Torch of reason., August 25, 1898, Image 1

T orch or
VOL. 2.
SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 1898.
O «t wi lo u ch .
" e belonged to the lo w erclass-! ny the w orship of ancestors. If our
Revised for the Torch of Reason.]
might have been dissenters parents had been satisfied with the
v a sm ile ; yes, o nly a sm ile
and. protested against the m u m -! religion of theirs, we would be still
That a woman o’erburdened with grief ni» lit* of the High ( hurch. Had less advanced th an we are. If we
Expected from you.
NO. 33.
to laugh at th e priests, to speak
disrespectfully of th e gods, to fail
to divide your substance with the
lazy hypocrites who m anaged your
’Twould have we been born in T u rk e y , m ost of ns are, in any way, bound by the be- ' affairs in the next world upon eon-
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v
given relief,
to r her h e a rt ached sore th e w h ile;
! ltRW4v'’ an<1 *lltt
would have been M oham m edans lief of our fathers, the doctrine will dition th a t you would support them
<t" " ent and believed in the inspiration of the hold good hack to the first people in this. In the olden time these
Because’ as it hap p en ed , th a t very day
K o ra n -
W e should have believed
th at M ohammed actually visited
Only a w ord; yes, only a word
heaven and became acquainted with
T hat your conscience’s sm all voice
„„„j
£
, . ,
w hispered, “ S p eak ” ,
angei Dy tne name of G abriel,
But th e w orker passed onw ard, un- w h o was so broad between the e y es
,u w e n
o u to fto m h
w ith th e w orl»i.
who had a religion; am i if this doc-
trine is true, we ought now to be be-
lievers in th a t first religion. In
,
other words, we would all be bar-
harians. You cannot show real
theological people who quartered
them selves upon the honest and the
industrious, were called soothsav-
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ers, seers, charm ers, prophets, en-
chanters, sorcerers, wizzards, astrol-
1
re(l uireil three h u n d red days respect to your parents by perpetuat- ogers an d im postors, b u t now they
for a very sm art camel to travel the ing their errors. Good fathers and are know n as clergym en.
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i. i j
• .
d is ta n c e ,
i t nom e m a n 1,0,11
h a d u d v e n ll,r
ie d u m others wish th eir children to ad-
W e are no exception to the gen­
, this story - we should . probably „ have - , vance, to overcome obstacles which eral rule, and consequently have
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denounetd him as a dangerous per- baffled them , and to correct th e er- our sacred records «as well as the
'a f r ie m l m a \ f i “Lu?tTaiid
S° n ’ one who Was endeavoring to rors of their education. If you rest. Of course, it is claim ed by
Your conscience said “ W rite ” ; b u t underm ine the foundations of so- wish to reflect credit upon your m any of our people th a t our hooks
r « '1 ' T ha»l planned
ciety, and to destroy all distinction parents, accom plish m ore th an t hey are the only true ones, the only
Some different work, an d you th o u g h t
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It m attered little . Yon did not know between virtue and vice. v\ e should did, solve problem s th a t they could ones th a t the real God ever wrote
’Tw ould have saved your friend from , have said to him, “ W hat do you 1 not un d erstan d , and build better or had a n y th in g w hatever to do
You were “ ou t of to u c h ” w ith th e world. ' propose to give us in place of that than they knew. To sacrifice your with. They insist th a t all o ther
angel? Wo cannot afford to give up m anhood upon the grave of your sacred hooks were w ritten by hypo­
Only a »lay; yes, only a day ;
crites and im postors; th a t the Jew s
an angel of th a t size for nothing.” father is an honor to neither. W hy were the only people th a t God ever
B ut, oh ! can you guess, my friend,
W here th e influence reaches, and We would have insisted th a t the
should a son who has exam ined a had any personal intercourse with,
w here it will en d ,
best and wisest men believed the subject, throw away his reason and and th a t all o th er prophets and
Of th e days you have frittere d aw ay?
H u m a n ity ’s calling, yes, calling to K oran.
We would have quoted adopt the views of his m other? Is seers were inspired only by im pu­
th e e ;
True, it
And fruitless and vain will all your from the works and letters of not such a course dishonorable to dence and m endacity.
seems som ew hat strange th a t God
life be
philosophers, generals and sultans, both ?
should have chosen a barbarous
It “ out of to u ch ” w ith th e w orld.
to show that the Koran was the best
m ust rem em ber th a t“ancestor” and unknow n people who had little
of hooks, and th a t Turkey was in ­ aig u m en t is as old at least as the or nothing to do with th e other n a­
flan and W om an.
debted to th a t book and to th at second generation of m en,that it has tions of the earth , as his m essen­
gers to the rest of m ankind.
alone for its greatness and prosper­ served no purpose except to enslave
BY ROBT. G. IN G E R SO L L .
