4
THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON. OREGON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1898.
special acts are the cause nf all na- rin g . Did n o f these forces have a | F riends, you who have been
lu re’s phenom ena; and those who beginning, and was it not some su- friends indeed to the Liberal Uni-
The O n ly Paper of Its K in d .
helieve
in
a suprem e
power preme power th a t put them into versify, let us th an k vou again for
who set the universe
in mo- action? How could they exist with- w hat you have done, and let us
Published
W eekly by th e Literal Uni- tion, who originated the laws of out having been started?
T here ' again assure you th at although we
Constructive,'Moral Secularism.
heat> electricity, attractio n , etc., m ust be, then, a F irst G reat Cause, m ay m ake m istakes, we will, as
and who has a general supervision a Deity, ami we are Deists.
long as we live, keep you informed
J. E. H osm er,
E d ito r of all things.
But again we pause. The sam e in regard to our progress and do
To th< firste te s, who are mostly reaaoning that leads UB„.to ask, j our very best to mak< our schcx
P. W . G e e r,.........................M a n a g e r
found in heathen lands, we must ‘’How could they exist w ithout the center of a progressive, rapidly-
E ntered at th e postoffice at Silverton, give, as fast as th eir n atu re will having been sta rte d ? ” leads us to enlarging, educational, Secular cir
Oregon, as second-class m ail m atter.
perm it, a higher civilization, then ask bow this suprem e power could cle which will soon encircle the
the belief in m any gods will grow exist w ithout being started, and we whole world.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
weaker and weaker and at last be- are driven back to the question,but
The second class, ask it som ewhat modified, “ Did
One year, in ad v an ce.......................... $1 (X) come extinct.
Six m onths in a d v a n c e ....................
5C i.e., those who believe in the special these forces have a beginning, and
S ta n d E re c t.
T hree m onths, in a d v an c e ................
25
act theory, are in a process of evo- did some suprem e power put them
In clubs of five or m ore, one year,
in advance.......................................
75 lution. There are but few, com par- into motion?” and the honest an-
Sometimes those whom we have
Money should he sent by registered atively speaking, of this class, and swer comes, leaving us w ithout any , thought would he loyal have prov-
letter or m oney order.
as they are entirely surrounded in foundation for belief, “ I ix> not ed cowardly traito rs; and for no
cause w hatever excepting the fear
civilized countries by influences ¡ know .”
ISotice!
which are fast leading them out of
Probably m ankind will never of pop,liar opinion and the love of
A pencil m ark here denotes th a t your th eir befogging error, we need not know.
To say th a t one knows the alm ighty dollar they talk just
subscription will expire w ith the n ex t
opposite to w hat they did when
n u m k r . You are earnestly requested waste much time in trying to help there is a god, is to either inten-
to renew so th a t you may receive die pa thern. But the last class is the one ¡ tionally lie or unintentionally con- they thought there was a chance to
per w ithout in te rru p tio n . We have de
MAKE something outof Freethought
cided th a t it is best for all concerned wi»h which the battle of reason fess a poor judgm ent, while to give
th a t we do no t send papeis longer th a n mu t be fought, and if their idea is, him (or it) the form of a m an, or professions. We seem dazed and
th e tim e paid for unless so ordered.
vainly try to com prehend that
This will p rev en t any Joss and we will rig h t— if there are reasons for be--call it a spirit, is the height of ab-
know ju st w here we sta n d .
lieving in a suprem e power, be this surdity. This question of a deity some men are n atu ra lly selfish,
We request you to send us th e nam es
cow ardly, deceptive traitors.
of Secularists who m ight become su b power an intelligent one or other- is, as we have said, an old one,
It is easy for one whose interest,
scribers and we will m ail sam ple copies. wi.-t— let us find those reasons, if and the contention, the strife, the
possible— let us establish the fact , bloodshed and the stopping of hu- or im aginary interest, dem ands it,
THURSDAV, S E P T . 8, E. M. 298 ai d then let us he deists, as was man growth th a t it has caused is to find an excuse for proving false
that great m an of revolutionary , sim ply appalling. Close your eyes, it he is but anxious to do so, and
times, T hom as Paine; hut if a f te r , dear reader, and try to see with while we are no prophet, or son of
A S u p r e m e P o w e r.
searching carefully we find no reas- your m ind’s eye the awful history a prophet, we wish to prophesy this
As far back as we have any w rit ons for establishing the supreme of the gods. Ah, the war is alm ost m uch: The poor, m iserable cow
ten record of hum an doings, men power idea, but positive proof or over! See the w hite flag of truce ards, who hold their m ental fingers
have tried to account for the phe good reasons for thinking that there waving from the fortress of civilizá on the pulse of popular opinion in
nomena of nature. Before science is no one suprem e power, then let tion! \\ hat are the words? “ I no order to determ ine ju st w hat posi
tion to take in regard to the great
opened the eyes of our blind, ignor us he Atheists. Then, once again, not know .’
est question of our time, will not
ant ancestors, each phenom enon if we come fairly and squarely face
1
only lose their own self-respect, but
was the act of a special god, and to face with the fact that we do
T h a n k s be to G o o ’d.
will gain the contem pt of all
finally the special act of a suprem e not know w hether there is one s u -,
god, but as the g i e a t laws of 1110- pri me power , or law , controlling
We wish we could in some way classes.
