«
T orch
VOL 2.
F o r th e T o rc h o f R easo n .
of
SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, i$97.
NO. o
progress? Man was com pelled to physic al fictions, instead of looking idea w ithout model, and th a t he is
B rotherhood.
vegetate in his prim itive stupidity; upon the n atu ra l a n d visible causes him self evidently not a reasonable
he was preserved onlv hv invisible of th eir m iseries, a ttrib u te th eir
being? Does it require m ore than
GRACE E. GRURKR.
powers, upon whom his fate was vices to the im perfections of their
supposed to depend, solely occu nature and their m isfortunes to the common sense to feel th a t there is
On h eig h ts e th e re a l, let us s ta n d ;
I m ean th e h eig h ts, which hold com pied with his alarm s aud his u n in anger of their gods; they offer to at least delirium and frenzy in h a t
m and
telligible reveries, he was alw ays at heaven vows, sacrifices and pres ing and torm enting each o th er for
>>f m ind — of soul ;th en judge am i find
This pro b lem : B rothethood— M ankind. the m ercy of his priests, who re ents in order to put an end to th eir unintelligible opinions of a being of
served to them selves the right of m isfortunes, which are really due th is kind? F in ally , does it not all
Docs it m ean those who hold a creed?
Does it m ean those w hile p lan tin g seed? th in k in g for him and of regulating only to the negligence, the ignor prove that m orality and virtue are
They drop th em , w ith such ra rity
his conduct.
ance, and to the perversity of their totally incom patible with the idea
The seed bloom sn o t w ith c h a rity .
Thus m an was, and alw ays re guides, to the folly of their in s titu of a god, whose m inisters an d in ter
Ah, no! for th ey , could never see
T hat w heat is found w here cu atf m ay be. m ained a child w ithout experience, tions, to their foolish custom s, to preters have painted him in all
True c h arity will find the good,
a slave w ithout courage, a logger- their false opinions, to th eir u n countries as the most fa n ta stic, the
And flower will bloom , as flowers
head who feared to reason and who reasonable laws, ai.d especially to most unjust, and the most cruel of
s h o u ld .
Let ty ran ts, whose pretended wishes are
W hat m eans th is struggling hum an c add never escape from the laba- their w ant of enlightenm ent.
Pi ass
rynth into which his ancestors had the m ind he filled ea rly with true to serve as rules and laws for the
Incased w ith in a fram e of ulass?
misled him; he felt compelled to ideas; let m an 's reason be eultivat- in h a b ita n ts of th e e a rth ? To dis
Eacii like a bubble—tJorn to tali —
’Tis h u m an , and th e lot of all.
groan under the yoke of his gods, ed; let justice govern him ; and cover the tru e principles of m oral
of whom lie knew nothing except there will be no need of opposing ity men have no need of theology,
I t m eans th a t n e 'e r a hum an form
Can breast th e wave of every storm ,
th e fabulous acounts of th eir m inis-i to his passions the power less h ar of revelation, of gods; they need hut
Yet, in each faulty wave we could
ters. These, after having lettered rier of the fear of gods. Men will com m on sense; they have only to
Find v irtu es rare, if u nderstood.
j him with the ties of opinion, have be good when they are well taught, look within them selves, to reflect
The th o u g h t d isp a tc h es to th e m ind
rem ained his m asters or delivered well governed, chastised or censur- upon their own n ature, to consult
Its teleg rap h ic source defined ;
And who shall say th e m essage sent
him up defenseless to t he absolute ed for the evil, and ju stly rewarded th eir obvious interests, to consider
Was not d isp atch ed w ith good in te n t?
I power of ty ra n ts, yo less terrible for the good which they have done the object of society and of each of
W e’re all too prone to view th e face
th an the gods, of whom they were i to their fellow-citizens. It is idle the members who compose it, and
Nor d eeper th o u g h t give to th e case;
W e’d hold th e th in g s w hich som e call the representatives upon the earth , j to pretend to cure m ortals of their they will easily u n d erstan d th a t
good,
Oppressed by the double yoke of : vices if we do not begin by curing virtue is an ad v an tag e and vice an
And lose th e view of B rotherhood.
sp iritu al and tem poral power, it them of th eir prejudices. It is in ju ry to beings of th e ir species.
