Do not W ish to Offend.
One of our subscribers asks us the
following question: “ Do you think
it really wise to antagonize a society
counting its num bers bv thousands
which passes such resolutions as
the following;
“ First. We recognize S pirtualism
as the science of right and the re
ligion of hu m an ity.
“Second.
T h at
no property
should be exem pt from taxation be
ca u se owned by any religious body.
“ T id ’d. We dem and th at no leg
islation shall be enacted which seeks
a union of church and state.
•‘F ourth. T hat while we favor
the attain m en t of the highest educa
tion possible for youths of our land,
yet we most earnestly protest against
the use of the public funds for the
support of schools where sectarian
ism is tau g h t in any form.
and will furnish a hall if anv one
who is wholly or in part opposed to
our doctrine of “one world at a tim e”
will furnish us a good lecture. We
believe in bearing all sides. Is this
narrow? Because we now have a
test for our speakers is r o sign that
we refuse to listen to others, in fact
we are a n x i o u s to hear th edoctrines
of all, but at present we believe in
" orking for the good of this life with
out reference to any other and we
invite all who believe in th is doc
trine to join with us in spreading
the good news of the com ing m ental
em ancipation of m an.
W hen a V irginian started on a
journey to N ew York he m ade his
will and hade farewell to his friends,
as though he never expected to see
them again. — [New O rleans Timcs-
Democrat.
Belief is Ignorance.
1 he most intelligent spiritualists
There was not one public library
und erstan d the situ atio n and a re ' in the U n ite d States.
not at all offended but th in k it far
B o o k s were very expensive. “ The
belter for their workers to work for
Lives of the P o e ts ” w ere $ 1 5 .
their own society. We believe in
A day laborer received two shil
m ental liberty but we do not believe
lings per day.
in deception and the best way to
A horsem an who galloped on a
find the tru th is through honest
city street was fined four shillings.
straight forw ard work.
Crockery plates were objected to
If the word spirtualism in the
fir-t resolution was changed to Ad b e c a u s e t h e y dulled the knives.
ventism, Catholicism or Mohamed*
A man w ho jeered a t the preacher
anisiu the case would be the same. or criticised the sermon was fine J.
e do not wish to fiurt any one but
T hree-fourths of the books in
the time has come when we can
every lib rary came from across the
not afford to be m isunderstood.
A tlantic.
Let all who would reform the
Twenty day* were required for a
world stand boldly forth and declare
t iieir every thought being ever ready letter to go from New York to
to accept the tru th and when con C harleston by land.
vinced of error forsake it and the
Dances we <*given in Philadelphia
world will soon be free from the un every two weeks; hut young men
necessary e v ils tiiat now afflict our under tw enty and girls under
rac e.
eighteen were not adm itted.
We hope th at our friends will
A New E ngland girl was not
1 ot think us narrow for we are not, allowed to m arry until she could
and we would be very much pleased bake a loaf of bread and cut it
t‘> hear a good sp iritu a list lecture into smooth, even slices while it (
and in violation of, and out side of
knowledge, facts, and reason cause
one to act the role of insanity.
Religions are based exclusively
upon belief, and one asserts a belief
as a positive fact for no other
reason th an th a t he feels things to
be so.
They think th at things
were created by some one, and so
through the narrow ness of th eir
E ditor T orch of R e a s o n :
Allow me to state th a t the ex
pressions “ I don’t know,” and “ I
believe convey the sam e m eaning.
If I say I believe so and so, I convey
the idea that I do not know. To
avoid open confession of my
Our Country a Century Ago.
ignorance, I use the word believe.
A m an will say, I believe so and so
E very gentlem an wore a queue and then act upon his im aginary
and powdered his hair.
ideas as though they were positive
A gentlem an bowing to a lady facts, w hich being mere assum ption
alw ays scraped his foot on the
ground.
“ Fifth. Believing th a t all days
All the population of a village
are equally holy, we desire th a t no assem bled at the inn on “ post d a y ”
special S unday laws shall restrict to hear the news.
the rights of sects who worship on
Six days was required for a
other d ay s.”
journey between New York and
In answer to this question we will B o s to n .
say th a t we do not wish to antagon-
1 he church collection was taken
izeany o n e,an d th a t we are pleased in a hag a t the end of a pole with
to help the sp iritu alists in all things a bell attached to arouse tip* sleepy
pertaining to the good of this life contributors.
and th a t in all the above resolu
An old copper m ine in Connecticut
tions excepting the lirst one, we can was used as a prison.
join our friends and work with all
Im prisonm ent for debt was a
our m ight. We would like the a s
common thing.
sistance of everyone as far as they
V irginia contained one-fifth of
can give it conscientiously, but it is
a fact th at it is far better for our o r the whole population of the coun
ganization th a t sp iritu alists do not try.
I wo stage coaches bore all the
act as our regular licensed lecturers.
Even if they should be able to say travel between New York and
nothing of the “ spirit life” etc. etc. B o s to n .
it is one of the wor.*t pieces ot hy
1 he Mississippi valley was not, so
pocrisy th at could be practiced, to well known as the heart of Africa
deceive people by silence, and the now is.
effect is th a t when those who have
Q uinine was unknow n. When a
been deceived find out the facts they m an had ague fits he took Peruvian
become disgusted.
hark and whiskey.
J
was still warm.
m inds assert
created
by
th a t thev
a personal
were
God
and stick to it. Through orthodox
m ethods it seems to be proven be
yond doubt th a t a lie well stuck to
will for a tim e supercede the tru th .
H u m an ity has been sky scraping
long enough. Let us work.
A ddison R. T itus .
Soldiers Home, Dayton, Ohio.
Oregon
State Secular
Union
O rganized 1 8 8 9 ....
Incorporated 1893.
UNIVERSAL MENTAL LIBERTY
~7
The
Liberal
University
T h e O n ly School of the K ind
In the W o rld
STRICTLY
NON-SECTARIAN
S ilv erto n , Oregon.
For term s and p a rticu la rs address
.1. E. HOSMER, President, Silverton, Ore.
A nnouncem ents will be o u t th e first of A ugust.
-1
T o rc h of R e a so n
issued every week
c ih e
o a s t.
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