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About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1897)
mari 0 1904 T orch VOL. 1 - '■ '- W 0U 6H T F4z. -u-V I V< M ' o£ € d> , ^ Í ^ O D I C A L DI'! R eason . SIL V E R T O N , OREGON, TH U R SD A Y , JU N E 10, 1807. NO. 32. An Ode to Science. converted during the period of the em ancipation. They had to break » « a ~ A . _ _ 1 • a a a - Science! W e h ail th e e ! No lietter friend Refor“ »tion, and portion? o f th is off in their turn with the theocracy has m an. territory, notably the French to disengage them selves from the 8,ViZ „ Of the ™Ce' " " hl'ri*l,ltd' d istricts ceded to the P rotestants, 9UIl£f tram m els of a dead tradition. The Thou, th e “ rock of ages’’ wert, ere were subsequently lost, and the nineteenth century will com plete worlds began, . Always rig h t," th o u g h oft cajoled by p° P u l a t i o n a d d e d to the adherents tlie work of the sixteen, and the wrong. of th e church of Rome. The people nations which are fourni unable to Science! Jew el f a i r ! T hou a rt th e king ° f L a t in E u r o p e a n d t h e L e v a n t, were too ignorant a n d , ,0 d 1 ?Ce<’m !>»*»» <h at revolution will fall of k in g s; - T®!® * P }' 1,1 ,hc reHr ° ' «ivili^'tion. We know th o u a rt, no m — a tte r ........ w hat thy nam e. im bued with superstition which The n h a n rd i» u c t n t The cosmos yields to thee, the scep ter had formed th eir m e n t a l h a b it« in ■ t s of I rotestantism , , nacltorm ert th eir m ental habits, to as a sect o r a num ber of sects are And plum es th ee victor in the vast be susceptible to so great and radical obvious enoindi but ibn a ho„ wi;»: do,nain- a c h a n g e a s th e L f o r m a t i o n i m - ^ r n ü f 7 7 . . b . r u i dom ain. Science! Thou A lpha and Omega a rt! To thee E ’en sky am i sea, th e vast and g rea t unknow n, T heir secrets yield. Thou hast th e key. H u m an ity , p o sterity , will never thee beyond disow n. not an absolute self-evident fact th a t, after we have eaten and digested such oyster or chicken, th at then this individual oyster or chicken exists no m ore? So if m an is crem ated nr in h u m ated it is a self-evident fact th at he aa such individual, exists no more. Disassociated from all m ysticism , y s n tis m and from the superstitions of the dark ages, tran sm itted t o u s and ♦ » \ i ’ ' U * r 1“ *1 by “ ra Pacious ..... ........................... .......... ..... ‘ ' ........ oyster or chicken. We have but to reject the vagaries of m ystery- m ongers, open our eyes, observe for ourselves the sim plest every-day facts, believe our senses, and we are in possession of all the facts in the case and th e entire tru th . the lim e of the Nazarene. rational while teaching absurd I t was large y the corrupt paganism superstitions, to repudiate the in- Science! Thou h a n d m a id fair! We thee o f v ' ieot Rome, modified and in- fallibility of Ihe pope while boldine a — d o re ! . 'V®1*0* 't o th e e alone, o u r only hope. ^corPorRted into the creed and to the infallibility of a book to dis” As tim e rolls on, we love th ee m ore and ceremonial of the ecclesiastical .»n >1 .1 • . . ’ • ‘ m ore. e ciesiasucaj , own t|le au th o rity of the church FrieorI t!o æ art’ m oredearthan prie8t Sy8tem w,,lch m illions were them while dem anding submission to or pope< and even now are stupid enough to the au th o rity of written creeds, to The adm ission th a t life after Science! T h o u a llin a ll! E ’en m ust it be believe was founded bv the J u d e a n In th e great realm of fact thou s ta n d ’st , * reject m iracles of the early church death cannot be proven im p lies, or secure. | reform er. while insisting upon the im por should im ply, th e a n tith e tic a l I hy citadel is safe, w ith o u t dogm a or T, decree— reo p le who had been servile tance of believing in m iracles older Defe"anl^ d n yreUOrtified hy H" idoIatora for thousands of years and quite as im probable is, o proposition th a t individual life does end at d eath J in other words proof Science! Crucible of a l l! ’Tie true that “ T ' 1 "°1 r e s p ‘n<1 ,0 th e g re a t in- course, an inconsistency and an th at m an does survive d eath not th y fair nam e tellectual and m oral movement, anachronism as little worthy o H a 8 toee a r tb " a iIe d ’ big°t8 Cru8hed The PeoPle of N orthern and W estern support as th at crystallization of being forthcom ing the assertion, not being sustained by evidence, falls Thou risest up m ore v alian t, and w ith Europe, North G erm any, E ngland, dogmas and ceremonies a g a in st to the ground. Phis affirm ation is so It s t u i 'm l l s X t b i s “ rock- of price- S««,la »d. X««h D e l« ..’ , which P rotestantism originally r< bold, so visionary and so absolutely less worth. H olland and S candinavian c u n - volted. And all the P rotestant c o n tra ry to all self-evident facts — H enry B ir d . tries and the best part of th e peo sects th a t teach the right of private and our daily experience, th a t u n ple of Sw itzerland and France, judgm ent and, the right o f'p ro te s t less the hypothesis can he m ain tain The Protestant Principle and became P rotestants, or as the against religious au th o rity , and at ed by science, logic and reason it Spirit. Trench P rotestants called theni- the same tim e m ake salvation m ust be perem ptorily rejected. n x . , i selves, H uguenots. In to th e m a jo r- depend upon acceptance of w hat U ntil evidence is forthcom ing, 1 rotestantism as a revolt against if i of tx ® 'ty v of the people these countries they offer, and dam nation the which after thousands of years of priestcraft, as a protest against the old corrupt pagan civilization inevitable consequence of disbelief asservaiions, has as yet not. been authority, as an asseriion of the „ ( . , . , Rome had not entered, and i heir or doubt, contain within them selves produced, there is no logical or n g h t ..f private judgm ent. ... short [ m inds were le89 d ,,nd , h„ir the elem ents of decay, and are but ratio n al excuse for an agnostic a t as a ra t.o n a l m ovem ent, m ust he disposition less servile th an those so many tranisitional forms in the titude upon th is subject, because all regarded as the m ost im p o rtan t of tl.o r i t • . . . 1 r e 01 the L atin and L evantine continuous developm lactor in m odern progress. Its ef- ..1 .• 1 ent from Rome our knowledge p lain ly d em o n strates r , - populations. I hey were more in- to reason. the fact that when m an dies he is fects have been wide-spread and far- te llig e n ta n d self-reliant, mor«* ac- W hat liberal m inds of every class «lead, reaching, and these m ust extend custom ed to th in k , to use their have to do is to stand hy the P ro -; T he problem —if so it m ust be and m ultiply th ro u g h th e co m in g ! reasoning U culties ¿ „ d tl,e h , a testa.it principle, th e right of ' c a lle d -re s o lv e s itself in the sim ple ag es. I , J „ , , more sturdy m orality, private judgm ent in regard to relig school-hoy question; W hat is m an? rre e thought and dem ocratic rr , . , coven.nw nt <ir,. ti i • i Ih e countries th a t rem ained ious belief with all th a t is thereby If m an is an anim al a living governm ent arc the logical con- p 1 * 1 r ■ 1 1 « * • > < i < i j| » III implied. I be assertion of this rigid p b y sic a lo rg a .d e stru ctu re an d not e lu s io n a n d »Ito u ( atholic were in com parison m ental- fu s io n and the legitim ate outcome , , r r. . _ lv and m orally dwarfed, a iid !« 'i'l, sooner or later, destroy the ¡sim ply a bag of wind, a breath of of Protestantism . In so far as they „ . . . • .. . ,, , . existed before tlie Reform ation and " ,latever P ^ i- e s s they have made a u th o r,ty of all hierarchies, and air or less th an a soap-bubble, then in pre-C hristian periods they were < h as been 1,1 P '«P "rli»n to the dif- m ake men as fearless Io question it is enlf-evident and an absolute the result of the s a m e ' great f“ “1' ” ' l,beral id e a s a m o n g them | doctrine and speculations of a then- fact th a t when Bu(;„ „ „ „ „ a al , o or r liv- nv- such anim principles which were announced and tbe d ™ay » ' »“ '«h, as in Italy . h'lPeal character, as they are to ¡„g organism dies and is again and em phasized by L uther and his ° f ,h e (-‘“ h'dic countries are qin-stm., those m any other province ! decomposed into its segregate cl.e- co-workers. Such p riv ate jud ®uch a K tate'>f m ental and moral thought. B. F. U nderwood . mical c o n s.it,tents, th a t then thi. th is m e .,. and .;„ k . of ... self-governm .......debasem ment right ent ent, - and everything, - - e x e r in y u the n n g , ,n anim al or m an, as such being and as has had been exercised in Pagan I? 7 7 T “ “. a c ,‘v ,ty ’ h ’agan ,n ie ,ie c iu a * activity, has For the Torch of Re«.,on. form form, , ha- haw vanished or ceased to dden ,n,e Bo " xed> hordeued and un- The In co n sisten cy of A gnosticism , f exist. If such an anim al m ust first Greece and Rome, were forbidden modifiable th at nothing hut revolu-1 ----- _ be created, evolved, produced or !,y the Roman Catholic hierarchy, “ if they (th e Oregon Secular b o r n b e f o r e a m a n l .a s b e i n g o r e x - and they could never have been re tion perhaps can break u p th eeh tab - lished order and make advancem ent churches) declare that this life ends istence, then, of course, without gained w ithout a powerful and suc possible. A few years ago a w riter all, they will be a failure. I a m such anim al stru ctu re th ere can be cessful protest against this establish in the C ontem porary Review said: agnostic in this regard, he- no m an. If man is an a n im a l__as ed au th o rity . ‘‘ Ih e weight of an unsolved question Rev^nf? th a t it can be neither proved science plainly classifies h im — then I he conquests of Protestantism lies «m these European S tate, i d '8pr° Ved th a t tbi9 Iifeend8 w,1?’ lhe anim al '» «nd man is in Europe, as M acaulay states, did not exteud ........... . th e territo ry which three centuries ago shut Jam e’ R-A " e n ... T ori - h of R eason , th e .n im a l, W ithout the form er - ^ i n g t h e . , .......... w h i c h were ........... up a g a i u , - ........ . l Ch ^ li <P