Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 22, 1898)
3 T H E TORCH OF REASON, S IL V E R T O N , O REG O N , T H U R SD A Y , S E P T E M B E R 22, 1898. joy, and d rink thy wine with a m erry heart, for God (Deity?) now [Continued from last week.] accepted) thy work. Let thy gar- to Ho you say th a t I write severely? ,nent he alw ays white and th y head t o I appeal to every person of thought jack no ointm ent. Live joyfully nid experience who has read even wi(h (he wife whom thou lovest all , little history to say candidly it 1 (he days of thy life which he . not justified by the facts. And [Deity?] hath given thee under the whether I ahi the fool of philoso- SUn, (h a t is thy portion in this j)hy ° r ^ e philosopher of fools, 1 jjfe> an<] jn th y labor which thou prefer to he honest to myself and to takest under the sun. W hatsoever mV fellow' men and m ain tain niv (j)V hand findeth to do, do it with ,wn self-respect, ra th e r than gain a t |,y m ight, for there is no work,nor little worldly p o p u larity by m aking device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, niv life a personification of hypo in the grave w hither thou goest. n And if Solomon was so wise th at crisy and lying. C hristians claim th at they have “ none were like unto him before two chances to my one: th a t if I him , neither should any be after am tig h t, they are all safe with the him ,” and knew what he wa> talk- re<tof us; th a t if I am wrong, they ; ng about, 1 am all right. If Chris- are safe while I am left. I don’t (jang gay th a t I have garbled or see it th at way. If they are right perverted Solomon, I reply, let him and I should profess to believe with am ong you th a t is w ithout this sin, them, I would go to hell for lying, cast the first stone at me. sure. A large m ajority of them The devil may quote scripture on would he there, or come there, also, occasion, C hristians tell us, and if, hut th at would not help me any, so I have deemed it better to “ bear I prefer to be honest and take my the rebuke of the wise than heark- chances. If deity don’t know its to (jlt} song of fool!-,” and have own business and atten d to it, ‘‘suffered not my mouth lo calise wherefore should sin he laid to my my flesh to sin ,” wherefore should barge? But all this is too foolish I he adjudged a “ sin n er” ? to write about, and I only do it for ‘-Judge not th at }e be not judged, the benefit of those who are sim ple fpr with what judgm ent \c judge enough to believe in C h ristian ity , ye sh all he judged, amt with w hat As I have said above, and here m easure ye mete it sin he meas- repeat, religion (th a t io any good) ured to you again."' consists in living a right(eous) life i p u t a n y system of su p ern atu ral here. The future will take care of religion is unnecessary. It is not itself. We have no p a rt or knowl- even a useful convenience. It is a edge in coming here; we will have nuisance. The moral m axim s of no part or knowledge in going. The t jlv ancient philosophers from time wisest man the C hristians tell us of im m ém orial leave nothing more to is represented to have said: he said. A nd their ad ap tatio n , re- “ There is no rem em brance of for- ¡hashing and reiteration by religion- mer tilings, neither shall there he ists, and th eir claim s to have orig- any rem em brance of things to come, inated them , is the veriest of rot. with those th a t shall come after. . The doctrine of a “ fall” of man- A nd, moreover, I saw under kind is only a pernicious fraud, the sun the place of ju dgm ent, th at leach a child that he is natu rally * wickedness was there; and the place depraved, it is the s u r e s t wav to de- of righteousness, th a t iniquity was prave him . To teach th a t people there. A nd I said in mv h eart, God are hv n atu re good and true, and V r [d eh y j shall judge the righteous th a t every bad action ’8 a d ep art-j and the wicked, for there is a time tire from their norm al condition, is for every purpose and for every the true way to elevate the moral work. I said in my heart concern- character of young or old. I have ing the estate of the sons of men, ' a better opinion of “ God” and my th at God [deity] m ight m anifest fellow beings th an to believe that them and th a t they m ight see that they are horn n a tu ra lly vile, tle y them selves were beasts. C hristians have a r ig h t to think Eor th at which befalleth the sons ju st as little of them selves as they of men befalleth beasts; even one choose; hut they have no right to thing befalleth them . As one claim the same degree of dégrada dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they tion for others. The doctrine th at have all one breath, so th a t a m an ! “ th e greater the sinner the greater M y H o n e s t O p in io n s . MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ • • • T he I 1 I V • • • • NV A t i U niversity T H E O NLY SC H O O L OF T H E K IN D . m ; — F ree from S u p erstition S trictly N on-Sectarian MZ MZ MZ P upils are Given livery O p p o rtu n ity to Learn MZ W ithout Being H am pered by Snpersti- MZ t ions and I >ogmas. MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ l o c a t i o n H e a l t l i f t i l hath no preem inence over a b e a s t,, the saint is the patent of untold for all is vanity. All go to one crimes. “ Total d ep rav ity ” is a beastly place; all are of the dust and all turn to dust again. W ho knoweth hum bug. People are not n atu ra lly the sp irit of a m an that goeth up- depraved. I have had sixtv-nine war«!, and the sp irit of a beast that vears’ experience, and I have found goeth dow nw ard to the ea rth ? them by nature disposed to do right, There are W herefore I perceive th a t there is to he honest and m oral nothing better th an th at a man exceptions, hut the exceptions only D eparture from should rejoice in his ow n works,for prove the rub*. th a t is his portion, for who shall rectitude is m a rly alw ays caused ami bring him to see th a t which by heredity, environm ent Mostly the shall be after him ? Go thv way, C hristian teaching. Concluded on 6th page. therefore, and eat thy bread w ith | MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ MZ S o c ie ty G o o d . MZ P C x p e n ts e ts M o d e r a t e SJZ $ MZ MZ MZ A Splendid Corps of Teachers and (¡ood Paei! MZ ities for 'Peaching. For info rm atio n , MZ address MZ MZ E. H O S M E R , Ph. D., B. S. D., MZ MZ P R E S ID E N T , MZ SILVERTON. OREGON.