LI
'’lllilìl OF
F EASON .
NO. 32.
8 IL V E B T 0 N , OREGON , TH U R SD A Y , AVGUST 18, I 898-
VOL. 2.
nr
IF.
Revised for th e T orch of R eason.]
H -a n would but his h^er naUreknow ’
We <*
and
M„c h * o b te r Still m ight be his fellow
• - -v-s m in d un.-hack led fro m tk<—o t a r l\
a n ti-n a tu ra l, tendency <u
of the C
hris-, ut
Send. XJ,or* r e l ° i g i o
Lims-1
tian religion. According to the of our C hristian ancestor,-
.
gospel of the G alilean B uddhists, taught to neglect the health la» s
earth , with all its joys and desires, nature as unw orthy the a
with all its visible and invisible a candidate for the higher blesstnge
h a b ita n ts, is wholly evil; the re-1 of th e world to come Every’ op-
nunciation of tem poral blessings is postton
p„9iton to the tyranny
v r a n n y of
om m ■
= _ • .
•• 1
the first condition of eternal welfare, or sp iritu al a n th o n ti ,
m en'
(
1 J w biB better nature learn .
Of passion, much of sins th a t and death the only gate of true life.
The C hristians did not deny the
existence of the pagan deities: they
m erely changed them into devils.
T he pagan Pantheon became a pan
dem onium . Rivers, woods, and
m ountains swarm ed, not with hai m-
less nym phs and d ry ad s, b u t with
enipting
of the
tem
pting demons,
(lemons, emissaries
em issario u«
Z,
u s
restrain ts,
ts, begin?
begins to
»0 ex
ex-
religious
restrain
am ine for itself, th ere are ten th o u
sand obstacles in the path of tru th ;
there is still this long-cherished fear
of offending those whom they have
been taugh to reverence and love;
, ‘
tl,i s .,t r h a p .,
deep sense of sham e, because they
......... » ..........
they ought to have been fam iliar;
The life-blood from bis heart so fall 1,1
of subm ission to injustice. T he holy
there is a feeling of discourage
alliance of church and state disdain
M igbt^bv this learning, all be then
m ent at the contem plation of those
ed to recognize the n a tu ra l rights
• 11 : —
made clear.
e„ f ‘ n t e n ^ h o s e n a tu ra l in stin cts who are a p p a re n tly firm in th eir
i i lint his finer nature f e e l .
n ’ (1 t o he wholly evil. In conviction, and enjoying the p ta s
IS oT V an ? painful wounds his hands
were supposed to he w holly ev
u re so f unw avering faith; then there
That n o j? n k u 'm is e ra b le bis brothers,
every progrese of n a tu ra l scien’ce,
is the cu ttin g , w ithering convic
the guardians of an anti n a tu ra l
t-
tion th at they are unsettled in th eir
They should be helpful, earnest, toiling
m en!
........ ..
..................... opinions, and yet cannot express a
H man would grandly feel and learn and superhum an powers to the seduction
doubt,w ithout sacrificing character.
Every philosopher, every m ath
s S
s e
s «
”
» “ and affliction of A dam 's progeny. em atician, every n atu ra list, had to It takes a firm and decided m ind,
T he gods and saints of G recce,Rome,
keep the secret of his discoveries, if particularly if one possesses warm
and
Palestine,descended
from
heav
Until hem'nde of this a fair, a perfect
he wished to keep his head. 1 he and ard en t affections, to hear up
en to share the earthly joys of m or
land.
night of the m iddle ages was not the with perseverance, under the pres
tals, to bless and hallow the scenes
n a tu ra l blindness of unenlightened sure of circum stances like these.
of th eir earth ly struggles and tn -
And we have often th o u g h t th a t
barbarians, but an u n n atu ra l d a rk
The N ig h t of th e H iddle Ages.
um phs.The eaints’of Buddhism and
m any an individual th u s ed u cated ,
ness, m aintained by an elaborate
C h ristia n ity visited ea»th to m ar its
BY FE LIX OSWALD, M. D.
system of sp iritual despotism , and or rath e r th u s perm itted to grow
joys, to depreciate its blessings, to
up in ignorance, has, in the m ad
in spite of the fierce struggles of
ness of disappointed enthusiasm ,
“ Your prayers for light
&JJr wean its children from their n atu ra l
m any light-loving nations.— f 1 he
pwered, if vou consent to open .
instincts and sym pathies. H as th e
rejected the tr u th , through fear of
eyes.” —[G. E. Lessing.
S»cret
of
the
East.
worship of sorrow ever failed to
subjection to the bigotry of e rro i.
Since the dawn of modern ration- darken the light of nature? Has i t 1
E ducation prevents such c a ta s
alism , the path of social reform h as
E d u catio n a C ure for B ig o try .
added one m illet-seed to the sum of
trophes. It scatters light upon what
been
been obstructed
obstructed by
oy a a S phinx th a t ’ earth iy ,,appineHS? Did the Apostle
is-dark, instead of enveloping it in
Ignorance is not only the m other
still propounds h er rid He to
• ; f G a]i,ee ever speak one word in
tenfold darkness. It encourages in
philosopher, to every moral..«h to
of
superstition,
she
is
also
the
p
ar
favor of in d u stry ,ratio n al education,
quiry because it loves the tru th .
every speculative h isto rian.
