T H E TORCH O F REASON, S IL V E R T O N , OREGON, T H U R SD A Y , F E B R U A R Y 24, 1898.
4
Torch of Reason
The O n ly Paper of Its K in d .
T h e M o d e rn In f id e l.
Waco, T ex as, seems to be the
home of several species of the genus
P ublished W eekly by th e Lilæral I ni- homo som etimes called in-fiddles.
versity C om pany, in the In tere sts of
There the editor of the In depend
C onstructive, Moral Secularism .
ent P ulpit, Mr. Shaw, resides.
J. E. H osm er,...................... E ditor Then, there is the Iconoclast, edit-
P. W . ( j e e r , .................. .. . M a n a g e r ed hy W r Bran> (h ,. idol, and ideal,
......... .
*
: .............. ......... . iff... • ........ ............... . • ' ■
-
Entered a I the poetolfice at Silverton, .
■ • , •
Oregon, as second-class m ail m atter.
Autonom ist is edited in th a t won
derful citv of cranks, and it is to an
SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
article headed, “ The Modern Infi-
One year in advance........................ *100 d el,” found in th e last m entioned
Six m o n th s in a d v a n c e ...................
oo
25 m o n th ly , to w hich we wish to ( II
T hree m onths, in advance...............
In d u b s of five or m ore, one year,
75 the attention of our readers. Ilerr
Money should Is* sent by registered it is:
letter or m oney order.
“ I find the modern Infidel for
in advance.......................................
Notice!
A fxuicil m ark here denotes th a t your
subscription will ex p ire w ith the next
nu m b er. You are e arn estly requester!
to renew so th a t you m ay receive th e pa
per w ithout in te rru p tio n . We have d e
cided th a t it is best for all concerned
th a t we do not send papers longer th an
th e tim e paid for unless so ordered.
T his will p rev en t any loss ami we will
know ju st w here we stan d .
We request you to semi us the nam es
of S ecularists who m ight become suh-
s e r i h e r s and wr* will m ail sam ple copies.
the most part, as inconsisent, as ab
surd and as bigoted as the old or-
thodox. And right here I wish to
give M acdonald, of the New York
drun, "'" k' F’ “
SiZ" '1 C<>nUn"
' ’" l a m now w riting with a R .n.-
and it proves again th at the O re
gon S tate Secular Union in adopt-
a basis did a very wise thing. Sec
ularists, real, true Secularists, can
work together in an organization,
but not all infidels can, and the
different factions of Infidelity are
as far ap art as the most orthodox
orth<»<1,>x ar»* T’":!: the nioeL.l’nfldel
i nfidels.
But let us exam ine Mr. A rm
strong’s article. The title, “ The
Modern Infidel,’' shows a great lack
of .judgm ent, for there are m any
kinds of m odern Infidels, and the
reader would ha led to think only
of the one kind m entioned and for
g et the class to which Mr. Arm-
strong belongs and the other class-
os. Mr. M acdonald, of the T ru th -
seeker, is chosen as the type. W hy?
18 *l beca" He he ,,est 8erv<‘8 as a
8caPeK',a < for th « 8'» 8 ” f Mr. Arm-
hood is for the benefit of hum anity
and our statem ent th a t sanitv is
therefore, not possible excepting on
some more reasonable basis than
th a t of im m ortality , is worth at
least as much as Mr. A rm strong’s
opposite statem ent.
To sav, as he
does, th at the scientific must he un-
’
■ .
........... . ’
sheaves of a shock of absurdities
and the other is found when we
read his statem ent th a t “ if life
ends in death, and death is noth
ingness, then life is a cause with
out an effect” .
If a river should
dry up would it have been a cause
w ithout an effect? Life is fhe effect
of m any causes and the cause of
m any effects, even if death does
end the individual life, and no one
knows this better or realizes its im
portance more th a n the M aterial
ist. Yes, let us hear from Brother
M acdonald.
ingtun. Suppose that as I w rite a Wrong’s “ in s a n e ’ b rethren?
