T orch
VOL. 2.
R eason .
SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER
Religion.
is ,
iS 9 7 .
NO. 3.
he the right to express that opinion? taunt her m isshapen babe?
\\ ould he torm ent, torture and de­
I f he concludes, as I have done,
There is another test. How does stroy them for the sins of m en?
T ru th and goodness is th e glorious
G reat religion which we own ;
th a t Jehovah is a m yth, m ust he a m an use power? Is he gentle or
Jehovah was a God of blood.
Reason can accept it fullv
refrain from giving his honest cruel? Does he defend the weak, H is alter was adorned with th e
And d elig h t to m ake it know n ;
L earned and unlearned sp irits
thoughts?
C hristians do not succor the oppressed, or tram p le on horns of a beast. H e established
C annot cavil a t its creed,
hesitate to give their opinion of the fallen?
a religion in which every tem ple
Nor can any helpless victim
E ver on its a lta r bleed.
heretics, philosophers, and infidels.
If you will read again the tw enty- was a slaughter house, and every
They are not restrained by the e ig h th ch ap ter of Deuteronom y, you priest a butcher—a religion th at
Goodness in th e h e a rt abounding,
T ru th in actions budding forth,
‘daws of social m orality and will find how Jehovah, th e com dem anded the death of the first­
K indness in th e conduct beam ing,
decency.’' They have persecuted passionate, whose nam e is en sh rin ­ born, and delighted in the destru c­
Love for every m anly w orth ;
Feeling care for one a n o th er,
to the extent of their power, and ed in go m any hearts, threatened to tion of life.
R eady help for all in need—
their Jehovah pronounced upon use bjw power.
T h at is my profession, b ro th er,
T h at is my religious creed.
unbelievers every curse capable of
“ T he L ord s h a l l sm ite th e e w ith
F ree In q u iry ,
Freedom from th e lips to u tte r,
being expressed in the Hebrew consum ption, and w ith a fever, and
All th e living tru th s we know ;
d ia le c t. A t th is m om ent, th o u - : with Mn inflariJ.m ation, and .w ith an
By F . L Onwald.
Freedom for th e feet to travel
r
•
..
,
•
extrem
e
burning,
and
with
the
W here convictions bid us go;
sands
of
,„ ,,,1
,
. m . issionaries
, ,
, are attacking 6 'sw
ord, and , with h asting and i mil i
I he right of free inquiry is the
Freedom for all m en to differ,
the gods of the heathen world, and «lew. And thy heaven that is over
Freedom , also, to agree—
first condition of progress, and dog­
T h a t is th e religious pow er
heaping contem pt on the religion thy hea«l shall he brass, and the
m atist« who dispute th a t right vir­
T h a t will m ake us good and free.
earth th a t is under thee shall he
—[M unollog. i of others.
iron. The Lord shall make the tu ally im peach the evidence or the
B ut as you have seen proper to
rain of thy land powder and d u st.” m orality of th eir own degmas. An
defend Jehovah, let us fora m om ent
G od’s H ista k e s
“ And thy car- exception from that rule may, un-
exam ine this deity of the ancient case shall he m eat u n to all fowls of der certain conditions, he adm itted
By II. G. Ingersoll.
Jews.
fh ere are several tests of the air and unto the beasts of the in favor of theological tenets. U n ­
“ And it came to pass a t noon, character. It m ay be th at all the e a rth .”
.
.
.
.
“ The obtrusive m ystics have a rig h t to
th a t E lijah mocked th e m and said, virtues can he expressed in the Lord shall sm ite thee with m adness
‘Crv aloud, for he is a god; either word “ kindness,” aird th a t nearly and blindness. And thou «halt eat expound the unknow able after th eir
1 he priests of Isis
he is talking, or he is pursuing, or
of the fruit of thine own body, the own fashion.
all
the
vices
are
gathered
together
he is in a journey, or perad venture,
flesh of thy sons and thy daughters. and the adepts of the Eleusinian
in
the
word
“cru
elty
.”
he sleepeth and must be aw aken­
The tender and delicate woman M ysteries had the privilege to veil
ed.’
‘
.
her eye the secrets of their sacred rites.
L aughter is a test of character. am ong you,
Do you consider th at the proper W hen we know what a man laughs shall be evil
The discreet P ythagoreans could
ot
.....
1,....™.
n
toward
her
voung
one
and
toward
w a y to atiack the god of another? at we know w h at lie really is.
.