My friend, it is a losing game.
tion, of attiactio n , of sound, of all oilier laws, or w hether all laws express our appreciation of the
sight, of heat, of electricity, etc., acting together, one being no more friends who have proven faithful to You m ay think th a t your fam ily’s
have been discovered, even the suprem e Ilian an o th er, pro,luce us in our progressive, educational ln,erest? lie in the palh of its lead-
When we think of those er bel,,g a h y Pocrlte> bu‘ ?<’“ llave
special act of a suprem e power w hat we perceive - th a t h e do sot ' work.
has weakened until those professing KNOW w hether these laws whose here at home who have sacrificed ',ot 1,,O\ ed ° n a !l.,™ic8 of tbe
Your children will know
to believe most in a god really be effects we can see everywhere are m uch money, tim e and labor, and j tion.
lieve but little in his (or its) im m e eternal or not, then let us he hon- “eternally kept a t it” , we are spur- 1 w hat you are and will either
diate superi,itendeney of the phe- est and say, “ I do not know ,” and red on to greater endeavors, and im itate or have a contem pt for you
notnena around us
No ( h ristian he called Agnostics.
, when we think of those who have which cannot be balanced with
carpet),ei or p a.n ter would think ot
Let us he established. Correct never seen us — who live hundreds gold, or houses, or lands.
ascribing his fall from a staging, to ¡reasoning is the hardest task th at and thousands of miles a w a y —
N othing is lost by being a man
a special act of his god. If asked c 11 he set for the hum an m ind, hut sending us money’, kind words and — by being honest—bv letting every
the cause of his descent through , let us undertake it.
W hat is the literary help, we become alm ost in- one know th at you stand on the
space, he would say, 1 he at true- cause of the results we see? We sane with the desire to make our solid ground of w hat you th in k are
tion of g rav ity ” . The cause of th e se e th a t one force or power of na- work worthy of th eir free-will gifts, true principles. Every tim e von
rainbow is now known even to our ture acts in one direction and an- sym pathy ami love.
As we pro hedge and fence — every tim e you
school children, and no one, unless other in another. Philosophers sav, gress in this work, it is revealed to ’ J e n ^ w hat >’ou secretly believe
to
it be seme very ignorant person, and our reasons agree, th a t the res- us more and more what great d iffi-' be " ''“ — every time you
try to
th in k s it is a special act of d e i t y — |olu iio n of forces causes things to be culties, w hat great opposition we “ s,noo‘ b it over” with all classes,
a promise of no more flood. So it as they are. Thai is, one force act- are having, and will have to over- you are l<wing m l,ch ,nore th an you
is with all the workings of nature, ing io Ibis direction and another come. No one knows the bitter- are n ,ak in g-
do not blam e you;
The special-god theory is lefl to un- acting in an o th er direction, another n e s s - tlie underhanded w orkings— I we only Pity you- and
,n
educated barbarians, and (he spe- in another, etc., etc., produce the the m isrepresentations of those who h elP y o u '
cial act of a suprem e power has be- general equilibrium or result we oppose the forward m arch of true
' <>u P00r’ ,nis<“rable, m istaken
c<»me so diluted by sen nee, the true have.
Then it would seem that Secularism .
c »ward, try to stand erect!
savior of the world, th a t but very there is no suprem e power or force,
A few years ago we could n o t'
few really lieheve in it, even the so- hut m any forces acting together, have been made to believe th at so
A n o th e r D e la y .
called believers b ing reduced to which causes and keeps the m a m any people are so uselessly unjust,
th« position of a general supervision cbinery of the universe in motion, but we have also found th at a few,
E v ery th in g seemed favorable for
theory.
We are, then, A theists, are we?
if strongly united in a ju st cause, the work of com pleting the main
We then have the three classes of
But wait a moment. Have these can w ithstand a host and will soon building so th a t we could use part
believers: those . ho believe ,,, spe- forces of g rav itatio n , of beat and have a host of their own. T his is of it at least by Oct. 3.
The sills
c a l gods, each liavn g spec,a pow- light, of electricity, etc., alw ays the way every great reform th a t and other heavy tim bers were put
era am i a tributes; llo se who be- existed?
Most things we are ac- the worl.l has ever known has been in place. Ihe heavy 30-foot lower
I,eve in one suprem e power whose quainter! wilh have had a begin-, brought about.
juice were put down and th e floor-
Torch of Reason