Uni- tution necessary in the very nature secular.
t
« 1 4
Intuition in the Light nf
tan an minister both told me that of things. It has existed in many
In this connection, I will Fay Evolution.
13 Religion considered from the
it would be no abuse of the word to ages under many different names: that it certainly is necessary as you
Standpoint of Science.
so use it and th a t it would he temple,
synig>gue, in >sque
and
short b time
TkS .
•
.
1
...... s » ably
.....J declared « a * biiui
L1I1JC since,
Since,
V» on and Influence of
IB 1 lie Work
proper.
Ibis qm sii-n 1» very church. It CM alnly will exHt io for the Secular c.in ch to have a Charles Darwin,
much one of definition <tn<l author- sonic f«>rm or
’ f * »r innumerable declared tthical basis; and further-
»r other
17 ”Herbert
Herbcrt Spencer and His
ltv-
if not ad years
ars to come. Such being more it is necessary that the Secular '
'
I define a church O b , any or- the cam it behooves u . to have it in church should inculcam inoraknnd ' .b e % , ^ ’Uim ¡A,1VT <"1
ganizatton w l„ c has for its ob- the most enlightened form possible, ethics, in accordance ’„with its Monism, Duafisrn ’ 8" ,
am’
m ,i ii.ioience of a rostrum Tins I cone»ive wew mid have in declaration, with more detail.! 19 The Various Theories of
o
prom ulgation o, religion, a church wnich would l,„ agnostic Simple declaration of general nrin- Idcallsm and Realism.
Now ,t is necessary to define relig- as to the ultimate origin and des- ciplcs is not sufficient; we have had N o , n 'C
“ nd StudT ° f
10,1 which I do by declaring it 10 be liny of all things.
a blethora of iha.
Tl.
,J .
o
\ .u
any body o f ideas b -th ev aflirma
Thia I i , t ,1 < 1
1
1
'
• .
I e conse-
_1 Anthropology the Key to
t;,.
.
1 Dlfe I lake Ihe Secular churches quences of a bad and g,Hid conduct Theology.
J
j e , nega ivc, or agnostic, regard- of Oregon to be. It is certain io should be made so clear, particularly
22 Current Theological Assump-
ing ihe ultim a'e origin and destiny me that if they declare that this
to the young, that they will realize
ar‘d Fallacies,
of all things; or in other words, the life ends all, they will ' he a failure. th at permanent pleasure is attained
, A"nWv %
, Question,
mbo^
i . -,i
,
.
'
J — - - —.....|oo inriiicm inrapure isauaineu
,
, Hn3 W hith‘r ° f rxistence- I
myself agnostic in this regard, o onlyby
the path
ofrecti-
01 n 1 J n ou • Glv«
•"
- a
-----------
a lv b v following
f i. llo w in a ...........
.
............
.
Place?”
I nder this definition would be in- believing that it can h . n o t b r tnd*
Tf»k
“
ie I <»«Bive Side of Modern
eluded a . religion.. Chris......«,.. X ? * - m
‘
I f ,h * 7 "unf? were system atic Liberal Thought.
eluded a« religious: Christianity, proved nor disproved thaf this lite ally so inculcated, this idea would
25. Evolution vs Creation.
Buddhism, Brahmanism, Moham ends aP. Ihe Secular church cm- become a part of the warp and woo'
2G The New* Science and the
medanism, Jttdiasm. Materialism, bedtes the game elements which <»f I heir mentality; and there wotih Old Faith.
‘S piritualism, .Atheism, Agnosticism, made necessary all past churches be only a few who would succumb
27 \V hy I Am a Freethinker.
23
The Importance of Comple
Theosophy etc. £u| ustition is a and is a higher evoluted form of Jo evil habits.
ting the Secularization of the State.
discarded religion.
the same inevitable institution
Let the Secular church insist upon
29 Radicalism and Conserva
makes language,”
. ‘‘Usage
.
. . ~ - which which m many ages, has borne morality aud ethics and its success tism.
< p ies J iita d e fim tio n ,th a tisle x i- many different names. No panic- is assured. Freethinkers have in
30 Characteristics of this Period
Hgiapura, definttton, follows cus- ular doctrines or ideas regarding thepast made no organized numeri.- of Religious Transition.
21 A Common Sense ATiew of
• , erne a dictionary is no more the whence and whither, are esse..- cal progress; in fact their organiza-
the Bible.
i.tn a compilation of w.-rds and tial to the existence of the churches tions have numerically been rniser-
32 How* Evolution Reconciles
»e.r dehuit,ons in acc o rd a n t with as an institution; the fact of the aide failures, for the very reason
the Experience-Philosopy with in-
•n>r past, but not necessarily
pre- many different religions, past and that they have almost ignored the tutionalism.
.v “ u' a- ‘h an< tbat »he use of a present having been and being inculcation of morals and ethics*
33 ‘‘Faith Cure” and Kindred
•>r< according to the definition in propagated by the same institution, and because of the poor polity of Methods as a Study in Psychology.
34 Naturalism vs Supernatural-
le d ^ m n a ry m not obligatory to Dei ng proof that no particular doc- their organizations. I for one
ism.
or in ( ieer priOU'
t' Jiies regarding the ultimate origin propose to step out of the rut, and
35 I he Present Condition and
' invalnhty m the use of the word, and destiny of all things are essen- follow the new path; that of the Prospects of Liberalism.
v /l^ m
,K n,,t a n in ' tjal to the existence of the church Secular church; the first declared
3b Plato’s Republic and Modern
Panaceas.
a e a u n o rity .
a8 an institution.
The Secular principle of which should be the
For terms etc., address Mr.
I he question now resolves itself church would be a survival of the Brotherhood of Man.
into oneof n c 'ssity. \\ hv use the fittest of the type known as temple,
I wish my friends who may read Underwood at 2653 Evanston Ave.
Chicago, 111.