. ,, ,
~
J
I iu?r children which she shall bear; not he obliged to explain the bean-
Did not E lijah know th a t the Does he laugh at m isfortune, at fnr she shall eat them .”
law of th eir m aster or their reason
name of Baal “ was encircled in the poverty, at honesty in rags, a t in­
Should it he found th a t these for believing in his gho^t stories as
heart of every believer with the d u stry w ithout food, a t the angonies curses were in /a c t uttered by the firmly as in the evidence of his
profoundest reverence and love” ? of his fellow m en? Does he laugh God of hell, and th a t the tra n s la t­ geom etrical theorem s. Even noc­
Did he“ violate the the laws of social when he sees th«- convict clothed in ors had made a m istake in a ttrib u t­ tu rn a l D evil-w orshippers m ay he
the garm ents of sham e—at the ing them to Jehovah, could you say perm itted to m um ble about th eir
m orality and decency” ?
But Jehovah and E lijah did not crim inal on the scaffold? Does he th a t the sentim ents expressed are altars, if they do not dress them at
stop at th is point. They were n«>t rub his hands with glee over the inconsistent with the supposed the expense of th eir neighbors.
satisfied with mocking the prophets em bers (-fan enem y’s home? Think character of the Infinite Fiend?
But it alters the case if such
of B aal, but they brought them <d a ,lian capable of laughing while
A nation is judged by its laws— creeds become aggressive.
The
down to the brook K ishon—four looking at M arguerite in the prison by the punishm ent it inflicts. The right of secrecy does not pertain to
hundred and fifty of them — and “ d " ith her dead babe hv her side, nation t h a t punishes ordinarv of- religions th a t nave devastated our
W hat must he the real character of f, nceg wjt h death ¡H r«*garded as earth by a series of m urderous
there they m urdered every one.
Does it ap p ear to you th a t on a God who laughs at the calam ities, barbarous, and the nation that wars, th a t have enforced th eir a n ti­
th a t occasion, on the banks of the of his chiblren, mocks at their fears, to rtu res before it kills is denounced n atu ra l dogm as by destroying the
prosperity of whole nations, and
brook K ishon—“ Mercy and judg­ their desolation, their distress and ag savage
W hat can you say of the govern- their ghost dogm as by the to rtu re
ment met together, and th a t rigl-t- anguish? W <»uld an infinitely lov-
eousness and peace kissed
each *11^ ^,('d hold his ignot a n t children nient of Jehovah, in which death and slaughter of m illions; religions
o th er”?
•’< derDioii?
\\ <»uid he pity, or was ¿he penalty for hundreds of which, after the loss of their politi-
The question arises; H as
every n,°ck? Save, or destroy / Edu- offences? death for the expression c a ^ Power, have used all their mor-
one who reads the Old T estam ent cate, or ex term in ate? Would he of H„ honest th o u g h t—death for al ’n d ,lence to obstruct the progress
the rig h t to express his thought as
them with gentle hands touching with a good intention a °f freedom and science, to arrogate
to the ch aracter of Jehovah?
You toward the light, or lie in wait for sacred a rk —d eath for m aking hair fhe education of our children, and
will ad m it th a t as he reads, his them like a wild b east/ Think of ()ji—for eating shew bread—for im- to interfere with the recreations of
mind will receive some im pression, the echoes of Jeh o v a h ’s laughter in itatin g incense and perfum ery?
our holidays,— all under the pre-
and th a t when he finishes the “ in- ^ ie r a yh*ss caverns of the eternal
j„ the history o f the world a
prom oting the propaganda
spired volum e” he will have some Pr*8on< Can a good m an mock at m ore cruel code cannot he found.
an infallible revelation.
The
opinion as to the character of ^ ie children of d efo rm ity / W ill Crim es seem to have been, invented v°taries of such creeds cannot plead
Jehovah. H as lie the right to ex- ^ie d eride the m isshapen / \ our to gratify a fiendish desire to shed the privileges of th e ancient mys-
press th a t opinion? Is the bible a Jehovah deformed some of his own the blood of men.
tic8> for the rig h t to investigate
revelation from God to m an? Is children, and then held them up to
There is another test; How does their claim s has become a social
it a revelation to the man who 8corn and hatred. These divine a nian tre a t the anim als in his and religious d u ty .—[Preface to
reads it, or to the m an who does m ista k es--th ese blunders of the in- pow er—his faithful
horse—his “ The Secret of the E ast ”
not read it?
If to the man who hnite were not allowed to enter p atien t ox— his loving dog?
reads it, has he the right to give to thp tem ple erected in honoj of him
How did Jehovah trea t th e
The Pagan gods were the deified
others the revelation th at God hag who ,,ad dishonored them . Does a an im als in E g y p t? W’ould a lov- powers of n atu re, the patrons of
given to him ? If he comes to the kind father m ock his deformed ing God, with fierce hail from m ariners, shepherds and husband-
conclusion at which you have ar- child? W’hat would you think of heaven, bruise and kill the innocent men. The C hristian gods were the
r“ ‘ d > th at Jeh o v ah is God, has a m other who would deride and cattle for the crimes of their owners? deified enemies of nature.