Xu-
page I tear it up; and coiuinue to lice the com parison between living,
write pages every day and tear and w riting on the Rem ington. An
then, up? After awhile there wnul,I Infidtd Q|. (he m()s( s
jti(,„s
G iv e Y o u r T h o u g h ts to th e
11 M
n u acdonah
id n ito h l’u
a n 1K
s « R :i a KlKnifinn
su sp icio n 1 in
W o r ld .
mind th at I was insane—that I hud C hristian who labors without “ a
a rnanom ania
for typew riting. 1
purpose” m ight be consid-
There are m any men who have
Because I labored without cred insane, hut the Infidel, known
THURSDAY, FEB. 24, E. M. 298 W hy?
a sensible purpose.
as Mr. A rm strong, should know great thoughts, hut who, on account
of some false m odesty or lack of
Now let us suppose th a t a life is tha( not
Ild1d(,ls „ )us Ia|)(ir
T h e T e n t h P s a lm .
m ade up of seventy years.
Let us
self-esteem, keep their “ light under
call
each
year
a
page,
wliicn
we
lav
e
n°i
know
who
has
inform
-
To tlio F reethinker» ca le<t Secularist».
a bushel”. Don’t do it, Secularists.
.v . , - , ,
,
*.* /
aside until we have accum ulated cd him th a t the editor of the Your best thoughts are valuable.
o th e rs ;
*
| seventy pages. According to Mac- T ruthseeker is laboring w ithout a
Jo t them down as best you can and
,
Ur Indent thvself, as th e old h eath en donahi uixin the com pletion ot the !
send them to the T orch of R eason .
g< wl?
last {»age D eath w ill set fire to th e m
.
’
The wicked in pride doetli persecute all, »lid th a t will lie the last uf ea81y convinced th at sanity is not we need them. They will encour
b r o th e r s ;
possible except on the basis of im- age others and perhaps do much
T hen help us to break th e old ¡ton them .
“ N<»w, I want him to show me m ortality can easily he convinced
r< ><1.
good throughout a long future.
svllogistically ami without any th at science and common sense are
T he p riest and the king of th e ir powers
lo ng-w inded p e ro ra tio n , ,»f w hich •
•*
..
,
,,
still h o a si;
..
'
,
•
I*
,
-
,
h
1
insanity.
Mr.
M
acdonald
may not
J
indulgences sold for dishonor and the m a te ria lis t is lull, how it is .
In th e B ig C ity .
sham e,
th a t th e m an w ho lives o u t th e si v- h av e a sen sib le purpose in living,
Not the g-»! th a f.' ¡» >»»». ,lul ,he.v ) ellty years is n<)t j ust as (,razv
h u t Infidels can have one which is
w o ish ip a ghost
And think
not
o
/g
o
o
d
,
hut
only
of
th
e
,n
an
who
haa
a
“
a
i’ia
fo
r
ty
p
e
-
Last I h u rsd ay , after bidding our
far more sensible than the selfish,
ink
, writing.
gain
,
.
.
.unscientific, absurd, im provable students and teachers goodbye and
The honest of th o u g h t are v\ ou tided and ;
? u i i t t m „ t m t t i t r e i s n o t h in g (j o tq r j , , e o f im m ortality.
W hat prom ising them some candy on our
H<,re
1,1 religion a n d so m e th in g in sci-
•
From the unequal battle’gainst priest- <‘l,oe, there is still more in the noth- 111 ore sensible purpose for living return, we started for the great me
eraft and greed;
bigness of religion than in the can he thought of th an to so live tropolis of this great state. A rriv
n< th<
uoi^ld close gomethingness of science. Science and work th a t
there may he, ing in P ortland, the business m an
And laugh as hum anity suffering P’°cla iuis the ultim ate death of throughout long future generations, ager started at once for Vancouver,
u n iv e r s e
ns it is.
iu
Pi.lifri..,. „
plead.
"
" 't i t h h e e universe,
as
Religion
, where old and new friends en ter
Their m outh, are all full of craft ami tie- P r" c ,a ill‘8 lh t' 8<" ' 1'8 n.im ortality.
hef
(>eit
Common sense proclaim s pleasure (
n e a iin u r, nappier ana het- tained him royally, and where he
Mischievous vanity from theologies’ Hs th e object of all existence. It t(*r in m any ways on account of our secured some new subscribers and
Tr. o
school.
niay be th a t I find pleasure in having lived and labored? This an o th er student for the U niversity.
