4
T H E TORCH OF REASON, SILV E R T O N , O REG O N , T H U R SD A Y , A P R IL 7, 1898.
oT
I^ C fl.S 0 ri
harm ony m akts people un
happy. T his doctrine was taught
The O n ly Paper of Its K in d .
and practiced by ancient heathen
peoples m any thousands of years
P ublished W eekly by th e Liberal I’ni-
before the bible was w ritten. But
versity C om pany, in the In te re sts of
C onstructive, Moral Secularism .
some way or other it is not practic-
J. E. Hosmer,
P. W . (jeer,
. . . E d ito r
M anager as it should he.
Doctors, lawyers,
editors, m erchants and teachers can
E ntered at the pofjtottice at Silverton, he found by the hundreds who lie
Oregon, as second-class mail m atter.
continually. We cannot pick up a
newspaper without finding the most
SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
One year, in a d v a n c e .............. ........ $1 00 absurd lies told in its advertising
the beautiful and the true, he
would, ore this, have been destroy-
ed by priests and their hellish lies,
hut light is coming, and the chil-
dren shall be free; and the noble
men and women of future genera-
Gone will hold in high esteem the
few who dared to m ake way for
their freedom, who dared, for their
sakes, sacrifice for a happier civil-
ization, free from everything th at
«1
„ a and 1 m aketh
1 .1 a lie’ .
“ loveth
Six m onths in a d v a n c e .... ........
50
251
T hree m onths, in advance. . . ..........
is the m atter?
Why don’t people
In clubs of five or m ore, one year,
in a d v a n c e ............................ ..........
75 --.............. ........
Mr
Is it because the
M oney should Ini sent by registered „ i .
. r
.
i t .
1 .
‘
class of men who have assum ed to Paso,
le m.r
tte r ,.r
or m oney order.
--------
A C a ll to F id e lity
istence is to do right,
.<To | M.ho|,i , he pan(lram a of ,,
tress and suffering iu the world
would, as it were, make a heart of
8tone vibrate with sym pathy, and
it would feel no peace before p .
sym pathy was m ade manifest ¡fl
deede. Evpry step yop ,Hk
—
word you speak, and every cent voij
g,VH in the interest of tru th j. ,
nitinifestation of your sym pathy for
*!,u^ degraded creation,
W no can help respecting him self ‘ 1 if 1
fie feels the peace of k n o w in g th at
he is faithful to the cause of truth?
A m an’s unfaithfulness to what he
regards as the sacred tru th causes
^ ie 1°88 °f h ’8 self-respect. .
lf. ,"'e had lefs Infidels identified
with o u rc a u s e a n d more Freethink
ers, am i if all the Freethinkers we
have were also H u m an itarian s, we
could reasonably expect to see the
advancem ent which ought to he
made. To swear, to deny the “Jo-
nah and the whale sto ry ” , and to
penuriously abstain from paying
pew-rent, does not m ake a man a
Freethinker. It is in self-sacrifice
for the progress of the race in
which the heroism of Freethought
consists; and a m an m ust be both a
thinker anti a free th in k er in or
der to be a Freethinker.
He must
feel free to think both outside and
inside of creeds and bibles, and ac
cept the true, the good and the
beautiful everyw here.”
August \V. Dellquest, of El
Texas, lias m ade him self
he our teachers have set us the ex known to us, and we find that he is
am ple an d -th u s taught the people right in line with our ideas of m or
Notice!
al, progressive Secularism .
He
A pencil m ark here denotes th a t your of this generation to lie?
su b scrip tio n will ex p ire w ith th e n e x t
We have before us as we write, a writes to us as follows:
num ber. You are earn estly requested I D
,
.
. . .
to renew so th a t you m ay receive th e pa- * re s b y te ria n catech ism foi chil
“ I herewith semi you tw enty
per w ith o u t in te rru p tio n . We have de dren.
It has one hundred and for cents in stam ps, for which send im
cided th a t it is best for all concerned
th a t we do not send papers longer th an ty-five questions and answers and as m any copies of the T orch of
th e tim e paid for unless so ordered. it contains about th at m any abso- R eason dated March 10th as \ ou
•r
T his will p revent any loss and we will
lute
lies.
Is
it
any
wonder
th
a t the can. I wish to d istribute th a t num
know ju st w here we stan d .
ber. From the enclosed “ Call to
We request you to semi us th e nam es people have wandered from fidelity
F id elity ” you can see.that there is
of Secularists who m ight become su b
when
it
has
been
the
business
of
no paper that suits me better than
scribers ami we will m ail sam ple copies.
the
T orch of R eason .
their teachers to m ake th eir daily
TH U R S D A Y , A P R IL 7, E. M . 298 bread by the science and a rt of ly
This letter shows th a t Mr. D ell
ing?
quest backs his principles with his
T h e F o u rte e n th P s a lm .
Q. Who made you?
actions, but the letter is not the
A. God,
To th « F reeth in k ers called Si’c u la rists.
whole story. His enclosed “Call to
“ F reethought not only h s its
The
man
or
church
who
says
The fools have said in their de
F id elity ” ,a little pam phlet of eight god, but it also has its devil, anti
ceit there is a god.
They a re cor that a god made us does not know pages, is one of the very best a rti its devil is selfishness. This devil
rupt, they have done abom inable it to he a fact, and when one tells cles we ever read on the subject of has a following chiefly among those
works, there are but few th a t doeth th at which is not known to he true, Secularism . We hope to he able to Liberals who are ‘liberal in noth
w hether it be true or not, the de publish it in the T o r . h , hut m ust ing but illib erality ’. Some of these
good.