It is not easy to account for an
ity. We would have asked that m ankind, and results m ostly from infinite god m aking people so low
Let us forget th a t we are B ap­ m an w hether he knew more than the fact th at acquiesent is easier in the scale of intellect as to require
tists, M ethodists, Catholics, Presby­ all the great minds of his country, than investigation. This argum ent a revelation.
N either is it easy to
terians, or F reethinkers, and re­ w hether lie was so much wiser than pushed to its logical conclusion, perceive why, if a revelation was
member only tn a t we are men and his fathers? We would have pointed would prevent the advance of all necessary for all, it was m ade only
to the few. Of course, I know th a t
women. After all, m an and woman out to him the fact th a t thousands people w hose parents were not free­ it is extrem ely wicked to suggest
are the highest possible titles. All had been consoled in the hour of thinkers.
these thoughts, and th a t ignorance
other nam es belittle us and show death by passages from the K oran;
It is hard for m any people to give is the only arm o r th a t can effect­
th a t we have, to a certain extent, th a t they had died with glazed eyes up the religion in which they were ually protect you from t o e w rath of
I am aw are th a t investigat­
given up our ind iv id u ality, and brightened by visions of the heaven- horn; to adm it th a t their fathers God.
ors with all th e ir genius never find
consented to wear the collar of ly harem ,and gladly left this world were u tterly m istaken, and th a t the the road to heaven; th a t those who
a u th o rity — th at we are followers. of grief and tears. We would have sacred records of th eir country are look where they are going are sure
Throwing away these names, let us regarded C hristians as the vilest of but collections of m yths and fables. to miss it, and th a t only those who
exam ine these questions not as par- men, and on all occasions would
But when we look for a m om ent voluntarily p u t out their eyes and
tisans but as hum an beings with have repeated, “ There is hut one at the world, we find th a t each im plicitly tru s t to blindness can
surely keep th e narrow path.
hopes and fears in common.
God, and Mohammed is his proph- nation has its “ sacred records”—
W hoever reads our sacred hook
We know th a t our opinions et!”
its religion, and its ideas of worship. is compelled to believe it or suffer
depend, to a great degree, upon our
So, if we had been in India, wre C ertainly all cannot he right; and as forever the torm ents of the lost.
surroundings—upon race, c o u n try ,1 should in all prod ability have be- it would require a life tim e to in ­ We are told th a t we have the priv­
and education. We are all the lieved in the religion of that country, vestigate the claim s of these various ilege of exam ining it for ourselves;
.
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hut th is privilege is only expended
result of num berless conditions, and We should have regarded the old system s, it is hardly fair to dam n a to us on the condition th a t we be-
inherit vices and virtues, tru th « records as true and sacred, and rnan forever, sim ply because he hap­ lieve it w hether it appears reasona­
and prejudices. If we had been looked upon a wandering priest pens to believe the wrong one. All ble or not. We m ay disagree with
from these religions were produced by others as m uch as we please upon
born in E ngland, surrounded by as better than the men
and
by barbarians. Civilized nations have the m eaning of all passages in the
wealth and clothed with power, whom
he begged,
bible, but we m ust not deny the
We should contented them selves wfth changing tru th of a single word. W e m ust
most of us would have been Epis- whose labor he lived.
copalians, and believed in C hurch have believed in a god with three the religions of their barbaric an- believe th a t the hook is inspired. If
and State. We should have in- heads instead of three gods with cestors, but they have m ade none, we obey its every precept w ithout
Nearly all these religions are ¡* li«v in 8 >“ •»<> inspiration we will
sisted th at the people needed a relig- one head as we do now.
, p ,
,
be d a rw e d ju s t as certain ly as
ion, and th a t not having intellect
Now and then some one siy s that • , . " i
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though we disobeyed its every word,
enough to provide one for them- the religion of his father and moth- m ade by some contem ptible little We have no rig h t to weigh it in the
selves, it was our duty to make one er is good enough for him, and won- nation th a t regarded itself as of scales of reason — to test it by the
for them , and then compel them to ders why anybody should desire a alm ost infinite im portance, and lawh of n atu re, or the facts of ob-
support it. We should have believed better.
Surely we are not bound looked upon the other nations a s ! 8r " “ tion al,d experience. To do
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r ., . 1 n is, we a re to 1 d , is t o pu t ou rse 1 ves
it indecent to officiate in a pulpit to follow our parents ¡ l religion i being beneath . th i. e notice
of
. i of c n.
a
•
,
. th eir above ti.~
the ...
word
God,
ami i sit in
without w earing a gown, and th a t any more than in politics, science god. In all these countries it was judgm ent on the works of our crea-
pravers should be read from a book, or art.
China has been petrified acrim e to deny the sacred records, tor.
Whom you, m y friend, should have
stirre d
To courage, am bition and love a n e w
i.
*
Because
w i hen .t
th e m essage cam e to
you,
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You were ou t of touch w ith th e w orld,
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