T hen let not censure, let not blam e
Be heaped on those w ho bear th e s h a m e ; was impossible for tin* people to in only by showing them the tru th Let us teach men to be ju st, benev
Toe p ro b lem ’s sol ved ;th e goal w e’ll tind,
\\ hen we’ll be ju st and read th e m ind. stru ct them selves ami to work foi that they can know th eir best in- olent, m oderate and sociable, not
th eir own interests. T hus, religion, terests and the real m otives which because their gods exact it, but be
politics and m orals became sanc will lead them to happiness. Long cause it pleases men; let us tell
Gods.
tuaries, into which the prolane were enough have the instructors of the them to abstain from vice an d from
not perm itted to enter. Men had people fixed their eyes on heaven: crime, not because they will be
RY JE A N M E S L IE R .
n o other m orality than th at which let them at last bring them back to punished in an o th er world, but be
O riginally, savage nations, fero th eir legislators and their priests earth . Tired of an incom prehensi cause they will suffer in the present
cious, perpetually at war, adored, claim ed descended from unknown ble theology, of ridiculous fables, world. There are, says M ontes
em pyrian regions.
The hum an of im penetrable m ysteries, of p u er quieu, m eans to prevent crim e, they
under various names, some god con
mi ml, perplexed by these theolog ile cerem onies, let toe hum an m ind are suffering; to change the m an
formed to their ideas; th a t is to say, ¡c a j opinions, m isunderstood itself, occupy itself with n atu ra l things, ners, the««? are good exam ples.
cruel, carnivorous, greedy of blood, doubled its own powers, m istrusted intelligible objects, sensible tru th s, Truth is sim ple, erro r is co m p licat
We find in all the religions of the i experience, feared tru th , disdained aixl useful knowledge.
Let the ed. uncertain in its gait, full of by-
earth a god of arm ies, a jealous its reason, and leff it to blindly fol- vain chim eras which beset the peo- ways; the voice of n atu re is intelli-
god, an avenging g o d ,an exterm in- low au th o rity .
Man was a pure ple be dissipated, and very soon ra gible, th at of falsehood am biguous,
ating god, a god who enjoys carnage m achine in the h an d s of his ty ran ts tional opinions will fill the m inds enigm atical and m ysterious; the
and whose w orshippers make it a and his priests, who alone had the of those who were believed fated to road o f tru th is straig h t, th a t of
duty to serve him to his taste, rig h t to regulate his movements. he alw ays in error. To an n ih ilate im posture is o b liq u ean d d ark ; this
Lam bs, hulls, ch ild ren, men, here- Always treated as a slave, he had religious prejudices it would he suf tru th , always necessary to m an, is
tics, infidels, kings, whole nations, a t all tim es and in all places the ficient to show that what is incon- felt by all ju s t m inds; the lessons
are sacrificed to him . T he zealous vices and disposition o f a slave,
ceiveable to man c a n n o t he of any of reason are followed by all h o n
servants of this barbarous god go
These are th e ti ue sources of the use to him.
Does it need, then, est souls; men are u n h ap p y ordy
so far as to believe th a t they are corruption of habits, to which re an y th in g hut sim ple com m on sense because they are ignorant; they are
obliged to offer them selves as a sac- ligion never opposes an y th in g hut to perceive th a t a being most clear* ignorant only because everything
rifice to him.
Everyw here we see ideal and ineffectual obstacles; ig-1 ly irreconcilable with the notions of conspires to prevent them from be
zealots who, after having sadly norance aud servitude have a tend- m ankind, th a t a cause co n tin u ally ing enlightened, and they are wick
m editated upon th eir terrib le god. ency to m ake men wicked and un- opposed to the effects a ttrib u te d to ed only because th eir reason is not
im agine th a t in order to please him happy. Science, reason, liberty him ; th a t a being of whom not a sufficiently developed.—[Preface to
they m ust do them selves, in his alone can reform them and render word can he said w ithout falling Common Sense.
honor, all im aginable torm ents. In them more happy; hut everything into contradictions; th a t a being
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a word, everyw here the baneful conspires to blind them and con- who, far from explaining the m vs-
F ear paralyzes th e brain. Pro-
ideas of d iv in ity , far from consol- firm them in th eir blindness. The teries of the universe, only renders gress is born o f courage. F ear be
ing men for the m isfortunes inci- priests deceive them , ty ran ts cor- them m ore inexplicable; th a t a be- lieves—courage doubts. F ear falls
dent to th eir existence, have filled ru p t them in order to subjugate ing to whom for so m any centuries upon the earth and p ra y s—courage
the heart with trouble, t n d given them more easily.
T yranny has men have addressed them selves so stan d s erect and th in k s. F ear re
birth to follies destructive to them . been, and will alw ays lx*, the chief vainly to obtain their happiness tre a ts —courage advances. F ear is
How could th e hum an m ind, filled source of the depraved m orals and and deliverance from th eir suffer- b arb arism —courage is civilization,
with frightful phantom s and guided h ab itu al calam ities of the people, j ings; does it need, I say, more th an F ear believes in w itchcraft, in d e r
by men interested in perp etu atin g These, alm ost alw ays fascinated by sim ple common sense to understand ils and ghosts.
F ear is religion —
its ignorance and its fear, m ake th eir religious notions or by meta- th a t the idea of such a being is an ! courage is scie ice.— [Ingersoll.