Liberals often seek to excuse them
2. The progressive, right th in k ceiver has all the sym ptom s of a content ourselves this week bv eiv- selves in their selfishness by assert
in g people looked upon the c h il liar, to sav the least. Read the fol ing a few quotations.
ing the falsehood th a t evervhodv
lowing,
taken
from
a
page
of
the
acts from a selfish im pulse.
If a
dren of men tosee i f tin re were anv
“
Fidelity
to
tru
th
is
the
ethical
person
should
a
t
the
risk
of
his
life
th a t did understand and seek tru th above-m entioned catechism , and
then ask yourself, honestly, if it is aspect of F reethought and the H u save the lives of some of his fellow-
an d goodness.
m an itarian plan of redem ption. men, according to these philoso
3. All have m ade m istakes; they any wonder th at the world is still Not he who merelv confesses with phers^?), only selfishness could he
J
...................................... ...
*
J
•
v u u i u
IT U
have, through false teachings, be in the darkness of ignorance and the m outh his lovt for liberty, hut the cause. To them there is no dif-
lie who makes th e best of his liber ference between selfishness and
come filthy: there are m any th a t falsehood:
ty
by doing som ething for the a d self-satisfaction, nor even between
doeth evil, yes, very many.
Q. In how m any persons does the one
vancem ent of tru th , is the true selfishness and self-sacrifice. The
4. H ave all the workers of h y God e x ist?
A. In th ree persons.
friend of liberty. I'ruth—‘the cog only self-sacrifice they know of is
pocrisy and deceit no knowledge?
Q. W hat are they ?
nition of the reality of th in g s’— is selfishness. Aside from their self
A. 'fh e F a th e r, the Son a.id th e H oly the only light, and in darkness
Do they not understand th a t th a t
ishness their excuse rests on a mere
G host.
there
can
be
no
liberty.
Liberty
is
which is good for all is good for the
em pty play of words, for to say
Q. W hat is God?
nothing
except
so
far
as
it
is
an
op
A.
God
ij
a
sp
irit
and
has
not
a
body
th a t self-sacrifice is only ‘a more re
individual?
like m en.
po rtu n ity for progress. Progress is fined form of selfishness’ is to un
5. B elief in gods put men in
Q. W here is God?
born
of the power of love, and not necessarily use the term selfish with
A. God is everyw here.
great fear, and the generations th a t
of the weakness of indifference. a double m eaning. Not selfishness,
Q. Can von see God?
are the most religious are the most
A. No; I can n o t see G od, h u t he a l T ru th and love, liberty and pro but sym pathy, is the basis of
ways
sees me.
cowardly and brutal.
gress constitute the q u arte tte th a t ethics.’
Q. Poes God know all th in g s?
sing the praise of hum an existence.
6. Ye have not listened to the
A. Yes; nothing can lie hid from God.
“ I he world today needs a strong
T ru th has been bought by the blood
Q. Can God do ali th in g s?
cry of the poor and innocent, and
A. \ e s ; God can do all his holy will of m artyrs, pain is the price of s y m Freethought movement more than
have given them a stone when they
p ath y , the price of liberty is obedi it ever did. To strengthen our
cried for bread.— 1 hou bast given
P retending to be great schools of ence, and a constant strife and m ovem ent we need to love progress
more than pelf; we need to em p h a
them lies and taken the fruits of tru th , churches th at teach such struggle is the price of progress.
“ Then, what is the purpose of size the positive side of Freethought
th eir labor.
abom inable lies are nothing but
Is it not to make more; we need to induce the half
7. Ob, that the salvation of Sec cesspools of falsehoods and s u p e rs ti-1 your existence?
your life conform to the inexorable hearted Liberals to subscribe for
ularism m ight come to the world! tions.
1 a 1 k about the saloons be laws of that which is most worthy the magazines and the journals; we
W hen the people listen to the voice ing bad!
They are bail schools; of your adoration and obedience? need to circulate reading m atter
of reason, they shall rejoice and there is no doubt of it, but they The purpose of vour existence is to am ong the orthodox through post-
th eir children shall he made glad. m ake no pretensions of righteous so obey the eternal laws which reg office, missions and libraries; we
need to educate the young in our
ness and rob the young of their ulate hum an progress, th a t you principles; we need to become clos
never cease your efforts to draw
happiness w ithout pretending to be nearer to your highest ideals re er united.”
A L ie .
agents of their loving father, while gardless of your own happiness.
- 7-
**I)o not by inactivity m ake true
“ I hou sh a lt not lie,” is a com the church, like the sneaking rob 1 ,,, he a tta in m e - n t of your own r r happi-
the orthodox assertion th a t ‘Chris-
m and which all C hristians profess ber th a t it is, works on the noblest Hess m erely, though it may be a ; tian ity works while Infidelity only
to obey and teach, because they tra its in the youths’ character in consequence, should not be regard- ta lk s’. Weep not over the m artyrs
th in k th eir god th u s com m ands order to break down their reason ed as the m ain aim and purpose oi of the past, hut honor them hv co-
Life is an oppor- operating with the self-sacrificing
them . Secularists know th a t it is and make them cringing, praying your existence.
lu iu ty to be a factor in the progress sp irits of today. T heir work is your
wrong to lie because it is an injury slaves, or by inducem ents of social of h u m an ity , and every m an fulfills work, their glory i« your vlorv
to the individual and to society — and financial advantage m ake them the purpose of m s life to th e extent th eir trium ph is your trium ph Thé
because we could have no tru st, cunning hypocrites.
If m an had lie practically identifies himself spirit of inquisition in the church is
no confidence in each other, and not n a tu ra lly been progressive_ with the progress of th a t of which not dead, and ecclesiastical power
The world can
th e loss of tru st, confidence, sym pa-J had not n atu ra lly sought the good, he is a p a r t—h u m an ity and nature, does not slumlier.
In other words, the purpose o le x -|a n d must he m ade b e lte r ”