ih a
ent of fear. He who has no definite
the love and study of n atu re,
The parent who is instructed wishes
Sphinx is the C h ristian religion, physical and intellectual culture? knowledge of w hat he professes to
the child to ask, th a t it m ay receive
and the riddle,w hich has to he so v- Not one. H as his mission prom oted believe, is not only afraid openly to
its in stru ctio n . R easonable doudts
ed before we can clear the roat o our progress in the paths of science avow his sentim ents, and firmly to are heard w ith atten tio n , and
progress, is the enigm a of the Mid- and freedom? N ot one step. H is m aintain them , but he is also afraid
answ ered with candor, and the v il
to have them very closely exam ined.
doctrine in a ll its tendencies is
lage where such a state of society ex
W hence th a t dreadful night th a wholly u n e a rth ly , and therefore T he consequence is, th a t if he pos
ists, is a village from which bigotry
followed suddenly an d u n n a tu ra lly
sesses
any
power
over
those
th
a
t
are
wholly unavailable for secular p u r
flies, and in which tru th m akes her
ab o u t him , he finds it far easier to
upon the b rig h t sunrise of pagan
dw elling.—[H orace Seaver,
poses.
propagate
and
defend
his
opinions
civilization? th a t long ec tp se
The pagan gods were the deified
reason, science, freedom, and h a p powers of N ature, the patrons of by the awe of his au th o rity , than
Religion and m orality have never
piness, th a t trance-like lethargy o. m ariners, shepherds, and husband by the clearness of his explanations
Ihe very n atio n s w hich before and men. The C hristian gods, were the and the force of his argum ents. kept abreast. The most strik in g ly
after gave the most decided proofs deified enem ies of N ature. , Even Hence, an ignorant people are afraid religious epochs have been those
most d ark ly stained with b ru ta lity
of th eir capacity for m ental pro the C hristian Deus M axim us frown of frank inquiry and close investi and fraud. Evolution and dissolu
gress? W hat tu rn ed th eir health in ed on ea rth ly pleasures, and could gation, not so m uch, perhaps, be tion of peoples, as of all things, is
to a thousand y ears’ disease?
cause they fear the skepticism of ceaseless; b u t th e evolving peoples
be propitiated only by the m or
Was it the influence of a supernat- tification of almost every natural others, as because they dread the are the least religious and the dis
solving peoples the most religious.
_ „? Then, how did the u -
exposure of their own ignorance.
u ra l religion?
It is here, then, th a t bigotry be C ivilzation and m orals, in evolving
follow er, of other su p ern a tu ral
become an A n .to r m entor, a
together;
and our
>e p peoples,
e o p le s , run
ru n
iv p -u .
d s , happen
happen to
to escape th at doom. cele6tial grand-inquisitor,
„ d .i nquieltor, who
who de-
de- gins to fetter the powers of the m o d ern a n d m o ral c iv iliz a tio n is
creed
an m
and to chain it in H niainlv due to Pagan letters an
•or we should not forget th a t the
, ,i an im plicit submission
kuoim i »» iuu of
“ * hum
nuujuu
w ind,
.....>---------
For
far more oisirrPMHg
distressing th an A rab science. The forces of religion
m in g -h
o u r of o ur - prosperous
eaTO„ t0 inhum an dogmas; thraldom tar
m oilin'^
••—
u . u _________
^ . o — i a “ . - - ««at
v
nlurality
Of the
the e im
in.prisonm
of th
the
body.
not
i.ln
ra litv of
th
p prisonm
ris o n m errt
e ent
m of
oi
«>|c e bo
w u y.
j . are
a are
re n
u i those
nnm v of t progress, » an d pro-
*
Age of Reason is b u t a m om ent n and
doomed the vast
lhe
‘ ......
,
, child ure-sive forces are not religious. Bi
th ’a i
com pared w ith the long centuries
())e torture6 of an ever Among an ignorant people, the child
is not perm itted, with freedom, to ,n(,r a ijt y
a necessity of sentient
of h ealth an d prosperity which t >e
a u t o d a-fe.
jH a pr jm ary an d in h eren t
Greeks, th e S panish Moors, and
¡„stin ct of freedom, in the .express its sentim ents. To dare to
E astern ^ r a c e n s contrived to com-
know)edge ahd the sense of doubt w hat has beeq said to be tru e prOperty of nerve-m atter. M orality
bv its friends and its relations, is to j8 an endow m ent of all anim als,
bine w ith a firm belief in t
beauty, the C hristian m oralists,like
subject. itself, if not to th eir censure w H .e rd tg io n ^ s a n a ^ m
ty of su p ern atu ral agencies.
•
philosophers, recognized
U "“ X
"
H S ‘r
‘t he f J v e r of a m ysterious insptra- at least to their gloomy frowns and . ^ . t ¡n thp jpS8 cult ured and pal-
j:« ,,rence, th a t th eir d ark suspicions. I ho result is,
¡n th e more cultured civiliza
natio
n s ui
of u Europe,
nations
u i 'T » n v
. i , . tion, hut w t
inspiration
not
the
inculcation
of
correct
senti-
t
;„„s.
M orality is p rim ary and fun-
h ad contented them
w ith - the
T selves
i X
e ; the
h e p pagans
a g a .,s ascribed
a s c r i,d t that
h a , i in
n . In
I.... ratn m , u; X
of a[) ;
.
. .
..........................
inculcation of such belie s.
m isery of the Middie A ge. was due
, hv wi,e8 of a tem pting ra n t bigotry; and then, when the and t , . n » t o , y . - [ J o r
.
not to the su p ern atu ral, but to m e