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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A weekly p ap er for th e young people. E n tirely free from su p e rsti­
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