I" »ecret time ,unr,^r eeery honest con- riti,,g a
, ,„ar ¡, |lp>
|)y
|{>
W e spent a very pleasant even
And
make
of
their
victim
a
hick
ev
and
that
is
tool
1
s
h.
lie
n
ce
i
f
t
h
e
s
o
u
l
,
f
»
1
*ii
r
n ii« « M h to n in ir\iu iiiia ia u e y a n tf
one of the sensible purposes of sens- ing at the home of Mr. C. Beal,who
tool.
is not im m ortal, men who live for
r 1
Iik(. .
....................
. . . .. . the pltastire of w riting the seventy ible Pe,,Ple- U is the ideal pur- is now in C entral America, and we
prey.
'
pages of their lives are foolish. San- P,)se
an ideal god.
It is an mi- were entertained as only a good
Or as well woven nets, become “ fish- *ty ’s> therefore, not possible except m ortality th at is reasonable, scien- grandm a S ecularist and her polite
They p re,em ."i,"i:;."ni„,eO,„ . but only ’ ” ?..i “ u. UsT ’’ su rv iv e "',h e “ '-w m -k of “ «5 W’» 1 P ™ '" 01^
"< b a P P " ' ^ - and
intellectual
grandchildren
And at «
“l i e far worse than nine
a " ‘l
«»
W*
nOt, " Wa>' H f0° ll8h
" 7 / know how to en tertain their friends.
out of ten.
are the m onom aniacs of time. The a I,H&e an< then tear it lip. as Mr. , W e hope in the near future to have
They think a , they've fooled 11, hl dark “ k " 1' 81. therefore, to be consistent, A rm strong says. If by w riting a ' these workers with us in Silverton.
ages past
be scientific, m ust adm it the ini- page we learn to write the next Mr. E rn est B ailey’s hom e was an
T hatforever we’ll hi,w to their follies m ortality of the soul; and yet, the O11H better, how “ sensible” a thing : other bright spot in the desert of
But h i, UP your heads, ye humble, a, t ilie, l«cause it cannot he proven.
" 18 '° W''" e
eVen ,f “
UP- orthodoxy and greed, and the hours
“ If life ends in death, and death lin<1 fo it is with our years of life, flitted hy with plans, suggestions
For th e g rea t sun of tru th will surely
arise.
is nothingness, then life is a cause H we so live this year th at we m ay ami reviews of our work for hu
Then let us cast off everv presumptions w ,lh n u t a n
which is again do more good next year, our years m anity.
bother,
unscientific. It is impossible to es- are llot wasted, and death does not
After seeing m any oldtim e Lib
And require of our fellows the pledges
th e id ealism of Berk lev, or the
1
e
,
,
...
, /rig h t;
" : pessimism ol Sehopenhau’e k
Tl,
a il , for our good works w.ll eral friends, getting a num ber of
Let us t>e meach other “ « kind, loving m aintain a rep u tatio n for san ity I live and llve 0,1 and on, even new subscribers for our T orch ,
And hunt to the death the angels of , Prefer th e E nglishm an to the Ger- though we are gone.
O ur life is some fine hooks for the library, re
night.
man. Let me hear Irom Macdon- like a hook. Let us write the best ceiving promises of $100.00 for the
a
id .”
one we can and others will read U niversity from our friends, Mr.
When the people are kings forever anil
The heath™ no longer will worshin
T l'e " l’8Ur,lit-v of the »hove arti- and receive a “ sensible purpose n H a rry F ricker and Mr. D. Bolton,
their lords,
c *e "how s us p la in ly what we have for living when the au th o r is and laying in a sm all stock of
But the good must la* strong and all join been a d v o c a tin g all along, th a t asleep.
p rin tin g m aterial, we started home,
To lofjse from her limbs fair Liberty’s
" ,e a,e Infidels and Infidels, i. e.,
No one is more insane than he refreshed and ready again to take
eor<l8’
th a t the word infidel is very broad, who thinks th a t to believe a false« up the pen and the pedagogical